PONDERS TAFT-HARTLEY WAL

—
I
Continued
I ontlnued from page 28)
JOXFTICE ::
r|or Republic, but then a Paramount Service, Special Screen Services, Inc., Allied
an, recalls the skepticism of some ex- Posters and Morris Negrin's.
|t]s w :ien Paramount moved. They were Incidentally, the New York branch of NSS
tli.it nobody would walk the two long also provides trailers for the Albany, Buffal.)
Square to buy pictures. and in addition U)
we >t of Times New Haven exchanges,
pe^slmists called their shots wrong. the metropolitan district.
the next seven years all the major The memories of many exchange workers,
ge.'^ and supply houses moved to 44th from district managers to shippers, go far
beift'een Eighth and Ninth avenues, back into the early days of the film business.
16 customers kept coming for pictures.
We have already mentioned John Dacey
»iy Warners, 20th-Fox and Paramount and Eddie Carroll of RKO and Bob Fatuion
BT-heir own exchange buildings on the
of Republic In this connection.
^tl sicie of 44th, and MGM, RKO, Co-
There are
Monogram. PRC,
many more
United who were active In
Artists,
the industry when it
&»fsal. Astor and Bell are tenants
was In its infancy.
of the
benter Bldg., 630 Ninth Ave., between At MGM the oldtimers" list is headed by
i[nd 45th streets.
Jack Bowen, district manager; Bob Elsworth,
Brooklyn salesman,
)rthf south side of 44th street are Film
and Lou Johnson, head
of the shipping
cs, Screen Guild, and around
department and of the Shippers
and Inspectors Union.
the corner
1 •'ilm Classics is Hoffberg
More than 30
Prod.
years ago they all worked together for General
Film.
Film Center Bldg., in which most of
changes are now situated, was opened
Today, MGM is the only company with
!. 5. 1928.
separate New York and New Jersey branches
a modern fireproof building with com- serving the metropolitan district.
|U storage, screening and shipping facil-
It dominates the immediate
Ben Abner heads the New Jersey branch
westside
Ug wrliood of dingy tenements and
and Ralph Pielow the New York branch.
lofts.
At Paramount. Henry Randel, recently
dition to the exchanges, the building appointed district manager, recalls that until
1^ houses supply and accessory firms.
1941 he was manager of Paramount's Brooklyn
branch. That year, Brooklyn, New Jersey
JQ Hornstein of Joe Hornstein, Inc., one
and New York branches were consolidated
t; big supply dealers there, can vividly
into a single
ber the dawn of the Iniiustry when
New York branch, with Randel
the
as manager.
i? houses were located on University
just off 14th street.
Randel is a member of the Paramoimt 25-
year club. He has been with the company
he industry moved uptown, the supply
27 years. Other memljers are: Harry Friedman
and Gilbert Basch of the film room;
IUJ3 moved with it.
Jd recalls the early days, 1903, 1904 and Rose McConnell, head of the film room;
i»bouts, when projectors were rented, Sybil Mayer, ledger clqrk; Edward Bell, New
lid.
York salesman; Kitty Flymi. booker, and
t
H' remembers the supplyman's campaign Leah Peterson, cashier. Albert Gebhardt,
t the manufacturers to standardize New Jersey salesman, will be eligible for
lent: to get them to build flickerless membership by the end of 1947.
tors; the constant fight for better
iilg sources.
•Pwentieth-Fox
ans. These
also
include
has
Jack
its quota
Wolf,
of
the
veter-
head
'C al.so remembers the selling campaign
taducted to induce exhibitors to install Cashier; Moe Kurtz, New Jersey sales supervisor,
who has been with the company for 17
'Oprojectors. Now many theatres have
machines. The Mxisi-i Hall has 12. out of the 30 years he has been in the industry.
Morris Sanders also can speak with authority
of the old days. Sanders, New
TJ big years for the supply man were
0. when
York
sound came in, said Joe.
sales supervisor, was president of Motion Pictures
Associates in 1944-45. Ray Moon, Yan-
fi'nstein and his competitors—Capitol
a n Picture Supply Corp., Amusement kee division manager, spent his early film
ip(y Co., Crown Motion Picture Supplies days in Detroit, where he was branch manager
for Universal.
SOS Cinema Supply Corp., National
lire Supply, are agreed that the 1947
u meat
William Murphy. Republic branch manager,
situation could be better.
1
has had a varied and much-traveled
! projection line is easing and deliveries
23 years in the film business. As a salesman
)rompter, but carpets and chairs still
for Universal he covered Oklahoma and Kentucky;
he
ard to get, they say.
B compared
managed theatres in Chicago.
with the premium houses on
Kansas City, Birmingham and Rhode Island.
ow, the equipment dealers are well off.
Tj big three of the premium business Saul Trauner. Columbia branch manager,
Tlieatre Premiums, Sidney Ross Thea- has spent all of his 27 years in the film business
selling. He worked for Pathe as well as
(remiums and the Metro Premium Co.
Tcfd to turn down orders for lack of Columbia.
The dishes on their shelves are for Moe Kerman. president of Favorite Films,
y. Few are coming from factories or and head of the Astor Film exchange, started
ig to exhibitors.
as an exhibitor 30 years ago. He assisted
date, most of the premium orders come his father. David Kerman. who operated the
beyond the borders of the metropolitan Kerman Theatres in Brooklyn. For the last
Although exhibitors in the metropolindistrict
25 years Moe Kerman has been a distributor,
are agreed that the lush days organizing the Astor exchange in 1934.
•reaver business still is brisk enough here
'" '"!tpi>ne the day of the premium. TOE FELDER, vice-president of Favorite
ie :rom the exhibitors, those most di- * and Astor, got his first film job more than
--- cincerned with keeping business brisk 30 years ago with William Fox's Greater
ve he ipproximately 600 men and women New York Film Co. He was with Fox until
h(»oik in the New York exchanges. These
on following page)
•re he listrict managers, branch managers,
Sail Tien bookers, clerks, inspectors and
8hi ers who keep 1.150 theatres in the distrir
IN THE PHOTOS
supplied with film.
A quintet of New York's top theatres. From
^nRE \re approximately another 130 men top to bottom: The Radio City Music Hall,
nd vomen employed by the five major largest of the theatres; Roxy, the 20th-Fox
ni ' of the trailer and accessories showca.se; Capitol Theatre, showcase for
ss. Most of them work for the New Loew's; the RKO Palace and the Astor Theatre.
brh:ieh of National Screen Service, but
m.