PONDERS TAFT-HARTLEY WAL

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their
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conditions.
, hour,
, made
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United
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Morris
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Yoimg.
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! will devote his time to real estate . . . Milt
Columbia exploiteer. is recuperating
from an appendectomy in the Graduate hos-
pual.
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. . Jack
. . Marking
found
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PHILADELPHIA
Tl looks as though it will be an inteiestini;
summer theatre season this year in and
sr mnd Philadelphia. Luise Rainer. who
ivMce won the Academy award, will star in
pj lan of Lorraine," Ingrid Bergman's Bruadiw;iy
success, late in the summer. Horror
m.in Bela Lugosl is scheduled for "Arsenic
niid Old Lace" the week of June iO. Paula
jLiiwrence, Iriiia Baranova, and Uta Hagan
jwill be here in "Dark Eyes" July 14.
The Fox has stolen a march on the Calvert
whisky ads for "Miracle on 34th Street." Local
papers are carrying ads with half-column
icuts of folks in and around town reading,
r'Blank Blank Discovers a Miracle." Format
and wording resembles the Calvert ads which
'have attracted so much attention in these
'pnrts. It seems to be paying off pretty well.
"Miracle" replaces "Duel in the Sun" which
closes at the Fox this week. ... A tieup has
been arranged with N. Snellenburg & Co.
for a "Perils of Pauline" fashion show. The
show was held the evening of opening day of
tl.e film—Wednesday.
June 16 marked 30 years in the motion picture
business for George Higginbotham. He
st.irted at the Apollo and is now at Lewen
.Pizor's Tioga . Jaslow has acquired
distribution rights to the first Pale:,tinianfeature,
"The Great Betrayal" . . . Mort
;Magill has resigned as branch manager for
Artists. He came to Philadelphia
Pittsburgh more than ten years ago.
Nemez has sold his interests in the
Ideal and New Empress to Lou Berger. Nemez
Max Miller, public relations man for PRC-
E.igle-Lion. hurried from this city to Washiiifton
to arrange news photos of Frances
Rafferty. star of "Lost Honeymoon." and her
fiance,
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radio singer Bob Stanton, brother of
Dick Haymes. The couple were to have
stopped off for the pictures in the capital on
their way from Los Angeles to New York, but
plane couldn't land because of weather
After circling the airport for an
it moved on to Philadelphia.
The PRC-Eagle-Lion exchange is scheduled
tij move June 30 from its present cramped
quarters to the fifth floor of 1225 "Vine, recently
vacated by 'Warners . its
second change of policy within a month, the
Stanley 'Warner Capitol June 18 began presenting
two B pictures for the price of one
with "Shoot to Kill" and "Hard Boiled M.-,-
honey."
The local staff of the 'War Assets administration
feted retiring director Frank L. Mc-
Namee 'Wednesday with a dinner held at
Palumbia's. McNamee will resume his career
as an exhibitor . . . Ann La Motte.
WIP's "Memory Gal." was in an automobile
accident on her way to New York. She didn't
have enough money along to pay for the repairs
on her car, so she sar.g a couple of
her times to the garage man, who recognized
them and advanced credit.
Burglars Get Too Noisy,
Wind Up in Hoosegow
PHILADELPHIA—Two noisy burglars were
( iptured in the 'Walton Sunday when the
Ticket they made breaking in awakened
•Meepers in nearby apartments. At 3:50 a. m.
a drowsy caller informed police th.it for the
last ten minutes there had been suspiciou':
I oises in the rear of the building. Patrolman
with drawn pistols entered the theatre and
found the thieves crouched under seats.
BOXOFFICE :: June 28, 1947
SMAKWITZ MEETS GLAMOR—Elyse
Knox, who portrays the romantic lead
in Monogram-Allied Artists' "Black Gold,"
is shown with Charles Smakwitz, Albany,
general manager of Warner theatres in
New York state. The occasion was the
press party held at Farmers Market in
Los Ang-eles prior to the screening of the
Cinecolor film. Smakwitz was visiting in
the film capital for a series of conferences
at Warner studios.
Soak-the-Theatres Taxes
Have Exhibitors Worried
PHILADELPHIA — The
soak-the-moviehouse-with-high-license-fess
trend has exhibitors
perturbed. Warner Bros., now asking
that ordinances in Pottstown and AmVler
be voided by Montgomery county courts, is
contending that license fees should be only
nominal. But when they are placed at $1 a
performance, as Ambler is attempting, it
would run to nearly $1,500 a year. In Pottstown,
the borough take, based on the 5 per
cent on admissions being sought, would be
more than $10,000 annually. Ordinances in
both towns previously provided only $100 a
year, but Ambler never even tried to collect
that.
Child Sleeps in Theatre
As Searchers Comb River
PHILADELPHIA—The sandman caught up
with 9-year-old Sandra Kirkwood as she
watched a show in the Riviera.
'When closing time came, she was asleep,
and slumped so low In her seat that nobody
noticed her. Her aunt, with whom she lives,
became alarmed at her failure to return
home, and notified the police.
After a search of the nearby Schuylkill
river banks, the police thought of the theatre.
They summoned Manager Nicholas Fiori who
opened the theatre. Sandra was still asleep.
Discharged Managers
Head Buffalo Union
BUFFALO— In what may be the opening
gun of a nationwide campaign to organize
motion picture theatre managers and assistant
managers, charge of unfair labor practices
have been filed with the New York
Labor Relations board here and aired before
that body by the Motion Picture Theatre
Operating Managers & Assistant Managers
Local 1, unaffiliated.
Richard Miller, discharged as manager of
Basil's Victoria Theatre on April 20. and
James Collins, discharged as manager of
Basil's Apollo Theatre, are president and
secretary respectively of the local which Miller
says is a union of theatre managers and
assistant managers which came into being
with the support of a "New York organization."
Miller said Local 1 was formed on April 10.
ten days before he was discharged. In hearings
before the board he charged he was dismissed
for his union activities.
"They (Basil brothers i out I was
the organizer." Miller said.
The charge of unfair labor practices and
the demand for a collective bargaining election
was aired in a four-day hearing before
the board, which reserved its decision for
about two weeks.
The union was represented by Peter J.
Crotty, highly regarded labor attorney. Basil's
was represented by Attorney Sidney B. Pfeiffer,
well known on Filmrow.
Miller said his union is associated with one
in New York which is battling with three
circuits there. Asked what the union's demands
are. Miller said simply that the present
salary range for managers and assistant
managers is "between $25 and $50 per week "
Patrons Leave Theatres
To See Rubbish Fire
PHILADELPHIA—Sixteen pieces of fire
apparatus and several hundred patrons from
the Stanley and Mastbaum theatres tied up
traffic in center city Sunday night. A pedestrian
discovered a rubbish fire in the small
alleyway behind the Stanley and pulled a box
alarm which brought a host of fire fighters
to the scene. Patrons of the Stanley
and the Mastbaum, on the next corner, attracted
by the noise and bustle, poured from
the theatres to watch firemen extinguish
the blaze. There was no panic or any attempt
to empty the theatres.
Milton Broudy Joins PRC
PHILADELPHIA — MUton Broudy has
joined PRC as salesman in the Scranton territory.
He is a graduate of the University of
Pittsburgh and served in' the army for four
years.
faiC£ MORE MONEY PLAyiNG-
WAHOO
H*neA4C4Mi ^cHe^it ScAee4i Game.
HOLLYWOOD AMUSEMENT COMPANY
831 South Wabash Avenue Chicago, iHinois
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