Boxoffice-January.07.1950

Manager Ryan Scoops
Newsreels and Video
from Mideast Edition
DETROIT—Tradition that "the show must
go on" was well exemplified by the ingenuity
of Thomas W. Ryan, manager of the Carlton,
neighborhood house operated by the Krass circuit,
in scooping both newsreels and television.
The subject was the fatal crash of a
cargo plane a few blocks from his home.
Ryan heard the plane and the noise, but
figured it was just another auto smashup until
his wife went over and saw the plane
stuck right in the middle of a house.
Ryan grabbed his 16mm camera, found no
film, went after Peter Kavel, relief manager
for the Wlsper & Wetsman circuit, and another
photographer, who had left for Dayton.
Meantime Ryan had to get to the Carlton
Theatre on the opposite side of the city to
open for the matinee about the time that
Kavel showed up, having returned in disgust
from the start of his trip after having two
tires blow out. Kavel speeded over to shoot
the scene, and the two managers found they
had an exclusive on their hands.
Newsreel cameramen had figured the day
was too dark to justify shooting, while the
television cameras were already setting out to
give football coverage when word of the accident
came. But no commercial firm could
be found in town to handle the processing
on a Saturday—the accident occurred at 10:30
a. m. So Ryan dug up an amateur photographer,
had him develop the film, brought in
his 16nun projector, and had the reel on the
screen for the evening show, running It two
days.
The payoff of the story occurred on Monday
when WJBK-TV learned of the film and
bought exclusive rights to the reel from Ryan,
running the scene in the "Four Star News
Show" on Monday night over television, with
special credits before and after given to the
Carlton Theatre.
Will Screenplay 'St. Colomba'
Waldo Salt will screenplay the Theodore
Dreiser short story, "St. Colomba and the
River."
Eight 16mm Distributors
To Handle EL Features
NEW YORK—A gi'oup
of eight U.S. 16mm
film leaders, representing 34 local film libraries,
have formed a distribution organization
to handle the new Eagle Lion product,
according to George J. Bonwick, president of
Pictorial Films, Inc. The exclusive distribution
arrangement is for the group to take
collectively a minimum of 40 16mm prints of
each of the new EL pictures, in exchange for
which Pictorial has guaranteed that it will
not sell any EL product to anyone else in the
respective territories.
The distributors in this national distribution
organization wUl be: Larry Salzman,
Film Center, New York City; Carl Kunz, Kunz
Motion Pictures, Philadelphia; Jack Carter,
National Film Service, Raleigh, N. C; Allan
Twyman, Twyman Films, Dayton; Carl and
Al Evers, Sun Ray Films, Cleveland; Keith
South, Modern Sound Pictures, Omaha; Ray
Swank, Swank Motion Pictures, St. Louis,
and Ed Stevens, Stevens Pictures, Atlanta.
The features include several released nationally
during the 1948-49 season, including:
"Red Stallion in the Rockies," "Let's Live a
Little," "Tulsa," "The Big Cat," "The Scar,"
"Down Memory Lane," "He Walked By Night,"
"The Spiritualist" and "The Black Book," the
latter an August 1949 release.
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Ihe foUoviring subjects for Theatre Planning:
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D Air Conditioning Plumbing Fixtures
a Architectural Service
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n Building Material
D Carpets
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Television
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n Signs and Marquees
D Drink Dispensers D Theatre Fronts
n Drive-In Equipment D Vending Equipment
POPCORN
MACHINES
YOUR THEATRE'S
FEATURE ATTRACTION
D Other
Subjects
Smart showmen know the extra profit to be made with
an attractive Manley Popcorn Machine and Manley
products.
MANLEY
POPCORN MACHINE
substitute for Manley controlled
d Manley special seasoning and
Manley candy stripped bags and
complete the package.
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BOXOFFICE January 7, 1950 87