Boxoffice-January.07.1950

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the sound equally good. Small town situations
need not be afraid of this one. Played
Sun., Mon. Weathex-: Fair.—I. Roche, Vernon
and Veil Theatres, Vernon and Cottondale,
Pla. Small town and rural patronage. • • •
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court,
A (Para)—Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, Sir
Cedric Hardwicke. This did tremendous business
for us. Rhonda Fleming pictures always
do well here.—R. M. McKuen, Guild Theatre,
*
Oakland, Calif. Teen-age patronage.
El Paso (Para)—John Payne, Gail Russell,
George "Gabby" Hayes. Here is truly (in my
opinion) one of the best western dramas ever
turned out by any company and comment was
very good. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Cold.
—Lloyd Hutchins, Pangburn Theatre, Pangburn,
Ark. Rural patronage. • • •
Great Gatsby, The (Para) — Alan Ladd,
Betty Field, Macdonald Carey. Walkouts
we counted 11 Friday night and more Saturday.
This picture is, putting it frankly, terrible—and.
the trailer very misleading. We
strongly advise anyone to pass it up. Weather:
Fair and cold.—C. E. McMurchy, Memorial
Hall Theatre, Reston, Man. Rural and
small town patronage.
•
Rope of Sand (Para)—Burt Lancaster, Paul
Henreid, Claude Rains. More sad results from
Paramount. This didn't do half enough to
justify the high top they established on this
generally fine action picture. A good cast,
interesting story and fine direction, but I
could hardly find any persons to sell tickets
to. "Law of the Barbary Coast" (Col) was
on the bottom half and was an excellently
done small flicker. Business was about 75 per
cent of normal. Played Tues., Wed., Thurs.
Weather: Cold and threatening.—Jim Dunbar,
Roxy Theatre, Wichita, Kas. Second and
third downtown run patronage. * *
Sorrowftil Jones (Para)—Bob Hope, Lucille
Ball, Mary Jane Saunders. This is a swell
picture which was enjoyed by everyone. Mary
Jane Saunders certainly took the show away
from Bob Hope—but then he's good, too. I
had an average gross and expected more, since
I haven't had a Hope here for some time.
Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Fair.—Fred G.
Weppler, Colonial Tlieatre, Colfax, 111. Small
towTi and rural patronage. **
Top O' the Morning (Para)—Bing Crosby,
Ann Bl>th, Ban-y Fitzgerald. We don't prefer
the hammer to the horn, but we believe EHHS
should primarily serve as a place where one
exhibitor can warn another which pussy cat
has a stripe down its back. Bing went "bang"
again. The terms allowed Paramount to go
off with the meager take while we increased
the mortgage on the old homestead. This is
a slow-moving piece about a search for the
purloined Blarney Stone (should have been
"baloney") in hard-to-understand Irish
brogue. Arm Blyth did a far better job than
Crosby. It's got a bushy tail, boys! Played
Sun., Mon. Weather: Warm and rainy.— S. W.
Rawson, Best Theatre, Scio, Ohio. Pottery
and rural patronage.
••
RKO RADIO
Coin' to Town (RKO)—Reissue. Lum and
Abner. I ran this midweek to a well pleased
crowd. It did not pack the place but did do
all right. The print and the price were okay.
Can be recommended. Played Wed., Thurs.
Weather: Rain.—Joe and Mildred Faith, Lirm
Theatre, Linn, Mo. Small town and rural
patronage.
•*
Make Mine Laughs (RKO)—Ray Bolger,
Anne Shirley, Dennis Day. This is an uninteresting
hodge podge that gave the kids a restless
hour and caused milling around the lobby
by adults seeking a smoke to kill the time
until the other half came on with "The Big
Steal." This will definitely not stand alone
in any situation and is very poor supporting
fare—made from scraps from the cuttingroom
floor. Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Cold
and clear.—S. W. Rawson, Best Theatre, Sclo,
Ohio. Pottery and rural patronage. ••
Mighty Joe Young (RKO)—Terry Moore,
Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong. Here is a
freak picture on the order of "King Kong,"
which really did a nice business for me. It
would please in any small town and do a big
business, particularly with the kids. Don't
pass it up, even if it is weak on star power,
as the novelty will make up for that. Played
Sun., Mon. Weather: Good.—E. M. Freiburger,
Pai-amount Theatre, Dewey, Okla.
Small town patronage.
•••
Mighty Joe Young (RKO) — Terry Moore,
Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong. We spent
several hard-eai-ned dollars pushing this extra
and it didn't do quite enough extra business.
But it is a natural for exploitation, well
done and has some humorous situations. We
paid through the nose for it, of course. It
can be recommended for a good date but in
our case, we're still paying RKO too much for
some pictures that just aren't worth it. Played
Sat. (preview). Sun., Mon. Weather: Good.
—William J. Harris, Crown Tlieatre, Lincoln,
Ark. Rural and small town patronage. ••
Roughshod (RKO)—Robert Sterling, Gloria
Grahame, Claude Jarman jr. To me this was
just so-so. It is nothing big and business was
Patrons Thanked Him
For Playing Picture
OBABE RUTH STORY, THE (Mono)
—WUliam Bendix, Claire Trevor, Charles
Bickford. The name of this picture is in
itself enough to fill your theatre, and this
is in Canada—such is the power of the
name of Babe Ruth. The story was good
and our patrons thanked us for playing it.
Played Wednesday. Weather: Cold and
fair.—C. E. McMurchy, Memorial Hall
Theatre, Reston, Man. Rural and small
town patronage.
•
average. Comment consisted mostly of yawns
as they came out into the lobby. I should
have played it on a Fri., Sat.—my mistake,
not the film company's. Played Sun., Mon.
Weather: Fair.—Lloyd Hutchins, Pangburn
Theatre, Pangburn, Ark. Rural patronage.
Tarzan's Desert Mystery (RKO)—Reissue.
Johnny Weissmuller, Nancy Kelly, Johnny
Sheffield. While a reissue, it is a good one.
We enjoyed a better-than-average business
with it. I think any small town exhibitor can
buy this picture and make money with it.
Johnny Weissmuller is at his best. Played
Wed., Thurs. Weather: Rainy, cold and
nasty.—O. Fomby, Paula Theatre, Homer, la.
Small town patronage.
••*
Tarzan's Magic Fountain (RKO) — Lex
Barker, Brenda Joyce, Albert Dekker. Our
folks must still like Weissmuller for they
stayed away in droves for this. The story wSs
a little better and I thought it okay, but it did
not pay off. The print and price were okay. I
would recommend it, regardless. Played Wed.,
Thurs. Weather: Fair. — Joe and Mildred
Faith, Linn Theatre, Linn, Mo. Small town
•*
and rural patronage.
REPUBLIC
Brimstone (Rep) — Rod Cameron, Adrian
Booth, Walter Brennan. An orchid for Republic
this time. 'Twas a true pleasure to
hear the fine comments this western drew.
This has an ideal cast and Forrest Tucker is
becoming a well followed star. Doubled with
an old East Side Kids comedy, "Clancy Street
Boys" (UFE) to a season surprise of 130 per
cent. Of course the western combination,
with the Bowery Boys, never has failed me
here yet. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Clear
and warm. — Jim Dunbar, Roxy Theatre,
Says Bit of Knowledge
Doesn't Hurt Patrons
SECRET LAND, THE (MOM)—Technicolor
documentary with narrators Robert
Montgomery, Robert Taylor, Van
HefUn. A documentary, yes, but good. We
did not have one complaint and had lots
of praise.
A bit of knowledge doesn't hurt
'em and they know it. We were all at the
South Pole with Byrd. Amazing!—Frank
E. Sabin, Majestic Theatre, Eureka, Mont.
Small town patronage. • • •
Wichita, Kas. Second and third downtown
run patronage. * *
Grand Canyon Trail (Rep)—Roy Rogers,
Andy Devlne, Foy Willing and Riders of the
Purple Sage. This has good color and Roy
Rogers in it. It failed, however, to pull them
in for some reason or other. I just can't figure
it out for the weather was good and we
had some strong, supporting shorts. I have
noticed that — Roy hasn't puUed so well in his
last pictures "Nighttime in Nevada" was an
exception. My lowest Fri., Sat. gross in two
years. Weather: Good.—I. Roche, Vernon
and Veil Theatres, Vernon and Cottondale,
Fla. Small town and rural patronage. • • •
20th CENTURY-FOX
Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend, The
(20th-Fox) — Betty Grable, Cesar Romero,
Rudy Vallee. This is a grand and very clever
comedy that our patrons enjoyed and praised.
Business is down during the pre-Christmas
season so we do not blame the picture for
the low gross. The picture rates preferred
playing time at a reasonable flat rental.
Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather: Fair.
E. A. London, State Theatre, Olivet, Mich.
Small town, rural and college patronage. • •
Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend, The
(20th-Fox)—Betty Grable, Cesar Romero,
Rudy Vallee. We were a little late on this one
but it did good December business. Several audience
guffaws attest to its humor, but some
situations are almost naughty, especially when
pulled before our Sunday crowd. The color is
good and it should be a profitable venture for
the small to\vn. Played Sat. (preview), Sun.,
Mon. Weather: Rain and cold.—William J.
Harris, Crown Theatre, Lincoln, Ark. Rural
and small town patronage. **
Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend, The
(20th-Fcx)—Betty Grable, Cesar Romero,
Rudy Vallee. This is a corny picture that gave
me my lowest Sun., Mon. gross in 17 weeks. It
would appear that this type of picture would
do big business in a small town, but it failed
for me. Betty Grable is good but miscast In
the pictm'e. It has plenty of laughs and action,
and everyone seemed to enjoy it, especially
with the unanticipated ending. Weather: Rain
and warm.—Fred G. Weppler, Colonial Theatre,
Colfax, 111. Small town and niral patronage.
••
OCome to the Stable (20th-Fox)—Loretta
Young, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe. There
is no doubt that this is a great picture in a
big town where there are lots of Catholics,
but it did a big flop for me. I would say it Is
no good for a small town which wants Roy
Rogers, Gene Autry and Abbott and Costello.
When it comes to nuns in a picture, my customers
don't want "nun." I have asked for
an adjustment In film rental. Played Wed.,
Thurs. Weather: Good. — E. M. Freiburger,
Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small town
patronage.
*••
Everybody Does It (20th-Fox)—Paul Douglas,
Linda Darnell, Celeste Holm. This Is a
very good comedy. Business was off 20 per
cent (approximately). I don't know whether
this was due to the bad weather or to the picture.
Paul Douglas really puts on a fine dem-
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BOXOFFICE BooldnGuide : : January 7, 1950