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I CkiH<br />
OCTOBER 10.<br />
I960<br />
ine tuJac oJ[ Jfie m&ii&n. MctuAe yncuidZ^<br />
Creation of a sales cabinet, to operate throughout the United States as a means of improving<br />
service to exhibitor-customers, was announced this week by 20th Century-Fox. Members,<br />
who will serve under the direction of C. Glenn Morris, general sales manager, are shown<br />
above. Left to right: (seated) Clarence Hill, manager of branch operations; Morris; Martin<br />
Moskowitz, assistant general sales manager; Larry Ayres, assistant in the sales deportment;<br />
(standing) Clayton Pontages, Robert Conn, Peter Myers, Abe Dickstein and Tom McCleaster,<br />
all of whom hove been elevated to the cabinet from branch managerships . . . poge 8.<br />
REVIEW OF<br />
pottog* poKl a« Korwu Ciry, Mo<br />
IM weekly ol 82^ Van Brtui' tanity,<br />
Mo %nd»cm>tton ..i<br />
i3 00 p«r v«ar, Nottonol I ^0<br />
riONAL EXECUTIVE EDITION<br />
Iht SKtiontl Km Pagfi o( All Cdilloni<br />
SPARTACUS<br />
— In This Issue
In The Money-MakingTraditioB<br />
Of 20th's Biggest Hits<br />
GREAT GROSSES FOB<br />
In First Eng<br />
Watch for Chicago and New York openingsL<br />
Call New Orleans, Fort Worth, Baton<br />
Rouge, Shreveport, Galveston,<br />
Corpus Christi, Biloxi, Pensacola,<br />
Jackson, etc., for confirmation! //<br />
OFF YOUR<br />
\<br />
SRO<br />
SIGNIJ<br />
11
'<br />
New<br />
i<br />
BEN<br />
'^^ ^^e o^it/ie l?2(ftwn. T^wt^^Jie //iduAt^<br />
THE NATIONAL FILM WEEKLY<br />
Published In Nine Sectional Editions<br />
SHLYEN<br />
j<br />
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher<br />
DONALD M. MERSEREAU, Associate<br />
Publisher & General Manager<br />
NATHAN COHEN. .Executive Editor<br />
JESSE SHLYEN Managing Editor<br />
HUGH FRAZE Field Editor<br />
AL STEEN Eastern Editor<br />
I'lVAN SPEAR Western Editor<br />
L. THATCHtR. .Equipment Editor<br />
IMORRIS SCHLOZMAN Business Mgr.<br />
II.<br />
Publication Offices; 825 Van Bnint Bltd<br />
Kansas City 24. Mo. Nathan Cohm. Eieciitlve<br />
Edilor; Jesse Shiyfn. Manaeing<br />
Bdltor; Jtnrrls Schlorman. !tii«lnos9 J!ani«er:<br />
Hugh Fraze, Field Fxlltor; I. L.<br />
rhatcher, Editor Ttie Mnrtern Tticatre<br />
Section. Telephone Cllestrait 1-7777.<br />
'Editorial Offices: 45 Rockefeller Daa,<br />
New Vork 20. N. Y. Donald M. Meriereaii.<br />
Associate Publisher & General<br />
Manager: Al Steen. Eastern Editor: Carl<br />
Mos. Eqiilproent Advertising. Telephone<br />
COIumbiis 5-6370.<br />
Central Offices: Edllorlal—920 N. Mlch-<br />
Ifan Ave.. Odcaco 11. 111., Frances B.<br />
Clow. Telephone Superior 7-3072. Advertising—59<br />
East Van Riiren. Louis Uldler,<br />
Telephone tVAbasli 2-2.'?34.<br />
Western Offices: Editorial and Film AdveriU[ns—<br />
(1404 IIoll^^tood Blvd.. Hollywood<br />
-S. Calif. Ivnn Spear, manager. Tele-<br />
[ilwne llOllywood 5-1186. Equipment and<br />
Non-Film Advertising—(172 S. Lafayette<br />
Park. Los Angeles. Calif. Bob Wettsleln.<br />
manager. Telephone DCnklrk 8-2286.<br />
London Office: Anthony Oruner. 1 Woodberry<br />
Way. Flnchley, No. 12. Telephone<br />
Hillside 6733.<br />
The MOnERN TnEATTlB Section Is Included<br />
In the first issue of each month.<br />
Atlanta: Martha Chandler. 101 Walton NW.<br />
Alliany: J. S. Conners. 140 State 8t.<br />
B.iltlmore; George Rrovmlng, St.mley Thea.<br />
Boston: Frances Harding, HU 2-1141<br />
Charlotte: Blanche Carr. 301 8. Church<br />
Cincinnati: Frances Hanford. UNlversIty<br />
1-7180.<br />
Cleveland: Elsie Loeb, WAshlngton 1-<br />
0042. 13700 Shaker Blvd., Apt. 104.<br />
Columhiis: Fred Oestrelcher, 62% W.<br />
North Broadway.<br />
n«llas: Mable Oiilnan, 5927 WInton.<br />
Denver: Bruce Marshall. 2881 8. Cherry<br />
Way.<br />
Des Moines: Buss Schoch. Register-Tribune<br />
Detroit: II. F. Beves. 906 Foi Theatre<br />
Bldg.. woodward 2-1144.<br />
Hartford: Allen M. WIdem. CH 9-8211.<br />
Jacksonville: Robert Cornwall. 1199 Edgewood<br />
Ave.<br />
Memphis: Null Adams, 707 Spring St.<br />
Miami: M.Trtha Lummus, 622 N.E. 98 St.<br />
Milwaukee: Wra. Nichol. 2251 8. Layton.<br />
. Minneapolis: Don Lyons. 72 Glenwood.<br />
Orleans: .Mrs. Jack Auslet. 2268%<br />
St. Claude Ave.<br />
Oklahoma Oty: Sam Brunk, 3416 N. Virginia.<br />
Omaha: Irving Baker, 911 N. Slst St.<br />
Pittsburgh: R. F. Kllngen^mlth. 516 Jeanette.<br />
Wllklnsburg. CHtirchlU 1-2809.<br />
I<br />
vVtland. Ore.: Arnold Marks. Journal.<br />
rrovldence: Wm. Trambiikls. Loevt's State.<br />
M. Louis: Joe & Joan Pollack. 7335<br />
Shaft-sbury, Cnlverslty City, PA 5-7181.<br />
Salt Ijke City: H. Pearson. Peserel News.<br />
San Francisco: Dolores Bnnisch. 25 Taylor<br />
St., ORrdnay 3-4813: Advertising:<br />
Jerry Nowell. 355 Stockton St., YUkon<br />
2-9537.<br />
Washington: Charles Hurley. 306 H. St.<br />
N. W.<br />
In Canada<br />
Montreal: Room 314, 625 Belmont St.,<br />
Jules Larochelle.<br />
3L John: 43 Waterloo, Sam Babb.<br />
Toronto: 1675 Bayvlew Ave., Wlllowdale,<br />
Ont. W. Gladlsh.<br />
Vancouver: 411 Lyric Theatre Bldg. 781<br />
Oramllle St., Jack Droy.<br />
Winnipeg: 300 New llargraves Bldj.,<br />
Kenneth Beach.<br />
Member Audit Bureau of Circulations<br />
Second Class postaM paid at Kansas City,<br />
Mo. Sectional Edition. (3.00 per year.<br />
National Edition, $7.50.<br />
OCTOBER
MPI ACQUIRING FIRST REISSUE<br />
COMBINATION FOR U.S. RELEASE<br />
Deal Being Consummated<br />
With Allied Artists for<br />
Two Feature Films<br />
MEMPHIS— Motion Picture Investors.<br />
Inc.. is acquiring the theatrical licensing<br />
rights in the United States for two Allied<br />
Artists pictures,<br />
'Friendly Persuasion"<br />
and "The Oklahoman."<br />
and will have<br />
them ready for distribution<br />
early in<br />
1961 in its initial<br />
move to bring more<br />
product into the theatre<br />
market.<br />
wisiM<br />
Richard Orear.<br />
president of Commonwealth<br />
Theatres<br />
of Kansas City and a Richard Orear<br />
member of the MPI<br />
board, made this announcement at the<br />
convention of Tri-States Theatres Owners<br />
Ass'n Tuesday i4i. Orear. reporting on the<br />
progress of the organization, declared that<br />
MPI was moving ahead in several areas of<br />
activity aimed at stimulating the production<br />
or reissue of more motion pictures.<br />
PREPARE CAMPAIGN MATERIALS<br />
Preparation of new advertising, new<br />
new paper and other<br />
combination trailers,<br />
campaign materials for the combination<br />
bill is already under way. he said, and<br />
MPI expects to have the first area saturation<br />
for indoor theatres in February. These<br />
initial playdates will be in the Minneapolis.<br />
Des Moines. Omaha. Kansas City and<br />
Oklahoma City<br />
exchange territories which<br />
have worked in cooperative effort before<br />
as the Great Plains Business Builders organization.<br />
A second saturation will be<br />
held early in June for drive-in theatres.<br />
and negotiations are under way for dayand-date<br />
openings in the Los Angeles area.<br />
"Friendly Persuasion." a 1955 release<br />
starring Gary Cooper. Dorothy Maguire.<br />
Marjorie Main and Anthony Perkins, and<br />
"The Oklahoman." a 1957 release with Joel<br />
McCrea and Barbara Hale, will be distributed<br />
through First Division Films. Inc..<br />
which is headed by veteran producer-distributor<br />
Harry Thomas.<br />
NEGOTIATING FOR OTHERS<br />
Orear said other pictures are in the<br />
negotiation stage and releasing plans will<br />
be announced as the deals are completed.<br />
He also said that MPI is working very<br />
closely with officials of the Alpha Co.. an<br />
affiliate of Pathe Film Laboratories, which<br />
recently announced a program of 14 pictures<br />
for its first year of operation. MPI's<br />
president. Walter Reade jr.. is meeting this<br />
week with Gordon Greenfield, president of<br />
the America Corp.. parent company of<br />
both Alpha and Pathe. for further discussion<br />
of possible association by MPI with<br />
the new picture-producing firm.<br />
In its search for reissue combinations<br />
Claim Exhibitor Victory as FCC<br />
Orders Hearing on Pay TV Tests<br />
NEW YORK—The decision last week of<br />
the Federal Communications Commission<br />
hearings on the application for<br />
to hold full<br />
which, properly exploited, can do big business<br />
for exhibitors. MPI has negotiated<br />
with four of the major film companies for<br />
suitable programs. Orear revealed.<br />
"The efforts have been directed toward<br />
attempting to find eight to ten combinations<br />
which could be reissued from each<br />
company, with the hope that from this we<br />
would have 40. or perhaps 50. combinations<br />
per year." he said. However, the<br />
problems encountered were extremely<br />
complex, w'ith the result that the number<br />
of pictm-es which met MPI qualifications<br />
were very few. Not only did negotiators<br />
learn that there is no set pattern for reissues<br />
across the country, and that many<br />
of the desired features were still in release<br />
or had been reissued in certain territories,<br />
but also that the reissue road was<br />
beset with many contractual liabilities.<br />
"For example." said Orear, "we know<br />
that if we are to successfully sell these<br />
reissues we must take advantage of some<br />
of the stars who were lesser names at the<br />
time the pictures were first released and<br />
who have grown in stature and deserve top<br />
billing today. We found we were prevented<br />
from doing this by virtue of the contract<br />
with the original star or, perhaps, the<br />
producer. We encountered producer and<br />
star participation clauses, even to the point<br />
of the original star specifying the size of<br />
type to be used in the ads and the amount<br />
tests of pay TV in Hartford. Conn., was<br />
hailed as a victory for exhibition by Philip<br />
F. Harling. chairman of the Joint Commission<br />
Against Pay TV.<br />
The hearings will be held in Washington<br />
October 24-28 on applications by Zenith<br />
Radio Corp. and RKO General to stage<br />
a three-year test of the Phonevision pay<br />
TV system.<br />
Harling pointed out that the applicants<br />
had. in their Connecticut advertising,<br />
made a point of the claim that they<br />
will present first-run pictures and even<br />
had told the public that they would offer<br />
films of the calibre of "Ben-Hur" and<br />
"Can-Can." These proponents now will<br />
have to testify what they actually will be<br />
able to deliver in return for coins in the<br />
slot. Harling said. He added that their actual<br />
programming would be far less attractive<br />
than their claims and "then the public<br />
will have the opportunity of deciding for<br />
itself whether it will want to pay for actual<br />
programming."<br />
This will be the first time a pay TV<br />
proponent will be subject to cross examination<br />
and testify under oath as to programming<br />
plans. Harling said. He said that<br />
heretofore opponents had no means of<br />
specifically refuting what he termed the<br />
"wild" claims and advertising of the proponents.<br />
Interested parties, including the Connecticut<br />
Committee Against Toll TV and<br />
five Hartford theatres, will be permitted to<br />
participate in the hearings and will have<br />
until December 1 to submit proposed findings.<br />
Final consideration then will be undertaken<br />
by the FCC.<br />
The FCC will take under consideration,<br />
among other points, whether Hartford<br />
viewers would be deprived of programs<br />
that they otherwise would receive gratis,<br />
whether the test would affect competition,<br />
whether the public interest would be<br />
served and whether the test would impair<br />
the free exercise by the station licensee of<br />
discretion necessary to the discharge of its<br />
responsibility to the public.<br />
It was pointed out that anybody wishing<br />
to appear at the hearings should file<br />
a written request by October 10 with the<br />
FCC. stating on whose behalf participation<br />
is sought, the interest of the person<br />
or organization and the amount of time<br />
desired. Marcus Cohn. committee counsel,<br />
will appear for exhibitor interests.<br />
of space to be devoted to the title of the<br />
picture vs. the amount of space to be<br />
devoted to the star's name."<br />
These contractual obligations, he said,<br />
would have been binding on MPI and. in<br />
the opinion of the negotiators, would have<br />
limited the earnings potential of the pictures.<br />
Orear told the convention that while<br />
MPI wholeheartedly endorsed the ACE production<br />
plan, it has been unable to invest<br />
its own funds in the company now being<br />
created under the leadership of S. H.<br />
Fabian. Under the escrow agreement covering<br />
monies to be used for the formation of<br />
the ACE company, only cash or U.S. government<br />
securities could be deposited by<br />
initial participants in the program. Directors<br />
of MPI. however, did not want to<br />
dispose of securities in the company's portfolio<br />
because to do so, at the time ACE<br />
sought MPI participation, could have resulted<br />
in some losses. No other way to invest<br />
in ACE could be found.<br />
Orear. reporting on the growth of MPI.<br />
said the company currently represents approximately<br />
400 shareholders who own or<br />
control nearly 2.000 theatres. MPI. he<br />
added, is filing a new registration with the<br />
Securities and Exchange Commission which<br />
it expects will be approved in about 45<br />
days, when active selling of stock will be<br />
resumed.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
—<br />
Industry Sets Oct. 21<br />
For Democracy Day<br />
NEW YORK—The motion picture industry<br />
has set October 21 as its D-Day<br />
Democracy Day—in its non-partisan campaign<br />
to get out the vote and raise funds<br />
for both major poUtical parties. The<br />
strategy for the campaign was approved<br />
at an organizational meeting attended by<br />
representatives of Motion Picture Ass'n<br />
companies at the MPAA headquarters.<br />
The individual companies will immediately<br />
perfect their internal organizations<br />
to conduct the campaign. The companies,<br />
starting Monday, October 17, will distribute<br />
campaign literature and envelopes<br />
for contributions to employes. During this<br />
week, there will be meetings and appeals to<br />
employes to support the campaign, and the<br />
actual collection of funds will be held on<br />
Friday, October 21.<br />
The sealed envelopes containing the<br />
funds will<br />
be sent to each company treasurer<br />
who. in turn, will send them to MPAA<br />
to turn over, as employes direct, to "Citizens<br />
for Nixon" or "Citizens for Kennedy."<br />
This is the first time that any such plan<br />
was created on an industry-wide basis.<br />
In essence, the campaign aims to reach<br />
every voter in production and distribution<br />
with a strong appeal to exercise his vote,<br />
and to support the party of his choice<br />
with a cash contribution.<br />
Significantly, every contributor's name<br />
and the amount of his offering will be kept<br />
absolutely secret through a double-envelope<br />
method developed at MPAA. No one,<br />
heading up the campaign,<br />
not even those<br />
will know who contributed or how much.<br />
This protection was one of the major points<br />
of agreement at the meeting.<br />
Magna Has $499,698 Net<br />
After Loss of $109,070<br />
NEW YORK—Magna Pictures Corp. reports<br />
a net profit of $499,698 for the six<br />
months ended July 31, 1960, as compared<br />
with a net loss of $109,070 for the six<br />
months of the prior fiscal year, according<br />
to an interim stockholders report issued<br />
by George P. Skouras, president.<br />
Skouras estimates that the results for<br />
the entire year, which will end Jan. 31,<br />
1961, will exceed the results for the past<br />
fiscal year, mainly because of substantial<br />
revenues from "South Pacific." Through<br />
July 31, 1960, total film rentals from distribution<br />
aggregated almost $20,000,000.<br />
These rentals include about $100,000 realized<br />
from distribution of the 35mm version<br />
of the picture in England, which is<br />
only a small portion of the film rentals<br />
expected from this territory, according to<br />
Skouras. The 35mm version of "South Pacific"<br />
is not yet in distribution in the remainder<br />
of foreign territories but will start<br />
in some during the fall.<br />
Magna recently acquired an interest in<br />
a German pictm-e dubbed into English,<br />
which will be released in the U. S. and<br />
Canada, Skouras reported.<br />
Income from film rentals, Interest, etc.,<br />
totaled $2,770,336 for the sixth months of<br />
1960; same period in 1959 it was $4,966,733.<br />
The total of theatres, worldwide, equipped<br />
for the showing of Todd-AO pictures<br />
is close to 300, according to Skouras.<br />
All-Time High in Earnings<br />
Predicted for Universal<br />
NEW YORK—Calling Universal Pictures<br />
"the most valuable asset and greatest<br />
source of income" of Decca Records, the<br />
parent company, Milton R. Rackmil. president<br />
of both companies, estimated Monday<br />
(3) that Universal's earnings from ordinary<br />
operations in the fiscal year to end<br />
October 30 wUl exceed $6,000,000. This will<br />
amount to about $6.80 a share on 888,390<br />
common shares, the highest per-share<br />
earnings in the company's 48-year history.<br />
Rackmil addressed a luncheon of the<br />
New York Society of Security Analysts. He<br />
said that Decca and Universal are in their<br />
strongest financial and operational position<br />
since their organization, and that for<br />
time Universal has no bank debt.<br />
the fu-st<br />
He again refuted rumors of a merger of<br />
the two companies, but said there is cash<br />
on hand for diversification if "something<br />
good" is discovered.<br />
Rackmil estimated that Decca will report<br />
a consolidated net profit including<br />
operations from Universal of more than<br />
$4.25 a share on 1,285,701 shares outstanding,<br />
compared with $1.81 a share in 1959.<br />
Decca owns 777,986 shai-es of Universal,<br />
or 87.6 per cent. Its long-term bank loans<br />
total $4,300,000.<br />
"We have no present intention of disposing<br />
of our post-1948 pictui-es to television<br />
but we are acutely aware of its overall<br />
value to Universal," Rackmil said. "As<br />
of this date, we have approximately 325<br />
post-48 pictures available for TV, a majority<br />
in color. We believe our T'V librai-y of<br />
post-48 pictui-es to be among the most<br />
valuable in the industry because it includes<br />
many star names from both pictures<br />
and TV and has over 50 pictures in<br />
which Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis have<br />
leading roles."<br />
Asked what would happen if all the majors<br />
sold to TV at about the same time,<br />
Rackmil said experience showed that<br />
"waiting will get more money." The company,<br />
he said, still has some unsold pre-<br />
48 pictures. He claimed that the first companies<br />
to sell to TV "missed the boat,"<br />
saying that he got good returns from the<br />
seven-year pre-48 deal with Screen Gems<br />
and had reversion rights.<br />
"We do not need the money now and<br />
Allied Conventioneers<br />
Need Absentee Ballots<br />
NEW YORK—Exhibitors who plan<br />
to attend the annual Allied States<br />
Ass'n convention in Chicago should<br />
arrange to vote in the national elections<br />
via absentee ballots. The convention<br />
is slated for November 6-10. Election<br />
day is November 8. It is reported<br />
that the conflicting dates were not<br />
understood when the conventioo dates<br />
were set.<br />
Allied will hold a joint convention<br />
and stage show with the National Ass'n<br />
of Concessionaires at the Conrad Hilton<br />
Hotel on those dates.<br />
Milton R. Rackmil, left, president<br />
of Decca Records and Universal Pictures,<br />
with William Kabash, chairman<br />
of the meeting of the New York Society<br />
of Security Analysts.<br />
we will get more later." Rackmil said. "We<br />
would not lease in bulk but on an orderly<br />
basis for greatest return. I believe the<br />
others have learned to do the same."<br />
In response to questions, Rackmil said<br />
that toll TV was "still some way off,"<br />
but he expected it to materialize. He did<br />
not know "how, when, where" and how it<br />
would be serviced and if it would prove<br />
profitable. He said he "would sit by and<br />
wait for those questions to be answered."<br />
"I am now preparing product for the<br />
theatres," Rackmil said. "They are the<br />
great market. If pay TV comes along, then<br />
I will take advantage of it."<br />
Rackmil also said the development of<br />
new screen talent was a problem because<br />
with fewer pictures being made, fewer<br />
personalities are needed. He believed there<br />
will always be enough new faces.<br />
A new compact, flexible Universal organization<br />
in two years has produced and<br />
released six pictures that have grossed<br />
more money for the company than any<br />
comparable pictures in its history. Rackmil<br />
said. Two of them, "Pillow Talk" and<br />
"Operation Petticoat," will be among the<br />
top grossers. In fiscal 1960. Universal will<br />
release 21 films, and about the same number<br />
in 1961.<br />
However, there will be a greater percentage<br />
of big pictures released in 1961. includiiig<br />
"Midnight Lace." "The Grass Is<br />
Greener." "Day of the Gun," "Come September,"<br />
"Back Street, " "The Great Im-<br />
Doslor." "Romanoff & Juliet." "The Sixth<br />
Man" and "The Secret Ways." All are<br />
ready for release.<br />
In preparation are "Flower Drum Song,"<br />
"The Spiral Road." "The Executioner."<br />
"The Colonel's Lady." an untitled property<br />
to star Cai-y Grant. "The Ugly American,"<br />
"Lover Come Back" and "The Chalk Garden."<br />
Discussing "Spartacus." Rackmil called<br />
the picture "really a business in itself." He<br />
predicted it will be one of the greatest<br />
grossing pictures "of all time" and a continuing<br />
source of revenue for many years.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
1<br />
i<br />
I<br />
UNIVERSAL proudly announce! i<br />
in a Ross Hunter-CarroUton Productio<br />
also starring-A yJ 3^J "^VtS J i| ji IJ lyi LhJ ^I ^g>^ as "Liz Saxori<br />
VIRGINIA GREY • REGINALD GARDINE<br />
Directed by David Miller • Produced by Ross Huntei
le<br />
start of production:<br />
SMIMd^MM<br />
Fannie Hurst's<br />
In Eastman COLOR<br />
A UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL RELEASE<br />
Coaranteed
'Sales Cabinet' Created<br />
By 20th Century-Fox<br />
NEW YORK—Twentieth Century-Fox<br />
has set up a "sales cabinet" as a second<br />
step in the company's<br />
expanded program of<br />
providing increased<br />
service to its exhibitor<br />
customers. C. Glenn<br />
Norris. general sales<br />
manager, outlined the<br />
new setup to the<br />
tra depress at a meetin;;<br />
in the home office<br />
Monday (3).<br />
In the wake of<br />
2 t h-P o X 's local<br />
C. Glenn Norris autonomy system,<br />
created last year.<br />
Norris has appointed six members of the<br />
sales organization to the cabinet and they<br />
will operate throughout the United States<br />
under Norris" direction.<br />
CONSISTS OF FIVE MEMBERS<br />
Norris said the sales cabinet would consist<br />
of five men who will be promoted to<br />
the new- posts from their present positions.<br />
They are Robert Conn. Chicago branch<br />
manager: Abe Dickstein, New York branch<br />
manager; Tom McCleaster. Dallas branch<br />
manager: Peter Myers, managing director<br />
of 20th-Fox of Canada, and Clayton Pantages,<br />
branch manager in Albany. Each of<br />
these men, with the exception of Myers,<br />
will be replaced in his branch, with the<br />
announcement of the successors to be<br />
made shortly. The group, along with Martin<br />
Moskowitz. assistant general sales<br />
manager, will comprise the sales cabinet.<br />
The cabinet was designed to give better<br />
service to exhibitors, Norris said, and was<br />
instituted to strengthen the local autonomy<br />
system. He said it would function as<br />
the eyes, ears and tongue of the production,<br />
distribution, advertising, publicity<br />
and general merchandising branches of<br />
the company and would provide new sales<br />
service techniques for its customers.<br />
TO DETERMINE SALES POLICIES<br />
The sales cabinet will determine, with<br />
Norris, what sales policy will be adopted<br />
for each release and this information will<br />
be disseminated to the autonomous<br />
branches. Each of the cabinet members<br />
will be available for discussion and consultation<br />
anywhere in the nation and will<br />
be able to give the benefit of his experience<br />
in home office discussions to the branch<br />
managers and. through them, to exhibitors.<br />
Each member of the cabinet, with the<br />
exception of Pantages. will have a geographical<br />
area of responsibility. Conn, who<br />
will have his headquarters in New York,<br />
will service the midwest: Dickstein, also<br />
in New York, will service the eastern part<br />
of the United States, and McCleaster and<br />
Myers will remain in the Dallas and Toronto<br />
branches, respectively, in order to<br />
service the southern and western portions<br />
of the U. S. and the Canadian offices.<br />
Pantages' responsibilities will be directed<br />
toward promotion and sales<br />
campaigns of<br />
product requiring special handling, or socalled<br />
exploitation pictures He also will<br />
60 Pictures From 20fh-Fox<br />
Scheduled for Next Year<br />
NEW YORK — Approximately 60<br />
pictures will be released by 20th Century-Fox<br />
in 1961. Glenn Norris, general<br />
sales manager, told the tradepress<br />
Monday i3>. He said the schedule,<br />
which now is<br />
being prepared, was the<br />
most ambitious from the standpoint<br />
of number and investment in the history<br />
of the company. At least three<br />
major pictures will be released every<br />
month, he said. The 60-figure does not<br />
include the supers such as "Cleopatra"<br />
and "The Greatest Story Ever Told."<br />
coordinate the company's saturation openings<br />
and will work closely with Charles<br />
Einfeld, vice-president, and Rodney Bush,<br />
exploitation director, and members of Einfeld's<br />
staff. Pantages will operate out of<br />
New York.<br />
In praising the new appointees. Norris<br />
said "all of these men are tried and true<br />
distribution heads, any one of whom could<br />
comfortably sit in the general sales manager's<br />
chair at 20th Century-Fox."<br />
Set a 'Limited Performance'<br />
Policy for 35mm 'Can-Can'<br />
NEW YORK—A "limited performance"<br />
policy for "Can-Can" has been instituted<br />
by 20th Century-Fox under which the attraction<br />
will be available in every town<br />
in the United States, no matter how small,<br />
for a series of only three or four performances.<br />
Prints used in these instances will<br />
be 35mm.<br />
This was revealed Tuesday (4) by<br />
Charles Einfeld, vice-president, at the second<br />
of a series of national merchandising<br />
meetings among advertising-publicity representatives<br />
and the company's newly<br />
formed "sales cabinet."<br />
Under the innovation for "Can-Can,"<br />
Einfeld said that for at least those performances,<br />
everyone in the country will<br />
have an opportunity to see the picture, even<br />
though it will continue in its roadshow engagements.<br />
Einfeld said that "Esther and the King"<br />
would be introduced via a national beauty<br />
contest in every town, coordinated by exhibitors<br />
and 20th-Fox regional field men.<br />
The contest will be open to any girl, regardless<br />
of race, creed or color and the<br />
first prize will be an expense-paid tenday<br />
trip to Israel, for two. The picture is<br />
a Christmas release.<br />
For "The Wizard of Baghdad," another<br />
Christmas release, local level activities<br />
will center around local magicians<br />
who will tour their areas and perform on<br />
stages.<br />
For the bow of "North to Alaska," a<br />
young couple will be engaged to emulate<br />
the trip to Alaska to be married as shown<br />
in the picture.<br />
SEC Issues Stop Order<br />
On Skiatron Stock Sale<br />
WASHINGTON—In a long expected decision,<br />
the Securities and Exchange Commission<br />
has issued a stop order suspending<br />
Skiatron Electronics & Television Corp.'s<br />
registration for the sale of securities. The<br />
decision was accompanied by a censuring<br />
of two of the company's executives whose<br />
financial operations were said to be out of<br />
line with the Securities & Exchange Commission<br />
Act. The two executives were<br />
Matthew Fox and Arthur Levey.<br />
The order suspended Skiatron's SEC<br />
registration and prohibited any sales of<br />
securities held by the company, its officers<br />
and other individuals, including Fox. It<br />
stated that Levey had sold or disposed of<br />
Skiatron shares in excess of 200,000 for<br />
more than $1,000,000 without compliance<br />
with SEC registration and disclo-sure requirements<br />
and that 75,000 shares which<br />
Fox bought from Levey were dispo.sed of<br />
immediately in violation of SEC rules.<br />
The greatest omission, the SEC noted,<br />
was the failure of the registration statement<br />
to show the large amount of money<br />
needed to establish a pay TV system and<br />
that neither Skiatron nor Fox's Skiatron<br />
of America, Inc., had the required resources.<br />
Following the decision of the SEC Monday.<br />
Fox issued a statement to the effect<br />
that because of a confusion in names, it<br />
was important to make clear that his firm,<br />
Tolvision of America, Inc.. had no corporate<br />
connection with Skiatron Electronics &<br />
Television Corp. other than that Tolvision<br />
was the licensee of Skiatron and was<br />
obliged to pay royalties to Skiatron when<br />
the Tolvision system of subscription television<br />
began to yield revenue.<br />
The SEC had ordered a suspension in<br />
the trading of Skiatron stock on Dec. 1,<br />
1959.<br />
National Allied's Board<br />
Ratifies W. Pa. Re-entry<br />
MILWAUKEE—The national board of<br />
Allied States Ass'n of Motion Picture Exhibitors<br />
unanimously ratified the re-entry<br />
of the Western Pennsylvania unit to full<br />
status in National Allied, it was announced,<br />
by Ben Marcus, chairman of the board.<br />
Western Pennsylvania is one of the<br />
largest and strongest links in Allied and<br />
has always been one of Allied's staunchest<br />
units. From the ranks of this unit. Marcus<br />
pointed out, came some of the great exhibitor<br />
leaders—M. A. Rosenberg, who became<br />
national president of Allied and Fred<br />
Harrington, its able secretary who for<br />
many years guided the unit through many<br />
stormy sessions in the state legislature.<br />
Al Cohan, MGM Publicist,<br />
Boston Air Crash Victim<br />
NEW YORK—Alfred Cohan, a member<br />
of the MGM homeoffice publicity and advertising<br />
department since November 1958,<br />
was among those killed in the crash of an<br />
Eastern Airlines plane in Boston harbor<br />
Tuesday evening.<br />
Prior to joining MGM, Cohan, who was<br />
39 years old, was a publicist with Universal<br />
for five years and a promotion manager<br />
for American Broadcasting Co. He<br />
had just started a three-week, nine-city<br />
tour to set campaigns for "Butterfield 8."<br />
8<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
ki^m^'^-<br />
Kirk Douglas (left) as Spartacus ... At right, he leads his army of 8,000 in spectacular battle against Romans.<br />
FEATURE REVIEW<br />
SPARTACUS'<br />
Universal - International<br />
By FRANK LEYENDECKER<br />
pOR THE sheer magnificence, power and<br />
realism of its tremendously populated<br />
battle sequences and the outstanding portrayals<br />
by its multi-starred cast, "Spartacus"<br />
has rarely, if ever, been equalled in<br />
this Cinemascope era when Biblical-historical<br />
epics are becoming commonplace.<br />
As one of the most widely publicized productions<br />
of recent years, the picture has<br />
terrific marquee power, for class patrons,<br />
action fans and teenagers, alike, thus insuring<br />
boxoffice returns of "blockbuster" proportions.<br />
Heralded as the "most expensive<br />
picture ever made in Hollywood," the<br />
Bryna $12,000,000 production is certainly<br />
far more costly and spectacular than<br />
Universal's famed epics like "Phantom of<br />
the Opera," "Foolish Wives," et al.<br />
More important, the screenplay by Dalton<br />
Trumbo, based on the best-selling<br />
novel by Howard Past, is the first to spotlight<br />
the rebellion of the gladiator Spartacus<br />
agahist the imperial dictatorship of<br />
the Roman Empire in the last century before<br />
the Christian era, thus such sequences<br />
as the training and "to-the-death" battles<br />
of the gladiator slaves will be a fresh and<br />
fascinating sight for epic-jaded patrons.<br />
Stanley Kubrick, the young director who<br />
attracted attention with "Paths of Glory"<br />
and three previous low-budget films, comes<br />
thi'ough superbly with his first major assignment<br />
to which he brings an imaginative<br />
approach, especially in his splendid<br />
handling of battle scenes, which .surpass<br />
even those of the memorable "Hem-y V"<br />
for authenticity, horrendous slaughter and<br />
gore. Kubrick also uses closeups to great<br />
effect in many of the more intimate scenes<br />
and he permits the camera to focus on<br />
some human interest bits, as exemplified<br />
by ci-ying children or patient elderly folk<br />
among the followers of Spartacus' gladiator<br />
army.<br />
Filmed in Super Technirama-70 with<br />
lenses by Panavision, the pictorial vistas,<br />
mostly filmed in the California desert<br />
terrain, are breath-taking in their scenic<br />
splendor, as is the vast battle action .sequence,<br />
employing 8,000 members of the<br />
Universol-Internotional<br />
"SPARTACUS"<br />
A Bryna Production<br />
presents<br />
Super Techniranna-70, Lenses by Ponaviston<br />
In Technicolor<br />
Running Time; 189 minutes, plus 13 minutes<br />
intermission<br />
CREDITS<br />
Produced by Edward Lewis. Kirk Douglas, executive<br />
producer. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.<br />
Screenplay by Oalton Trumbo. Based<br />
on o novel by Howard Fast. Music composed<br />
and conducted by Alex North. Photography,<br />
Russell Metty, A.S.C. Production designer, Alexander<br />
Golitzen. Art director, Eric Orbom. Set<br />
decorations, Russell A. Gousmon and Julio<br />
Heron. Mom titles and design consultant, Saul<br />
Boss. Production aide, Stan Margulies. Historical<br />
and technical odviser, Vittono Nino<br />
Novarese. Additionol scenes photographed by<br />
Cliftord Stine, A.S.C. Wordrobe by Peruzzi.<br />
Costumes by Valles, Miss Simmons' costumes<br />
by Bill Thomos. Film editor, Robert Lawrence-<br />
Makeup, Bud Westmore. Unit production manager,<br />
Norman Deming. Assistant director, Morshall<br />
Green.<br />
THE CAST<br />
Spartacus Kirk Oouglos<br />
Crossus Laurence Olivier<br />
Vorinio Jean Simmons<br />
Gracchus Charles Laughton<br />
Botiatu.s Peter Ustinov<br />
Caesar John Govin<br />
Antoninus Tony Curtis<br />
Helena<br />
Nina Foch<br />
Tigrones Herbert Lom<br />
Cnxus John Ireland<br />
Globrus John Dall<br />
and Charles McGrow, Joanna Barnes, Harold<br />
J. Stone, Woody Strode, Peter Brocco, Frederic<br />
Worlock, John Hoyt, Paul Lombert, Robert<br />
J. Wilke, Nicholas Dennis and Doyton Lummis,<br />
Spanish Amiy, made on the plains near<br />
Madrid. The photography by Russell Metty<br />
is exceptional throughout and the impressive<br />
musical score, composed and conducted<br />
by Alex North, rates Academy Award<br />
consideration. The picture was produced by<br />
Edward Lewis with Douglas as executive<br />
producer for his own company, B:-yna.<br />
However, it is in its histrionic superiority<br />
that "Spartacus" really shines, particularly<br />
in the great performances by three of Britain's<br />
finest, Sir Laurence Olivier, Charles<br />
Laughton and Peter Ustinov. Olivier,<br />
whose U. S. fame has been increasing since<br />
his Shakespearean films, his 1960 TV spectacular,<br />
"The Moon and Sixpence," which<br />
won him an Emmy Award, and his current<br />
"The Entertainer." is handsome, suave and<br />
aristocratic as the powerful Marcus Crassus<br />
and, of course, his diction and delivery<br />
are impeccable. Laughton, as the oily,<br />
scheming Gracchus, political leader of<br />
Rome, and Ustinov, as the grasping yet<br />
likable Batiatus, head of the gladiator<br />
school, are equally fine and thoroughly<br />
convincing in their B. C. period costumes.<br />
In addition, both Laughton and Ustinov<br />
add down - to - earth, faintly humorous<br />
touches so necessary to the enjoyment of<br />
a predominantly dramatic tale.<br />
Also from England is Jean Simmons,<br />
who is beautiful and touching as the slave<br />
heroine. Kirk Douglas is impressive in the<br />
title role and he and Miss Simmons make<br />
the most of the film's rare romantic moments.<br />
Tony Curtis, in a guest appearance<br />
as Antoninus, also a slave, and John Gavin,<br />
as the youthful Julius Caesar, are as capable<br />
as they are personable and it is these<br />
two, favorites of the younger fans, who will<br />
guarantee a huge teenage audience. Nina<br />
Foch. as a selfish patrician: Herbert Lom,<br />
as a crafty pirate king, and John Ireland<br />
and Woody Strode, as gladiatoi-s, make impressions<br />
in their briefer dramatic moments<br />
but John Dall is merely adequate as<br />
the ineffectual Glabrus, commander of the<br />
Rome garrison. Trumbo and Kubrick pull<br />
no punches in depicting the stran°e romantic<br />
leanings of the ancient Greeks but<br />
these scenes have been handled tastefully<br />
and will offend no one.<br />
"Spartacus" is a magnificently filmed,<br />
action-packed spectacle highlighted by<br />
outstanding portrayals, adding up to<br />
strong boxoffice.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
—<br />
A^ Positive Approach to An_Attack<br />
Feature Gets '2nd Chance<br />
In Answer to Criticism of 1st Playdate<br />
DENVER — "Conspiracy of Hearts." a<br />
drama about a group of nuns during World<br />
War II who helped Jewish children escape<br />
from a Nazi concentration camp, opened<br />
at the Ogden Theatre here Sunday i9i<br />
for a three-day showing.<br />
That in itself is a routine trade announcement,<br />
but behind the booking is the<br />
story of a theatre circuit's willingness to<br />
meet the challenge of criticism head-on<br />
and do something constructive about it<br />
and a test of a community's readiness to<br />
support a motion picture which offers good<br />
wholesome entertainment for family viewing.<br />
About a month ago, "Conspiracy of<br />
Hearts" was booked into one of the Fox<br />
Intermountain Circuit theatres as a second<br />
feature to "It Started in Naples." The<br />
manner in which it was exhibited drew<br />
immediate criticism in the Catholic Register,<br />
an important national publication<br />
printed here—not only for the use of inappropriate<br />
and misleadiiig catchlines in<br />
advertising copy but for the theatre's failure<br />
to properly inform the public that a<br />
fine motion picture was being played. By<br />
underplaying the picture, the newspaper<br />
charged, a fine film was undersold to the<br />
general public, and implied that the short<br />
run had cut off a potential and appreciative<br />
audience.<br />
When Robert W. Selig, president of Fox<br />
Intermountain. read the rebuke, he met<br />
immediately with the editors of the Register<br />
"to acknowledge our shoi-tcomings"<br />
and to admit that poor judgment had<br />
been used in the advertising copy.<br />
As a result, the picture is being given<br />
"a second chance." It has been booked<br />
into the Ogden Theatre as a single-feature<br />
attraction, new advertising materials<br />
AA Nets at $1240,538<br />
After Loss in 1959<br />
HOLLYWOOD—A net profit of $1,240.-<br />
538 for the fiscal year ended July 2 was<br />
reported by Allied Artists Corp.. compared<br />
with a loss of $262,499 for the previous<br />
year. Steve Broidy. president, explained<br />
the net profit before taxes amounted to<br />
$1,615,000. including $325,000 representing<br />
income from allocation to expected television<br />
revenue.<br />
Due to credits for carry forward of prior<br />
years' losses, no provision was made for<br />
federal income taxes for the current year.<br />
However, because of possible additional income<br />
taxes of prior years, the present tax<br />
reserve was increased during the year by<br />
$375,000.<br />
The current year's net profit of $1,240.-<br />
538 amounted to $1.33 per common share<br />
outstanding, after dividends on the preferred<br />
stock. This compares with a loss<br />
35 cents per common share a year ago.<br />
Total gross income for<br />
the current year<br />
was $16,296,000, as compared with $15.-<br />
365.000 in 1959.<br />
of<br />
Limit ACE Solicitation<br />
in Denver Of Production Funds<br />
have been created, and the circuit has provided<br />
full-scale first-run campaigning for<br />
the playdate. The Register has recognized<br />
the sincerity of the Fox Intermountain<br />
management in returning the picture to<br />
Denver as a gesture of goodwill and as an<br />
example of the top-flight showmanship for<br />
which the circuit is known in the area.<br />
Several articles have been published, not<br />
only urging the community to support the<br />
return date, but praising Selig's role i'l<br />
the venture.<br />
"Need it be said that he could very well<br />
have taken an indifferent attitude not uncommon<br />
in our society today." said the<br />
Register. "Happily, this did not occur and<br />
the reason is that Selig is representative<br />
of an industry that is willing to listen to<br />
the complaints of its customers as well as<br />
to their plaudits."<br />
For Selig. the circuit's action serves to<br />
demonstrate a point he made at the recent<br />
convention of Theatre Owners of<br />
America. "We must maintain active and<br />
continuing contacts with all media at all<br />
times. We must not permit criticism nnd<br />
challenge—whether we're guilty or not—to<br />
go unattended.<br />
"The replay of 'Conspiracy of Hearts' and<br />
whatever boxoffice results it brings is secondai-y<br />
to the issue. Important is this example<br />
of meeting head-on our problems<br />
and trying to turn them into opportunities."<br />
To this. Selig added: "Please do not interpret<br />
any of this as a flaunting of our<br />
own accomplishments. It is bad enough<br />
that we exercised poor judgment in the<br />
first place in attempting to arouse patron<br />
motivation in the selling of a second picture<br />
through the device of misleading<br />
catchlines."<br />
Allied States May Bypass<br />
Picking 'Name' Executive<br />
CHICAGO—A "name" executive to head<br />
up Allied States Ass'n may be bypassed<br />
in favor of a capable business manager<br />
to be assisted by a public relations expert<br />
when the Allied board of directors meets<br />
here prior to the annual convention at<br />
the Conrad Hilton Hotel next month.<br />
Abram F. Myers will continue as the<br />
association's legal advisor but will not<br />
hold the post of chairman of the board.<br />
A board chaii-man. it was reported here,<br />
will be selected from the membership.<br />
Al Schwalberg had been mentioned as<br />
a possible Allied chief, but he has announced<br />
that he would not be available. It<br />
is<br />
understood that many Allied leaders believe<br />
that an executive of his calibre would<br />
be necessaiT-<br />
'Susan Blade' Bought by Warners<br />
HOLLYWOOD — "Susan Slade." di'amatic<br />
novel by Doris Hume, has been acquh-ed<br />
by Warner Bros., with Delmer Daves assigned<br />
to produce, write and direct. Troy<br />
Donahue will have one of the starring roles.<br />
NEW YORK—American Congress of Exhibitors<br />
is limited in the number of solicitations<br />
of funds within the motion picture<br />
industry for the financing of its proposed<br />
production program. The maximum number<br />
of investments ACE can accept from<br />
within the industry has not beien disclosed<br />
but it is understood that the limit has not<br />
yet been reached.<br />
Solicitations outside of the industry or of<br />
segments affiliated indirectly with it cannot<br />
be made until after the Securities and<br />
Exchange Commission has approved the<br />
prospectus of the production financing<br />
plan. The prospectus now is in preparation<br />
and will have to be approved first by the<br />
ACE executive committee before it is sent<br />
to the SEC.<br />
Meanwhile, it is learned that several<br />
undei-writing firms are interested in handling<br />
stock sales if, and when, shares are<br />
offered to the public.<br />
The ACE office in New York has received<br />
a large number of scripts and<br />
screen-plays from writers and agents for<br />
consideration. ACE executives are said to<br />
be particularly interested In one of the<br />
scripts.<br />
An industry leader, now under contract<br />
to a major company, is reported to be a<br />
favorite to take over the top executive post<br />
the ACE production program. No deci-<br />
of<br />
sion has been reached, but a decision may<br />
have to be reached shortly because tentative<br />
plans call for the start of the first<br />
production early in 1961.<br />
Friday Set as Deadline<br />
For Pay TV Signatures<br />
NEW YORK—Exhibitors will have until<br />
next Friday il4i to solicit public signatures<br />
for congressional petitions urging<br />
the legislative outlawing of pay TV. according<br />
to Philip P. Harling. chairman of the<br />
Joint Committee Against Pay TV. By that<br />
date, he said, the nation's exhibitors will<br />
have had six weeks to collect signatures<br />
and the six-week period should be sufficient<br />
to do the job.<br />
Harling said the unified response to the<br />
appeal had been beyond all expectations.<br />
He said his office and those of Theatre<br />
Owners of America and American Congress<br />
of Exhibitors had been flooded with telegrams,<br />
letters and telephone calls asking<br />
for more petitions. He said it appeared to<br />
him that every theatre manager in the<br />
country had indicated a willingness to do<br />
everything possible to do an all-out job.<br />
"We started off by printing 100.000 petitions."<br />
Harling said. "Due to the great<br />
demand, we printed 100.000 more and distributed<br />
them. The results are far from<br />
final, but I am confident that when Congress<br />
convenes in January, regardless of<br />
which party is elected, that it will have<br />
signatures in excess of 30.000.000 people<br />
laying down a mandate to enact legislation<br />
that will ban pay TV in any form."<br />
Harling said he was asking the nation's<br />
theatre managers to mail whatever remaining<br />
signed petitions they had on hand<br />
after October 14 to their- congressman and<br />
to report to him how many petitions were<br />
forwarded. However, if any exhibitor has<br />
his own reasons for continuing signature<br />
solicitation after October 14. he should do so.<br />
10<br />
BOXOFHCE October 10, 1960
1 5 1 but<br />
even<br />
20th<br />
Columbia in New Deal<br />
With George Sidney<br />
HOLLYWOOD—A new releasing deal<br />
has been entered Into by Columbia Pictures<br />
with George Sidney Productions,<br />
Inc., it was disclosed by Samuel J. Briskin,<br />
Columbia's vice-president in charge of<br />
west coast activities, who said that the<br />
new deal would commence upon expiration<br />
of Sidney's cui'rent contract with the<br />
company which ends in the spring of 1962.<br />
Under the new pact, Sidney will direct<br />
as well as produce the pictures made by his<br />
independent production company with<br />
Lillian Burns as coproducer.<br />
Three films remain to be made for Columbia<br />
by the Sidney outfit under the current<br />
contract. They are "The Diamond<br />
Bikini," for which Dorothy Kingsley is now<br />
preparing the screenplay; "Return Fare,"<br />
based on the Jean Kolar novel, for which<br />
Orin Jannings is penning the script, and<br />
"Here Come the Brides," for which N.<br />
Richard Nash is preparing the screenplay.<br />
Now being readied for world premiere<br />
roadshow engagement openings at Christmas<br />
time is "Pepe," the George Sidney<br />
International - Posa Films Internacional<br />
production for Columbia, which stars Cantinflas,<br />
Dan Dailey, Shirley Jones and 35<br />
international stars appearing as themselves.<br />
In the new agreement, the Sidney company<br />
will deliver fom- pictures for Columbia<br />
release. Sidney will helm a minimum of<br />
five of the seven pictures on his future<br />
slate.<br />
Showcorporation Adding<br />
New Selling Areas<br />
NEW YORK—Showcorporation's playoff<br />
of "Man in a Cocked Hat" has resulted<br />
in the expansion of the company's<br />
selling force, according to C. Robert Manby,<br />
president.<br />
The current list of representatives includes:<br />
Ed Ruff in New England; Herb<br />
Bregstein's Beverly Pictm-es on the west<br />
coast and Nat Sanders in the south. Newly<br />
added are; Bob O'Donnell's Empire Pictures<br />
in the southwest; Jack Jaslow in<br />
Pennsylvania, Max Westebbe in upper New<br />
York and Hazelton-Dynes in the Minnesota<br />
region, Manby said.<br />
In addition to "Man in a Cocked Hat,"<br />
"Next to No Time," "The Poacher's<br />
Daughter" and "The Man Who Wouldn't<br />
Talk," British-made pictures already in<br />
release by Showcorporation, the company<br />
will also release "Behind the Mask," in<br />
color, starring Sir Michael Redgrave, in<br />
October and "Home Is the Hero," Irish<br />
picture starring Arthur Kennedy, in November.<br />
Joins MGM Home Office<br />
NEW YORK—Herbert J. Bennin, manager<br />
of MGM's Washington branch for the<br />
past seven years, will join the MGM sales<br />
executive staff at the home office, working<br />
with Maurice Lefko. who is in charge<br />
of domestic distribution of "Ben-Hur," according<br />
to Robert Mochrie. Bennin, who<br />
has been with MGM for 32 years, had<br />
previously worked with the Milwaukee and<br />
St. Louis MGM branches.<br />
Cq"» Distribution Methods Obsolete'<br />
Centralized Selling Plan<br />
Advocated by Preminger<br />
NEW YORK—The cunent industry system<br />
of selling pictures "is obsolete and<br />
s h o u 1 d be overhauled,"<br />
according to<br />
Otto Preminger, producer<br />
of "Exodus,"<br />
which will be distributed<br />
by United Artists<br />
on a roadshow<br />
basis, starting late in<br />
1960.<br />
Preminger advocated<br />
the closing of<br />
all branch offices<br />
and handling the important<br />
bookings<br />
Otto Preminger<br />
from the New York<br />
home office, "where most of them are<br />
made anyway," he stated. The producer<br />
called the cross-country branches "dead<br />
wood" and advocated centralized distribution<br />
by holding New York showings which<br />
the important exhibitors can attend (even<br />
Cahfornia is now only four and one -half<br />
hours' plane trip away from New York, he<br />
said) and sending out field men who have<br />
seen the pictures to sell the smaller theatremen<br />
who "can't or don't want to attend<br />
the New York theatre showings."<br />
Preminger mentioned that the film industry<br />
is behind all other businesses in this<br />
respect and exemplified that fashion buyers<br />
always attend New York seasonal<br />
showings and then return to their territories<br />
full of enthusiasm for the new line.<br />
NEED TO REDUCE COSTS<br />
Preminger predicted that this centralized<br />
system of selling will come about<br />
when several "enterprising producers get<br />
together and form their own distribution<br />
organization" and thus cut down on today's<br />
exorbitant distribution costs. He<br />
mentioned that the average $2,000,000 picture<br />
today cannot break even until it<br />
grosses $5,500,000, due to the cost of advertising,<br />
publicity, selling, prints and<br />
"even luncheons and telephone calls"<br />
charged against the picture.<br />
The producer said that today William J.<br />
Heineman, Rube Jackter and other sales<br />
heads get on the phone and close the important<br />
key city bookings and that the<br />
salesmen in the branches, most of whom<br />
haven't even seen the pictures they are<br />
trying to sell, are "so much dead wood"<br />
who get nowhere in the way of terms, etc.<br />
He said that about 25 field men full of<br />
enthusiasm after seeing the picture in New<br />
York could go out and do a much better<br />
job of selling to local exhibitors.<br />
Another reason for the New York or key<br />
city showings for exhibitors is to let them<br />
see the picture under ideal conditions of<br />
projection and sound. In this way, there<br />
will be competition, as at an auction of<br />
paintings. Preminger suggested. In this<br />
way, too, exhibitors might realize that<br />
their theatres are run-down and be induced<br />
to modernize or refurbish them, he<br />
said.<br />
Preminger went to<br />
Chicago Wednesday<br />
1<br />
not to visit the branch offices<br />
there, which "are located on one rundown<br />
slum street where no people live any<br />
more and only one company Century-Pox<br />
i has a projection room."<br />
Instead, he will meet with newspaper and<br />
radio-TV representatives, who will spread<br />
the news about "Exodus. " However, he did<br />
suggest that the local angle will improve<br />
small-town selling of any picture.<br />
"The small-town exhibitors who cannot<br />
attend New York showings will read about<br />
the current pictures in the tradepapers<br />
anyway," Preminger said.<br />
Although "Exodus" was fUmed entirely<br />
in Israel and Cyprus, Preminger is no advocate<br />
of "runaway production" and will<br />
film his next three pictures, "Bunny Lake<br />
Is Missing," to start for Columbia release<br />
in March; "Advise and Consent," to start<br />
next fall for UA release, and "The Side of<br />
the Angels," the recently acquired novel by<br />
Alexander Federoff, to start later in 1961,<br />
in America.<br />
UPHOLDS HIGH SALARIED STARS<br />
He also scoffed at the current complaints<br />
by industry leaders about the rising<br />
production costs due to the high salary<br />
demands of top stars. "If I had a story<br />
which I felt was ideal for Elizabeth Taylor,<br />
I would pay her the $1,000,000 salary because<br />
I would be assured of getting it back<br />
in big grosses," Preminger said.<br />
Preminger showed a rough-cut of "Exodus"<br />
to United Artists executives Monday<br />
(.101 and, of course, "they were enthusiastic."<br />
He mentioned that the picture<br />
runs for three hours and 31 minutes, plus<br />
intermission, and that the Warner Theatre<br />
in New York already has "over $500,000"<br />
in advance ticket sales. The boxoffice will<br />
open October 30 with tickets available<br />
through December 1961.<br />
'Immoral Miss Hansen' Is<br />
New Title for AIP Film<br />
NEW YORK—American International<br />
Pictures will distribute the British-made<br />
feature, "The Rough and the Smooth,"<br />
under the new title of "The Immoral Miss<br />
Hansen," and have set the release for November<br />
1960. "Goliath and the Dragon,"<br />
a fantasy in color starring Mark Forest<br />
and Broderick Crawford, will also be released<br />
late in November.<br />
"Konga." another British-made picture<br />
in color, has been set back for release in<br />
January 1961.<br />
London Date for 'Pepe'<br />
LONDON — "Pepe." the George Sidney<br />
International-Posa Films production starring<br />
Cantinflas. has been booked into the<br />
Colmnbia Theatre for a February 13 opening<br />
date. The world premiere is scheduled<br />
for the Criterion Theatre, New York City.<br />
December 21 on a roadshow, hard-ticket<br />
policy.<br />
BOXOmCE October 10, 1960 11
Protestants Seeking Way<br />
To Support Good Films<br />
Bausch and Lomb Optical<br />
System Used at Premiere<br />
NEW YORK—A new Bausch and Lomb<br />
integrated optical system was used for the<br />
premiere of Warner Bros.' "Sunri.se at<br />
NEW YORK—The National Council of<br />
Churches recognizes that a great deal<br />
has to be done to encourage producers to<br />
make wholesome pictures and to get Protestants<br />
to see and support them.<br />
Dr. S. Franklin Mack, executive director<br />
of the Councils Broadcasting and Film<br />
Commission, told <strong>Boxoffice</strong> last week that<br />
the manner in which such a project misht<br />
be conducted w-as still in the discussion<br />
stage and that no decision had been made<br />
nor would be made until the executive committee<br />
of the Commission meets in November.<br />
Even then, the committee may only<br />
hear a report of the two days of sessions<br />
which the Commission held here September<br />
28 and 29 when representatives of 27 media<br />
of communications were heard. The motion<br />
picture industry was represented by<br />
Paul Lazarus jr., vice-president of Columbia<br />
Pictures: Taylor Mills, public relations<br />
director of the Motion Picture<br />
Ass"n of America: Kenneth Clark. MPAA<br />
vice-president and Mrs. Margaret Twyman.<br />
director of community relations for<br />
the MPAA.<br />
In his appearance before the Commission.<br />
Mills suggested that the Council select<br />
a group of pictures which it considered<br />
good, wholesome, family film fare and to<br />
ballyhoo the attraction to the limit. Dr.<br />
Mack said that Mills' proposal was "in<br />
line with the Commission's thinking" but<br />
that it would be impractical to try to do<br />
it on a national basis. He said it was possible<br />
that a specific area or community<br />
might be selected for a test wherein a<br />
Services for Friedman;<br />
WB Attorney-Director<br />
NEW YORK — Funeral services for<br />
Stanleigh P. Friedman, 76, a vice-president,<br />
director and attorney for Warner<br />
Bros. Pictui-es, Inc.. were held at the Universal<br />
Funeral Chapel Sunday i2i. Friedman<br />
died September 30.<br />
Friedman, who was also a composer and<br />
arranger, wrote "Down the Field." Yale<br />
University's football fight song while an<br />
undergraduate there in 1904. He also<br />
wrote "GloiT for Yale" and other Yale<br />
songs and was honored by the university<br />
with an inscription cai-ved into the walls<br />
of Welch Hall. He was a lawyer in New<br />
York for 53 years and became a vicepresident<br />
and director of Warner Bros, in<br />
1931. He was also a member of the American<br />
Society of Composers. Authors and<br />
Publishers. Friedman is sui-vived by his<br />
wife, the former Rena Frowenfeld, a son,<br />
Dr. Edwaid Friedman, and a daughter,<br />
Mrs. Dorothy Roeder.<br />
Levine Signs Ruggiero<br />
NEW YORK—Gene Ruggiero has been<br />
signed by Joseph E. Levine to supervise the<br />
editing on all forthcoming Embassy Pictures<br />
attractions. Ruggiero won an<br />
Academy Award for editing "Around the<br />
World in 80 Days." He currently is working<br />
on "The Thief of Bagdad."<br />
Prote.stant group withm the community<br />
would decide on a block of pictures it<br />
wanted to publicize and then go to work<br />
on it.<br />
Various methods of reviewing pictures<br />
have been under consideration. Dr. Mack<br />
said. He regarded the Green Sheet, a reviewing<br />
service of the MPAA, as valuable<br />
and expressed the wish that it could go<br />
into the grass roots and to all church leaders,<br />
but he indicated that the cost might<br />
be excessive if every church leader and<br />
minister were put on the list. He said he<br />
would like to see reviews go into the homes<br />
where they could be evaluated.<br />
Dr. Mack said he wanted to see good<br />
pictures encouraged and to create a "wantto-see"<br />
status for them. He said the Council<br />
sought to discourage blanket condemnation<br />
of pictures which had not been<br />
seen in advance.<br />
Mrs. Twyman, addressing the Commission<br />
on the same day on which Mills spoke,<br />
said that the church might do more to<br />
encourage the production of good pictures<br />
if good pictures were lauded from the pulpit<br />
and the producers congratulated. Inasmuch<br />
as the boxoffice results represent<br />
the final analysis, the encouragement to<br />
see good pictures is the best weapon against<br />
those films that are considered in bad<br />
taste, she said.<br />
On the opening day of the Commission,<br />
Lazarus defended the Production Code<br />
Administration and declared that selfregulation<br />
still was effective.<br />
John L. Bennett Promoted<br />
By Alexander Film Co.<br />
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—John L.<br />
Bennett, formerly Alexander account executive,<br />
has been appointed<br />
to the position<br />
of senior account<br />
executive, it<br />
was announced by<br />
Keith Munroe, president<br />
of Alexander<br />
Film Co.. Colorado<br />
Springs producer and<br />
distributor of advertising<br />
and industrial<br />
films throughout the<br />
John L. Bennett world.<br />
NT&T Acquires Assets<br />
Of West Branch TV<br />
LOS ANGELES — In line with its<br />
diversification program. National Theatres<br />
& Television Inc., reported it had acquired<br />
the assets of the West Branch Television<br />
services. Inc. in Williamsport, Pa.<br />
In making the announcement here. B.<br />
Gerald Cantor, NT&T president, said that<br />
the new- community antenna television<br />
system would be integrated with the<br />
Williamsport Cable Co., another NT&T<br />
subsidiary also in Williamsport.<br />
The new B^kL optical system.<br />
Campobello" Wednesday i28i at the RKO<br />
Palace Theatre. It was the first use of a<br />
system for which Bausch and Lomb claims<br />
major advantages, including an extremely<br />
flat field, sharp from corner to corner:<br />
uniform screen illumination with no<br />
washed-out center: crisp color rendition<br />
and freedom from coma and color fringes.<br />
The optical system has been designed<br />
with a four-inch diameter barrel and has<br />
sufficient back focus to be used with the<br />
Simplex X-L projector. Charles Horstman,<br />
RKO director of projection, said the system<br />
"delivers a tremendous improvement<br />
in screen quality over previous optical systems.<br />
It's the finest I've seen."<br />
Oklahoma City to Hold<br />
'Cimarron' Premiere<br />
NEW YORK—The first public performance<br />
of MGM's "Cimarron" will be held at<br />
the Midwest Theatre. Oklahoma City. December<br />
1 as the invitational world premiere<br />
of Governor Howard Edmonson, given as<br />
part of a two-day state-wide celebration.<br />
Robert Mochrie. MGM sales manager, and<br />
executives of Stanley Warner Theatres,<br />
which owns the Midwest, have completed<br />
the arrangements for the reserved-seat attraction.<br />
"Cimarron," which is scheduled for key<br />
city roadshow openings in December, will<br />
be given a sneak preview in October, to be<br />
attended by Mochrie and other New York<br />
sales executives at an out-of-town city to<br />
be selected shortly.<br />
Three Levine Exploiteers<br />
Selling 'Hot Wind Blows'<br />
NEW YORK—Three exploitation specialists<br />
have been engaged by Joseph E. Levine,<br />
president of Embassy Pictures, to aid the<br />
MGM field staff in promoting the November<br />
release of "Where the Hot Wind<br />
Blows." All aided Levine with the release<br />
of "Hercules Unchained."<br />
They are Paul Montague, who will work<br />
the midwest: Harry Freeman, assigned to<br />
the mid-Atlantic and eastern Great Lakes<br />
areas, and Jack Wodell, who will handle<br />
the Rocky Mountain area.<br />
12 BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960
National Association of Concessionaires<br />
and National Allied Exhibitors<br />
PRESENTS THE<br />
1960<br />
NATIONAL CONCESSIONS<br />
INDUSTRY'S TRADE SHOW<br />
in<br />
conjunction with the<br />
COMBINED CONVENTIONS OF NAC AND ASAMPE<br />
(*Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors)<br />
FOR CONVENTIONAL AND DRIVE-IN THEATRES<br />
FEATURING THE LATEST PROFIT-MAKING IDEAS, EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES FOR<br />
Amusement Parks
^oUcf(4/'nt<br />
Trend for Remakes Is On<br />
Among the Filmmakers<br />
One of the more intriguing question<br />
marks currently looming on the Hollywood<br />
horizon—a skyline on which problematical<br />
situations are far from strangers—concerns<br />
a noteworthy propensity by the<br />
magi of production, especially at Metro-<br />
Goldwyn-Mayer. toward remaking the<br />
great pictures of yesteryear.<br />
Whether such trend stems from the<br />
theory that one cannot go wrong by sticking<br />
to a winner: from the burgeoning tendency<br />
to roadshow almost every picture<br />
that is long enough and or expensive<br />
enough to possibly justify such hard-ticket<br />
exhibition: or several other possible reasons,<br />
the fact still remains that top-echelon<br />
filmmakers are turning to several oldies<br />
for literary source. And. like any inclination,<br />
the drift raises some question in<br />
the minds of both exhibitors and observers<br />
of the Hollywood scene, for example:<br />
Would not everyone be better off financially<br />
if the originals were reissued? If<br />
other major companies follow the example<br />
set by Warner Bros, when that company<br />
sold 110 of its post-'48 backlog down<br />
the river to television—an action that<br />
eventually can be expected—isn't it entirely<br />
possible that original versions will<br />
appear on video in competition to the<br />
modern remakes being unfurled on theatrical<br />
screens? And. should such a contingency<br />
develop, will it help or hinder<br />
ticket sales for the latter? Will the remakes<br />
be better pictures than the originals<br />
in which they respectively find genesis.<br />
each of which was loudly acclaimed and<br />
generously patronized in its day? Answers<br />
to the first three queries must be conjectural,<br />
but the reply to the last is a resounding<br />
"yes."<br />
Take, for example, MGM's "Mutiny on<br />
the Bounty," which is just about ready to<br />
go before the cameras. It will be a considerable<br />
challenge to the undisputed histrionic<br />
talents of Marlon Brando and Trevor<br />
Howard to match the performances of<br />
Clark Gable and Charles Laughton as<br />
Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh. respectively.<br />
Even in early film days, the<br />
Irving Thalberg production, which Frank<br />
Lloyd directed, made a resounding effect<br />
on the industry. Then, it was essentially<br />
the stoi-y of the mutiny, only one of the<br />
trio of Nordhoff & Hall books that will<br />
make up the new- version. Aaron Rosenberg<br />
holds production reins, with Sir<br />
Carol Reed directing. The basic emphasis<br />
concerns Pitcairn Island and the story begins<br />
25 years after the mutiny and discusses<br />
the lives of the mutineers who tried<br />
to start a Utopia on the island, showing<br />
the mutiny in flashback. The studio, calling<br />
the picture " 'Ben-Hur' of the Ocean,"<br />
refers to it as a 59,000,000 spectacle and.<br />
with the use of Camera 65 and Ultra Panavision<br />
lens, as well as Metrocolor. there<br />
can be no doubt that it will present an<br />
entirely new- and vivid filmization of this<br />
dramatic sea story.<br />
Then there is "Cimarron" which the<br />
same studio is remaking. Whether it will<br />
14<br />
By<br />
IVAN SPEAR<br />
repeat the Academy Award success it<br />
achieved in 1931 remains a moot question.<br />
But there can be no doubt that the film,<br />
already nearing release, will have the benefit<br />
of considerable increased technological<br />
discovery and skill. Originally an RKO release,<br />
it was directed by Wesley Ruggles<br />
and starred Richard Dix, Irene Dunne.<br />
Estelle Taylor and Edna May Oliver. These<br />
roles are recreated by Glenn Ford. Maria<br />
Schell. Anne Baxter and Mercedes Mc-<br />
Cambridge, with Arthur O'Connell and<br />
Russ Tamblyn also starred. Filmed in<br />
Metrocolor and Cinemascope. Anthony<br />
Mann directed for producer Edmund<br />
Grainger. Among the updated changes, according<br />
to Grainger, is an accentuated love<br />
story that increases the women's angle, as<br />
well as integration of the great land rush<br />
that was filmed as a separate unit in the<br />
early picture.<br />
In the case of "The Four Horsemen of<br />
the Apocalypse," much of the foregoing<br />
does not obtain. Inasmuch as it was first<br />
made during the days of the silent motion<br />
picture, it could hardly be either reissued<br />
or peddled to TV. Still, the film<br />
has been one of the most talked-about<br />
in the history of the industry. Very probably<br />
this is due to the boost it gave to<br />
Rudolph Valentino, of course, one of the<br />
all-time greats of the screen. Since Glenn<br />
Ford, who plays the Valentino role in the<br />
upcoming edition, is already a boxoffice<br />
star to be reckoned with, there looms a<br />
good deal of import in this photoplay. He<br />
is joined, as well, by Charles Boyer, Ingrid<br />
Thulin. Claude Dauphin. Paul Lukas.<br />
Lee J. Cobb and Yvette Mimieux, names<br />
worthy of attention in international circles.<br />
But. then, the story is international<br />
in itself, concerning the effect on two families<br />
of Conquest, War, Pestilence and<br />
Death, the situations defined by the title.<br />
Rex Ingram directed the silent version,<br />
which also starred Alice Terry, Alan Hale,<br />
Jean Hersholt and Stewart Holmes, while<br />
NEW STATUETTE—Fred MacMurray,<br />
star of "Shaggy Dog," voted the<br />
"popcorn picture of the year," accepts<br />
pOpScar Statuette and his weight in<br />
popcorn from Miss Popcorn Judy Barrier,<br />
and Jim Blevins (left), popcorn<br />
processor of Nashville, and Al Lapidus<br />
(right) of Los Angeles.<br />
Julian Blausteln is handling production<br />
reins and Vincente Minnelli is directing<br />
the updated version. Filming has already<br />
begun in Rome, with the general story<br />
basically the same as the original Vincente<br />
Blasco Ibancz tome, but updated from<br />
World War I to World War II.<br />
The remake virus has not been confined<br />
to Leo. It has at least a foothold out<br />
Universal-International way. At that film<br />
foundry they recently made "Imitation of<br />
Life," the famed old Fannie Hurst story,<br />
toplining Lana Turner. John Gavin, Sandra<br />
Dee. Susan Kohncr and Juanita<br />
Moore. Produced by Ross Hunter and directed<br />
by Douglas Sirk. it has become one<br />
of the studio's top moneymakers, undoubtedly<br />
due to the more handsome assets<br />
that color and modern handling can<br />
bring. Earlier, it was filmed in black and<br />
white, produced and directed by John M.<br />
Stahl. and starring Claudette Colbert. Warren<br />
William. Ned Sparks, Freda Washington<br />
and Louise Beavers.<br />
Further blueprinted on the remake<br />
front is "Back Street." another Fannie<br />
Hurst tome which has proved its worth<br />
to U-I filmmakers on two previous occasions.<br />
To be shot in color. Susan Hayward,<br />
John Gavin and Vera Miles are starring<br />
in the current version of this venerable<br />
story, with Ross Hunter producing and<br />
David Miller directing. It points to the<br />
change that has developed in filmfare by<br />
centering the character of a mistress in<br />
glamorous terms instead of leaving her<br />
in the background for audience imagination<br />
as was done before. Initially, "Back<br />
Street" was made in 1932, produced and<br />
directed by John M. Stahl, and starring<br />
Irene Dunne, John Boles. Paul Lukas,<br />
Zasu Pitts and June Clyde. Revived again<br />
in 1940, Robin Stevenson directed it as a<br />
studio production, with Charles Boyer,<br />
Margaret Sullavan, Richard Carlson and<br />
Frank McHugh starred. Each racked up<br />
handsome profits, giving it a boost that<br />
prompted an unheard-of third version<br />
which U-I thinks will again come out on<br />
top.<br />
So, obviously, remakes are on the march.<br />
What they will mean to the industry,<br />
financially and prestigewise, only the future<br />
can answer.<br />
Three Literary Purchases<br />
Recorded for the Week<br />
.<br />
The delving into the past for literary<br />
material has, however, had very little effect<br />
upon Hollywood's mercurial story market.<br />
As a survey of literary purchases during<br />
recent weeks reveals, the screen scriveners<br />
as well as the lads and lassies who<br />
compose plays and or novels that ultimately<br />
find their ways into celluloid, have<br />
encountered little difficulty in keeping the<br />
gas tanks of their Cadillacs well filled.<br />
The past stanza has been a bit weak as<br />
compared to preceding periods. Only three<br />
purchases were reported. The most important<br />
of the trio was Richard Matheson's<br />
dramatic novel. "The Beardless Warriors,"<br />
which deals with American teenage soldiers<br />
during World War II. Richard Zanuck<br />
bought the story for 20th Century-Fox, also<br />
inking Matheson to script it for filming<br />
early next year 20th-Fox also figured<br />
in a second of<br />
. .<br />
the three deals, since that<br />
studio will eventually release "Sniper's<br />
Ridge," which Robert L. Lippert purchased.<br />
A screenplay by Tom Maruzzi. it has been<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960
assigned to John Bushelnian for producerdirector<br />
chores and is slated to roll November<br />
7 . . . Bringing up the trail is an<br />
independent venture, a purchase by Gerd<br />
Oswald and Robert Blees of Ernest Hemingway's<br />
"The Short. Happy Life of Francis<br />
Macomber." To be produced in West<br />
Africa in association with Franco Cristaldi's<br />
Vides Films of Rome, the picture<br />
will go out under the title "The Hunters."<br />
Filming is to start in December.<br />
Three New Independents<br />
Formed During Week<br />
Consider the week lost that doesn't<br />
bring forth at least one new independent<br />
production outfit. 'With exhibitors loudly<br />
squawking about product shortages, it is<br />
entirely understandable if they are wondering<br />
when, if ever, the pictures blueprinted<br />
by the avalanche of unaffiliated<br />
filmmakers will hit the market. Be that as<br />
it may. there were three such unit setups<br />
revealed in the past seven days. Probably<br />
the most noteworthy was set up between<br />
performer Ernie Kovacs' Blowmont Productions<br />
and producer Ron Gorton's<br />
Yankee Productions banners. The two<br />
aligned to coproduce an original comedy<br />
titled "Panic Button," with Kovacs set to<br />
star. Stephen Longstreet has been signed<br />
to script . . . Youngster Nick Adams, a<br />
popular figure on TV with his "The Rebel"<br />
series, now plans to go into theatrical production.<br />
To wit, he has formed Hondo<br />
Productions, Inc., and says he is now<br />
negotiating for an important story property.<br />
Attorney Gerald Lipsky is vice-president<br />
and Dave Martin secretary-treasurer<br />
of the new corporation . . . Again, foreign<br />
association raises its head. Producer-director<br />
George Cahan has joined Argentine<br />
producer Federico Aircardi in forming<br />
Twin Films, aiming at its first production,<br />
"The Sleeping Partner." Bill Barrett is<br />
scripting the screenplay and Alix Talton<br />
stars. Herbert Richard coproduces and December<br />
15 has been set as starting date in<br />
Rio and Brazilia.<br />
. . .<br />
. .<br />
Several European Performers<br />
Signed for Topline Roles<br />
A number of European performers have<br />
been signed to topline the casts in several<br />
upcoming productions, among them Genevieve<br />
Page who will costar in "Paris<br />
Blues" for producers George Glass and<br />
Walter Seltzer and United Artists release.<br />
Britisher Ronald Howard, son of the late<br />
Leslie Howard, has been signed by Robert<br />
Arthur to play a top supporting role<br />
Kerwin<br />
in<br />
U-I's "Come September"<br />
Mathews joins the top-heavy cast in Columbia's<br />
"Devil at 4 O'clock" . . Nitery<br />
.<br />
comic Doodles Weaver was signed by Andrew<br />
and Virginia Stone to play a comedy<br />
role in their MGM production, "Ring of<br />
Fire" . . . Glenwood-Neve. independent<br />
unit formed by Michael Du Pont and Newton<br />
Arnold, introduce three comparative<br />
newcomers—James Stapleton. Joan Harvey<br />
and Paul Lukather—m the forthcoming<br />
"The Answer!" . Buddy Ebsen has joined<br />
Patricia Neal as newcomers to the "Break-<br />
fast at Tiffany's" Paramount cast . . .<br />
Steve Forrest is in Plato Skouras' 20th-<br />
Fox film, "St. Francis of Assisi" . . Harold<br />
.<br />
Lloyd jr. has joined API's "Winged<br />
Bob<br />
Victory at Athens" for 20th-Fox<br />
Mathias also has been set for a top role<br />
in the Lippert films.<br />
»d
—<br />
/^^o^<br />
^efi^%t<br />
By ARTHUR<br />
DAVIS<br />
JlJEWS of show business Interest covering<br />
the entire Far East will be our assignment,<br />
reporting to you regularly from our<br />
headquarters in Tokyo. To those readers of<br />
BoxoFncE who have been here, Japan<br />
needs no special introduction. As for ourselves,<br />
we have found that all the glowing<br />
adjectives in the travel folders are true.<br />
The population of Tokyo and its surrounding<br />
area is 15.7 million, according to<br />
government figures released September 1.<br />
There are also about 12 million persons<br />
visiting the capital each year. Visitors to<br />
Tokyo feel quite at home because of its<br />
up-to-date conveniences. Service at all<br />
hotels measures up to the best world standards.<br />
Extensive networks of rail, subway<br />
and bus transportation serve Tokyo to its<br />
remotest corner. Taxicabs are plentiful, at<br />
one third the cost in the U.S.A.<br />
With all these conveniences at their disposal,<br />
visitors have every opportunity to<br />
see and enjoy for themselves all the<br />
charms that are traditionally Japanese<br />
the classical Kabuki drama and Noh play,<br />
centuries-old art objects in the museums<br />
and galleries, beautiful gardens, pageants<br />
and festivals. Theatrical areas are numerous,<br />
and theatres plentiful.<br />
* • *<br />
One of the largest amusement areas in<br />
downtown Tokyo is called Asakusa. Its<br />
many restaurants offer culinary specialties<br />
that are a goui-met's delight. Thirty movie<br />
theatres, vaudeville shows, shops, souvenir<br />
stores, plus games and rides a la Coney<br />
Island are spread in and around Asakusa<br />
Park, in which the famous Kannon Temple<br />
stands.<br />
Shinjuku, situated in uptown Tokyo, is<br />
a comparatively new shopping and amusement<br />
area. It has several leading department<br />
stores, fashionable tea rooms, and<br />
numerous theatres. In central Tokyo is the<br />
world-famous Ginza, known as the "Broadway<br />
of Tokyo." It is approximately half a<br />
mile long and runs north and south<br />
through the busiest part of the city. Many<br />
top-ranking stores, restaurants, and firstrun<br />
theatres line both sides or are grouped<br />
near it. The name Ginza was derived from<br />
the words "gin" (silver) and "za" (foundry),<br />
as about 340 years ago silver coins<br />
were minted at a foundry located in this<br />
area. Later, the street where this foundry<br />
stood took the now well-known name. The<br />
Ginza has more concentration of fabulous<br />
electric signs and displays than in any<br />
other spot on earth.<br />
* * •<br />
American exhibitors will be amazed at<br />
the time schedules throughout Japan. All<br />
film houses open about 10:30 a.m., and<br />
the last show never starts later than 8<br />
p.m. There are no midnight shows, even<br />
on weekends, and all theatres open an<br />
hour earlier on Sundays. It is a common<br />
sight to see several hundred patrons leaving<br />
a theatre about 11 a.m. on Sunday after<br />
the first performance has been concluded.<br />
16<br />
Single features are the rule In all firstrun<br />
houses; double features prevail in subruns,<br />
and in all small-town theatres. Only<br />
one neighborhood location in all of Tokyo<br />
operates with a triple-feature policy. Several<br />
skilfully pri^pared scene traileis of<br />
advance attractions are part of every program.<br />
I shall report on the unique concession<br />
methods employed here in a forthcoming<br />
column.<br />
"Ben-Hur," now in its fiftli month as a<br />
roadshow- attraction, is still doing business<br />
at the Theatre Tokyo, and is reported as<br />
doing capacity in Osaka, where it was recently<br />
launched at advanced admissions.<br />
Capable advance publicity has everyone<br />
waiting for the forthcoming openings of<br />
"Psycho" and "Strangers When We Meet."<br />
Early one morning, I passed a first-run<br />
theatre on the opening day of "The Giant<br />
of Marathon," and it was most gratifying<br />
to see a line of over a hundred people<br />
waiting outside in a driving rain for a<br />
boxoffice that would not be opened for<br />
two hours, and this in spite of the fact<br />
that an adverse review had broken in the<br />
local press prior to opening day.<br />
* * *<br />
A Japanese-language film currently<br />
playing at the Toho chain theatres is<br />
called "Bokuto Kitan," which is difficult<br />
to explain in a translation, but generally<br />
means "A Tale of Gay Quarters." Skilfully<br />
filmed in black and white by director Shiro<br />
Toyoda, the story concerns an unhappy<br />
husband, his nagging wife, and his romantic<br />
encounters with a girl of the<br />
streets. Individual scenes are grim, powerful<br />
and very well acted, with the war<br />
serving as a menacing background, although<br />
it is not a war picture. Advertised<br />
in the Japanese press as presented "for<br />
adults only," there is no question this is a<br />
fine movie, and carefully reedited could<br />
Arthur Davis to Represent<br />
BOXOFFICE in<br />
Far East<br />
Arthur Davis, former distributor of<br />
foreign-language films in the U.S. and<br />
owner of several art theatres in Florida,<br />
and now a resident of Japan, is<br />
representing <strong>Boxoffice</strong> in the Far<br />
East. His column, Tokyo Report, which<br />
appears for the first time in this issue,<br />
will keep <strong>Boxoffice</strong> readers informed<br />
on the motion picture industry in<br />
Japan.<br />
Davis edited The Foreign Film News<br />
from 1946 to 1949, served as a consultant<br />
and publicist for independent<br />
foreign film distributors in the United<br />
States from 1949 to 1952, and from<br />
1952 to 1956 was president of the<br />
Arthur Davis Releasing Organization,<br />
an import-distribution company for<br />
French, Italian and Swedish films. He<br />
was one of the first importers to recognize<br />
the work of the Swedish director<br />
Ingmar Bergman and brought over<br />
several of the now-famous director's<br />
pictures for introduction to U.S. audiences.<br />
From 1956 until earlier this year<br />
when he left for Japan, he operated<br />
several theatres in Florida, with headquarters<br />
at the State Art Theatre in<br />
Fort Lauderdale.<br />
NIPPON AWARD TO JOHNSTON—<br />
Eric .Johnston, center, president of the<br />
Motion Picture Export Ass'n, is presented<br />
the First Class Order of the<br />
Sacred Treasure, one of Japan's highest<br />
decorations, by the Crown Prince of<br />
Japan. At ceremonies held in the<br />
Japanese Embassy in Washington on<br />
September 28 Johnston was honored in<br />
recognition of his contributions to<br />
Japanese-American friendships. In the<br />
photo, at the left, is Japanese Ambassador<br />
Asaki.<br />
do very well in the U.S.A. art houses.<br />
Television has not hurt the film business<br />
in Japan to the degree it has in the<br />
States, even though authentic figures list<br />
a TV set in one out of every three households<br />
across the country. In my recent<br />
tour around the nation, with stopovers for<br />
fact-finding at Nagoya, Kyoto, Beppu,<br />
Hiroshima and Osaka, I was amazed at the<br />
number of TV antennas atop peanut-sized<br />
wooden houses, many of which do not even<br />
have hot water. Yet every town and hamlet<br />
has access to at least one or two film<br />
houses.<br />
U.S. exhibitors can take an exploitation<br />
tip and a few lessons from the Japanese<br />
showmen. Everywhere, on every available<br />
wall and telegraph pole, one can see colorful<br />
lithographed posters advertising current<br />
and advance attractions. The smallest<br />
playhouse leaves no stone unturned to call<br />
the attention of the countryside to its<br />
programs.<br />
Two New Executive Posts<br />
Announced by Westrex<br />
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.—The Westrex<br />
Corp., a division of Litton Industries, has<br />
created two key executive positions in its<br />
international department and will expand<br />
the number of products it represents for<br />
distribution and servicing. George T.<br />
Scharffenberger, Westrex president, announced<br />
the appointment of Anthony<br />
Easton as director of international sales<br />
and Harry M. Rich as manager of the<br />
newly created import department.<br />
Both Easton and Rich will report to<br />
R. E. Warn, vice-president in charge of the<br />
international department, at Westrex<br />
headquarters, 540 W. 58th St., New York<br />
City.<br />
Charles Skouras jr. a Producer<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Charles Skouras jr.<br />
will<br />
produce "Journey of the Jules Verne" for<br />
20th Century-Fox release. Skouras jr. will<br />
be partnered with Plato and Spyros<br />
Skouras jr. in the Triton Production which<br />
Jack Arnold will direct from the James<br />
O'Hanlon script.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
STATEMENT REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF AUGUST 24,<br />
1912, AS AMENDED BY THE ACTS OF MARCH 3,<br />
1933, AND JULY 2. 1946 (Title 39, United<br />
States Code, Section 233) SHOWING THE<br />
OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND<br />
CIRCULATION OF<br />
BOXOFFICE, published weekly at Kansas City, Missouri,<br />
for October 10, 1960.<br />
1. The names end addresses of the publisher,<br />
editor, managing editor, and business manager ore:<br />
Publisher and editor-in-chief, Ben Shiyen, Kansas<br />
City, Mo,; Editor, Nathan Cohen, Kansas City, Mo.;<br />
Managing Editor, Jesse Shiyen, Kansas City, Mo.;<br />
Business Manager, Morris Schlozmon, Kansas City<br />
Mo.<br />
2. The owner is: {if owned by a corporation, its<br />
name and address must be stated and also immediately<br />
thereunder the names and oddresses of stockholders<br />
owning or holding 1 per cent or more of<br />
total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation,<br />
the names and addresses of the individual owners<br />
must be given. If owned by a partnership or<br />
other unincorporated firm, its name and address, as<br />
well as thot of each individual member, must be<br />
given.) Associated Publications, Inc., Kansas City,<br />
Mo., Ben Shiyen, Kansas City, Mo.; Clora Shiyen,<br />
Kansas City, Mo.<br />
3. The known bondholders, mortgagees, and other<br />
security holders owning or holding 1 per cent or more<br />
of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities<br />
ore: (If there are none, so state.) There are<br />
none.<br />
4. Poragrophs 2 and 3 include, in cases where the<br />
stockholder or security holder appears upon the books<br />
of the company as trustee or in other fiduciary<br />
relation, the name of the person or corporation for<br />
whom such trustee is acting; also the statements in<br />
the two paragraphs show the affiant's full knowledge<br />
and belief as to the circumstances and conditions<br />
under which stockholders and security holders who do<br />
not appear upon the books of the company as trustees,<br />
hold stock and securities in o capacity other than<br />
that of a bona fide owner.<br />
5. The average number of copies of each issue<br />
of this publication sold or distributed, through the<br />
moils or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the 12<br />
months preceding the date shown above was !8,I95.<br />
MORRIS SCHLOZMAN, Business Manager.<br />
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 30th day of<br />
September, 1960<br />
T. D. CHIAVOLA, Notary Public.<br />
(My commission expires Jan. 11, 1962).<br />
Nixon Praises Industry<br />
For Campaign Efforts<br />
WASHINGTON—The motion picture industry<br />
was congratulated Monday (3> by<br />
Vice-President Richard Nixon on its campaign<br />
to encourage voting and enable employes<br />
to contribute financially to the party<br />
of their choice.<br />
At the National Airport, where the Vice-<br />
President was leaving for another campaign<br />
swing, Eric Johnston, president of<br />
the Motion Picture Ass'n of America, told<br />
him of the industi-y's efforts to get all of<br />
its personnel not only to vote but to contribute<br />
financially to enable Nixon and<br />
Senator Kennedy to present their views to<br />
the maximum number of American voters<br />
in the forthcoming election.<br />
In congratulating the industry, the Vice-<br />
President said:<br />
"Living in California, I know of the<br />
many splendid things that people in motion<br />
pictures have done over the years in<br />
the national interest. This current effort is<br />
a very noteworthy example. I certainly<br />
.share with you, Mr. Johnston, the hope<br />
that more Americans than ever in history<br />
will vote and contribute in the elections<br />
this year."<br />
Johnston plamied to meet later with<br />
Senator Kermedy.<br />
Records to Promote Film<br />
NEW YORK—RCA Victor, Mercury,<br />
Chancellor and MGM will release renditions<br />
of the new Jimmy McHugh-Buddy<br />
Kaye title song from Joseph E. Levine's<br />
"Where the Hot Wind Blows" four weeks<br />
prior to its first openings in November.<br />
Milton Karle and Jules Losch, record promotion<br />
specialists, have been engaged for<br />
the campaign.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960<br />
FEATURE<br />
REVIEW<br />
'Midnight<br />
Lace'<br />
Universal-International<br />
By IVAN SPEAR<br />
JN VIEW of the kudos that have been<br />
cascading upon Doris Day and considering<br />
the fiscal achievements of her<br />
past two pictures, her hotter-than-a-fourdollar-shotgun<br />
name at the head of the<br />
cast is in itself iron-bound insurance that<br />
Universal-International's "Midnight Lace"<br />
will establish records as one of the season's<br />
top grossers. Her performance is expectedly<br />
excellent and reaffirms the ranking actress'<br />
extraordinary versatility inasmuch as<br />
herein she essays an exacting dramatic<br />
role—a distinct change of pace from the<br />
lithesome, comedy romps of that pair of<br />
predecessors. Such delineation, contributions<br />
in kind from an impressive, nameheavy<br />
supporting cast and slick-as-agreased-pig<br />
production values considerably<br />
gloss the photoplay's one weakness, a<br />
screenplay that falls considerably short of<br />
the high standards indicated by so Impressive<br />
an aggregation of talent.<br />
La Day portrays a beautiful, carefree<br />
American heiress happily married to an<br />
English industrial tycoon. She is driven<br />
to near insanity by a series of mysterious,<br />
filth -laden telephone calls threatening her<br />
life, and subsequent incidents establish that<br />
the threats are more than the machinations<br />
of a moronic crank. Her husband, who<br />
is finally exposed as the villain (a la "Gaslight"<br />
i, is portrayed with typical eclat and<br />
suavity by Rex Harrison. Also rating mention<br />
for their histrionic donations are ageless<br />
Myrna Loy, cast as Doris' wealthy,<br />
fun-seeking aunt and last tie to sanity;<br />
and John Gavin, a construction engineer<br />
Universal- International presents<br />
"MIDNIGHT LACE"<br />
A Ross Hunter-Arwin Production<br />
In Eastman Color<br />
Ratio: 1.85-1<br />
Running time: 108 minutes<br />
CREDITS<br />
Produced by Ross Hunter and Martin Melcher.<br />
Directed by David Miller. Screenplay by Ivan<br />
Goff and Ben Roberts, based upon the ploy,<br />
"Matilda Shouted Fire" by Janet Green. Director<br />
of photography, Russell Metty, A.S.C.<br />
Art direction by Alexander Golitzen and Rot^ert<br />
Clatworthy. Film editors, Russell F. Schoengorth,<br />
A.C.E. and Leon Borsha, A.C.E. Set<br />
decorations by Oliver Emert. Sound by Waldon<br />
O. Watson and Joe Lapis. Miss Day's govvris by<br />
Irene. Make-up by Bud Westmore. Hair Stylist,<br />
Larry Germoin. Assistant directors, Phil Bowles,<br />
Carl Beringer and Goug Green. Jewels by David<br />
Webb, Ballet danced by Anna Cheselka ond<br />
Vladimir Oukhtomsky. Music by Frank Skinner.<br />
Music supervision by Joseph Gershenson. Script<br />
supervisor, Dolores Rubin. Diologue supervisor,<br />
Leon Charles. Special music: "Midnight Lace"<br />
by Joe Lubin and Jerome Howard; "Whot Docs<br />
a Woman Do?" by Allie Wrubel and Maxwell<br />
Anderson.<br />
THE CAST<br />
Kit Preston Ooris Doy<br />
Anthony Preston Rex Harrison<br />
Brian Younger John Gavin<br />
Aunt Bea<br />
Myrna Loy<br />
Malcolm Roddy McDowall<br />
Chorles Manning Herbert Marshall<br />
Peggy Thompson Natosho Parry<br />
Inspector Byrnes John Williams<br />
Dora Hcrmione Baddeley<br />
and Richard Ney, Anthony Dawson, Rhys Williams,<br />
John Lupine ond Doris Lloyd.<br />
Rex Harrison, Doris Day and John<br />
Williams as they appear in a scene<br />
from "Midnight Lace."<br />
who saves her life in a hair-raising climax<br />
and expose.<br />
The photoplay's productional mountings<br />
are breath-taking with accent on femme<br />
wardrobes, particularly Miss Day's, which<br />
will set distaff ticket-buyers drooling. The<br />
same top quality obtains as concerns every<br />
other physical property—sets, backgrounds.<br />
Eastman Color photography and, most especially,<br />
the musical score composed by<br />
Frank Skinner and supervised by Joseph<br />
Gershenson. While Miss Day, a contemporary<br />
ranking songstress, sings nary a note,<br />
two special numbers, "Midnight Lace" and<br />
"What Does a Woman Do?" were written<br />
for the film and woven into the score.<br />
Further, there is a ballet sequence, superbly<br />
staged and performed, which will be<br />
a bonus package for the vultures for culture<br />
among the theatre-jamming audiences<br />
the feature is certain to attract.<br />
For the superiority of these productional<br />
values, credit goes to Ross Hunter and<br />
Martin Melcher (the latter being Miss<br />
Day's husband I who share producer credit.<br />
In fact, the picture was made as a Ross<br />
Hunter-Arwin Production venture, the<br />
latter being the independent company<br />
owned by the Melchers.<br />
As to the feature's one weakness, the<br />
story. It was scripted by Ivan Goff and<br />
Ben Roberts from Janet Green's British<br />
play. "Matilda Shouted Fire." Its shortcoming<br />
lies in obvious contrivance which<br />
manifests itself throughout and reaches<br />
a crescendo in the solve-all, abrupt climax<br />
that leaves more loose ends than are<br />
to be expected in so costly and opulently<br />
cast a venture. Reviewers were handed a<br />
message from the studio's drum-beaters<br />
urging them not to reveal "its unique plot<br />
development" lest such revelation impair<br />
the "enjoyment of 'Midnight Lace' for<br />
those who may see it later." It is in that<br />
plot development that the infirmity is to be<br />
found. Scriveners Goff and Roberts were<br />
apparently so eager to make their screenplay<br />
so mysterious and their climax so<br />
surprising that they adhered to the technique<br />
of hackneyed whodunits in which<br />
suspicion is directed at everyone except<br />
the real culprit.<br />
But. as above stated, "Lace" has so<br />
much to offer that will cover its literary<br />
frailties that any theatre can book it with<br />
complete confidence of satisfied customers<br />
and bulging cash drawers.<br />
17
BOXOFFICE<br />
BAROMETER<br />
This chart records the performance of current attractions in the opening week of their first runs in<br />
the 20 key cities checked. Pictures with fewer thon five engagements are not listed. As new runs<br />
ore reported, ratings ore added and averages revised. Computation is in terms of percentage in<br />
relation to normal grosses as determined by the theatre managers. With 100 per cent as "normal,"<br />
the figures show the gross rating above or below thot mark. (Asterisk * denotes combination bills.)<br />
uii); I .iniiib.il.s iMGM) 100 95 90 90 130 155 100 100 130 105 145 90 109<br />
AU the Young Men (Ool) 120 130 225 200 200 150 160 130 135 300 90 195 225 175 175 174<br />
An pel Wore R«d, The (MGM) 75 90 75 75 110 100 75 100 75 86<br />
Hahette Goes to War (Ool)
efore<br />
Catholic Paper Says<br />
Films Distort U.S.<br />
UNION CITY, N. J.—American motion<br />
pictures reflect a false image of the United<br />
States and "we no longer can afford to<br />
export negative and distorted images."<br />
according to an article in the October<br />
issue of The Sign, national Catholic maga-<br />
published here.<br />
zine,<br />
Jerry Cotter, drama editor of the publication,<br />
wrote that "for better or worse,<br />
we are judged abroad by the movies we export"<br />
and that "in the light of current international<br />
tension, the stepped-up tempo<br />
of Soviet propaganda drives and the emergence<br />
of new nations which will, perhaps,<br />
provide a balance of power in Asia<br />
and Africa" must be noted.<br />
Citing three current Hollywood releases,<br />
each of which portrays illicit romance, a<br />
love nest or seductions. Cotter stated that,<br />
to millions scattered over a restless world,<br />
these pictures probably have a fascination,<br />
but are drawing an ugly image to those who<br />
delve below the surface.<br />
"The blackboard jungle misfits, the<br />
psychotics and the sycophants have been<br />
well represented in many recent films,"<br />
Cotter wrote. "Add them up and you have<br />
some mighty frightening results. With the<br />
added distortions from the Kremlin experts,<br />
a truly ugly American emerges.<br />
Even though such tendencies in the film<br />
industry are not deliberate, the effect is<br />
dangerous. We cannot on the one hand accentuate<br />
the negative in our movie exports<br />
and then expect allies and neutrals<br />
to understand that this is all make-believe<br />
or dramatic license. There aren't that many<br />
well informed about the real American<br />
story. There isn't that much time."<br />
Theologian Clarifies<br />
Question on B Pictures<br />
ALBANY—The question often asked in<br />
area film circles, "Can Catholics see Class<br />
B movies?" w-as answered in the Question<br />
Box. a w^eekly column edited by Msgr. John<br />
J. Collins of Rensselaer for the Evangelist.<br />
The query was forwarded by a Hudson<br />
Palls reader.<br />
"Your question is a difficult one to<br />
answer," wrote Monsignor Collins, "since<br />
what is no occasion of sin for one person<br />
may be an occasion of sin for another<br />
person. The Very Rev. Francis J. Connell.<br />
one of the leading moral theologians of<br />
the country, answers the question as follows:<br />
The so-called B movies are those<br />
recorded in the listing of the Legion of<br />
Decency as 'objectionable in part for all.'<br />
The theological solution of the problem of<br />
attendance at such films is that those to<br />
whom the picture is the approximate occasion<br />
of grave sin may not see it; those<br />
to whom it offers no danger per se attend<br />
without committing sin. In other words, it<br />
is a problem of a relative occasion of sin.<br />
the solution of which depends upon the<br />
moral strength and inclinations of the individual<br />
concerned.<br />
"The best advice ... is to avoid all B<br />
movies in the hope that such a course may<br />
eventually induce producers to present in<br />
public only those pictures that are unobjectionable."<br />
No Pay TV in England for Five Years,<br />
Alfred Davis, CEA Head, Believes<br />
Allied Artists,<br />
Bronston<br />
In Deal for ^El Cid'<br />
New York—A deal whereby Allied<br />
Artists will release Samuel Bronston's<br />
"El Cid" in the Western Hemisphere<br />
was announced here Friday 17) by<br />
Steve Broidy, AA president, and Bronston.<br />
The production, budgeted at $G,-<br />
000,000. is scheduled to start late this<br />
month in Spain in Super Technirama-<br />
70 and Technicolor with Charlton<br />
Heston in the starring role. The picture<br />
will be released on a roadshow<br />
basis next fall. Bronston will produce<br />
the film in association with Philip<br />
Yordan. Anthony Mann will direct.<br />
Bronston has just completed "King of<br />
Kings" for MGM in Spain.<br />
Todd-AO Board Names<br />
3 Vice-Presidents<br />
NEW YORK—The Todd-AO Corp.<br />
has<br />
added three new vice-presidents and has<br />
issued a six-month operations report for<br />
A. E. Bollengier Joseph M. Sugar<br />
the period ended July 31 indicating a<br />
profit of $100,000 and an additional $150,-<br />
000 profit for the remainder of the year.<br />
The new officers elected by the board<br />
are A. E. Bollengier, previously treasurer<br />
and now vice-president and treasurer; Joseph<br />
M. Sugar, also vice-president in<br />
charge of sales of Magna Pictures Corp.,<br />
and Fred Hynes, vice-president and general<br />
manager in charge of studio and coast<br />
operations. Hynes has been associated with<br />
Todd-AO since its inception as director of<br />
sound operations.<br />
Reelected as officers were George P.<br />
Skouras, pre.sident; George J. Solomon,<br />
secretary, and Martin Kasman, assistant<br />
treasurer.<br />
Todd-AO has issued a license to 2Dth<br />
Century-Pox for "Cleopatra." seventh film<br />
to be produced in the Todd-AO system.<br />
The board also authorized the issuance of<br />
a license to Magna Pictures for its forthcoming<br />
production of a film to portray<br />
the life and times of Constantine and<br />
Helena of the Roman Empire.<br />
Starring in Warner's "Parrish" are Troy<br />
Donahue, Claudette Colbert, Karl Madden,<br />
Dean Jagger and Connie Stevens.<br />
NEW YORK— If subscription television<br />
should be adopted in England, it will not<br />
happen for four or five years, in the opinion<br />
of Alfred Davis, president of Britain's<br />
Cinematograph Exhibitors Ass'n. Davis,<br />
currently on a visit to this country, said<br />
his members had been "thinking" about<br />
toll TV for a long time and had been<br />
studying all phases of the medium. After<br />
a thorough study has been made, a complete<br />
report will be made to the government<br />
but, he said, "it will be 1964 or<br />
"<br />
1965 any agreement will be<br />
reached. Whether the government will<br />
agree to permit pay TV is anybody's guess,<br />
Davis indicated.<br />
SEES TELEMETER IN TORONTO<br />
Davis spent two days in Toronto observing<br />
Telemeter in operation. He said he<br />
believed the big sports attractions or outstanding<br />
entertainment fare would attract<br />
a big home audience but that he could see<br />
"no happy medium" or steady "take" on<br />
ordinary programs. Telemeters most potential<br />
regular audiences would be stay-athomes<br />
and shut-ins. he said.<br />
Davis will go to Chicago Tuesday ilH<br />
for a demonstration of the Phonevision<br />
system developed by Zenith-RKO General.<br />
After a trip to Hollywood he will return<br />
to London where he wall make a general<br />
report on the two systems to the CEA<br />
membership. He expressed the opinion that<br />
Telemeter had not been in operation long<br />
enough in Canada to draw a concrete conclusion<br />
as to its ultimate success.<br />
the CEA would continue to<br />
li said -<br />
;nain:ain a liaison with Theatre Owners of<br />
/.merica, even though some of the basic<br />
pro':if ms of the exhibitors of the two countries<br />
were different. For example, he said.<br />
tie United States has antitrust laws,<br />
whereas England doss not. The U. S. antitrust<br />
case affected booking and buying<br />
pictures, creating new methods and rules to<br />
which British theatremen do not have to<br />
adhere. Then. too. there is the vast difference<br />
in sizes of the two countries. England<br />
has a more concentrated population in a<br />
comparatively small area, he said, which<br />
causes different problems between the two<br />
cojntries. However, Davis said, the two<br />
organizations will continue to exchange<br />
\ lews.<br />
PRODUCT SHORTAGE PROBLEM<br />
The biggest problem facing the British<br />
exhibitor, like that of the American exhibitor,<br />
is shortage of product. British<br />
studios turn out between 50 and 70 major<br />
pictures a year, in addition to lesser product,<br />
and, in addition, the theatres have<br />
American films available. Davis said he<br />
believed the British theatremen were a<br />
"little better off" than those in the United<br />
States, but there still was a need for more<br />
pictures.<br />
Theatre business has not been too good.<br />
the CEA chief said, but the reduction of<br />
the admission tax has been of some help<br />
and attendance has held to a steady level<br />
in the last few months.<br />
Davis will consult with various producers<br />
in Hollywood in regard to forthcoming<br />
programs before returning to England.<br />
BOXOFFICE :: October 10. 1960 E-1
— — —<br />
'<br />
'<br />
^r'<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
New TV Season, Yom Kippur, U.N.<br />
Crowds All Hurt B'way Business<br />
NEW YORK—Many of the Broadway by "The Alamo" October 26. A fourth rcfirst<br />
run spots were crying the blues as servcd-seat film, "Spartacus." opened at<br />
the combination of the fall TV shows, the DeMille Theatre Thursday i6).<br />
Yom Kippur and traffic tieups in midtown The art theatres brouRht in several new<br />
because of visiting U. N. officials, kept films, the best being "The Entertainer,"<br />
many potential moviegoers out of the which had an invitational opening Sun-<br />
Times Square area. The one important day (2i at the Sutton Theatre. Also new<br />
new film. "Sunrise at Campobello." did were: "The Captain's Table" at the 68th<br />
well in its first week of two-a-day at the Street Playhouse and "The Ostrich Has<br />
RKO Palace but business was below ex- Two Eggs," both just fair. Three more,<br />
pectations. "The Royal Ballet." "The World of Apu"<br />
Except for new art house pictures, there and "Weddings and Babies." opened the<br />
was a plethora of holdover films, most of first few days of October. Best among the<br />
them nearing the end of long terms. Even holdovers still were "I'm All Right. Jack."<br />
the Radio City Music Hall was just fair in its 23rd week at the Guild, and "Carry<br />
with the second week of "The Dark at On. Nurse." in its fourth big week at the<br />
the Top of the Stairs" and the picture Little Carnegie,<br />
stayed a third week with "Midnight Lace" (Average is lOO)<br />
opening October 13. Best among the others Astor—The Apartment (ua), i6th wk 120<br />
were: "All the Young Men." in its sixth<br />
^"[cSntMi'V ".'"'.''^.""' '" ^"""' "V's"* ,5^<br />
week at the Forum: "It Started in Naples." Beekman— Sons and Lovers (ioth-Foxj, 9th wk. no<br />
in its fifth week at both the Victoria and<br />
^"^ *'' '2°<br />
'<br />
r??i'°IZ?i^J'"o'L'l- "^v .^<br />
,<br />
Criterion All the Fine Young Cannibals<br />
the east side Murray Hill, and "Let's Make (mgm), 2nd wk no<br />
Love." in its fourth week at both the Para-<br />
"^ "' *"°'°"'^°*' """ started<br />
^^Thl'^!?)"*'*"'<br />
mount and the east side Trans-Lux 52nd Fme Arts—Hiroshima, Mon Amour (Zemth),<br />
Street. "All the Fine Young Cannibals." 20th w|
John Maloney Closes<br />
Long Industry Career<br />
PITTSBURGH—John J. Maloney will be<br />
feted at a dinner Tuesday evening, October<br />
18 in the Penn-Sheraton<br />
Hotel, sponsored<br />
by Variety Tent 1<br />
and Allied<br />
MPTO of<br />
Western Pennsylvania,<br />
marking Maloney's<br />
retirement from<br />
the motion picture<br />
industry after 40<br />
years.<br />
All but about two<br />
of these years were<br />
spent with M G M<br />
here as a salesman,<br />
John Maloney<br />
branch manager,<br />
and division manager. Maloney served as<br />
spokesman for many years and gave much<br />
of his off -hours time to addressing civic,<br />
labor, patriotic and religious groups. Always<br />
his theme w-as the pleasures that motion<br />
pictures brought to people everywhere.<br />
His enthusiasm never wavered; always he<br />
was out selling motion pictures, for as he<br />
has said, "if the world continues there will<br />
be amusement and the motion picture will<br />
be right out in front."<br />
Maloney was one of the 11 founders of<br />
the Variety Club here and has been one<br />
of its most loyal members, serving twice as<br />
chief barker and for several terms as national<br />
chairman of the heart committee.<br />
In the Boy Scouts and Rotary Club he is<br />
"one of the boys," and has been very faithful<br />
to these and other organizations.<br />
The general chairman of the testimonial<br />
is George Eby, former Variety International<br />
chief barker, and the cochairmen<br />
are MoiTis Finkel, George Stern, Milton<br />
Brauman and John T. McGreevey.<br />
John Petrauskas Resigns<br />
Republic Affiliations<br />
NEW YORK—John Petrauskas jr. has<br />
resigned as treasurer of Republic Corp. and<br />
as a director. He had served in both capacities<br />
for Republic Pictures for the past<br />
12 years and as assistant treasurer of Consolidated<br />
Film Industries for 15 years<br />
prior to its merger with the parent organization<br />
in 1945.<br />
Petrauskas announced that when Victor<br />
M. Carter bought out the Herbert J. Yates<br />
interests in Republic last year, he was<br />
asked to continue his post with the company<br />
and to headquarter in Hollywood, but<br />
for personal reasons and commitments he<br />
prefeiTed to remain here.<br />
He started as an office boy in 1925 for<br />
Yates at Republic Laboratories and continued<br />
with the laboratory organization until<br />
Consolidated Film Industries was organized<br />
in 1928. He is a member of the Motion<br />
Picture Pioneers.<br />
Kingsley-Union Releases<br />
NEW YORK—Kingsley-Union Films will<br />
distribute "Picnic on the Grass," Frenchlanguage<br />
picture written, produced and directed<br />
by Jean Renoir, in the U.S. The<br />
Pathe Cinema presentation is in Eastman<br />
Color and features Paul Meurisse and<br />
Jacqueline Morane. "Picnic" will open at<br />
the Paris Theatre October 11.<br />
BROADWAY<br />
paul Kamey, eastern U-I publicity manager,<br />
left for Rome with national magazine<br />
representatives who will do special<br />
stories on the currently filming "Come September,"<br />
starring Rock Hudson and Gina<br />
Lollobrigida. • * • Joseph L. Mankiewicz,<br />
who wrote and directed the Academy-<br />
Award winning "All About Eve," left for<br />
Moscow and the Russian premiere of the<br />
film October 11. Julie Newmar, who recently<br />
completed "Marriage-Go-Round"<br />
for 20th-Fox, accompanied him. * * *<br />
William Wyler, producer-director for the<br />
forthcoming "The Children's Hour," and<br />
Lillian Hellman, author of the play, sailed<br />
for London to work on the screenplay of<br />
the United Artists release.<br />
9<br />
Stanley Kramer, producer-director of<br />
"Inherit the Wind," returned from a trip<br />
to Germany for a week's stay in New York<br />
during which he delivered a lecture on<br />
"Movies With Ideas" at his alma mater.<br />
New York University, and made TV ani<br />
radio appearances. * • * Stanley Donen,<br />
producer-director of "Surprise Package"<br />
for Columbia and "The Grass Is Greener"<br />
for U-I, got in from London with his bride<br />
Lady Adele Beatty. Cary Grant, star of<br />
"Grass," also got in from London to promote<br />
the Christmas release.<br />
9<br />
Angela Lansbury, Joan Plowright and<br />
Sir Laurence Olivier each have their<br />
names on two marquees in the midtown<br />
area this week. Miss Lansbury. who is in<br />
"The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" at<br />
Radio City Music Hall, and Miss Plowright,<br />
who is in "The Entertainer" at the Sutton<br />
Theatre, are the stars of "A Taste of<br />
Honey," British stage hit which opened at<br />
the Lyceum Theatre Tuesday (4> with Michael<br />
Rennie, Eva Gabor. Zachary Scott<br />
and Ruth Ford, Aileen Pringle and Kenne<br />
Berry on hand. Olivier opened in "Becket"<br />
at the St. James Theatre with Anthony<br />
Quinn as co-star Wednesday (5), three<br />
days after the invitation benefit premiere<br />
of "The Entertainer," with Robert Preston,<br />
Barbara Rush, Dorothy Stickney and Howard<br />
Lindsay and Vic Damone attending.<br />
Lucille Ball. Ethel Mei-man, Keith Andes,<br />
Theodore Bikel and Anne Bancroft were<br />
among the stars attending the midnight<br />
preview of Stanley Kramer's "Inherit the<br />
Wind" at the Normandie Theatre Monday<br />
(3).<br />
Schneider and Rosen Head<br />
Films' B'nai B'rith Effort<br />
NEW YORK—A. Schneider, president of<br />
Columbia Pictures, and Sam Rosen, vicepresident<br />
of Stanley Warner, have been<br />
named co-chairmen of the motion picture<br />
industry's participation in the 1960 New<br />
York youth service campaign of B'nai<br />
B'rith by Louis Nizer, general chairman of<br />
the fund drive. Eric Johnston, president<br />
of the Motion Picture Ass'n, was appointed<br />
co-chairman of a special gifts committee.<br />
A feature of the fund-raising effort will<br />
be a $100-a-person banquet at the Hotel<br />
Waldorf Astoria on November 27 when<br />
Abraham Peinberg, New York industrialist,<br />
will be honored and receive the President's<br />
Medal, the organization's highest award.<br />
Former President Harry S. Truman will<br />
be the principal banquet speaker.<br />
Other New York film industry executives<br />
sei-ving in the campaign are Harry Brandt,<br />
president of Brandt Theatres: Robert S.<br />
Benjamin, board chairman of United Artists;<br />
William J. German, president of W.<br />
J. German, Inc.; Jack H. Levin, president<br />
of Certified Reports, and Martin Levine,<br />
treasurer and general manager of Brandt<br />
Theatres.<br />
Rites for Sam Koomer<br />
NEW YORK—Funeral services were held<br />
Wednesday i5i for Sam Koomer, 77, for<br />
many years chief painter for Loew's Theatres.<br />
His wife, Ida, survives.<br />
SOMEBODY NEED A RIGHT ARM???<br />
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circuit manager of nine neighborhood houses. Hires, trains managers, works<br />
with and makes top men out of them. Pep letters, contests, etc. to stir enthusiasm.<br />
Creates and builds fronts, displays, promotions, etc. with the managers,<br />
—sees situations are run properly. Holds projectionist license for emergency.<br />
OTHER EXPERIENCE; Has operated, small, world-wide mail order business,<br />
introduced a number of products through major national publications, adlayout,<br />
sales letters and unusual mailing pieces, etc.<br />
Eastern half of Penna. area preferred for relocation. Minimum salary of<br />
$150. a week required, with bonus and vacation, etc. for action and results.<br />
You may contact this man bv writing to;<br />
CHRISTIAN<br />
FEINAUER<br />
135 HAVEN ST.. SCM. HAVEN, PENNA.<br />
EOXOFFICE October 10, 1960 E-3
:<br />
BETWEEN THE LINES<br />
By AL STEEN<br />
Sordid Themes<br />
[HE MOTHEK of a IL'-ycai-old boy and<br />
a 14-ycai-old girl told us this past<br />
week that she had just about decided to<br />
eliminate motion pictures from her children's<br />
entertainment diet. The reason? Too<br />
many pictures depicting violence, overemphasis<br />
on sex and depressing themes. And,<br />
she said, it wasn't a healthy diet for adults,<br />
either. She pointed out that a majority of<br />
the old pictures shown on television were<br />
clean and sparkling with good humor and<br />
entertainment. "Why can't they make that<br />
kind of picture today?" she asked.<br />
We asked her if she were an advocate of<br />
censorship. She replied that she was not,<br />
but, she added. "Censorship pressure could<br />
be eliminated if the causes were erased."<br />
She has something there. It must be admitted<br />
that many of our story themes have<br />
gone too far in unsavory material and unless<br />
there is a halt, certain producers are<br />
going to be digging their professional<br />
graves.<br />
An editorial in the Deseret News and<br />
Salt Lake Telegram, a Salt Lake City dally.<br />
sums up the situation very well in discussing<br />
"Windjammer."<br />
"One trouble with excitement is thfit<br />
it feeds on itself," the editorial noted. "It<br />
is habit-forming. One thrill, vicarious or<br />
otherwise, demands another and still another.<br />
"That is why the sex-psychosis crime<br />
movies are having such a run these days.<br />
They offer cheap, twisted, meretricious excitement,<br />
and each one creates an appetite<br />
that makes the next one sure-fire at the<br />
boxoffice.<br />
"It takes a courageous producer and<br />
courageous distributors to break out of this<br />
profitable but degrading cycle. The public<br />
should be grateful whenever such courage<br />
becomes evident."<br />
Till' edilonal then goes on lo prai.se<br />
"Windjammer," playing at a Salt Lake<br />
City theatre and describes Cinemiracle as<br />
an impressive demonstration of the film<br />
industry's potential in sound as well as<br />
projection.<br />
"But it is more than that." the editorial<br />
continues. "It is also delightful, refreshina<br />
proof that tangled, sordid plots and suggestive<br />
situations are not necessary for<br />
entertainment. We have talked to no one<br />
who saw 'Windjammer' who did not express<br />
gratitude for its wholesomcness . . .<br />
Like the clean, strong salt wind through<br />
the rigging of a sailing ship, 'Windjammer'<br />
is a soul-cleansing experience."<br />
It is quite obvious that greater newspaper<br />
support and acclaim of motion pictures<br />
would be forthcoming if more atten.-<br />
tion were paid to wholesome themes. It<br />
may come to a point where it will be eithp;-<br />
that—or else.<br />
•<br />
More About Comedy<br />
TN THE window of a camera supply shop<br />
on Lexington Ave. in New York, there<br />
currently is a demonstration of a new home<br />
sound projector. Throughout the day, over<br />
and over again, a ten-minute segment of<br />
an old W. C. Fields feature is presented<br />
for passersby who stop to watch and sometimes<br />
the crowd is so big that sidewalk<br />
traffic is snarled. The segment is an auto<br />
chase down a mountain road, with every<br />
trick in Fields' book and probably those of<br />
Mack Sennett brought into play.<br />
We don't know whether the store is<br />
doing a landoffice business in the sales of<br />
projectors and or film, but we do know<br />
that the pedestrians stand and watch the<br />
clip through several showings. We've been<br />
one of them. Our interest in the proceedings<br />
has been the reactions of the sidewalk<br />
audiences. Their roars of laughter<br />
almost drown out the sound and here,<br />
paraphrased, are almost the unanimous<br />
comments; "Why don't they make comedies<br />
liKe that any more?"<br />
If that small sampling is any criterion,<br />
there's a market for the Fielas type ol<br />
slam-bang humor.<br />
•<br />
Addenda<br />
QN A LESS serious note, we offer the<br />
following:<br />
A fellow was heard to remark that his<br />
job w-as to keep sex out of the movies.<br />
"Are you a censor?" he was asked.<br />
"No," was the reply. "I'm an usher in<br />
a theatre balcony."<br />
P. T. Barnum always claimed there was<br />
a sucker born every minute, but he fell for<br />
a bait once himself, according to this<br />
story<br />
He once received a letter from a 'Vermont<br />
citizen who said he owned a cherrycolored<br />
cat which could be had for $600.<br />
Barnum always was on the lookout for a<br />
novelty for his show, so he sent the $000<br />
after getting the man's solemn word that<br />
the feline was cherry-colored.<br />
In time a crate arrived and when Barnum<br />
opened it, a black cat jumped out.<br />
Around its neck was a note which read:<br />
"Up in Vermont, our cherries are black."<br />
* *<br />
Over martinis recently we overheard a<br />
conversation by a couple of men who were<br />
discussing a producer who had switched<br />
from films to stage productions.<br />
"So he's a legitimate producer now."<br />
said one.<br />
"No, he's half legitimate."<br />
"How's that?"<br />
"Well, his father was married, but his<br />
mother was not."<br />
New Jersey Exhibitors<br />
Worried by Roadshows<br />
NEW YORK—The flow of hard-ticket<br />
pictures that will occupy Broadway theatres<br />
for the rest of the year was the sole<br />
topic of discussion at a meeting of Allied<br />
Theatre Owners of New Jersey here Tuesday<br />
1 4 1 . The situation will create a serious<br />
condition for New Jersey exhibitors, members<br />
said. Another meeting has been<br />
scheduled for October 11 to continue the<br />
discussions and try to find a solution.<br />
A Public Service Effort<br />
NEW YORK—In the industry-wide effort<br />
to get out the vote and raise funds<br />
on a non-partisan basis for both political<br />
parties, no portion of the money contributed<br />
will be used for administrative expenses,<br />
the Motion Picture Ass'n of America<br />
announced. Any expenses involved will<br />
be borne by the companies themselves.<br />
The MPAA said the industry had decided<br />
to make this project a public service effort.<br />
NOT.\BL£.S AT "SUNRISE" PREVIEW IN NEW YORK—Mrs. Eleanor Roosevtlt<br />
headed a group of celebrities at the world premiere of "Sunrise at Campobello,"<br />
Warner Bros, picture in which she is portrayed by Greer Garson, with Ralph<br />
Bellamy as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at the RKO Palace in New York. Mrs.<br />
Roosevelt is in the photo at the left with Dore Schary, the \vriter-producer of the<br />
film. In the second photo, left to right, are Bernard Goodman, Warner Bros,<br />
distribution vice-president; Mrs. Goodman, Mrs. David Stillman and Stillman,<br />
president of Seven .\rts Films. Proceeds from the gala opening went to the National<br />
Foundation-March of Dimes, the organization FDR founded.<br />
Levine Film Retitled<br />
NEW YORK — "The Passionate Thief"<br />
has been chosen as the final title for<br />
Joseph E. Levine's comedy-drama previously<br />
called "Laughs of Joy." The Italianmade<br />
picture, now in the editing stage,<br />
stars Anna Magnani. Ben Gazzara, Fred<br />
Clerk and Toto and was directed by Mario<br />
Monicelli.<br />
E-4 BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
ALBANY<br />
Ctill slightly gaunt from his experiences<br />
during the flood at Windham. Catskill<br />
village, which the recent hurricane<br />
touched off, George Thornton reported<br />
damage to his ten-year-old theatre there<br />
would be at least $7,000. The house was<br />
flooded to the depth of three feet, covering<br />
many seats, the floors and rugs. High<br />
winds also damaged the roof. George's son<br />
Tommy, summer manager and a student<br />
at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy,<br />
performed several rescue feats during the<br />
storm. Total damage in Windham was<br />
estimated at $2,000,000. Thornton slept only<br />
three hours during a two-day period.<br />
Welcoming guests at the two screenings<br />
of "Ben-Hur" at the Ritz Theatre were<br />
Charles A. Smakwitz, Stanley Warner zone<br />
manager; Alfred G. Swett. district manager;<br />
Joe Stowell. Ritz manager; John J.<br />
Brousseau. group sales director, and Ralph<br />
Ripps. MGM manager. Industry folk among<br />
the guests included Morris and Raphael<br />
Klein, the drive-in operators, and their<br />
wives; Elias Schlenger, Fabian division<br />
chief; Phil Rapp, Fabian manager at<br />
Schenectady; Lou Rapp, Proctor's at Troy;<br />
George Lourinia, the Mohawk Drive-In.<br />
and wife and their daughter, Mrs. Frank<br />
Allen; Samuel Rosenblatt. Acme Theatres<br />
Corp., Sylvester Albano, Sylvan Leff, Patt<br />
Patterson, John Wilhelm and wife, Mary<br />
Kay Riley, Alan Iselin, Sid Sommer and<br />
wife, Sid Urbach, Herb Schwartz and his<br />
parents, Mel Shaw, Fred Rosenblatt.<br />
. . . "Ben-<br />
Numerous newspaper representatives,<br />
school teachers and radio station officials<br />
turned out for the special "Ben-Hur"<br />
showing. Included were Dr. Hugh M. Flick,<br />
of the cultural division of the state education<br />
department, and his wife<br />
Hur" also was screened at the Strand for<br />
800 sisters of the Albany Catholic diocese.<br />
S. S. Friedman, Warner Bros, vice-president<br />
who died in New York City at the age<br />
of 78. was the son of Jacob and Mary<br />
Friedman of Albany and was a graduate<br />
of Albany Academy in 1901.<br />
Johnny Gardner, owner of the Glen<br />
Drive-In, Glens Falls, said, on a visit to<br />
Filmrow. he planned to go on a four-day<br />
weekend schedule "next week." The closing<br />
date? "That depends on the feature<br />
picture I can get; I would like to play<br />
'High Time.' " After election day, the<br />
Gardners will go to Miami for the winter.<br />
Gardner will ti-ailer his motor boat to<br />
Florida and do offshore boating, fishing<br />
and swimming.<br />
Michael Cory's Strand in Canajoharie<br />
and the Center in Fort Plain are offering<br />
discount books of tickets—ten tickets for<br />
$6. The regular admission at both Mohawk<br />
Valley houses is 75 cents. The Strand<br />
is a cozy two-floor theatre of perhaps 500<br />
capacity, with a Cinemascope screen and<br />
clear projection. It is managed by Eva<br />
Quackenbush. Cory's law offices are nearby.<br />
Around the corner is the Beechnut<br />
Packing Co. plant which employs 2.300.<br />
A search for a double of the race horse<br />
Reckless, of the Korean engagement, is<br />
being made for the Allied Artists' "Reckless,<br />
Pride of the Marines."<br />
AT ALBANY PREMIERE—Snapped at the Ritz Theatre in<br />
Albany was the<br />
above group, arriving to attend the invitational premiere of "Ben-Hur." Left to<br />
right: Sidney Urbach, part owner of the Vail Mills Drive-In; Sylvan Leff (standing<br />
near the door) , Watertown-Utica exhibitor; Charles Smakwitz, Stanley Warner<br />
zone manager; Mrs. Ralph Ripps; Herbert Schwartz, Columbia manager; Ralph<br />
Ripps, MGM manager, and Sylvester J. Albano, Albano's Drive-In, Ravena.<br />
Alan Iselin Goes Abroad<br />
To Buy Drive-In Pictures<br />
ALBANY—Alan V. Iselin, head of Tricity<br />
Drive-In Theatres, left on a trip to<br />
London. Paris and Rome where he will<br />
seek pictures that have appeal to U. S.<br />
drive-in audiences. If in a foreign language<br />
they will be dubbed. Iselin will seek<br />
to buy such product for distribution by<br />
himself.<br />
"The pictures do not have to be of any<br />
particular theme or style, nor necessarily<br />
have any great star value," Iselin said. "I<br />
found that at my three drive-ins this<br />
season foreign films, properly exploited,<br />
can draw stronger than some high-percentage<br />
domestic releases. I played ten<br />
of them that clicked at the boxoffice.<br />
among them 'Magdalena,' 'Nude in a<br />
White Car' and 'Michael Strogoff.' "<br />
Columbia to Distribute<br />
Edward Schreiber Film<br />
NEW YORK—Columbia Pictures has<br />
closed a distribution deal with Edward<br />
Schreiber. a former publicist in both the<br />
Warner Bros, and 20th Century-Fox publicity<br />
departments, who will make his first<br />
production. "Mad-Dog Coll," for Coliunbia<br />
release.<br />
Burt Balaban, who recently produced<br />
and directed "Murder, Inc," for 20th<br />
Century-Pox. will direct the pictui'e from<br />
Schreiber 's own screenplay. Schreiber's<br />
picture will be made entirely in New York,<br />
starting at the Biltmore Studios October<br />
10. A four-week schedule is planned.<br />
291 More Roadshow Dates<br />
Are Set for 'Ben-Hur'<br />
NEW YORK—Ninety-one new roadshow<br />
engagements of "Ben-Hur" have been set<br />
by MGM for openings before Thanksgiving<br />
and another 200 by New Year's. Robert<br />
Mochrie, general sales manager, said each<br />
engagement would be given the same<br />
handling that marked the first 72 dates.<br />
"<br />
In each situation. "Ben-Hur field men<br />
will be on hand well in advance of opening<br />
dates to work with exhibitors until the<br />
engagement is well under way.<br />
TOA Asks Change of Nights<br />
For Political Debates<br />
NEW YORK—Theatre Owners of America<br />
wants future Nixon-Kennedy debates<br />
held on nights other than Fridays because<br />
the televised contests cut into theatre attendance<br />
and. as well, reduce the potential<br />
number of view^ers for the debates.<br />
Albert Pickus. TOA president, embodied<br />
those premises in identical telegrams to<br />
Sen. Thruston B. Morton, chairman of the<br />
Republican National Committee, and Sen.<br />
Hem-y M. Jackson, the Democratic National<br />
Committee chairman. The telegrams<br />
read:<br />
"Because Friday is traditionally a shopping<br />
and movie night, when millions of<br />
people will be away from their homes and<br />
thus unavailable as a TV audience, may I<br />
urgently request, in behalf of Theatre<br />
Owners of America, reconsideration by the<br />
national campaign committee of the next<br />
and future televised debates between Vice-<br />
President Nixon and Senator Kennedy.<br />
The television audience potential is far<br />
greater on Mondays through Thursday<br />
nights than on Fridays through Sundays.<br />
"Further, motion picture theatre attendance<br />
was down nationally no less than<br />
15 per cent last Monday when the first<br />
debate was held. The forthcoming Friday<br />
debate, coming on a prime shopping and<br />
movie night, should have even greater adverse<br />
impact upon our attendance. We<br />
recognize the problem of changing television<br />
commitments, but respectfully urge<br />
an attempt be made to shift the forthcoming<br />
debates to give your candidate the<br />
greater audience that would be available to<br />
him Mondays through Thursdays."<br />
MGM's "King of Kings" will be released<br />
as a roadshow attraction.<br />
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BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960 E-5
. . Floyd<br />
—<br />
BUFFALO<br />
prank Saviola, with Paramount here since<br />
June 1949. has been named exchange<br />
manager, succeeding John Serfustino. who<br />
takes over the sales<br />
manager post for<br />
both the Buffalo and<br />
Albany territories.<br />
Saviola moved up<br />
fiom booker to head<br />
booker, office manager<br />
and salesman.<br />
Tony Mercurio is<br />
continuing as office<br />
manager at Paramount<br />
and Frank<br />
Mancuso, booker for<br />
the past year, has<br />
Frank Saviola<br />
been promoted to a<br />
sales staff position.<br />
Louis M. Levitch, who recently resigned<br />
as managing director of the Granada to<br />
take over the operation of the North Park<br />
Theatre at 1426 Hertel Ave., effective October<br />
15. has named his son-in-law Alvin<br />
Cipperman as his house manager. Levitch<br />
was with the Schine organization for 30<br />
years as manager, zone manager, group<br />
executive, and finally at the Granada, a<br />
de luxe Schine community operation. His<br />
successor there is Joseph Garvey. recently<br />
assistant at Schine's Monroe in Rochester.<br />
The North Park, which was the late Michael<br />
Shea's first theatre in his circuit of<br />
eight houses, is undergoing numerous interior<br />
changes. Its 1,100 seats is being<br />
reduced to 800: there will be a new 50-<br />
foot-wide screen and new carpets as well<br />
as complete redecoration. Levitch said.<br />
One innovation in policy wlil be the presentation<br />
of Saturday morning and afternoon<br />
shows for children. Levitch will offer<br />
outstanding productions of recent years,<br />
winners of festival and Academy awards,<br />
etc., on two changes a week.<br />
Variety Tent 7 sponsored the opening of<br />
the Buffalo hockey season Wednesday ' 5 ><br />
in Memorial Auditorium and realized a<br />
substantial sum for the Children's Rehabilitation<br />
Center. Before the game, there<br />
was a special dinner served in the Delaware<br />
avenue clubrooms, and after the<br />
game, dancing and cards were on the<br />
program.<br />
Ben Weiner, Allied Artists, was here<br />
assisting George H. Mackenna, Basil's<br />
Lafayette, on promotion for "Hell to Eternity."<br />
Subscriptions, by the way, for the<br />
Lafayette's season of stage shows have<br />
been coming in encouraging fashion. Over<br />
2,000 have been received to date and 1,000<br />
more are being sought for the shows to be<br />
staged in 1960 and '61 under the auspices<br />
of the Broadway Theatre League of Buffalo.<br />
The first production, "J.B.," starring<br />
John Carradine, will be presented October<br />
26. On December 12, Brian Donlevy will<br />
appear in "The Andersonville Trial." January<br />
9 will bring Joan Bennett in "The<br />
Pleasure of His Company."<br />
Nat L. Cohen, 55, vice-president in charge<br />
of sales and a director of radio station<br />
WGR since 1953. died following a heart<br />
attack in his home . Fitzsimmons<br />
of Boston, Warner Bros, fieldman, was<br />
here working with Paramount Theatre<br />
executives on "Girl of the Night." Max<br />
J. RoMjibrr^;, producer of the picture, was<br />
due Uriv Monday and Tuesday OO, 11 1.<br />
Sevcial 1)1 (iinotions also were launched on<br />
"The Dai k at the Top of the Stairs," coming<br />
soon to the Center, including a special<br />
screening for "gossipers" in which radio<br />
station WEBR is cooperating. The preview<br />
will be held Saturday il5i at 9:30 a.m. in<br />
the Center.<br />
The Bailey and Abbott, community<br />
houses, got some splendid publicity in the<br />
Union and Echo, local Catholic weekly, on<br />
their forthcoming "Conspiracy of Hearts,"<br />
a lengthy article being headed, "Movie on<br />
Nuns Coming to Two Theatres" . . . Arthur<br />
Krolick, district manager for AB-PT, and<br />
Edward F. Meade, general manager. Shea<br />
Theatres, attended the recent Boost Buffalo<br />
powwow in the Statler Hilton and<br />
offered 100 per cent cooperation to the<br />
committee which is planning a thousand<br />
and one stunts to boost Buffalo,<br />
Buffalo's own international champion<br />
barbershop quartet, the Buffalo Bills, is<br />
winning more fame—having appeared in<br />
"The Music Man" on the stage of the Majestic<br />
in New York more than 1,150 times.<br />
The show is second in popularity only to<br />
"My Fair Lady." It was just ten years<br />
ago when the Bills won the world championship<br />
title for barber shop harmony at<br />
a SPEBSQSA convention in Omaha. The<br />
quartet's members are Al Shea, 'Vern Reed,<br />
Wayne Ward and Bill Spangenberg.<br />
In behalf of "The House of Usher at<br />
"<br />
the Paramount, Manager Ed Miller planted<br />
a contest on radio station WEBR in which<br />
he offered guest tickets to listeners-in who<br />
sent in on the back of postcards the best<br />
spook stories. Miller also used a saturation<br />
radio and T'V spots campaign, had a massive<br />
lobby display, an eye-catching false<br />
front cuiTently, posters on 35 taxicabs<br />
constantly on the move around the town,<br />
bookmarks in the public library tied in<br />
with Edgar Allan Foe books, and ads and<br />
stories in community papers ... F. J. A.<br />
McCarthy, Universal assistant general sales<br />
manager, conferred with branch manager<br />
Ike Ehrichman, and discussed "Spartacus"<br />
with some local exhibitors.<br />
AMPA Establishes<br />
Industry Awards Plan<br />
NEW YORK—Service awards for outstanding<br />
industryites will be established by<br />
Associated Motion Picture Advertisers. The<br />
project will be launched at AMPA's first<br />
luncheon of the 1960-61 .season at the<br />
Piccadilly Hotel here on November 2.<br />
Bob Montgomery, AMPA president, said<br />
awards would be given annually. One<br />
five<br />
will go to the individual exhibitor or theatre<br />
company which AMPA judges to have<br />
perfoi-med the greatest service to the industry.<br />
Another will go to the film company<br />
or film company official judged to have<br />
most benefitted the industi-y during the<br />
past 12 months. A third will be for the outstanding<br />
showman, a fourth to the advertising<br />
man or campaign judged to be<br />
the year's best and the fifth to the person<br />
or organization in the service area of the<br />
industry—the craft or trade association<br />
judged worthy of recognition.<br />
William Williams Upped<br />
To 20th-Fox Dallas Head<br />
NEW YORK— William L.<br />
Williams, who<br />
started with 20th Century-Fox as an assistant<br />
shipper in the Memphis branch in<br />
1941, has been named branch manager of<br />
the Dallas office by C. Glenn Norris, general<br />
sales manager. Williams replaces Tom<br />
McCleaster, recently named a member of<br />
the newly created 20th Century-Fox "sales<br />
cabinet," the field extension of the general<br />
sales manager's office.<br />
After Williams' discharge from military<br />
service in 1944, he was re-employed by<br />
20th-Fox as a maintenance clerk in the<br />
Dallas branch and was promoted to head<br />
booker, salesman, office manager and<br />
branch manager, in turn, the last succeeding<br />
Mark Sheridan, who had been elevated<br />
to southwestern district manager.<br />
When local autonomy was put into effect,<br />
McCleaster was transferred from Ihs<br />
central district managership to Dallas<br />
branch head, with Williams reverting to<br />
sales manager.<br />
Levine Advocates More<br />
Use of Lobby Displays<br />
NEW YORK—Joseph E. Levine, Embassy<br />
president, has called upon exhibitors to<br />
utilize their lobbies to help sell motion<br />
pictures instead of using the area solely<br />
as a background for the sale of candy and<br />
other refreshments.<br />
"The theatre lobby is among the most<br />
effective points-of-sale available to an exhibitor<br />
and, except in rare instances, it is<br />
the most neglected," Levine pointed out.<br />
"In the course of a week, thousands of patrons<br />
parade through the lobby and yet<br />
most theatres confine their lobby sale to<br />
a simple poster announcing the next attraction."<br />
Levine has made available Embassy's<br />
eight-foot, double-flasher lobby display for<br />
"The Hot Wind Blows," which MGM will<br />
release in November.<br />
Montgomery in a New Post<br />
At Famous Artists School<br />
NEW YORK—Robert L, Montgomery,<br />
president of Associated Motion Picture Advertisers,<br />
has been appointed assistant<br />
public relations director of Famous Artists<br />
Schools and Famous Writers Schools<br />
of Westport, Conn. Montgomery resigned<br />
as senior vice-president of Endorsements,<br />
Inc., to take on his new post.<br />
Entering the industi-y with Essaness<br />
Theatres in Chicago, Montgomery switched<br />
to 20th Century-Pox in New York as executive<br />
assistant to the late Hal Horn,<br />
vice-president in charge of advertising and<br />
publicity. His last industry post was with<br />
Paramount which he left in December 1957<br />
to join Endorsements. He is serving his<br />
third consecutive term as president of<br />
AMPA.<br />
Two Drive-Ins Join TOA<br />
NEW YORK—The 360 Drive-In Theatre<br />
of Danville and the Shenandoah Drive-In<br />
of Roanoke, both units of Dixie Drive-In<br />
Theatres, have joined Theatre Owners of<br />
America and its new regional unit, the<br />
Virginia Motion Picture Theatre Ass'n. Albert<br />
M. Pickus, TOA president, said he had<br />
been so advised by Carlton Duffas. executive<br />
secretary of the 'Virginia association.<br />
E-6 BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
. . . Jerry<br />
. . Reports<br />
. . On<br />
. . The<br />
. .<br />
Dinty Moore Heads New<br />
Buying-Booking Office<br />
PITTSBURGH—F. D. "Dinty" Moore<br />
has left Cooperative Theatre Service to<br />
head a new booking-licensing group being<br />
incorporated as Theatre Service Corp.<br />
George Saittis and Dario Castelli are vicepresidents:<br />
William Geibel is treasurer,<br />
and George Tice is secretary.<br />
The new organization starts out with<br />
the 17 theatres in the Manos circuit, three<br />
Morgantown units and 11 independents as<br />
booking-buying accounts, all formerly with<br />
Co-Op. The Airport Theatre also is with<br />
TSC.<br />
John Coussoule, foi-mer manager for<br />
Manos at Indiana, Pa., is expected to join<br />
TSC as Manos booker when he recovers<br />
from a heart ailment. Also in TSC are Ray<br />
Lewis, Louis Stuler, Durward Coe and the<br />
Castelli brothers. Marilyn Keisler, secretary<br />
for Moore when he had his own booking<br />
business, has returned to help him get<br />
things organized.<br />
The independent accounts, all ozoners<br />
except one, are: Twin Hi-Way. Crafton;<br />
Woodland, Homestead; Tusca, Beaver;<br />
Skyway. Butler; Skyview, Carmichaels;<br />
Brownsville, Brownsville; Plaza lindoon,<br />
Brownsville; Super 71 itwin). Belle Vernon:<br />
Super Castle, New Castle.<br />
PHILADELPHIA<br />
. . .<br />
H series of operas on film will be shown<br />
every Tuesday during October at the<br />
Ardmore (Pa.i Theatre and the Yorktown<br />
in Elkins Park. The idea was tried out last<br />
season at the Ardmore with good results<br />
The Fox Theatre, 16th and Market<br />
streets, held a 9 a.m. screening of WB's<br />
"Dark at the Top of the Stairs" for the<br />
ladies who had written to the theatre<br />
promising to publicize the feature by "gossiping."<br />
A scheduled two-day visit of John<br />
Wayne here was canceled when the screen<br />
actor was taken ill with bronchitis in New<br />
York. Doctors ordered him to abandon<br />
the tour and he flew back to Hollywood.<br />
"The Alamo" will open October 26 at William<br />
Goldman's Midtown Theatre ... A<br />
bench warrant for the arrest of actor<br />
Michael O'Shea, husband of Virginia Mayo,<br />
was issued after O'Shea failed to show up<br />
for a trial at Doylestown on charges of<br />
carrying a concealed weapon. O'Shea's<br />
lawyer told the judge that his client is in<br />
Rome, Italy, making a film. His bail of<br />
$500 was forfeited.<br />
Judy Holliday is appearing in person in<br />
a new stage play, "Laurette," at the Walnut<br />
Theatre.<br />
Columbia Acquires Rights<br />
To 'Five Golden Hours'<br />
LONDON—"Five Golden Hours," currently<br />
in production in London, has been<br />
acquired by Columbia Pictures for distribution<br />
in the Western Hemisphere, Great<br />
Britain and the British Commonwealth.<br />
The picture, described as an international<br />
comedy, has Ernie Kovacs. Cyd Charisse<br />
and George Sanders in the staiTing roles.<br />
Extensive location shooting has been<br />
completed in the Italian Alps by Mario<br />
Zampi, the producer-director. The film is<br />
scheduled for release early next year.<br />
PITTSBURGH<br />
John Venturo of Trafford, manager of the<br />
Greater Pittsburgh Drive-In, has been<br />
named manager of the Melrose Theatre,<br />
which has been purchased and will be reopened<br />
within a month or so by Warren<br />
Enterprises, with a Filmrow office in the<br />
Atlas Theatre Supply building. Ernest<br />
Warren of East McKeesport will license<br />
and book for the Melrose which has been<br />
closed about eight years. His mother Florence<br />
and brothers Martin and Floyd make<br />
their home in Irwin.<br />
.<br />
. . .<br />
Requests for one-day rental of the<br />
Roxian Theatre, McKees Rocks, has led<br />
Roy Fiedler jr., manager, to make many<br />
stage improvements. The theatre was rec^ntly<br />
house-cleaned and modernized after<br />
Fiedler leased it from Morris Naft<br />
Variety Tent 1 will honor I. Elmer Ecker<br />
at a dinner in the Penn-Sheraton Hotel<br />
October 27 for his 20 consecutive years as<br />
a member of the Variety board of directors.<br />
His sister is the well known WB staffer<br />
Gordon Gibson of Atlas<br />
Leona Ecker . . .<br />
Theatre Supply was back on the job after<br />
a week's business and pleasure trip in New<br />
York Mr. and Mrs. John Groves,<br />
Carlene popcorn distributors, were vacationing<br />
in California.<br />
Don Ruth, owner of the Evergreen Drivein<br />
near Mount Pleasant, is seriously ill<br />
Wechsler, former WB manager<br />
who now is a television film distributor,<br />
was a visitor . . . Bill Lange, WB sales<br />
manager, was ill . . . Cliff Brown, Kane<br />
theatre owner, is a grandpop. A son was<br />
. . .<br />
.<br />
born at Corry to his son Harry and wife<br />
Tony Coutsoumbis, manager of the<br />
J. P. Harris Theatre for six years under<br />
Harris and now under the Stern-Associated<br />
banner, has been named commander<br />
of American Legion Post 595 for his fourth<br />
consecutive year Filmrow was<br />
Gregory Crawford, Huntingdon projectionist,<br />
who renovated the many-years-dark<br />
Shapiro Theatre at Six Mile Run for reopening<br />
on Veterans Day, November 11.<br />
Crawford was accompanied by exhibitor<br />
Joe Shapiro.<br />
.<br />
Charles Clausner closed the Grand Theatre<br />
at Mount Pleasant and took bankruptcy<br />
here are that Jack<br />
Maple is out of business at Point Marion,<br />
with his Barney's Theatre closed. The past<br />
summer he operated only every other weekend<br />
Mrs. M. A. Rosenberg, widow of<br />
. . . the late Allied leader, turned up at a 20th-<br />
Fox tradescreening the other day and she<br />
is looking fine.<br />
Audrey Ann Mackin, assistant to A. John<br />
Mayer, MGM cashier, and John A. Messner<br />
were married at St. Henry Church on<br />
Arlington avenue. The bride is a daughter<br />
of Walter Mackin, for many years<br />
Filmrow's expressman . Palace<br />
Theatre, Ashtabula, Ohio, closed five years,<br />
has been transferred by the Guarneri family,<br />
owner, to the newly organized Ashtabula<br />
Playhouse, Inc., which will stage plays<br />
there, beginning November 5.<br />
One hundred carrier-salesmen of the<br />
Valley Daily News and their parents were<br />
guests of Fritz Klingeiismith. owner of<br />
Sunset Drive-In in Harrison township, at<br />
an "appreciation night." Fritz, or Floyd, as<br />
we called him when he was a Columbia<br />
salesman here, and Charles "Glbby" Gibson,<br />
projectionist, explained the operation<br />
of the sound and projection systems to<br />
the boys . . . Jim, only son of Mr. and Mrs.<br />
Victor C. Weschler, Eric theatre ownersoperators<br />
for many years, now lives in<br />
New York City and is employed by the<br />
Charles Hoyt ad agency.<br />
. .<br />
The John Groves Co.. concession supplier,<br />
is moving to larger quarters at 566<br />
Corey Ave., effective November 1 . . . The<br />
Manos circuit closed the Harris Theatre<br />
in Tarantum, which has been dark or operating<br />
on weekends only . . . Mr. and Mrs.<br />
Henry Burger returned from a New England<br />
vacation . Paramount moved Pete<br />
DeFazio in from the road to succeed<br />
Harold Henderson as sales manager when<br />
the latter was promoted to Cleveland as<br />
manager. Maurice "Red" Silverberg took<br />
over as salesman. He has been with UA the<br />
last year.<br />
After 30 years of traffic tieups, Edna<br />
Street, Pittsburgh's Filmrow, has been<br />
designated a one-way street . . . Bess Pehl<br />
of the MGM staff was home ill . . . Andy<br />
Chakeres, fonrier exhibitor in this area,<br />
returned from a vacation in Greece. He<br />
now operates the AC enterprises at the<br />
airport.<br />
Anas Brothers Add Airer<br />
WEIRTON, W. VA.—The Anas brothers<br />
Tom and George, long established here as<br />
owners - operators of Cove Enterprise,<br />
bought the Glendale Drive-In from Mr.<br />
and Mrs. L. A. Bulkley, who are retiring to<br />
Port Lauderdale, Ha. Other Anas theatres<br />
include the Ohio Valley, FoUansbee, W.<br />
Va.; Sky View, East Liverpool. Ohio; Hilltop,<br />
Chester, W. Va., outdoor theatres, and<br />
the indoor Cove, Weirton.<br />
Harold Henderson Promoted<br />
PITTSBURGH — Harold Henderson.<br />
Paramount salesman here many years, was<br />
named Cleveland branch manager.<br />
awaits \^ou wfien<br />
WAHOO is<br />
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Write today for complete<br />
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Be sure to give seating<br />
or car capacity.<br />
HOLLYWOOD AMUSEMENT<br />
CO.<br />
3750 Ookion Si. Skokie, Illinois<br />
f<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960 E-7
Top Source for Screen Material Seen<br />
In<br />
Columbia's Publishing Setup<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Columbia Pictures' newly<br />
established publishiiiK setup is expected<br />
to foster an important program of newstory<br />
material that could well develop into<br />
a top source for screen properties of individual<br />
quality and conception, it was i-evealed<br />
by the projects head. Saul David,<br />
in an exclusive <strong>Boxoffice</strong> interview.<br />
Ponnerly vice-president and editorial director<br />
of Bantam Books. David joined the<br />
studio in an executive capacity for this<br />
purpose and already has submitted several<br />
ideas to get the program underway.<br />
Actually a publishing company within<br />
the studio, the department does everything<br />
except physically print books. This chore<br />
Is farmed out to various publishers. David's<br />
duties are to create or assist in the<br />
creation of original material. He works<br />
dii-ectly with Arthur Kramer, executive<br />
assistant to studio head Samuel Briskin,<br />
developing ideas that later will be<br />
submitted to Briskin for approval in thematic<br />
design. Then he seeks a writer, emphasizing<br />
the "right wedding" between<br />
idea and executor, to complete them. The<br />
writer retains ownership in the property,<br />
though the studio retains an option on it<br />
and a general "price" area is determined<br />
at the outset of a deal.<br />
Basically, the reasoning behind the project<br />
from a studio standpoint is that a<br />
successful novel has name value that is<br />
important to the film version. "It stretches<br />
their horizons." David says, while he notes<br />
that in turn a successful film can reactivate<br />
sales of the novel too. Additionally.<br />
Zanuck Plans for Future;<br />
Fox Buys Three Novels<br />
NEW YORK—Besides dubbing and scoring<br />
"The Big Gamble." Darryl F. Zanuck<br />
is at work on three other projects, one of<br />
which will be his next picture for 20th<br />
Century-Fox release. They are "The Short<br />
Cut," dealing with the Italian attack on<br />
Ethiopia; Jim Bishop's "The Day Christ<br />
Died," for which Paul Gallico is writing the<br />
screenplay, and Irving Wallace's "The<br />
Chapman Report," which he may make in<br />
Hollywood.<br />
For future production. 20th-Fox has<br />
acquired thiee new novels. They are<br />
"Watcher in the Shadows" by Jeffrey<br />
Household. "The Greatest Raid of All" by<br />
C. E. Lucas Phillips and "This Too Is My<br />
"<br />
Son by Russell O'Neil.<br />
Columbia TV Deal Gives<br />
Cipes 21 Foreign Films<br />
NEW YORK—Jay H. Cipes has been<br />
made exclusive agent for the release to<br />
U. S. television of 21 specialized Columbia<br />
pictures, most of them produced since<br />
1955. They include films from France,<br />
Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria, Mexico,<br />
Greece, Brazil and the Philippines, several<br />
of them 'Venice Film Festival winners and<br />
six made in color. All will be post-synchronized<br />
in English.<br />
Cipes for several years has been assembling<br />
and dubbing packages of foreign art<br />
films for T'V. The latest group presents<br />
many well known stars.<br />
by setting one writer to develop the idea<br />
in book form and then assigning another<br />
writer to convert it to a screenplay, it becomes<br />
an individual property and not an<br />
obvious screen creation. He won't, in fact,<br />
touch a book or idea that is obviously<br />
aimed just for the screen because it becomes<br />
stereotyped in a motion picture<br />
sense, he says. Naturally, however, he admits<br />
that ideas approved by the studio are<br />
going to be those lending themselves best<br />
to screen treatment in the end.<br />
There has been a "gratifying" response<br />
to the setup from writers and David has<br />
received a number of manuscripts. Many<br />
of them are in a comedy vein and he noted<br />
a growth in this type of material both in<br />
the publishing field and on the screen<br />
within the last few years. Those projects<br />
currently in the works are varied, however,<br />
including a comedy situation, historical<br />
idea and a contemporary theme. He is<br />
sorting the incoming work himself and<br />
frankly admits reliance on his own judgment<br />
in its selection. He doesn't believe in<br />
statistics or charts as a barometer of<br />
what the public wants, says, "To suggest<br />
that what happened yesterday is going to<br />
happen tomorrow and to base your plans<br />
on this is nonsense. The public is diverse<br />
and selective in its entertainment buys today.<br />
They don't care about trends or<br />
single ideas, but they want them to be<br />
good." 'What he is looking for are solid,<br />
workable themes that are "about something,"<br />
not plain, ordinary material without<br />
any conviction.<br />
20lh Fox Acquires Two<br />
Films for Fall Release<br />
NEW YORK—Two new pictures have<br />
been acquired by 20th Century-Fox and<br />
will be added to the company's release<br />
schedule for the final quarter, making a<br />
total of 19 films to be released from September<br />
through the end of the year. Seventeen<br />
attractions previously had been<br />
announced.<br />
First of the pair is "The Trapp Family."<br />
produced by Utz Unterman and directed<br />
by Wolfgang Liebeneiner on location in<br />
Bavaria. The true story is based on the<br />
exploits of the singing family which form<br />
the story line for the Broadway musical.<br />
"The Sound of Music."<br />
The second feature is "Legions of the<br />
Nile," starring Linda Cristal. The story<br />
is set in 50 B.C. and was produced by<br />
Virgilio De Blasi and Italo Zingarelli and<br />
directed by Vittorio Cottafavi.<br />
Harold Salemson Named<br />
To 'Inherit' Campaign<br />
NEW YORK—Harold J. Salemson. longtime<br />
associate of Stanley Kramer, has been<br />
named campaign coordinator for Kramer's<br />
"Inherit the Wind," which will be distributed<br />
by United Artists in November.<br />
Salemson. who helped to handle the<br />
global premiere of Kramer's "On the<br />
Beach." will work under Myer P. Beck, in<br />
conjunction with the UA publicity-advertising<br />
department.<br />
Foreign Language Reels<br />
Offered Schools by TFC<br />
NEW YORK— Schools and colleges can<br />
now obtain current newsreels in six foreign<br />
languages from Teaching Film Custodians,<br />
a non-profit educational service<br />
sponsored by the Motion Picture Ass'n of<br />
America and the major film companies.<br />
J. Stanley Mcintosh is executive director.<br />
The newsreels are being made available<br />
through the cooperation of 20th Century-<br />
Pox Movietone News. The languages are<br />
English. French, German, Italian. Russian<br />
and Spanish. If there is sufficient<br />
demand, other languages will be made<br />
available, among them Portuguese, Arabic,<br />
Chinese, Hindu-Urdu and Persian.<br />
Classroom use in cooperation with the<br />
Modern Language Ass'n has been made<br />
since November 1959 of prints of newsreels<br />
with foreign voices. Last December.<br />
Spanish, Fiench and Italian newsreels<br />
were screened at the MLA convention in<br />
Chicago. A work paper for instruction<br />
through newsreels was developed by experimentation<br />
personnel for teachers.<br />
The TFC newsreels are available in 16<br />
issues during the academic year as a series<br />
for each of the six languages at a<br />
relatively low cost. Each reel will be accompanied<br />
by a language script and a separate<br />
English translation script.<br />
Vogel Attends Opening<br />
Of 'Ben-Hur' in Rome<br />
NEW YORK—Joseph R. Vogel, president<br />
of MGM, went to Rome to attend<br />
the opening of "Ben-Hur," the Academy<br />
Award-w^inner, at the Rivoli Friday 1 7 1 . The<br />
picture, which was filmed at Rome's Cinecitta<br />
Studios, brought out a guest list<br />
headed by Giovanni Gronchi, president of<br />
Italy, and leading government officials.<br />
Charlton Heston. who plays the title role<br />
of "Ben-Hur." was also in Rome during the<br />
past week but had to leave Thursday <br />
for Paris to attend the opening Friday at<br />
the Gaumont-Palace Theatre. The city of<br />
Paris officially honored Vogel on Saturday<br />
(8) when Mayor Julien Tardieu presented<br />
the MGM president with the Great Medal<br />
and Honor Scroll. Glenn Ford and Charles<br />
Boyer. two of the stars of MGM's "The<br />
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," currently<br />
filming in Paris, were also on hand.<br />
"Ben-Hur" has grossed more than $4,-<br />
000,000 in its first 20 overseas engagements,<br />
headed by London, where the picture<br />
opened last December, and in Tokyo,<br />
where it is in its 26th week. In ten of<br />
these engagements, "Ben-Hur" has been<br />
playing less than six weeks each to date.<br />
Manhattan Openings Set<br />
For 2 Columbia Films<br />
NEW YORK—Two Columbia releases,<br />
Stanley Donen's "Surprise Package" and<br />
Charles H. Schneer's "I Aim at the Stars,"<br />
will open Manhattan first-run engagements<br />
during the week beginning October 13.<br />
"Surprise Package," starring Yul Brynnsr.<br />
Mitzi Gaynor and Noel Coward, will<br />
open at the Criterion and Murray Hill<br />
Theatres Friday (14 1 while "I Aim at the<br />
litirs," originally scheduled at the Forum<br />
Th2atre October 12, will now open at the<br />
Ih-^atre October 19 to permit Hall Bartlett's<br />
"All the Young Men" to continue for<br />
another week, its eighth on Broadway.<br />
•E-8 BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
J.<br />
which<br />
NEWS AND VIEWS OF THE PRODUCTION CENTER<br />
(Hollywood Office— Suite 219 at 6404 Hollywood Blvd.. Ivan Spear, Western Manager/<br />
Fair Plan Charities<br />
Goal Three Million<br />
HOLLYWOOD—With more than 400<br />
present the 20th Motion Picture Permanent<br />
Charities kickoff luncheon Tuesday<br />
(4), was the largest in its history. A "fair<br />
plan" system which makes the goal approximately<br />
$3,000,000, twice that of any<br />
previous year, was launched.<br />
Under this plan, employes are asked to<br />
contribute 1 per cent of their annual income<br />
which, estimating the Hollywood<br />
payroll at $300,000,000 per year, makes up<br />
the figure.<br />
Sidney P. Solow is chairman of the drive.<br />
He spoke, along with Samuel Goldwyn and<br />
Janet Leigh, while studio heads were also<br />
in attendance to point up their support of<br />
the plan.<br />
Corman-Smerling Deal<br />
To Two More Pictures<br />
HOLLYWOOD — Pilmgroup<br />
President<br />
Roger CoiTnan and Sheldon Smerling,<br />
eastern exhibitor with whom he partnered<br />
in the production of "Atlas," have<br />
announced the extension of their deal to<br />
include two additional features to be<br />
filmed next year. Both of the features will<br />
be directed by Gorman, the first to be<br />
based on a Poe story. They are to be released<br />
through the Pilmgroup.<br />
* * *<br />
British beauty Diana Dors and her husband<br />
Richard Dawson have formed an independent<br />
film company, with "Angelique"<br />
scheduled as their first project. A novel by<br />
Sergeanne Golon, it is to be joined by<br />
several other features to be filmed both<br />
here and in England. Miss Dors currently<br />
is starring in Jen-y Lewis' "Ladies Man"<br />
at Paramount.<br />
Bert Gordon-UA Deal<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Bert I. Gordon will film<br />
an independent production for United Artists<br />
in January, according to a deal<br />
closed last week. So far untitled, the new<br />
film will be in color and will be scripted by<br />
Bernard Schoenfeld.<br />
To Film Fontanne Story<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Billy Zeoli and Ken Anderson<br />
have closed a deal with the RCA<br />
Victor religious singer, Tony Fontanne, to<br />
film his life stoiT under their Youth Films<br />
banner. Victor will release the soundtrack<br />
following completion of the feature, which<br />
will have Fontanne playing himself. Filming<br />
will start January 5.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960<br />
Entries From 20 Countries to<br />
At San Francisco Film Festival<br />
SAN FRANCISCO—With at least 20<br />
film-producing nations entering their bestconsidered<br />
motion pictures in competition<br />
for "Golden Gate Awards," the fourth annual<br />
San Francisco Film Festival will get<br />
under way at the Metro Theatre for two<br />
weeks starting October 19 and ending<br />
November 1. Receiving civic support, the<br />
Festival is under the auspices of the San<br />
Francisco Art Commission, headed by<br />
Harold Zellerbach. The executive director<br />
and originator of the Festival is Irving M.<br />
Levin. PerfoiTnances will be presented<br />
nightly at 8:45 p.m. with a repeat showing<br />
at 6:30 pjn. the following night.<br />
Four new countries have been added to<br />
the Festival program this year. Soviet<br />
Russia makes its initial entry in the fete,<br />
the only international movie trial in the<br />
United States recognized by the Federation<br />
of Film Producers Ass'n, the body that officiates<br />
over Venice, Camies, Berlin and<br />
San Sebastian. Other new entries are arriving<br />
from Sweden. Korea and Pakistan.<br />
The Russian entry will be "Ballad of a<br />
Soldier" iBallada Soldate), starring Vledimir<br />
Ivashev and Zhanna Prokhorenko, a<br />
ALLEN GETS BLUE RIBBON—Producer<br />
Irwin Allen proudly holds the<br />
Blue Ribbon Award he received when<br />
his 20th Century-Fox production,<br />
"The Lost World." was voted by the<br />
National Screen Council to receive<br />
this honor for the month of August.<br />
It marked the second time the producer<br />
has been accorded the Blue Ribbon.<br />
On the desk are scripts of "Voyage<br />
to the Bottom of the Sea," the<br />
next film on Allen's slate.<br />
Vie<br />
film which won a second award at the<br />
Cannes Festival. The honor of being the<br />
first film to be shown will go to the French<br />
entiy, "The Love Game" iLes Jeux de<br />
I'Amour) , was written by 20-yearold<br />
Genevieve Cluny, directed by Phillippe<br />
De Broca and starring the new Gallic comedy<br />
star Jean-Pierre Cassel.<br />
From Italy will come the explosively<br />
controversial picture, "The Sweet Life"<br />
(La Dolce Vita), a Cannes Festival winner<br />
which Federico Fellini directed with Anita<br />
Ekberg as the star. Another picture which<br />
has been headline news will come from<br />
Denmark— "Mein Kampf," a compilation<br />
of GeiTnan footage made by Hitler's cameramen<br />
and fashioned into a feature film<br />
by two Swedish filmmakers, producer Tore<br />
Sjoberg and writer-director Erwin Leiser.<br />
It is based on Hitler's book "Mein Kampf."<br />
A Berlin Festival winner, "Little Guide<br />
of Tormes," a Spanish production, is<br />
among the entries. The Berlin Festival's<br />
best documentary winner also will be seen<br />
— "Symphony of the Tropics," written and<br />
directed by Holland's Herman van der<br />
Horst. Another prize-winning film, the<br />
Czechoslovakian entry, "Romeo, Juliet and<br />
Darkness," has been entered. It won a San<br />
Sebastian Festival award.<br />
The two United States entries are independent<br />
productions. One is "Flight,"<br />
based on a John Steinbeck stoi-y. produced<br />
in San Francisco by Barnaby Conrad. It<br />
won a certificate of merit at the Edinburgh<br />
Festival. The other is "Shadows," directed<br />
by John Cassavetes from a script that allowed<br />
actors to improvise their roles. It<br />
won a critics' prize at Venice.<br />
Ed Schreiber Filming<br />
'Mad Dog Coll' in NY<br />
HOLLYWOOD—"Mad Dog Coll" will be<br />
filmed for Columbia release as an Edward<br />
Schreiber production. Burt Balaban directs<br />
from a screenplay by Leo Lieberman and<br />
Schreiber, with filming due to begin in<br />
New York Monday 1 10 1 . Schreiber makes<br />
his debut as a screen producer with the<br />
story of one of the most notorious gangsters<br />
of the roaring 1920s. Previously he<br />
was a press agent in both the Warner<br />
Bros, and 20th-Pox home office publicity<br />
departments.<br />
The femme lead in Columbia's "The<br />
Greengage Summer" will be played by<br />
Danielle Darrieux.<br />
W-1
lA Aims ai Doubling<br />
Studio Pension Ante<br />
HOLLYWOOD — Retlrcmeiil<br />
benoflts<br />
would be raised to $125 per month under<br />
a new motion picture pension plan being<br />
completed by the lATSE's pension proposals<br />
committee. The main point of the<br />
proposal would have producers doubling<br />
their present eight cents per man-hour<br />
contribution to the plan. Employes' contributions<br />
of five cents would remain the<br />
same.<br />
The committees proposal would have to<br />
be accepted by the 29 basic craft business<br />
representatives and other union agencies<br />
affected before It could be presented to the<br />
AMPP.<br />
$20 MILLION ON HAND<br />
In drafting the proposal, the committee,<br />
composed of lATSE members and including<br />
advice from Johnson & Higgins, an<br />
actuarial firm employed by the Motion<br />
Picture Industry Plan, pointed out that the<br />
plan has approximately $20,000,000 and<br />
covers some 30,000 industry employes. They<br />
believe they can tell to the fraction of a<br />
cent how much each proposal w-111 probably<br />
cost and estimate that only a penny<br />
more per man-hour would make It possible<br />
for an industry employe to obtain post-65<br />
benefits even if he left the industry as<br />
early as age 45. At the present time he<br />
w-ould only receive what he put in. The<br />
committee's proposal, however, would<br />
give him additional payment on a pro<br />
rata<br />
basis<br />
In addition, families of deceased members<br />
would get retirement payments for<br />
10 years after retirement eligibility; there<br />
would be $1000 in burial expense, age requirements<br />
would be reduced for retirement<br />
and disability payments would begin<br />
at age 45.<br />
DUBBING UNDER ATTACK<br />
Sound companies that have been employing<br />
Screen Actors Guild members to<br />
dub foreign films at salaries under the<br />
established rate for this work were under<br />
attack by the Guild last week. John L.<br />
Dales, national executive secretary of the<br />
union, said that an effort is being made to<br />
Insure all SAG members' knowledge of the<br />
guild's bargaining contract covering dubbing<br />
of foreign films. "They must not do<br />
any dubbing for companies that have not<br />
signed the agreement," he said.<br />
"In addition to working for cut-rate<br />
wages, the actor also loses the benefit of<br />
the payments into the guild welfare and<br />
pension plans which are required under<br />
the contract." Dales pointed out. as he<br />
charged actors working in this manner as<br />
cheating their fellow members.<br />
Za.eoutlve ^nxweleM><br />
David A. Lipton. U-I vice-president, to<br />
Gotham on business.<br />
B. Gerald Cantor, president of NT&T,<br />
flew to New York to attend ACE discussions.<br />
Samuel J. Briskin, Columbia vice-president<br />
in charge of west coast activities, to<br />
the New "York home office.<br />
PRODUCER KUDOED — Irving H.<br />
Levin, right, is pictured as he received<br />
the .Award of Merit for "outstanding<br />
achievement in the field of motion<br />
pictures" from Mrs. William A. Burk.<br />
president of the Southern California<br />
Motion Picture Council, for his production<br />
of "Hell to Eternity," an Atlantic<br />
Pictures film for Allied Artists. Shown<br />
with them is Harry L. Mandell, production<br />
executive on the picture.<br />
Comic Gorshin Gets<br />
Fourth MGM Role<br />
HOLLY"WOOD—Newcomer Frank Gorshin<br />
has hit the jackpot at MGM. The<br />
young actor-comic was signed for his<br />
fourth successive film at the Culver City<br />
lot. a top role in Joe Pasternak's "Midnight<br />
In Paris." Prank just finished filming<br />
"'Where the Boys Are" and "Ring of<br />
Fire." while "Bells Are Ringing" is in<br />
current release. In addition, he has a role<br />
in United Artists' "Studs Lonigan." soon to<br />
be released.<br />
Charles Drake was Inked by producer<br />
Ross Hunter for a featured role in "Back<br />
Street." Ross Hunter-Carrollton production<br />
for Universal release which stars Susan<br />
Hayward. John Gavin and Vera Miles.<br />
* * *<br />
Nobu McCarthy. Japanese actress who<br />
scored In Mervyn LeRoy's "Wake Me When<br />
It's Over." has been signed by MGM to fill<br />
one of four stellar roles in "Spinster."<br />
She joins Shirley MacLaine, Laurence<br />
Harvey and Jack Hawkins in the film.<br />
* * +<br />
Zenith Pictures has signed James Brown<br />
to star in "Outlaw Brother." rolling October<br />
12 for United Artists release. Edward<br />
L. Cahn directs the Gerald Drayson<br />
Adams-Richard Schayer screenplay for<br />
producer Robert E. Kent.<br />
* « *<br />
Linda Cristal has been borrowed from<br />
U-I to play one of the two feminine leading<br />
roles in "Two Rode Together," John<br />
Ford production for Columbia release. She<br />
appears with James Stewart and Richard<br />
Widmark in the fUm.<br />
Filming in Bavaria<br />
HOLLYWOOD—"The Cross in White,"<br />
an original by Leo A. Handel, has been<br />
added to Fred Gebhardt's independent<br />
slate. To be shot on location in Bavaria<br />
next year, it follows "The Starmaker" on<br />
the producer's schedule.<br />
'Priest' Debut Early<br />
Next Year in Missouri<br />
HOLLYWOOD—A two-city world premiere<br />
will be held early next year for<br />
United Artists' "The Hoodlum Priest," according<br />
to coproducer William Wood whose<br />
Murray-Wood Productions lensed the picture.<br />
In addition to a benefit premiere in<br />
St. Louis for the Father Dlsmas Clark<br />
Foundation, the feature will be shown on<br />
the same date at the Missouri state penitentiary<br />
in Jefferson City.<br />
Don Murray stars in the title role and<br />
Irvin Kcrshner Is directing the film based<br />
on the life and experiences of the Rev.<br />
Charles Dismas Clark. SJ. the St. Louis<br />
priest who has become a national figure<br />
through his work in rehabilitating former<br />
convicts.<br />
• • *<br />
Oklahoma Gov. J. Howard Edmondson<br />
and MGM announced the world premiere<br />
of Edna Ferber's "Cimarron" will take<br />
place in Oklahoma City December 1 as<br />
the climax of a two-day celebration<br />
throughout the state. The Midwest Theatre<br />
has been selected for the invitational<br />
event.<br />
Produced by Edmund Grainger and directed<br />
by Anthony Mann, the film stars<br />
Glenn Ford. Maria Schell. Anne Baxter.<br />
Arthur O'Connell. Russ Tamblyn and Mercedes<br />
McCambridge.<br />
Lippert and SAG Settle<br />
Their TV Pay Dispute<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Producer Robert L. Lippert<br />
and the Screen Actors Guild have<br />
come to an agreement, with the producer's<br />
okay on a new collective bargaining contract<br />
ending a dispute that has been going<br />
on since Lippert sold a block of post-<br />
Aug. 1, 1948 films to television in 1952.<br />
Lippert's new pact, his first since the<br />
guild cancelled his contract in 1952. is essentially<br />
the same as that made between<br />
the guild and the Association of Motion<br />
Picture Producers. He will make a lump<br />
sum payment into the actors' pension and<br />
w-elfare fund, but there will be residual<br />
payments made for features he made between<br />
Aug. 1. 1948 and Jan. 31, 1960.<br />
which were sold to TV.<br />
Lippert has not actively produced any<br />
motion pictures since cancellation of his<br />
SAG pact. However, he formed Regal<br />
Films and. subsequently. Associated Pi'oducers.<br />
Inc.. a few years ago. both finns<br />
operating under a financing-releasing deal<br />
through 20th Century-Fox. Lippert functioned<br />
as liaison between the studio and<br />
his own company on all production under<br />
these banners. Recently, his name appeared<br />
on the credit sheet of "Desire in<br />
the Dust" as executive producer.<br />
Title<br />
Changes<br />
Live Wire (20th-Fox)<br />
LOVE.<br />
Journey Into Danger i20th-Fox)<br />
to NO RIGHT TO<br />
to THE<br />
FIERCEST HEART.<br />
Secret Partner<br />
PARTNER.<br />
(MGM) to SILENT<br />
Sappho. Venus of Lesbos<br />
WARRIOR QUEEN.<br />
iCol) to THE<br />
W-2 BOXOFFICE :: October 10. 1960
MGM Has 22 Writers<br />
At Work on Scripts<br />
HOLLYWOOD—With 22 writers actively<br />
at work on scripts for new MGM pictures,<br />
studio head Sol C. Siegel has revealed that<br />
at least five additional writers will be<br />
added to the list during the next two weeks.<br />
Among the scriveners now at work at the<br />
Culver City studio:<br />
William Inge, who is preparing "All Fall<br />
Down."<br />
Eric Ambler, winding up "Mutiny on<br />
the Bounty."<br />
Richard Brooks, at work on "Inamorata."<br />
Ray Bradbury, on "The Martian Chronicles."<br />
Ben Maddow, writing "Spinster."<br />
Robert Ardrey and John Gay, completing<br />
"The Pour Horsemen of the Apocalypse."<br />
Arthur Sheekman, writing "Ada."<br />
James Webb. "How the West Was Won."<br />
John Michael Hayes, "Sweet Bird of<br />
Youth."<br />
George Wells, "The Golden Fleecing."<br />
William Roberts, "Over the Rainbow."<br />
Julius Epstein, "A Light in the Piazza."<br />
John Paxton, "South of the Angels."<br />
Valentine Davies, "The Seagulls."<br />
William Driskill, "Voice at the Back<br />
Door."<br />
Charles Schnee, "Two Weeks in Another<br />
Town."<br />
Frank Gilroy, "Thy Will Be Done."<br />
Charles Kaufman, "Bridge to the Sun."<br />
Charles Beaumont, "Project 47."<br />
Meade Roberts, "In the Cool of the Day."<br />
Joe Pasternak Will Visit<br />
Major College Campuses<br />
LOS ANGELES—Producer Joe Pasternak<br />
is developing the itinerary for a national<br />
personal appearance tour on behalf<br />
of the upcoming MGM release, "Where the<br />
Boys Are." He will visit major college<br />
campuses throughout the country prior to<br />
the release of the Dolores Hart, Connie<br />
Francis, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux,<br />
Jim Hutton, Barbara Nichols and<br />
Paula Prentiss starrer.<br />
Henry Levin directed the picture, which<br />
details extra-curricular college activities.<br />
Esther Award to Debbie<br />
HOLLYWOOD — Debbie Reynolds, for<br />
her work in behalf of emotionally disturbed<br />
children as three-time president of<br />
the Thalians, was presented the "Esther"<br />
award by the Beverly Hills chapter of<br />
Hadassah at a luncheon in the Beverly<br />
Hilton Hotel attended by approximately<br />
1,000 women from affiliated Hadassah<br />
chapters throughout the area. Mrs. Jack<br />
Karp made the presentation.<br />
Actor to Write Now<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Bi-yan Forbes goes from<br />
a guest starring role in Carl Foreman's<br />
"The Guns of Navarone," Columbia Pictures<br />
release, to an assignment to write<br />
the screenplay for Cary Grant's next independent<br />
venture, "One African Night."<br />
Foreman encouraged the actor in a w-riting<br />
career while he was working on "Navarone"<br />
in London.<br />
llC<br />
XTRAORDINARILY analytical of and<br />
llrl<br />
I<br />
articulate about the problems confronting<br />
the independent producer<br />
in today's motion pictm-e<br />
market is producer-director-<br />
writer<br />
Robert Aldrich. He<br />
recently completed a<br />
salaried assignment<br />
as megaphonist on<br />
"The Day of the<br />
Gun." starring Rock<br />
Hudson and Kirk<br />
Douglas, which was<br />
produced under the<br />
banner of the latter's<br />
Robert Aldrich<br />
Bryna Productions<br />
for Universal-International<br />
release. Like most of Hollywood's<br />
nonconformists—and perhaps there are<br />
too few of them—Aldrich has a pet aversion,<br />
his being the current cost of distribution<br />
if an independently made photoplay<br />
clears through established channels. While<br />
he often works at a salary, his first love is<br />
independent production and he currently<br />
is reactivating his own company. Associates<br />
and Aldrich. with every confidence<br />
that ultimately it will attain the ranking<br />
that he has envisioned for it. Parenthetically,<br />
the unusual arrangement of his<br />
company's name is reflective of the man's<br />
originality—and modesty. But before AAA<br />
can attain the goal that Aldrich has determined,<br />
it must, he opines, establish a<br />
more generous and equitable distribution<br />
deal than was existent in the past.<br />
"The average independent producer<br />
doesn't have a Chinaman's chance operating<br />
under present day distribution methods<br />
and costs." Aldrich declares. "He takes<br />
all of the gamble as concerns his time,<br />
talents and sometimes his own money while<br />
the distributor takes no gamble whatsoever.<br />
It's like being in a crap game and<br />
playing with money while the other fellow<br />
is playing with chips. That's one reason<br />
why distributors will accept almost anything<br />
offered to them. And that's why an<br />
occasional excellent picture comes along,<br />
a venture into which some producer, writer,<br />
director or actor has poured his time, talent<br />
and his unwavering faith. And when<br />
the accounting is concluded the distributor<br />
has grown richer, the creator poorer.<br />
"Take for example 'The Big Knife' w^hich<br />
probably was the most impressive feature<br />
made by Associates and Aldrich. That film<br />
cost $450,000. It was accorded good reviews<br />
and was sufficiently provocative to<br />
attract substantial patronage. I know that<br />
it grossed three times what it cost but I<br />
never got a dime out of it, although I devoted<br />
six months of my time to writing,<br />
producing and directing the feature. It is<br />
just an illustration of the fact that the<br />
independent producer has to hit a home<br />
run everytime he goes to bat, while the<br />
distributor can strike out and still make<br />
money.<br />
"Oh, there are a few ranking independent<br />
producers—the Goldwyns. the Kramers,<br />
the Selznicks. etc.,—w^ho have protected<br />
themselves by securing belter percentage<br />
deals from distributors than those given<br />
middle bracket filmmakers. Still others<br />
have tried to safeguard their interests by<br />
retaining the services of a special representative<br />
in New York but in my opinion<br />
these so-called special representatives are<br />
entirely ineffectual. During the course<br />
of their operations they represent any<br />
number of producers but in all cases they<br />
are doing business with the same distributors.<br />
Where do you think their interests<br />
lie?"<br />
The next photoplays on Aldrich's blueprint<br />
are "Vengeance Is Mine," to be fabricated<br />
in Italy, and "Cross of Iron," which<br />
will be produced in England and Germany.<br />
In each case they are to be financed in<br />
those countries and Aldrich, in return for<br />
his services as producer and director, will<br />
be given the American rights to the pictures.<br />
"This time I'm going to make some<br />
money out of my efforts," he assm-edly asserts,<br />
"Even if I have to take them under<br />
my arm and peddle them myself. That's<br />
been done in the past you know, and quite<br />
profitably. In fact David O. Selznick had<br />
the right idea about licking the high cost<br />
of distribution when he established his own<br />
Selznick Releasing Organization with exchanges<br />
in only 11 of the larger cities. Unfortunately<br />
Selznick did not produce<br />
enough pictures to keep them operating.<br />
"I think that the big. established distributors<br />
are pursuing a near-sighted policy<br />
by not giving a better financial break<br />
to the middle-bracket, promising independent<br />
producers. How else can they encourage<br />
and help build sources of quality product<br />
to replace and augment that which<br />
they are receiving from today's echelons?<br />
In other words, it is my opinion that for<br />
the future good of the industry, the little<br />
fellow should be given the same break<br />
financially and percentagewise as the big."<br />
Aldrich is known in Hollywood for his<br />
constant battles with conservativ'e veterans<br />
who seek to resist new methods of picture<br />
making. Aldrich spent a dozen years learning<br />
the trade, from production clerk up to<br />
director, and his innovations are based on<br />
a thorough familiarity with all the problems<br />
of production. Among other properties<br />
that he plans to make under the<br />
trademark of his Associates and Aldrich<br />
are "Angry Odyssey," about which he will<br />
confer with Greek producer Michael Caccoyanis<br />
later this year; "The Left Bank"<br />
and "Too Late the Hero, " which he has<br />
scheduled for production in Burma in the<br />
latter part of next year; "Now We Know."<br />
Halsted Welles' screenplay from a John<br />
OHara story; "Two for Texas," a Western<br />
written by Teddi Sherman and Aidrich;<br />
"Pursuit of Happiness," and "The<br />
Catalyst " from the London play by Ronald<br />
Duncan.<br />
Whether the innovational, sometimes<br />
rebellious viewpoint that Aldrich has<br />
brought to bear on production can make<br />
a dent in distributional modus operandi<br />
remains to be seen.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960 W-3
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
——<br />
—<br />
— —<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
. . The<br />
Market St.<br />
Continues<br />
Boom-boom Business<br />
SAN FRANCISCO- •Psycho' has set another<br />
house record at the Golden Gate by<br />
going into its eighth week, the first picture<br />
to do so in the 28 years the theatre<br />
has been operating. "High Time." in the<br />
second week at the Fox. hit 200 per cent,<br />
a substantial increase over its first six<br />
days. Opening "The Dark at the Top of<br />
the Stairs." the St. Francis made second<br />
place with 175 per cent. "One Foot in<br />
Hell." playing nine days at the Warfield<br />
due to change of future openings now set<br />
for Satuidays, registered a strong 140 per<br />
cent.<br />
Average Is 100)<br />
Crest— All the Young Men (Col), 2nd wk 175<br />
Fox— High Time ,20fh-Fox), 2rvd wk 200<br />
Golden Gate Psycho (Poro), 8fh wk 150<br />
Orpheum This Is Cineromo (Cineromo), reissue,<br />
Mth wk 225<br />
Poromount House o* Usher (AlP), 2nd wk 125<br />
Stoge Door School tor Scoundrels (Cont'l),<br />
3rd wk 250<br />
St. Froncis The Dork ot the Top of the Stairs<br />
(WB) 175<br />
United Artists Jungle Cot (BV) 150<br />
Vogue The Sovoge Eye (Trons-Lux-Kingsley),<br />
Ath wk<br />
1 75<br />
Worfield One Foot in Hell |20tti-Fox) 140<br />
'Campobello' Hits 225<br />
In Los Angeles Bow<br />
LOS ANGELES—Despite the appearance<br />
of several strong entries, business continued<br />
on the downgrade for the week, no<br />
doubt due in part to the Jewish high holidays<br />
and to the toll of all the new television<br />
shows making their debut. "Sunrise<br />
at Campobello" came in at 225 per cent,<br />
while arty "Land of the Soviets" did a<br />
big 250.<br />
Beverly Sunrise ot Compobello (WB) 225<br />
Beverly Canon Hiroshimo, Mon Amour (Zenith)<br />
8th wk 155<br />
Corthoy Circle Con-Con (20th-Fox), 36th wk. !!l00<br />
Chinese The Dork ot the Top of the Stoirs<br />
(WB) 150<br />
Egyption Ben-Hur (MGM), 45th wk 205<br />
Fine Arts— Sons and Lovers (20th-Fox), 3rd wk. .135<br />
Four<br />
Star South Pacific (20th-Fox), reissue 25<br />
Fox Wilshire, Hollywood, Worrens ond eight<br />
drive-ins Under Ten Flogs (Poro);<br />
The Boy Who Stole a Million (Poro) 105<br />
Hillstreet, Ins— It Storted in Naples (Poro);<br />
Prisoner of the Volga ;Para), 2nd wk. ...... 60<br />
Hollywood Poromount Man With the Green<br />
Carnotion (Citotion), 2nd wk 60<br />
ideal<br />
WAHOO is<br />
the<br />
boxoffice attraction<br />
to increase business on your<br />
"off-nights".<br />
Write today for complete<br />
details.<br />
Be sure to give seating<br />
or car capacity.<br />
HOLLYWOOD AMUSEMENT CO.<br />
3750 Ookton St. Skokie, Illinois<br />
Loyolo, Vogue—High Time (20th-Fox);<br />
13 Fighting Men (20fh-Fox), 2nd wk 65<br />
Music HoII— I'm All Right, Jock (Col), 11th wk. 105<br />
Ptx, Orpheum ond nine drivc-ins<br />
The Sword and the Drogon (Voliont);<br />
Devil's Commandment (Voliont) 140<br />
Vista Continental Land of the Soviett<br />
(Artkino) 250<br />
Worncr Beverly Song Without End (Col) 195<br />
Warner Hollywood Scorch for Paradise<br />
(Cineromo), 35th wk 60<br />
Ten Flags' Rates Best<br />
Of Seattle Newcomers<br />
SEATTLE— While "Ben-Hur" continued<br />
to maintain a tremendous drawing power<br />
as evidenced by a 185 per cent for its 35th<br />
week at the Blue Mouse, "Psycho," which<br />
has just completed its sixth week at the<br />
Paramount, chalked up 150 per cent. Of<br />
the several openers, only "Under Ten<br />
Flags," at the Coliseum did much more<br />
than average, with 150 per cent.<br />
Blue Mouse Ben Hur (MGA/), 35th wk 185<br />
Coliseum ^Under Ten Flogs (Poro) 150<br />
Fifth Avenue High Time (20th-Fox), 2nd wk. ..120<br />
Music Box BoHle of the Sexes (Cont'l) 75<br />
Music HoII— The Subterraneans (MGM) 80<br />
Orpheum The Angel<br />
Poromount<br />
Wore Red (MGM) 60<br />
Psycho (Poro), 6th wk 150<br />
All Portland Houses<br />
Do Better Than Par<br />
PORTLAND—First runs, with the exception<br />
of "Ben-Hur" which was still at<br />
250 in its 39th week, were far short of<br />
sensational here—although "Psycho" still<br />
rated 150 in an eighth week and all firstrun<br />
houses reported above-average scores.<br />
Aladdin The Magician (Jonus) 1 25<br />
Broadway Psycho (Poro), 8th wk 150<br />
Fox The Sword and the Dragon (Valiant);<br />
Cosmic Monsters (Valiant) 125<br />
Music Box Ben-Hur (MGM), 39th wk 250<br />
Orpheum High Time (20th-Fox);<br />
The 39 Steps (ZOth-Fox), 2nd wk 125<br />
Paramount Under Ten Flags (Poro);<br />
The Boy Who Stole o Million (Poro) 110<br />
"Dark' Registers 150%<br />
At Denver Paramount<br />
DENVER—Business here was spotty in<br />
the extreme, the long runs of "Ben-Hur,"<br />
"Carry On, Nurse" and "Strangers When<br />
We Meet" continuing at productive levels,<br />
while "Sons and Lovers" and "High Time"<br />
sagged noticeably in subsequent weeks. By<br />
far the best opener was "The Dark at the<br />
Top of the Stairs" which reached the 150<br />
per cent mark at the Paramount.<br />
Aladdin Sons and Lovers (20fh-Fox), 3rd wk. ... 75<br />
Centre High Time (20th-Fox), 2nd wk 90<br />
Denham Ben-Hur (MGM), 25th wk 250<br />
Esquire Corry On, Nurse (Governor), 20th wk. ..125<br />
Lokeshore and Centennial drive-ins, Gothic,<br />
Federol (doy-ond-dote) Seven Ways From<br />
Sundown (U-1); Between Time ond Eternity<br />
(U-l) 100<br />
Orpheum Psycho (Poro), 7th wk 120<br />
Paramount The Dork at the Top of the Stoirs<br />
(WB) 150<br />
Towne Strangers When We Meet (Col), 9th wk. .100<br />
'Exodus' Advance Sale<br />
Sets Wilshire Mark<br />
LOS ANGELES—"Exodus" has rolled up<br />
a sale of approximately $126,000 for its<br />
roadshow run at the Pox Wilshire Theatre,<br />
establishing the largest advance for any<br />
single reserved-seat engagement in the history<br />
of the Los Angeles area, according<br />
to Roy F. Evans, first-run district manager<br />
for Pox West Coast Theatres.<br />
The Otto Preminger production, which<br />
will receive an invitational premiere December<br />
21. has 25 nightly performances<br />
sold out completely through group sales,<br />
with 19 other nights partially taken over<br />
by sponsoring organizations and individual<br />
orders. Evans said that additional sales<br />
during the next three months are expected<br />
to double the present advance sale.<br />
DENVER<br />
^Iic Vogue Art Cinema is being redecorated.<br />
New carpets and draperies<br />
are being installed by Bob Tankerslcy of<br />
Western Service & Supply<br />
Klein, former general<br />
. . . Richard<br />
manager of Black<br />
Hills Amusement Co. w-ith headquarters in<br />
Rapid City, S. D., has purchased the Fox<br />
Theatre in Longmont, Colo. Klein is moving<br />
his family to Longmont and will take<br />
over the theatre there November 1.<br />
The importance of a theatre to a small<br />
community can be illustrated by the reopening<br />
of the Star at Imperial, Neb. All<br />
merchants in the town suffered a noticable<br />
slump in their business when the theatre<br />
closed last spring due to poor patronage.<br />
The merchants met the problem by organizing<br />
the Imperial Businessmen's Ass'n,<br />
which raised funds to reopen the theatre.<br />
Newton Lippitt is acting as manager of the<br />
Star for the association.<br />
Seen on Filmrow were Dr. W. E. Scott.<br />
Rio Theatre, Meeker: Bob NeLson, Liberty<br />
Belle at Leadville; Palmer Allen, Del Mar<br />
at Morrill, Neb.; Tom Poulos, Paonia; John<br />
Sawaya, Strand in Trinidad; Carman Romano,<br />
Rex at Louisville, Colo.; C. Grigsby,<br />
Ute at Strausburg; Sam Feinstein, Kar<br />
Vu Drive-In. Brighton; Howard Campbell<br />
and Larry Starsmore. Westland Theatres.<br />
Colorado Springs; Bob Heyl, Wyoming at<br />
Torrington, and R. L. Stanger. Evans<br />
Drive-In.<br />
The Paramount Theatre advertised for<br />
"2,000 good old-fashioned gossips" to attend<br />
a special screening of "The Dark at<br />
the Top of the Stairs" . return of<br />
summer weather has granted the drive-ins<br />
an upturn in business. Several are trying<br />
weekend dusk-to-dawn programs, taking<br />
advantage of the Indian summer weather.<br />
Standard Time Group<br />
Is Formed in Colorado<br />
DENVER—The Colorado Ass'n for Standard<br />
Time was organized here by representatives<br />
of the Farm Bureau Federation,<br />
Denver Motor Court Ass'n. the State<br />
Grange, Bowling Alley Proprietors Ass'n,<br />
the Colorado Council of Motion Picture<br />
Organizations and several other groups.<br />
The organization intends to fight the<br />
daylight saving time proposal which will<br />
be voted upon in the general election in<br />
November. A similar proposal was defeated<br />
in the state legislature two years ago, but<br />
later sufficient signatures were secured on<br />
petitions to insure the proposal being<br />
placed on the November ballot.<br />
The Association for Standard Time contends<br />
that changing the clock will result<br />
in utter confusion due to the fact that all<br />
of the other states which surround Colorado<br />
are remaining on standard time.<br />
Plans Film on Indians<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Prejudice problems of<br />
the American Indians will be the subject<br />
of a theatrical picture to be made by Herman<br />
Rush. In association with Heritage<br />
Productions, Rush is in Hollywood to complete<br />
preparations for the film, as well as<br />
for a television series based on the Dick<br />
Powell 1944 feature It Happened Tomorrow,<br />
a United Artists release.<br />
W-4 BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
. . Many<br />
. . The<br />
. . Mel<br />
. . Back<br />
. . Ronald<br />
. . Fred<br />
. . The<br />
SAN FRANCISCO<br />
T^arius Milhaud, French composei'. has accepted<br />
a -special judsins post with the<br />
San Francisco Fihii Festival, director Irving<br />
M. Levin announced. Milhaud's fame is<br />
based on a wide range of polytonal composition,<br />
Levin said. His compositions,<br />
some of which occasioned riots in the concert<br />
halls, have been performed all over<br />
the world.<br />
Patrons attending the British "School<br />
for Scoundrels" w'ill be given a "Diploma<br />
of Lifemanship" in the lobby of the Stage<br />
Door Theatre . theatre parties are<br />
being organized for "Sunrise at Campobello"<br />
which premiered Thursday i6) at<br />
the Marina Theatre . . . "High Time" was<br />
suspended for one day at the Fox
. . Also<br />
Republic Is Building<br />
22nd Sound Stage<br />
HOLLYWOOD — Republic Studios Is<br />
building a new sound stage to provide additional<br />
facilities for the lot's upped production<br />
activities, bringing to 22 the total<br />
number of stages available at the film factory.<br />
More than $100,000 is to be spent on<br />
the new stnicture. which is to have 200,000<br />
cubic feet interior capacity.<br />
While much of the booming activity at<br />
the valley studio is concerned with television,<br />
Daniel J. Bloomberg, vice-president<br />
and studio manager, said the new stage<br />
will be designed to attract independent<br />
producers of both TV and feature films. He<br />
pointed out that several independents<br />
filmed there last year and that the studio<br />
has pacts with numerous others at this<br />
time.<br />
Currently. American International is<br />
filming its "Master of the World." Vincent<br />
Price starrer, at the lot.<br />
SEATTLE<br />
^^illiam J. Devaney, MGM division manager,<br />
was here from Los Angeles.<br />
Sam S. Davis. MGM manager, left the<br />
hospital and is recuperating at home . . .<br />
Willard Coughlin. Post-Intelligencer critic<br />
in the film industry, was seriously ill . . .<br />
"Spartacus" is scheduled to open Christmas<br />
Day at the Music Box . . . Barbara<br />
Sharpe. Paramount secretary, vacationed<br />
in Washington. D. C.<br />
Kay Clonts, secretary at Buena Vista.<br />
was vacationing in Honolulu . vacationing<br />
were Celia Blatt. 20th-Fo.x booker,<br />
and Helen Reynolds of Saffle's. who are<br />
touring California and Nevada . . . Dwight<br />
Spracher returned from an extended trip<br />
following the TOA convention in Los Angeles.<br />
Filmrow callers included Howard Mc-<br />
Ghee of Midstate: Henry Michael, over<br />
from Tacoma where he operates the Cameo<br />
and Shell, and Pat Tappan from Moses<br />
Lake.<br />
Jacob Karp to Veepee<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Jacob H. Karp. representing<br />
the executive branch on the board<br />
of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts<br />
and Sciences, has been elected second vicepresident<br />
of the Academy, filling the vacancy<br />
created by Valentine Davies. who<br />
moved up to Academy president on the<br />
death of the late B. B. Kahane. Wendell<br />
R. Corey moved to first vice-president<br />
from second vice-president.<br />
TOP QUALITY<br />
FAST SERVICE<br />
liinffBlH<br />
GtKKY KAtSKI, fKtS.<br />
IMIITI0NPIG1URESERVICECII.I<br />
125 HYDE ST.- SAN FRANCISCOi.CALIF.<br />
Gentilly In New Orleans<br />
Charming in New Decor<br />
NEW ORLEANS—The redecoralfd Gentilly<br />
Woods Theatre can boast it is the<br />
finest and the smartest movie house on<br />
the boulevard.<br />
Following new decor by Gilhaud. one<br />
looks on an exotic vista of gold, black and<br />
white when entering the siwcious 50x30<br />
outer lobby. Before its transformation this<br />
was Just a big. wide empty space housing<br />
only the concession bar. drink dispensers<br />
and the ticket stubs receptacle. Now it is<br />
a strikingly beautiful area with furnishings<br />
of excellent taste.<br />
The new decor extends back to the auditorium<br />
with the walls between outer lobby<br />
and the auditorium rebuilt with pliable<br />
wallboard and embellished with a marble<br />
figure design in gold, black and white like<br />
the outer lobby. The ceiling was lowered<br />
and tinted in yellowish bronze, with pure<br />
crystal lighting fixtures glittering from<br />
the ceiling. Wall lighting comes from<br />
French Quarter type lamps.<br />
On the lounge floor is a luxurious golden<br />
colored carpet. Golden framed prints by<br />
Frazer adorn the walls, and marble statuettes<br />
of Grecian. French and Italian designs<br />
appear in built-in pedestals in corners.<br />
Full-size sofas, love seats and chairs<br />
complete the furnishings.<br />
Conspicuous is the rebuilt concession<br />
bar. There also is a coffee bar. Adding elegance<br />
to the auditorium are two-foot high<br />
planters inserted in the side walls, in<br />
which statuettes similar to those in the<br />
lobby are visible, with soft lights glowing<br />
in the niches.<br />
Harold Bailey and Lawrence C. Bethea<br />
jr.. owners, changed their scrsen policy<br />
with the reopening—from general run of<br />
subsequent run pictures to first run of<br />
selective product. Admission was tilted to<br />
$1.25. The reopening picture was "Room<br />
at the Top." and boxoffice returns were at<br />
a peak the first two weeks.<br />
Also booked are "The Brothers Karamazov"<br />
and the Russian production of<br />
"Romeo and Juliet."<br />
Harry Rose Now Managing<br />
Loew's Brooklyn Alpine<br />
BRIDGEPORT. CONN.—Harry A.<br />
Rose,<br />
manager of Loew's Majestic Theatre 16<br />
years, recently took over the same circuit's<br />
de luxe Alpine Theatre in Brooklyn.<br />
Rose had been associated with Loew's<br />
theatres here for the last 22 years, starting<br />
with 1938 when he came from Providence<br />
to become manager of the now demolished<br />
Globe Theatre.<br />
In 1944. when Morris Rosenthal was<br />
shifted to New Haven to manage Loew's<br />
Poll in that city. Rose moved across Main<br />
street to replace him. He also served<br />
briefly at the former Lyric and did relief<br />
work at Loew's Poll.<br />
Prior to entering the theatre executive<br />
field. Rose and his wife were teamed in a<br />
vaudeville act known as the "Klever,<br />
Klassy Kouple." They have made their<br />
home here at 917 Williams St. and have<br />
one son, Sheldon, who also lives here.<br />
Mrs. Frances Augustine, longtime assistant<br />
to Rose at the Majestic, has taken<br />
over as house manager. She will work<br />
closely with Manager Alfred Domian of<br />
Loew's Poll, who will supervise the operation.<br />
PORTLAND<br />
Dcx Hopkins, National Theatres Portland<br />
ana manager, convalescing following a<br />
fall at his home two weeks ago, was scheduled<br />
to leave the hospital for home. Hopkins<br />
fractured both legs in the 20-foot fall.<br />
Thf;atre stagehands have constructed a<br />
special trapeze so that he can hoist himself<br />
out of bed and into a wheel chair<br />
while at home. The report is that he will<br />
not return to his office for several weeks.<br />
Victor Borge packed the Paramount to<br />
near capacity. A surprise was another pianist,<br />
a member of the New York Philharmonic<br />
on leave. The next attraction<br />
at the Paramount is British film star Elsa<br />
Lancliester. presenting an evening of songs<br />
and readings . . . David Kory, young Allied<br />
Artists contractee who plays the title<br />
role in "Dondi." was here accompanied by<br />
Blake McVeigh of AA; his mother, a former<br />
Roxy theatre dancer; his 11 -year-old sister<br />
Patricia and a Los Angeles school<br />
teacher. The boy made the rounds of television<br />
stations and newspapers. He made<br />
an excellent impression.<br />
Motion picture and television personalities<br />
were guests of Ginny Simms. operating<br />
a plush theatre restaurant and motel<br />
at Ocean Shores, a luxurious "planned resort"<br />
at Oyhut on Copalis beach, 18 miles<br />
west of Hoquiam-Aberdeen, Wash. They<br />
were flown up by Western Airlines jet from<br />
Hollywood to Seattle, a two-hour flight,<br />
and then taken by special plane to the<br />
Hoquiain airport where they were driven<br />
to the resort. Guests included Arlene<br />
Dahl, Marvin Miller, Peter Brown. Barbara<br />
Luana. Bob Conrad. James Brown.<br />
June Lockhart, as well as a lineup of Hollywood<br />
writers, publicists and TV executives.<br />
Lee J. Cobb Latest Star<br />
Cast in 'Four Horsemen'<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Lee J. Cobb has been set<br />
to portray Glenn Ford's 80-year-old<br />
grandfather in "The Four Horsemen of the<br />
Apocalypse," Julian Blaustein Production,<br />
directed by Vincente Minnelli.<br />
The Ibanez novel is slated to go before<br />
the cameras next month in Paris, with<br />
Cobb joining an all-star cast of Ford, Ingrid<br />
Thulin. Charles Boyer, Paul Lucas,<br />
Claude Dauphin and Yvette Mimieux.<br />
Teenage Soldiers Subject<br />
For World War II Film<br />
HOLLYWOOD — Richard Zanuck has<br />
bought Richard Matheson's novel, "The<br />
Beardless Warriors," dealing with the<br />
American teenage soldiers who fought in<br />
World War II, and will produce it independently<br />
for 20th Century-Fox release.<br />
Matheson is set to screenplay the project,<br />
which is slated to get started early<br />
next year.<br />
THEATRE POSTER SERVICE<br />
OKLAHOMA CITY,<br />
OKLA.<br />
625 Wcsf California — Phone CE 2-9900<br />
The largest poster service in the country at<br />
your service. 35 years in the business, no<br />
•: infracts necessary.<br />
W-G BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
I<br />
—<br />
Theatre Executives Turn Reporters,<br />
Cite Fine, New Screen Offerings<br />
MIAMI—The Sunday, September 25,<br />
magazine section featured several articles<br />
written by local theatre executives, including<br />
Harry Botwick. Florida State Theatres,<br />
and Lillian Claughton, owner of the<br />
Claughton theatres. The Botwick contribution<br />
was headed "Miami Area Movies<br />
Match Any in U. S."<br />
"South Floridans are to be envied by the<br />
rest of the country when it comes to motion<br />
pictures for here in greater Miami we<br />
have keen competition among the nation's<br />
outstanding exhibitors staffed by the finest<br />
manpower to be found anywhere," he<br />
wrote.<br />
"We welcome these challenges for your<br />
amusement dollar because it keeps us constantly<br />
on the alert to satisfy you, the<br />
moviegoing public—and above all else, your<br />
entertainment is our only reason to remain<br />
the biggest and the best.<br />
"The list of truly outstanding pictures<br />
to be presented during the coming months<br />
is probably the most impressive Hollywood<br />
has produced in the past ten years."<br />
Mrs. Claughton had this to say: "Due to<br />
a highly competitive situation created in<br />
recent years in the motion picture industry,<br />
most people do not realize that theatres<br />
must bid against each other for every<br />
picture that is released. Each new film is<br />
screened in advance by top executives of<br />
all the local theatre chains, bids submitted<br />
for each theatre and pictures are awarded<br />
to the highest bidder by the film companies,<br />
picture by picture.<br />
"In the Coral Gables area, where<br />
Claughton has the Trail Theatres, there are<br />
five theatres bidding against each other<br />
for every release, and there just aren"c<br />
enough pictures for that many houses to<br />
be booked very far in advance.<br />
"It's mighty hard to get pictures, and<br />
there are times when we don't know what<br />
we'll be showing the very next week.<br />
"That's the rough side of our business,<br />
but there's a good side, too. Not long ago<br />
there were many predictions of doom<br />
sounded for our industry—television was<br />
going to put all theatres out of business<br />
our buildings would became bowling alleys<br />
or supermarkets. Today, all that has<br />
I<br />
I<br />
setiCffnG<br />
changed and we can truthfully say that<br />
movie attendance is better than ever. We'll<br />
have to qualify that statement however,<br />
and say that movie attendance is better<br />
than ever—when the picture is really gooJ.<br />
"It is now a fact that when we give the<br />
public a good picture they attend in much<br />
larger numbers than ever. Television has<br />
made people more selective. They no longer<br />
say 'Let's go to the movies'; they now<br />
say 'Let's see what's showing at the movies,"<br />
then they check the newspapers and<br />
if they don't find one that's really good<br />
they stay at home. But if there's a good<br />
movie showing then they don't let TV<br />
or anything else keep them away from it."<br />
"The motion picture industry is definitely<br />
on the upgrade," concluded Mrs.<br />
Claughton. "It is able to hold its own<br />
against all other forms of entertainment<br />
competition. This is further proved by the<br />
fact that a number of large new theatres<br />
are currently being built in Florida. We<br />
repeat, movie attendance is better than<br />
ever."<br />
21 Theatres for 'Lonigan'<br />
LOS ANGELES—Phillip Yordan's United<br />
Artists release, "Studs Lonigan," has been<br />
booked into a 21 -theatre run here starting<br />
October 19. An all-out radio and TV<br />
campaign will back the engagement. Frank<br />
Gorshin, Venetia Stevenson, Dick Foran<br />
and Jay C. Flippen star in the film, with<br />
Christopher Knight playing the title role.<br />
Irving Lerner directed.<br />
Francis Lyon to AA Again<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Francis D. Lyon will direct<br />
"Reckless, Pride of the Marines,"<br />
which Lester A. Sansom will produce for<br />
Allied Artists. Lyon's assignment marks his<br />
return to AA where he megged "The Oklahoman,"<br />
a Joel McCrea starrer, for producer<br />
Walter Mirisch.<br />
Fox Pact for Steve Forrest<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Steve Forrest has beer<br />
signed to a one-picture-a-year contract b<br />
20th Century-Fox.<br />
n 2 yeors for $5 D<br />
n Remittoncc Enclosed D Send Invoice<br />
THEATRE<br />
STREET ADDRESS<br />
1 year for $3 D 3 yeors for $7<br />
TOWN ZONE STATE..<br />
NAME<br />
POSITION<br />
H lffiHi THE NATIONAL FILM WEEKLY S2 issues a year<br />
825 Von Brunt Blvd., Kansos City 24, Mo.<br />
'DONDI' TRIO — Accompanied<br />
by<br />
his mother Diane, a pretty blonde exdanccr<br />
in the Rockettes; his 11 -yearold<br />
sister Pat; Blake McVeigh, Allied<br />
Artists, and a school teacher, David<br />
Kory flew into San Francisco via jet<br />
for the first stop on his 35-city tour<br />
in behalf of "Dondi," AA film in which<br />
he stars, slated for Christmas release.<br />
The tour will end in New York City<br />
around Thanksgiving, where he will<br />
ride in Macy's big toy parade. His<br />
schedule here included a round of public<br />
appearances, in addition to sessions<br />
with his teacher. Shown above<br />
are Patricia and David with their<br />
mother.<br />
Fox Circuit Starts<br />
Workshop Series<br />
LOS ANGELES—Fox West Coast Theatres<br />
is setting up a weekly picture-selling<br />
workshop for theatre managers to increase<br />
exploitation and promotion on the local<br />
level, it was revealed by William H. Thedford.<br />
Pacific Coast division manager.<br />
The first session of the workshop was<br />
held Wednesday (5) with 21 managers in<br />
the Long Beach ai-ea. Paul Lyday, PWC<br />
exploiteer, and Pay S. Reeder, advertising-publicity<br />
director, conducted the<br />
session.<br />
Plans are to have evei-y manager in the<br />
Pacific Coast division participate in such<br />
a workshop once evei-y six weeks. He said<br />
the purpose is to formulate concrete plans<br />
for action on pictures which will play<br />
circuit's houses three to six weeks following<br />
the workshops.<br />
A similar program has been carried on<br />
in the Great Plains area, as revealed at the<br />
recent TOA convention here, as well as by<br />
FWC's Salt Lake City units. The latter,<br />
under the direction of Robert Selig, have<br />
proven veiT successful in selling films in<br />
this area.<br />
Chicago Navy Pier May<br />
Become Fun Center<br />
CHICAGO—Plans are in motion to return<br />
the Navy Pier into a big amusement<br />
center, with a motion picture theatre as a<br />
feature. Richard Daley, mayor, has sent<br />
some of the city's representatives to Atlantic<br />
City to observe operations of the<br />
Ocean-front spot there. Currently the University<br />
of Illinois is using a part of the<br />
pier area. The idsa has the backing of the<br />
Association of Commerce, which views the<br />
pier as a pem.anent tourist attraction<br />
center.<br />
BOXOFFICE :; October 10, 1960 W-7
—<br />
Ideas still<br />
pay!<br />
Anyone can find<br />
ideas,<br />
but successful exhibitors<br />
make ideas work for them *<br />
Whether you create, collect<br />
or adapt ideas, the main<br />
thing is to keep them stirring<br />
to build business for you.<br />
From Cover to Cover —<br />
BOXOFFICE Brims with Helpfulness<br />
*One exhibitor collected BOXOFFICE<br />
Stories on Children's Shows, and has<br />
boosted matinee business 100% by<br />
adapting them for his own theatre.<br />
As never before, better methods pay good lures—every day in every way . . . For good<br />
dividends in show business. Men in high ideas in the news and in the service departplaces<br />
and men in low places all have ments, read and use each issue of<br />
learned that it pays cmd pays to promote pic-<br />
BOXOFFICE<br />
Nine Sectional Editions - To Fit Every Distribution Area<br />
W-8 BOXOFFICE :: October 10, 1960
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
4<br />
'Dark' and 'Usher' Big<br />
In Chicago Openings<br />
CHICAGO—"The Dark at the Top of<br />
the Stairs" made headline news as a newcomer<br />
at the Chicago. At the Roosevelt,<br />
"House of Usher" had a nice opening.<br />
"Song Without End" continued its big<br />
business.<br />
(Average Is 100)<br />
Carnegie Aporajito (Harrison) MO<br />
Chicago The Dork at the Top of the Stairs (WB).215<br />
Cincstoge Miracle of Fotimo (WB), reissue,<br />
2nd wk 180<br />
Esquire The Captain's Table (20th-Fox), 2nd wk. 150<br />
Loop Rosemory (F-A-W), 3rd wk 135<br />
Monroe Music Box Kid (UA);<br />
Noose tor a Gunmon (UA) 1 55<br />
Oriental Under Ten Flags (Para), 3rd wk 170<br />
Palace Can-Con (20fh-Fox), 24th wk 165<br />
Roosevelt House ot Usher (AlP) 200<br />
State Lake Hell to Eternity (AA), 4th wk. ...165<br />
Todd Ben-Hur (MGM), 41st wk 180<br />
United Artists— Song Without End (Col), 2nd wk. 215<br />
Woods Let's Moke Love (20th-Fox), 2rxJ wk. . ..200<br />
World Playhouse Three Penny Opera (SR),<br />
3rd wk 150<br />
'Cinerama' Dominates<br />
Indianapolis Scene<br />
INDIANAPOLIS — Business in general<br />
was slow at first-run theatres last week,<br />
except at the Indiana, which reopened to<br />
large crowds with the first state showing<br />
of "This Is Cinerama." It reports a big<br />
advance sale. "High Time" was getting<br />
modest results; "Past and Sexy" failed to<br />
catch.<br />
Cinema A Summer With Monica (SR);<br />
Adam and Eve (SR) 75<br />
Circle High Time (20th-Fox) 115<br />
Esquire Private Property (Citation-SR), 2nd wk. . 85<br />
Indiana This Is Cinerama (Cinerama), reissue.. 250<br />
Keith's Let's Make Love (20th-Fox), 2nd wk. ... 90<br />
Loew's Fast and Sexy (Col);<br />
As the Seo Rages (Col) 85<br />
Lyric Ben-Hur (MGM), 30th wk 100<br />
Kansas City First Runs<br />
Sweat Out Dull Week<br />
KANSAS CITY—A gesture in the direction<br />
of pulling "Carry On, Nurse" in favor<br />
of "Carry On, Sergeant" at the Fairway<br />
was sufficient to set "Nurse" for two more<br />
profitable weeks. A multiple day-and-date<br />
first sub-run showing of "Psycho" at 17<br />
indoor and drive-in theatres in the metropolitan<br />
area seemed to syphon off a goodsized<br />
chunk of normally first-run business<br />
during the week. The Bardot film at the<br />
Kimo was holding up very well in a second<br />
week.<br />
Copn Ben-Hur( MGM), 35th wk TOO<br />
Fairway Corry On, Nurse (Governor), 13th wk. .150<br />
Kimo Come Dance With Me! (Kingsley-Union),<br />
2nd wk 200<br />
Midland Fast and Sexy (Col);<br />
The Nights of Lucretio Borgia (Col) ICO<br />
Paramount Under Ten Flogs (Para) 105<br />
Plaza Sons and Lovers (20th-Fox), 2nd v/k 120<br />
Roxy Ocean's 11 (WB), 6th wk 10(1<br />
Uptown ond Granada House of Usher (AlP^,<br />
2nd WK 130<br />
A 1,500 Seater Start Soon<br />
CHICAGO—Morton Fink reported work<br />
will start this month on a 1,500-seat theatre<br />
on Milwaukee avenue and Golf road.<br />
Helco Engineering Co. has the building<br />
contract.<br />
Allied of Indiana Opens<br />
Annual Rally Tuesday<br />
VOTING WITH CORN—Paul<br />
Reynolds,<br />
chief of concessions for Tumer-<br />
Farrar Theatres, holds two popcorn<br />
boxes such as are being distributed by<br />
Blevins Popcorn Co. in its Presidential<br />
Popcorn PoU. Reynolds asserted<br />
the popcorn poll has substantially increased<br />
his concession business, and<br />
even stimulated attendance a bit.<br />
Bomb Goes Off Close<br />
To Disputed Theatre<br />
><br />
EAST CHICAGO, IND.—A black powder<br />
bomb exploded Tuesday 1 near the Vic<br />
Theatre, whose owner had been involved<br />
in a dispute with a union over film projectionists.<br />
Police said some windows were<br />
broken in an apartment building near the<br />
small theatre where Joe Auksel, Hammond,<br />
runs his own projector, showing only<br />
Spanish-language films. No injuries were<br />
reported.<br />
Auksel said he and his son, who helps<br />
him, have received threats purporting to<br />
come from Motion Picture Operators Local<br />
133, Hammond, for refusing to hire a<br />
union projectionist. Auksel said his business<br />
is too small to warrant one. Union<br />
officials could not be reached for comment.<br />
Canteen Issue Postponed<br />
CHICAGO—Automatic Canteen Co. has<br />
temporarily postponed its proposed common<br />
stock subscription offer to stockholders.<br />
Board chairman Nathaniel Leverone<br />
said recent acquisitions had substantially<br />
increased the size and complexity of the<br />
resignation statement. He added that an<br />
unusual work load made it impossible for<br />
the Securities and Exchange Commission<br />
to complete its investigation in time for<br />
the originally scheduled offer date, which<br />
was to have been Friday. September 30.<br />
INDIANAPOLIS — The second annual<br />
Ohio Valley indoor and outdoor theatre<br />
convention sponsored by Allied Independent<br />
Theatre Owners of Indiana will be<br />
held at the Marott Hotel here Tuesday<br />
and Wednesday HI, 12 1.<br />
Indiana Film Transit will host a cocktail<br />
party preceding the association dinner<br />
Tuesday evening.<br />
The convention speakers will emphasize<br />
business building, showmanship and concession<br />
merchandising, including operation<br />
of drive-in playgrounds, go-kart<br />
tracks and miniature golf courses.<br />
The pay television system being developed<br />
at Etobicoke. a suburban Toronto<br />
area, will be described.<br />
Special talks will be devoted to the upcoming<br />
Indiana general assembly and the<br />
Allied campaign for reduction of the gross<br />
income tax paid by exhibitors.<br />
Herb Jeans Plans Mart<br />
In Northside Columbia<br />
COLUMBIA, MO. — Plans for a new<br />
.shopping center in the north part of<br />
Columbia with 150,000 square feet of floor<br />
space and parking facilities for 1,600 cars<br />
have been revealed by Herbert Jeans, president<br />
of Herbert Jeans, Inc., which will own<br />
the center. Jeans is well known here as a<br />
drive-in theatre operator.<br />
The shopping center will be bounded by<br />
Interstate Route 70, Business Loop 70 ' formerly<br />
Highway 40'. Parkade boulevard and<br />
the Lee-Del trailer court. The site contains<br />
20 acres.<br />
Jeans said that the Parkade Drive-In<br />
Theatres, which is on the northern part of<br />
the shopping center site, will be moved to<br />
a new location this fall. He said he has<br />
obtained an option on a new- site, but did<br />
not disclose its location. The Parkade<br />
Drive-In was opened at its present site<br />
eight years ago when Jeans and his family<br />
moved here from Warsaw.<br />
Construction on the shopping center is<br />
scheduled to begin next March 1 and the<br />
proposed opening date is next October 1.<br />
Although the center will be the property<br />
of the Jeans corporation, it will be developed<br />
by George Staples jr.. of Charleston,<br />
who will obtain tenants for the new<br />
shopping area. Staples has specialized in<br />
development of shopping centers for ten<br />
years including those at Cape Girardeau<br />
and Poplar Bluff. He is now developing a<br />
center at Paducah. Ky. The stores in the<br />
center will be built around an enclosed<br />
pedestrian mall which will be heated in<br />
the winter and air-conditioned during<br />
warmer months.<br />
thejSStre equipment<br />
442 N. ILLINOIS ST., INDIANAPOLIS, INO.<br />
"Everything for the Theatre"<br />
Managers Swap Jobs<br />
CHICAGO—Pete Pisano and Herb Frank<br />
exchanged managerial posts in order to<br />
be nearer to their respective new homes.<br />
Pisano, who managed the Avalon for the<br />
past ten years, transferred to the Highland<br />
as manager. Frank went to the Avalon.<br />
We<br />
Parts
Updating of Evanston, III,,<br />
Theatre<br />
Leaves No Place for Gaudiness<br />
CHICAGO—When the Evanston Theatre<br />
emerges from its current face-liftlnR pro-<br />
Kram. it will be as streamlined as its<br />
highly popular program schedule. Lester<br />
Stepner. manager of the north suburban<br />
house, said the modernization plans are<br />
geared to meet all the requirements of<br />
modern-day decor, with emphasis on the<br />
clean lines of up-to-date architectural concepts.<br />
He said Louis E. Fideler. the architect,<br />
made it a point to erase any signs<br />
of the gaudiness which is often associated<br />
with movie house design. Fideler is also<br />
carrying out the same streamlined theme<br />
for the adjoining stores, thus enhancing<br />
the full block in which the Evanston is<br />
located.<br />
The marquee which served the Evanston<br />
since July 1955 will be replaced with a<br />
.<br />
WAHOO i(<br />
th*<br />
ideol boxofflce attraction<br />
to increase business on your<br />
"off-nights".<br />
Write t»»eJay for complete<br />
details.<br />
Be sure to give seating<br />
or car capacity.<br />
HOLLYWOOD AMUSEMENT<br />
CO.<br />
1750 Oakton St. SkekU, lllinoli<br />
H<br />
U
. . The<br />
. . The<br />
L.A. Bramsons Acquire<br />
Wellington, Kas., Regent<br />
WELLINGTON, KAS.—The Regent Theatre<br />
here has been sold by Dewey Utterback,<br />
who had owned and operated the<br />
business since March 15 this year. Mr. and<br />
Mrs. L. A. Bramson. who recently moved<br />
to this community from Victorville. Calif.,<br />
have taken over the lease on the theatre<br />
and have purchased the theatre equipment.<br />
The Bramsons have several years' experience<br />
in the theatre business, having<br />
owned and operated theatres in Iowa and<br />
South Dakota. For the past three years<br />
they have operated a hotel in Victorville,<br />
and they still maintain their business interests<br />
there. Mr. and Mrs. Bramson have<br />
two childi'en: Lee, 8, and Lynn, 6.<br />
Utterback will continue to operate the<br />
Chisholm Trail Drive-In Theatre in Wellington<br />
and expects to be kept busy looking<br />
after his other business interests here.<br />
Prior to Utterback's purchase of the theatre<br />
last March, the Regent had been operated<br />
by Fox Midwest Theatres for 30<br />
years. It has long been one of the leading<br />
movie houses in this area and was one of<br />
the first to install a modern cooling plant<br />
and the latest in Cinemascope equipment.<br />
The Bramsons are operating the theatre<br />
full time on a two-change policy, and are<br />
being served by Fred Harpst, independent<br />
booker.<br />
FMW Sells Two Houses;<br />
Acquiring Drive-ins<br />
KANSAS CITY—Fox Midwest Theatres,<br />
division of National Theatres and Television.<br />
Inc.. has sold its Fox Theatre at Sedalia<br />
to Commonwealth Amusement Corp.<br />
and the Auditorium at Marshall to Leo<br />
Hayob. Commonwealth now operates the<br />
Uptown and 50-Hiway at Sedalia. but will<br />
close the Uptown October 22, one week<br />
after taking possession of the Fox. Hayob<br />
now operates the Mary Lou at Marshall.<br />
Fred Souttar, supervisor of the Fox<br />
Midwest division, referred to these transactions<br />
as being in keeping with the recently<br />
announced plans of NT&T to concentrate<br />
its theatre operations in the larger<br />
cities. Also, he said, they are expanding<br />
into the drive-in field, with several properties<br />
leased and others under consideration.<br />
Under the consent decrees, approval for<br />
these acquisitions will have to be obtained<br />
from the Department of Justice, Souttar<br />
said.<br />
Associated Theatres Buys<br />
Adrian, Mich., Drive-In<br />
ADRIAN, MICH.—Purchase of the Lenawee<br />
Auto Theatre, one of this city's two<br />
drive-ins, has been announced by Associated<br />
Theatres of Cleveland. The new owner<br />
will begin operation in the spring.<br />
Leroy Kendis. Associated Theatres vicepresident,<br />
said his firm acquired the property,<br />
business and equipment in a deal involving<br />
about $100,000.<br />
The theatre was purchased from Robert<br />
Tuttle and Donald Swenk. both of Adrian.<br />
They had owned it for the last four yeai.s.<br />
Kendis said Associated Theatres plans to<br />
spend between $25,000 and $30,000 on improvements<br />
during the winter. He said the<br />
capacity will be increased 100 cars, making<br />
a total capacity of 600.<br />
ST .<br />
LOUIS<br />
^Convertibles spilliii); over with noisy<br />
"ghosts" roamed downtown St. Louis<br />
streets last week, with the "ghosts" periodically<br />
leaping out of the cars to pass<br />
out handbills among the amused pedestrians.<br />
The handbills, of course, announced<br />
the opening of "13 Ghosts" at Loew's<br />
State. Yates Oldsmobile loaned the convertibles.<br />
In another promotion Shadrick,<br />
a sizeable lion cub, and the tenth ghost,<br />
entertained children at Cardinal Glennon<br />
Hospital under the careful supervision of<br />
his trainer Harvey Jackson. Candy and<br />
masks were passed out to the youngsters<br />
during the show. The hospital visit received<br />
photo coverage in the daily papers.<br />
.<br />
The Union Theatre here was closed<br />
permanently, as did the Majestic in East<br />
St. Louis Victory Theatre, closed<br />
since December 1959. was reopened October<br />
7 for Friday. Saturday and Sunday operation<br />
The Diane Drive-In. Carlinville,<br />
. . . 111., closed for the season.<br />
The Varsity Theatre was reopened October<br />
5 with "School for Scoundrels" and<br />
"Separate Tables." Grace Piccioni. owner<br />
of the Apollo Art Theatre, purchased all<br />
the Varsity equipment, name, operation<br />
and goodwill from Joe Ansell. It was closed<br />
for redecoration for two weeks. The Varsity<br />
will be booked by Ray Parker and<br />
Jim Damos.<br />
The cast and crew of "The Hoodlum<br />
Priest" a United Artists production starring<br />
Don Murray in the title role, have<br />
returned to Hollywood . Mattoon<br />
Theatre. Taylorville. 111., closed.<br />
The Missouri -Illinois Theatre Owners<br />
board held its first meeting of the new<br />
MITO year. Jim Damos gave a financial<br />
report on the MITO convention. Delegates<br />
to the national TOA convention reported<br />
on that affair. Present were Ray Parker,<br />
president: Wesley Bloomer, vice-president;<br />
Tommy Williamson, Eddie Clark, Charlie<br />
Goldman, Phil Nanus. Jim Damos and Jim<br />
James. The next meeting will be November<br />
1 in Belleville.<br />
Stan Smith, Columbia salesman, vacationed<br />
in New York . . . Martha Schmidt,<br />
Columbia staffer, returned to work after<br />
an illness that struck her while she was<br />
on a vacation July 4 . . . Seen on Pilmrow<br />
were Louis Odorizzi. Staunton. 111.; Forrest<br />
Pirtle, and Paul Horn. Jerseyville;<br />
Eddie Clark, Metropolis, and Mrs. Freida<br />
Paul, Carlinville.<br />
"Blood and Roses," a Paramount release,<br />
is a supernatural suspense drama set<br />
against the background of modern Rome.<br />
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BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960 C-3
KANSAS CITY<br />
^elbert su-wart, who had managed the<br />
Sands and Doric theatres at Elkhart,<br />
Kas.. for K. W. Pieratt. died September 18<br />
following a heart seizure. He was only 42<br />
years old.<br />
LonBtimc exhibitor O. C. Alexander of<br />
the Kansas Theatre, Kiowa, is in the hospital<br />
there, according to a note Dorothie<br />
Warnckc of Buena Vista receiverl a few<br />
days ago from Mrs. Alexander. The note<br />
goes on to say that Alexander underwent<br />
surgery on the 14th and 21st of last month,<br />
and although feeling somewhat stronger,<br />
was to remain in the hospital at least until<br />
the 15th of this month. He entered the<br />
hospital September 6.<br />
Virgril and Pearl Harbison of Tarkio Theatre,<br />
Tarkio, are the proudest grandparents<br />
in the world, according to Al Adler, MGM<br />
salesman. Their daughter Patricia and<br />
husband iMr. and Mrs. Dean Meek) recently<br />
became the parents of twin sons.<br />
Virgil's answer to "How are they?" is "How<br />
much time do you have to sit down and<br />
listen?"<br />
.At MGM, Jim Witcher was busy last<br />
Tuesday morning hanging up banners for<br />
"Where the Hot Wind Blows," new Gina<br />
Lollobrigida-Yves Montand starrer which<br />
is due for a territory saturation starting<br />
November 11. Jim, incidentally, reports<br />
that Myrtle Cain, national WOMPI secretary<br />
and right hand to Manager Tom<br />
Bailey, temporarily is "left hand"—said<br />
right hand being attached to the broken<br />
wrist mentioned here last week. Myrtle,<br />
Jim adds, has already learned to write a<br />
very acceptable Chinese with her left hand.<br />
Manda Appleton, switchboard operator,<br />
has resigned and has not been replaced as<br />
yet. Les Durland is expected to be loaded<br />
with fish stories upon return from his<br />
vacation trip to Campbell's Point on Table<br />
Rock Lake.<br />
Scott Dickinson, son of Glen Dickinson<br />
jr. of Dickinson Theatres, has entered the<br />
freshman class at Kansas State Teachers<br />
College at Emporia. Scott enjoyed a trip<br />
to Europe this past summer, a high school<br />
graduation present from his parents.<br />
Margaret Dorrance, Durwood Theatres<br />
staffer stationed at the Capri, became Mrs.<br />
Bob Taylor, wife of a KCMO-TV stagehand,<br />
in a quiet ceremony Saturday (1)<br />
in Miami, Okla. They were due back from<br />
a brief honeymoon trip Monday aO)<br />
Paramount Theatre Manager Harold Lyon<br />
HUMDINGER SPEAKERS $3.95<br />
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HEAVY DUTY SPEAKER MECHANISM $1.95<br />
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STEBBINS
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Expanded Kent Circuit<br />
Starts Selling Drive<br />
VERO BEACH. PLA.—Tommy Hyde,<br />
general manager for Kent Theatres, presided<br />
at the first general meeting of the<br />
circuit managers held at the refurbished<br />
Florida Theatre. A small theatre chain<br />
until June of this year, when 14 theatres<br />
were purchased by Kent from Horton R.<br />
Prudden. president of the First Southeast<br />
Corp.. Kent now operates 22 indoor and<br />
outdoor theatres in nine Florida communities,<br />
putting it among the top four circuits<br />
in Florida.<br />
Hyde and his managers planned an extensive<br />
circuitwide exploitation drive<br />
through the remainder of 1960. Their<br />
planning was assisted by a presentation of<br />
Kent Theatres booking policies by Marshall<br />
Fling, the firm's film buyer from Jacksonville,<br />
and by many progressive suggestions<br />
on the part of individual managers for<br />
increased grosses. Circuit owner Frederick<br />
Kent of Jacksonville was unable to be<br />
present, and Hyde geared the day-long<br />
meeting to decisions jointly reached at an<br />
earlier conference with Kent.<br />
Theatre managers attending the enthusiastic<br />
gathering were William Raulerson<br />
and James Stamps, Fort Pierce; W. J.<br />
Chestnut and James Lindsey. Vero Beach;<br />
Victor Martin, Melbourne; Jack Grayson,<br />
Eau Gallie; Sam Peinstein and James<br />
Matthews, Cocoa; Leslie Pendelton and<br />
Max Gilford, Tallahassee, and H. S. Shuman<br />
and H. S. Stewart. Jacksonville.<br />
Hyde announced the approval of architectural<br />
plans for the early rebuilding of<br />
the de luxe Florida Theatre. Tallahassee,<br />
which was destroyed by fire earlier this<br />
year.<br />
'Sexy' Catches Fancy<br />
Of Memphis Patrons<br />
MEMPHIS—Only one local first-run<br />
theatre had more than average business.<br />
"Fast and Sexy" at the Malco rang the<br />
bell for a good 150 per cent score. Other<br />
situations were ordinary.<br />
(Average Is 100)<br />
Moico Fost ond Sexy (Col) 1 50<br />
State— Untier Ten Flogs (Para) 100<br />
Strand—Thunder in Carolina (Howco), 2rxJ wk. ,100<br />
Palace—The Subterraneans (MGM);<br />
Key Witness (MGM) 100<br />
Warner The Nights of Lucretio Borgia (Col)... 70<br />
Two Farmers Relight<br />
Utica, Miss., Theatre<br />
UTICA. MISS.—The Utica Theatre, dark<br />
two and a half years, has been opened by<br />
Maurice Little and Stan McGuffee, young<br />
farmers who like movies. They said they<br />
had been hoping some one would relight<br />
the theatre, then decided they could do so<br />
themselves with their families helping<br />
after the day's farming chores were over<br />
and supper out of the way.<br />
Flynt Josey Jr. Dies<br />
ALBEMARLE. N. C—Flynt M. Josey jr..<br />
56. Albemarle theatre operator, died after<br />
suffering a heart attack. He had been in<br />
ill health for several years.<br />
Starring in U-I's "Back Street" are John<br />
Gavin. Susan Hayward and Vera Miles.<br />
Tristate Exhibitors Told<br />
'Know Your Community'<br />
MEMPHIS—Margaret Twyman. pretty<br />
blond director of community relations for<br />
Motion Picture A.ss'n<br />
of America, told 186<br />
theatre owners that<br />
th.> industry is hurt<br />
as much by those who<br />
find fault without<br />
( 'Ultimate reason as<br />
by those who really<br />
'lave a cause for complaint.<br />
She spoke at<br />
u luncheon meeting<br />
of the 51st annual<br />
Margaret Twyman<br />
convention of the<br />
Motion Picture Thea<br />
t r e Owners of<br />
Arkansas. Mississippi and Tennessee, which<br />
opened a two-day session at Hotel Claridge<br />
Tuesday (4i.<br />
Serious errors have been made by the<br />
motion picture industry, as by all businesses,<br />
in the transition from family entertainment<br />
to a diversified fare, Mrs. Twyman<br />
said. One big failure has been in the<br />
necessity to educate the public that they<br />
must select films—that all pictures are not<br />
for everyone, as too many people still think<br />
they should be, she said.<br />
SAYS FACTS NECESSARY<br />
"The backbone of our business is what<br />
I am really talking about." Mrs. Twyman<br />
said. "Public relations is no longer a<br />
mysterious entity. It is a body of knowledge.<br />
Facts and more facts about your<br />
community are what you must have to<br />
start formulating a plan for a successful<br />
community relations program. There are<br />
certain broad general ties about all communities<br />
which exhibitors should know and<br />
understand. Then there are certain<br />
specific facts about your own community<br />
w'hich you had better know."<br />
ACCOLADE TO MEMPHIS—Howard<br />
Nicholson, chief barker of the Memphis<br />
Variety Club, receives Variety International's<br />
highest award. Presenting<br />
the plaque is Edward Emanuel, Variety<br />
International chief barker. This was<br />
the second time the Memphis tent has<br />
been cited for its outstanding work in<br />
behalf of children with heart ailments.<br />
Many of Memphis' leading citizens attended<br />
the ceremonies.<br />
i<br />
She suggested clipping club activity<br />
stories from papers and listing officers'<br />
names, or getting the women's page editor<br />
to help. She said wives should be enlisted<br />
to help follow up leads on club leaders.<br />
"Gathering facts about women's clubs<br />
and keeping an up-to-date mailing list of<br />
their leaders is only a beginning, but a<br />
very important beginning, believe me. I<br />
am prone to think many of you regard<br />
the whole concept of women's clubs as a<br />
necessary evil perhaps. I believe these<br />
organizations should be viewed as readymade<br />
communications networks through<br />
which you can make friends and promote<br />
the product you are trying to sell, directly<br />
and indirectly."<br />
She warned that women like in their<br />
movie advertising honest description of<br />
film fare, good art and color an<br />
element of surprise, something which<br />
piques their curiosity; anything which<br />
smacks of adventure, romance, travel:<br />
good-looking stars, male and female, and<br />
personalized advertising, such as letters and<br />
invitations that are unexpected. She said<br />
women don't like bad taste in art, such as<br />
too much nudity, shocking language,<br />
violence or brutality, words with obvious<br />
double meanings and misleading phrases<br />
or pictures.<br />
DICK OREAR ON MPI<br />
Mayor Henry Loeb welcomed the delegates.<br />
Richard Orear. of Commonwealth Theatres.<br />
Kansas City, spoke about Motion Picture<br />
Investments, through which theatre<br />
owners and individuals are acquiring a voice<br />
in production. He said purchasing good old<br />
pictures, by selective means rather than in<br />
blocks, to keep them away from television<br />
and for theatre second-runs, is under way.<br />
He said such pictures will be released to<br />
hardtop theatres in February 1961 and to<br />
drive-ins about June 1.<br />
Many of the delegates came a day early<br />
to the convention to see an invitational<br />
screening of "Ben-Hur" at Loew's Palace.<br />
The nominating committee consisting of<br />
the three vice-presidents. Leon Rountree,<br />
Holly Springs. Miss.: Bill Bruster. Dickson.<br />
Tenn.. and Robin Wightman. Little Rock.<br />
agreed on Joe Keifer of Malco Theatres,<br />
Memphis, to succeed Gordon Hutchins.<br />
Russellville. Ark., as president. Election<br />
was on Wednesday afternoon. Martin<br />
Mounger, Calhoun City, Miss., will be the<br />
new secretary-treasurer.<br />
Alton Sims of Memphis spoke Wednesday<br />
on "Community Relations and Adult Entertainment<br />
"<br />
and Robin Wightman on "Competing<br />
for the Amusement Dollar." Joe<br />
Propps told how- he would sell "Desire in<br />
the Dust," and W. P. Florence did the same<br />
on "College Confidential." Jim Jackson<br />
spoke on concessions. Dick Womack told<br />
the drive-in story.<br />
At the luncheon, an award was presented<br />
to Dr. Loren E. Ainger of the Variety<br />
Children's Heart Institute. Other speakers<br />
were George Roscoe. TOA, New York, and<br />
Ben Dugas, Pepsi-Cola. There was a<br />
fashion show at the luncheon.<br />
EOXOFFICE October 10. 1960 SE-1
-<br />
. . The<br />
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MEMPHIS<br />
S bout 1,000 screaming girls burst through<br />
barriers at the airport when Ricky<br />
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the Midsouth fair. The unruly girls caused<br />
officials to call off a scheduled hospital<br />
visit during Ricky's stay "for safety's sake."<br />
It was decided he would go no place except<br />
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the fair for his shows and back to his<br />
room. The recording artist traveled in a<br />
police squad car and was under guard at<br />
all times.<br />
The West Point (Mi.ss.) Drive-In, owned<br />
by Perry McCown. was closed for the<br />
season . . . W. L. Moxloy reopened the<br />
Fiesta Theatre at Blytheville. Ark.<br />
Pictures of the first Memphis<br />
. . .<br />
Filmrow<br />
golf tournament were shown at the Fox<br />
screening room to an enthusiastic audience.<br />
. . . City<br />
John Twiehaus has leased the Clarksdale.<br />
Miss., drive-in from Mrs. Henley<br />
Smith with an option to buy<br />
officials, business leaders and newspaper<br />
and radio folk attended the invitational<br />
preview of "Bcn-Hur" at Loew's Palace . . .<br />
H. D Bowers, manager of the Princess<br />
Theatre and Cardinal Drive-In at Mayfield,<br />
Ky., is home recuperating from an<br />
illness.<br />
Visitors over the week from Arkansas<br />
included K. H. Kinney of the Hays at<br />
Hughes: Victor Weber of the Center at<br />
Kensett; Harold Rackley of the Palace at<br />
Beebe: Moses Sllman, Lux at Luxora: Ann<br />
Hutchins, State at Corning; Gordon Lee<br />
Hutchins, 64 Drive-In at Russellville;<br />
Pinky Tipton, Tipton's at Caraway, Manila<br />
and Monette; William Elias. Murr at<br />
Osceola.<br />
Homewood, Birmingham,<br />
Leased by Arnold Gary<br />
BIRMINGHAM — Arnold Gary, ownermanager<br />
of the West End Theatre, opened<br />
the Homewood Theatre under his personal<br />
management. The Homewood was operated<br />
by the N. H. Waters interests as an art<br />
house. Gary said that he would convert it<br />
to a family theatre similar to what the<br />
West End house is. He has subleased the<br />
theatre from Waters, their lease expiring<br />
the first of the year.<br />
"By that time I should know if this will<br />
go," Gary said. "Actually, it will depend<br />
on whether I can transfer the image people<br />
have formed of the house. Right now,<br />
I understand it has been banned for<br />
Catholics and some other churches feel<br />
likewise." The only physical alterations<br />
were reopening of the concession stand<br />
which Waters had closed. Gary plans to<br />
have a gala grand opening later.<br />
Waters announced the resignation of<br />
three drive-in theatre managers. They are<br />
Olin Brooks, Skyview; John Powers, Fair<br />
Park, and Billy Paul, Roblnwood. Replacing<br />
them will be three present managers<br />
who will each handle two theatres, with<br />
an assistant staying at each situation.<br />
They are Cy Wages, Starlight and Roebuck;<br />
Blaine Tritt, Roblnwood and Skyview,<br />
and Carl Wesler, Pair Park and<br />
Shades Mountain.<br />
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MIAMI<br />
JIal Pearl has been appointed advertising<br />
and publicity director for "Pepe" in<br />
southern Florida. The film will open at<br />
Brandt's Lincoln December 21 following<br />
nearly a year's run of "Ben-Hur " . . .<br />
Tickets already are being sold for "Exodus"<br />
which will open at the Sheridan Theatre<br />
December 22, following the long run of<br />
"Can-Can" . Mansfield and husband<br />
Mickey Hargitay have been vacationing<br />
here.<br />
Prior to the opening of "Hell to Eternity"<br />
at the Carefree Theatre, Gay Davis walked<br />
through the downtown area in a book ballyhoo<br />
. Town Theatre downtown is<br />
toying with the idea of going Spanish,<br />
American dialog and Spanish subtitles.<br />
Wometco is trying to line up "The Ten<br />
Commandments" under this setup . .<br />
.<br />
Another new film company is expected<br />
to start shooting in the Miami area in six<br />
weeks—the Ervin Gross Motion Pictures<br />
Corp.. which is to start with a horror film<br />
called "LOB Atom" . Gerber,<br />
Variety International, spoke at a crew<br />
meeting of the local tent.<br />
Gloria Swanson, in town to promote her<br />
Forever Young line of dresses, had 250<br />
women standing in the aisles around the<br />
runway at Burdine's budget dress department<br />
during a noontime fashion show.<br />
Supposedly they were to see her di-esses,<br />
but mostly they were there to see the<br />
61 -year-old film star who attributes her<br />
preserved glamorous condition to the food<br />
she "doesn't eat." She made her appearance<br />
wearing a black wool knit dress, a<br />
wool tweed stole, matching tweed cloche<br />
and gold accessories. She avoids processed<br />
foods like the plague and tries to avoid<br />
sprayed foods.<br />
. . Florida<br />
Mrs. Mark Chartrand, wife of Wometco<br />
executive, and several friends returned<br />
from a motor trip in Canada .<br />
State Theatres has been awarded two of<br />
the season's big motion pictures, "Butterfield<br />
8" and "Sunrise at Campobello."<br />
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SE-2 BOXOFFICE :: October 10, 1960
iii._<br />
. . Pred<br />
'Slars' al Hunlsville<br />
Honors Missile Men<br />
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Senator John<br />
Sparkman, a native of Huntsville, was<br />
selected by Columbia Pictures and the<br />
Huntsville Chamber of Commerce to act<br />
as master of ceremonies for the on-stage<br />
proceedings prior to the southern premiere<br />
of "I Aim at the Stars." film biography of<br />
Dr. Wernher von Braun. at the Tony Theatre<br />
Thursday 161. The premiere vvas sponsored<br />
by the Huntsville chamber as a<br />
tribute to Von Braun and the personnel<br />
of Redstone arsenal here. The net proceeds<br />
was donated to the Army Distaff Pounr'ation.<br />
Approximately 40 top representatives of<br />
southern and national newspapers, radio<br />
and television, and nationally known political,<br />
scientific and military figures were<br />
on hand for the day-long schedule of<br />
activities.<br />
Dr. and Mrs. Von Braun were honored<br />
guests at the premiere, and a press reception<br />
held for them prior to the evening's<br />
entertainment. Tom Dark, president of the<br />
Chamber of Commerce, said: "We are<br />
proud to salute Dr. Von Braun on the<br />
occasior. of the premiere in Huntsville of<br />
this fine exciting film about him. We are<br />
as proud to have the premiere of T Aim<br />
at the Stars' here as we are to have had<br />
Dr. Von Braun and members of the entire<br />
team at Redstone arsenal living and<br />
working among us."<br />
A plaque was presented to Dr. Von<br />
Braun.<br />
The Tony Theatre is a Crescent Amusement<br />
Co. operation.<br />
Shreveport Preachers<br />
Riled by 'Elmer Gantry'<br />
SHREVEPORT. LA.—A group of pastors<br />
and laymen prepared to go into court<br />
to stop the showing of "Elmer Gantry,"<br />
Sinclair Lewis' story about an immoral,<br />
hypocritical tent show evangelist. The picture<br />
opened a five-day showing at the<br />
Strand Sunday and was witnessed by capacity<br />
crowds who were anxious to view<br />
the film after a story appeared in the<br />
daily papers Saturday and Sunday describing<br />
the attack by the preachers on<br />
the picture.<br />
An affidavit had been prepared today<br />
for signatures of complainants as the basis<br />
for charges of obscenity in city court. One<br />
of the pastors said the group planned to<br />
retain an attorney to file an injunction<br />
suit in the civil section of the Caddo district<br />
court. One of the laymen claimed a<br />
group of citizens had viewed the picture<br />
Sunday and had "accumulated evidence"<br />
that the film is immoral. Mayor Clyde<br />
Pant said the city has no authority to<br />
censor pictures.<br />
"We deplore the fact that a picture of<br />
this sort can be shown in our city," one<br />
of the preachers said. "We resent its aim<br />
against the ministry, the church and religion.<br />
It is irreligious, immoral, grotesque<br />
and degrading to the church. The public<br />
should not have allowed the book from<br />
which the film was taken ever to have been<br />
published."<br />
Dr. Miklos Rozsa is composing the<br />
musical score for MGMs "King of Kings."<br />
ATLANTA<br />
Cervices were hold here for Walter T.<br />
Hickey, a pioneer in the motion picture<br />
industry. Hickey started in the mo-<br />
WALTER HICKEY<br />
tion picture business by showing "The<br />
Great Train Robbery" in a tent, cranking<br />
the projector by hand. He represented<br />
Warner Bros., Real Art and Pilm Classics<br />
in this territory before his retirement in<br />
1947 because of ill health . Young,<br />
formerly of Atlanta Popcorn Co., died in<br />
his sleep at the home of a relative in<br />
Buffalo, N. Y., September 26. He retired<br />
approximately a year and a half ago . . .<br />
Jack Vaughn, assistant to Georgia Theatres<br />
executive Foster Hotard, is recuperating<br />
at his home after surgery. He hoped<br />
to be back at his desk soon.<br />
The Royce, Royston, has been leased by<br />
Cyrus Strickland from Branscom James.<br />
The buying and booking for this situation<br />
was formerly handled by Exhibitors Service<br />
Co., Strickland will do his own buying<br />
and booking.<br />
.<br />
Calling at the circuits' offices in Nashville<br />
were Carroll Ogburn, Warner Bros.;<br />
Gene Goodman, United Artists: Charlie<br />
Jordan, Howco, and Ike Katz, Kay Pilm<br />
Pilmrow visitors included J. S. Silberstein,<br />
. .<br />
Huntingdon. Va., buyer and booker<br />
for the Ridge and Grove theatres at Oak<br />
Ridge: W. E. Blue, Jackson at Jackson,<br />
Ga.: James Reynolds, Union at Union Point<br />
and Madison in Madison; Jack Jones,<br />
Rialto and Swan, Blue Ridge; Walter Morris,<br />
Pike and Tower, Knoxville: Margaret<br />
Storey, Knox, Warrenton; W. W. Pincher<br />
jr., Pincher Theatres, Chatsworth, and<br />
Phil Richardson, McLendon circuit booker,<br />
Union Springs, Ala.<br />
R. J. "Hap" Barnes, ABC Enterprises, his<br />
wife Sally and daughter Jerri drove to<br />
Gainesville, Pla., for the Tech-Plorida<br />
game . . . Pearl Moos, former Columbia<br />
booker, is recovering at her home following<br />
her second session in the hospital this<br />
year for surgery.<br />
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Little Rock, Arkansas<br />
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Jacksonville,<br />
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a^tcJlA AMBASSADOR<br />
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Details from These Dealers<br />
Blevins Popcorn Company<br />
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Wil-Kin, Inc.<br />
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Blevins Popcorn Company<br />
New Orleans, Louisiana<br />
Hodges Theatre Supply<br />
New Orleans, Louisiana<br />
Our 75th<br />
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SINCE 1885<br />
FACTORY:<br />
CHICAGO, ILL<br />
Standard Theatre Supply<br />
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Wil-Kin,<br />
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Standard Theatre Supply<br />
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Blevins Popcorn Company<br />
Nashville, Tennessee<br />
MANUFACTURERS OF THE<br />
OFFICIAL WEIGHT VOLUME<br />
TESTER FOR THE<br />
POPCORN INDUSTRY.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960 SE-3
. . Another<br />
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JACKSONVILLE<br />
TenninKs Easley, veteran staff member of<br />
the MGM branch in Memphis, has<br />
replaced Bob Capps here as an outside<br />
salesman on Fred Hull's staff following<br />
the promotion of Capps to MGM assistant<br />
branch manager in Boston. A large Filmrow<br />
farewell party was given for Capps by<br />
his many Pilmrow friends at a gathering<br />
in the MGM building . new<br />
film salesman receiving a welcome here<br />
was Don Weidick on Ed McLaughlin's staff<br />
at Columbia. A former Columbia booker,<br />
Weidick replaced McLaughlin after the<br />
latter was promoted to Columbia manager.<br />
Kay Dilena has rejoined Byron Adams'<br />
staff at United Artists as cashier, replac-<br />
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Write today for complete<br />
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3750 Oakton St. Skokie, Illinois<br />
Save Money With This<br />
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For Rotating Carbons Only<br />
9mm— 10mm—11mm S3.00 CO.<br />
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REBUILT SIMPLEX<br />
E-7 MECHANISM'S<br />
Bargains While They Last<br />
Sale or Trade—Write for Deal<br />
Sprockets<br />
Ground for<br />
Fox Hole Prints $2.00 Ea.<br />
Repair Service for Projectors<br />
Amplifiers-Sound<br />
Heads<br />
Arc Controls-Motors, Etc.<br />
LOU WALTERS<br />
PROJECTOR REPAIR SERVICE<br />
8140 Hunnicut Rd. Dallas 28, Texas<br />
. . . Carol<br />
.<br />
mg Mary Newport who has joined a local<br />
Jackie Hess is now assistant<br />
radio .station . . .<br />
cashier at Columbia<br />
Thomas has been promoted to a booking<br />
post on Thomas P. Tldwell's staff at 20th-<br />
Fox Murphy left her desk at<br />
Allied Artists for a fall tour of Florida<br />
tourist resorts.<br />
Harry Clark, office manager and booker<br />
for Bob Bowers at Allied Artists, has moved<br />
his wife and two children into a new home<br />
in the Cedar Hills subdivision west of town<br />
. . . Carl Floyd has acquired the Filmland<br />
Drive-In Theatre, Lakeland, from W. H.<br />
Klem. There are now 36 four-wall and<br />
drive-in theatres in central Florida which<br />
currently are flying the banner of the<br />
Floyd Theatres circuit as a result of its<br />
rapid expansion in the past two years.<br />
. . .<br />
Outdoor theatres which have reopened<br />
following extensive damage from hurricane<br />
Donna include the Starlite and Port Myers<br />
at Fort Myers; the Kuhl Avenue at Orlando,<br />
and the Outdoor at Bartow<br />
The screen tower of the Neptune Drive-In,<br />
Daytona Beach, was being repaired following<br />
storm damage although the theatre<br />
is not scheduled for reopening until the<br />
spring of 1961.<br />
Roy E. Pfeiffer is the new manager of<br />
the Beach Theatre at nearby Jacksonville<br />
Beach, reported Tommy Hyde, general<br />
manager for Kent Theatres, on a recent<br />
business trip to this city from his heado.uarters<br />
in Vero Beach. Pfeiffer, formerly<br />
a resident of Baton Rouge, has been with<br />
the industry in both exhibition and distribution<br />
since 1920. The Beach Theatre is<br />
the only exhibition center now operating<br />
in Jacksonville Beach, the major tourist<br />
resort of northeast Florida, following the<br />
conversion of the Beach Drive-In into a<br />
shopping center . Langston has<br />
returned here to work as Walt Meier's assistant<br />
at the downtown Florida Theatre<br />
after working all summer as a Florida<br />
Theatres relief manager in downstate<br />
locations.<br />
Guy Gabaldon, whose Marine career is<br />
presented on the screen in "Hell to Eternity,"<br />
arrived here for a whirlwind of<br />
public appearances arranged for him by a<br />
team of Florida State Theatres exploiteers<br />
on the preopening day of the motion picture<br />
at the Florida Theatre. Gabaldon was<br />
the guest of honor and main speaker at a<br />
Chamber of Commerce special luncheon<br />
attended by hundreds of civic leaders. The<br />
PST schedule of activities for Gabaldon<br />
brought him an almost unprecedented<br />
amount of local publicity and launched<br />
the screen entertainment into a strong run<br />
at the Florida. He left here for more exploitation<br />
rounds in south Florida, accompanied<br />
by Bob Bowers, Allied Artists<br />
manager.<br />
"G.I. Blues" was enthusiastically received<br />
at a sunrise sneak preview which<br />
Fred Mathis. Paramount manager, and<br />
Walt Meier, manager, staged at the Florida<br />
Theatre. The new Presley film has been<br />
booked into the Florida for Thanksgiving<br />
. . . 'Walt Woodward, a 50-year industry<br />
veteran, returned to his Miami home after<br />
jetting to Paris, France, and back on a<br />
business errand.<br />
Warner Bros, will rerelease "Miracle of<br />
Our Lady of Fatima."<br />
NEW ORLEANS<br />
The Tudor on Canal street will usher in<br />
"Can-Can" Friday il4i "in Paris-style<br />
verve harnessed with a la Hollywood treatment<br />
of grandeur." Frank Jenkins, 20th-<br />
Fox publicist, and Michael Lion, Tudor<br />
manager, promise some "new and exhilarating"<br />
premiere ideas. The house is being<br />
freshened up for the event. The film will<br />
run continuously, no reserved seats, at<br />
$2.20 nights and $1.36 matinees, 53 cents<br />
children anytime.<br />
John Elzey, who operates the King in<br />
New Roads and has the Pat Drive-In at<br />
Vidalia in association with his son Pat,<br />
conferred with Page Baker of Theatre<br />
Owners Service Co., which will take over<br />
the King and Pat booking November . . .<br />
1<br />
Catherine Gant joined the Joy Theatre<br />
staff as cashier, and Pauline Unbehagen<br />
cut her boxoffice hours to Thursdays only.<br />
Mabel Palmer will discuss the state mental<br />
health program, and the proposed<br />
WOMPI presentation of its minstrelvariety<br />
show now and then at the state<br />
institutions, at the WOMPI October meeting<br />
at Gluck's restaurant on the 18th .<br />
. .<br />
Carmen Smith, WOMPI president, and<br />
heads of five other women's clubs, were<br />
judges in a student nui-se statewide contest<br />
recently at McAully Hall . Boasberg,<br />
Warner sales chief, and W. O. Williamson<br />
jr., district boss, conferred with<br />
local Manager Lucas Conner and staff.<br />
Some exhibitors arrived here Monday<br />
1 26) for Universal's early morning tradescreening<br />
of "Midnight Lace" at Hodges<br />
screening room. Making the rounds were<br />
W. E. Limmroth, Mobile; John Luster,<br />
Page Amusements, Natchitoches: William<br />
Darce and mother Mrs. Claude Darce,<br />
Opera House. Morgan City; Aubrey Lesseigne.<br />
Arcade at Patterson and St. Mary's<br />
at Berwick; M. A. Connett and Marijo<br />
James, Connett Theatres, Newton, Miss.;<br />
Ed Fessler, Do Drive-In, Mobile; Claude<br />
Bourgeois. Biloxi; Charles Watterall. Chatham,<br />
Ala.; Ed Jenner, West Lake, Marrero<br />
and Laurel drive-in theatres; Joseph Barcelona,<br />
Baton Rouge; C. J. Tringas, Roxy,<br />
Pensacola. in the first time in about a<br />
year; F. G. Pi-at jr., a Friday regular; Dave<br />
Prince. Lopert salesman from Dallas, and a<br />
Mr. Alexander of Film Group, Atlanta.<br />
.<br />
Gulf States has decided to keep the Joy,<br />
King and Don drive-ins at Alexandria open<br />
throughout the winter States<br />
staffers will play host over the weekend<br />
to local sales and booking department<br />
staffers at President T. G. Solomon's<br />
Dixie Springs lodge five miles from Mc-<br />
Comb. The party is an annual affair . . .<br />
Elgivia Lisle returned to her desk at Don<br />
a month's leave be-<br />
Kay Enterprises after<br />
cause of an illness caused by an allergy<br />
Winberry, Columbia, checked in<br />
after a trip to Nashville.<br />
Vacationers: Earl Schroeder, AA office<br />
. . .<br />
manager, and Mary Frances Burke, UA<br />
cashier Lawrence Woolner postponed<br />
a trip to Los Angeles when his wife underwent<br />
an operation at Tom-o . . . Sympathy<br />
to Lyall G. and William Shiell on the death<br />
of their mother.<br />
October will see the start of Paramount's<br />
"On the Double," in Hollywood.<br />
SE-4 BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960
OINGS AT THE<br />
DRIVE-INS<br />
The sale of the Eagle Drive-In in Eagle<br />
Pass to Andrew Majek of Carrizo Springs<br />
has been announced by E. L. Walter of<br />
Eagle Pass. Majek took over operation of<br />
the theatre August 1. He also owns the<br />
Winter Garden between Carrizo Springs<br />
and Crystal City. The new manager of the<br />
Eagle is Raymond Abner, former manager<br />
of the Guild and Alameda theatres in<br />
Crystal City.<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cowart have purchased<br />
the theatre interests in Silverton<br />
of Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Tunnell. Cowart<br />
plans a number of improvements at both<br />
the Arena Drive-In and the Palace Theatre.<br />
M. Mitchell announces that his Village<br />
Drive-In at Ennis again is under his management<br />
after having been leased for some<br />
time.<br />
A 9 -year-old Houston boy plunged into<br />
a 50-foot well at the Moonlight Drive-In<br />
there after mistaking the unlocked well<br />
house for a restroom. He suffered only<br />
bruises and lacerations. A one-inch plastic<br />
pipe attached to a pump and extending<br />
into the well enabled the boy to hold his<br />
head above water until he could be rescued.<br />
A second child who was with the boy<br />
sounded the alarm when the accident occured.<br />
Firemen, called to the rescue,<br />
brought the youngster up from the well.<br />
Hermes to Film 'Kingdom'<br />
For Columbia Releasing<br />
HOLLYWOOD—"The Kingdom of Manwill<br />
be filmed for Columbia release by<br />
Sidney Hai-mon and Richard Wilson under<br />
the banner of Hermes Productions, it was<br />
announced by Columbia studio head Samuel<br />
J. Briskin.<br />
Harmon coproduces the film with Wilson,<br />
who is also slated to direct. John<br />
Mantley will write the screenplay from<br />
Philip Yordan's original.<br />
"The Kingdom of Man" is set during<br />
the closing days of World War II in Europe<br />
and tells the story of a man and<br />
woman, made enemies by their opposing<br />
uniforms and caught in the backwash of<br />
the war.<br />
Meritorious Achievement<br />
Award to Hall Bartlett<br />
SAN FRANCISCO—An award of meritorious<br />
achievement in the field of race<br />
relations was presented to Hall Bartlett,<br />
Hollywood writer-producer-director, by the<br />
National Ass'n for the Advancement of<br />
Colored People in recognition of his production<br />
of "All the Young Men."<br />
Terry Francois. NAACP branch president<br />
here, made the presentation to Bartlett<br />
at<br />
a Fairmount Hotel luncheon.<br />
Al Reynolds, Ezell Drive-Ins Chief,<br />
Began Career With Uncle in Dallas<br />
DALLAS — Albert H. Reynolds, vicepresident<br />
in charge of theatre operations<br />
for Bordertown Theatres<br />
and Claude Ezell<br />
& Associates, one of<br />
the nation's largest<br />
drive-in theatre circuits,<br />
was born in<br />
Whitewright. Tex. in<br />
1909. His family<br />
moved to Dallas two<br />
years later, where he<br />
attended the David<br />
Crockett grade school<br />
and Bryan High<br />
Al Reynolds School, now known<br />
as Dallas Technical<br />
School.<br />
Steeped in the theatre atmosphere from<br />
an early age, his uncle, P. G. Cameron, a<br />
pioneer of the motion picture theatre business<br />
in Dallas, gave Reynolds his first job<br />
as a parttime usher at the Melba while<br />
still attending school. As a student, he<br />
worked nights at other theatres along Elm<br />
street, including the historic Queen. At<br />
19, he moved to New York to broaden his<br />
experience in the theatre business. He was<br />
employed at the Rialto for nearly two years<br />
and the Palace for a few months.<br />
Returning to Texas in 1929, he got a<br />
job with the Interstate circuit. He managed<br />
theatres in Dallas, Houston and<br />
Austin. While serving as city manager in<br />
San Antonio in charge of 14 theatres for<br />
Interstate, he resigned in 1946 to join<br />
Claude Ezell & Associates, at that time<br />
known as Underwood & Ezell, operating<br />
six drive-in theatres. Since then, while<br />
serving as general manager, he has seen<br />
the circuit grow to over 40 theatres.<br />
Reynolds was responsible for several innovations<br />
in the theatre industry. When<br />
Cinemascope came along in 1954 and 20th-<br />
Fox refused to serve their pictures to theatres<br />
not equipped with stereophonic sound,<br />
Reynolds developed a stereo sound speaker,<br />
and the Ezell Theatres were months ahead<br />
of competitors in presenting Cinemascope<br />
at a time when this new medium had its<br />
greatest novelty value. Huge curved Fiberglas<br />
screens, still reputed to be the finest<br />
in the country, were quickly installed in<br />
all the Ezell theatres.<br />
Reynolds is a past chief barker of the<br />
H<br />
U<br />
Second 'Atlantis'<br />
Version<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Despite the completion<br />
of George Pal's "Atlantis, the Lost Continent"<br />
for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, independent<br />
producer Nat Wachsberger is<br />
planning to launch a second version in<br />
Libya next month. Under the title "Atlantis,"<br />
the new film will be directed by Frank<br />
Borzage and will also be shot in Spain.
1<br />
1 ) . Bingo<br />
. . We<br />
OKLAHOMA CITY<br />
T'ho Oklahoma state fair closed Saturday.<br />
October 1. and the Tulsa state fair<br />
opened on the same date. All previous attendance<br />
records were broken here, what<br />
with the perfect weather. Saturday's turnout,<br />
which was the last day. of 63,140<br />
pushed the eight-day attendance to 455.-<br />
671. Business at all the local theatres was<br />
far below average as it is every year during<br />
state fair week.<br />
It looked like old home week at the Variety<br />
Club headquarters on Saturday night<br />
was the main event of the<br />
evening, as it will be every Saturday night.<br />
and the clubrooms were alive with members<br />
and guests. A give-a-way was planned<br />
for Monday ilOi. and many activities are<br />
planned for the fall. Many of the oldtimers<br />
are interested in seeing that Variety<br />
beats back, and the club will be the scene<br />
of many activities.<br />
"The Alamo," the big new John Wayne<br />
production, is beginning to get a lot of<br />
publicity in advance of the opening November<br />
9 in the State Theatre here and<br />
the Brook in Tulsa. A full-page ad appeared<br />
in the Sunday amusement section<br />
October 2 in the Daily Oklahoman and<br />
the Tulsa World ... A former film salesman.<br />
Bill Maddox. was on the Row recently.<br />
He was with U-I for several years<br />
before getting the axe in an economy<br />
drive. He is now connected with Work<br />
Clothes Rental Service, and wants all his<br />
friends in the motion picture business to<br />
know he is doing okay . ran into<br />
another former film salesman, Jim Byrd.<br />
who for many years traveled the road for<br />
MGM. Byrd has had a siege of kidney<br />
trouble and was in the hospital four weeks,<br />
but is well on the road to recovery.<br />
Exhibitors seen transacting business<br />
along the Row: Elvin B. Anderson, Riverside<br />
at Norman and the Corral in Wynnewood:<br />
L. A. White, Tech, Weatherford:<br />
TOP QUALITY<br />
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"Your Complete Equipment House"<br />
OKLAHOMA THEATRE SUPPLY CO.<br />
628 West Grand Oklohoma City<br />
Henry Simpson, Princess and Pirate, Bristow;<br />
B. J. McKenna, Perry and Chief,<br />
Perry: Levi Metcalf, Canadian and Skyvue,<br />
Purcell: J. C. and Leonard Lumpkin,<br />
Rex, Sentinal; Paul Stonum, Redskin<br />
and Miller, Anadarko: Jimmie Mc-<br />
Kenna, Circle and Tulsa, Tulsa: H. D.<br />
Cox, Caddo, Bingcr: Milan Steele, Buffalo<br />
and Lakeside, Pawnee: Roy Shields. Sooner.<br />
Enid: Bob Shepard, Broncho. Edmond.<br />
and Bill Petty. Petty, Hominy. Petty also<br />
managed the Tall Chief Theatre, Fairfax,<br />
for Allied Theatres and the McKennas.<br />
Vacationing was Mr. and Mrs. Glen<br />
Thompson, Thompson Theatres here, and<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Gibbs. Gibbs is Columbia<br />
salesman.<br />
Radioman Len Masters Is<br />
New Manager in Austin<br />
AUSTIN, TEX.—The Texas Theatre<br />
changed managerial hands recently when<br />
Leonard Masters, a pioneer Austin FM<br />
broadcaster, was put in charge of the local<br />
art film house.<br />
Masters takes over the Texas' management<br />
from John Wheeler, who resigned to<br />
join the editorial staff of the Corpus<br />
Christi Caller-Times.<br />
Masters has become well known to Austin<br />
FM listeners as program director and<br />
classical music commentator for KHFI-FM.<br />
Associated with the station since its inc;ption,<br />
he will continue as its program<br />
director-commentator in addition to his<br />
work at the Texas.<br />
Under his management, the theatre will<br />
maintain its present art-type program policy<br />
of offering outstanding foreign imports<br />
and selected domestic attractions. Bookings<br />
will still be done through the Dallas<br />
office of Trans-Texas Theatres, which operates<br />
the Texas, but Earl Podolnick, president<br />
of the circuit, said that Masters will<br />
play a prominent part in the selection of<br />
films to be shown at the Texas.<br />
"I respect Leonard's judgment as to the<br />
kind of pictm-e the Texas should be playing,<br />
and, as far as possible, he'll be given<br />
a tree hand in picking them," said Podolnick.<br />
"I'm very enthusiastic about some<br />
ideas he has for strengthening the Texas'<br />
operation, and I'm confident that he can<br />
put them into effect with good results."<br />
Masters, a 32-year-old West Texan, holds<br />
a bachelor's and a master's degree in political<br />
science from the University of Texas<br />
and was a member of the UT government<br />
staff from 1949 to 1957, working as a<br />
grader and a teacher.<br />
PUTNAM, CONN.—Interstate of New<br />
England's Bradley Theatre ran a kiddies<br />
show, called "Cartoon-a-Scope," featuring<br />
cartoons, plus the UA revival, "Run Silent,<br />
Run Deep," charging 75 cents for adults,<br />
and 75 cents for children.<br />
Best Newsreels Cited<br />
At Telenews Party<br />
SAN FRANCISCO—Some 3,000 wellwishers<br />
gathered at the Telenews Theatre<br />
to celebrate its 21st anniversary. A giant<br />
three-tier cake was sei-ved to the celebrants<br />
out front.<br />
On the preceding night at a champagne<br />
reception inside the theatre, Warren Pechner,<br />
Telenews executive, introduced Williams<br />
Kanes, vice-president of Weibel<br />
Champagne Vineyards, who distributed<br />
Telenews awards, assisted by pretty Nancy<br />
Farnum as Miss San Francisco, and Mara<br />
Ferrochelli as the Chamjjagne Lady.<br />
Al Adolph accepted a special award for<br />
21 years of newsreel programming at the<br />
theatre.<br />
Six newsreel camera teams were cited<br />
for the best filmed news stories of 1959.<br />
The honors were divided evenly among Pox<br />
Movietone, News of the Day and Universal-International<br />
Newsreel, each receiving<br />
two. The plaques v/inners follow;<br />
Fox Movietone—overseas and U. S. honors<br />
for general news coverage, with their<br />
newsfilms of the Nixon - IChi-ushchev<br />
"kitchen debate" in Moscow and the icethwarting<br />
voyage of submarine Skate.<br />
News of the Day—cited for films of the<br />
weightlessness test of America's astronauts<br />
and report on Britain's traditional English<br />
Derby.<br />
Telemeter Has New List<br />
Of Current Attractions<br />
TORONTO—Current attractions of comparatively<br />
recent features have been announced<br />
by Trans-Canada Telemeter .'or<br />
selection by 3,500 subscribers in the pay<br />
TV circuit in suburban Etobicoke.<br />
The programs, which extended into September,<br />
have been provided for engagements<br />
of three or four days with differ-^nt<br />
schedules on two channels. In addition,<br />
matinee programs for juveniles are listed<br />
for Saturdays and Sundays. The timetables<br />
indicate performances of adult programs<br />
twice each night during the week and three<br />
or four shows on Sundays, starting in late<br />
afternoon.<br />
The offerings on Channel 5B follow:<br />
Heller in Pink Tights. The Giant of Marathon.<br />
Pay or Die. Middle of the Night. The<br />
Tunnel of Love. I Passed for White and<br />
The Bellboy.<br />
The series on Channel 5A comprises A<br />
Night to Remember. The Diary of Anne<br />
Prank. Crack in the Mirror. It Happened<br />
to Jane. When Comedy Was King i.nd<br />
Conspiracy of Hearts.<br />
Southwestern Theatre Equipment Co., Inc.<br />
Your Complete Equipment and Supply House<br />
CENTURY — RCA — ASHCRAFT<br />
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Oklahoma—OKUHOMA THEATRE SUPPLY CO., Oklahoma City-<br />
Regent 6-8691<br />
in Texas—MODERN SALES & SERVICE, INC., 2200 Young St., Dallas<br />
—Riverside 7-3191<br />
TEXAS PROJECTOR CARBON, Dollos—Riverside 1-3807<br />
SW-2 BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
. . Interstate's<br />
from<br />
New Florida Theatre EL PASO<br />
Popular From Start<br />
POMPANO BEACH — Record-breaking<br />
attendance during the first four days of<br />
operation of its new Cinema Theatre at<br />
Shoppers Haven has been reported by General<br />
Drive-In Corp.<br />
Opened August 11, the new 1,100-seat<br />
indoor house played to a total of 10.000<br />
patrons for a gross of $7,500 for the<br />
August 11-14 period. This is the first of<br />
ten indoor suburban shopping center theatres<br />
to be built and put into operation by<br />
the company, an outgrowth of Midwest<br />
Drive-In Corp., during the next 18 months.<br />
Philip Smith, president of General<br />
Drive-In. said that "the instantaneous success<br />
of the Pompano Beach unit bears out<br />
our belief that the future of indoor movie<br />
houses lies in the shopping center theatre.<br />
The availability of adequate parking facilities,<br />
plus location in the heart of growing<br />
population areas, makes the shopping<br />
center an ideal location for a motion<br />
picture theatre.<br />
•'With such features as 65-foot-wide<br />
screens, reclining chairs and new seating<br />
arrangements, om- new shopping center<br />
theatres offer the customer livingroom<br />
comfort and panoramic viewing that is the<br />
motion picture industry's answer to home<br />
television."<br />
New Wausau Takes Place<br />
As City's Ace Theatre<br />
WAUSAU—As the old Wausau Theatre<br />
was being demolished here to make way<br />
for a new F. W. Woolworth Co. store, the<br />
Wisconsin Amusement Corp. opened the<br />
New Wausau Theatre, the updated former<br />
Hollywood at 310 Fourth St.<br />
The ribbon-cutting took place with Miss<br />
Wisconsin Valley doing the honors. Albert<br />
P. Frank, general manager of the circuit,<br />
and theatre manager Keith LaVake assisted<br />
in the festivity before a sellout<br />
crowd.<br />
The New Wausau gives the city the<br />
most comfortable and attractive theatre it<br />
has ever had. Spacious American Bodiform<br />
chairs on 40-inch centers, dramatic<br />
lighting effects, an oversized and enlarged<br />
Cinemascope screen, and air conditioning,<br />
with new lobby and boxoffice are some of<br />
the refinements.<br />
The new theatre will seat 600 patrons,<br />
according to LaVake, who has been active<br />
in the theatre field for a dozen years. He<br />
managed the former Wausau Theatre the<br />
past five years and served as manager of<br />
the old State before that. He also worked<br />
at theatres in various other Wisconsin<br />
cities.<br />
Robbery at Imperial<br />
TORONTO—The downtown Imperial,<br />
the Famous Players first run, was held up<br />
by neatly dressed and well groomed gunmen<br />
who thrust a note through the wicket<br />
to Jacqueline Carrier, 29-year-old cashier,<br />
demanding the ca.sh. But all the bandit<br />
got before making a quick getaway was a<br />
mere $164, the bulk of the receipts for<br />
"Let's Make Love" having been transferred<br />
to Manager Mike King's office.<br />
U-I's "Back Street" is being pro-'uc;;i<br />
from the novel by Fannie Hurst<br />
i<br />
lyjanager Bill Chambers of Interstate's<br />
Plaza had artist Frisco Gutierrez<br />
paste a standard 24-sheet NSSi on<br />
"Hell to Eternity" on the sidewalk directly<br />
in front of the theatre, with a line at the<br />
bottom, "Guy Gabaldon's True Story." It<br />
proved an eye-catcher. Through various<br />
media. Bill promoted over 800 breaks with<br />
radio station KELP, all free! Chambers is<br />
justly proud of 100 per cent cooperation<br />
from every merchant in the downtown<br />
area.<br />
Jack "Dutch" Veeren, city manager for<br />
Claude Ezell's Bordertown Theatres, believes<br />
in the drawing power of Alfred<br />
Hitchcock's name! The twin-screen Bordertown<br />
and Del Norte Drive-In, together<br />
with C. D. Leon's downtown subsequentrun<br />
Crawford, slated the thriller "Psycho"<br />
for seven days, and used radio spots and<br />
increased lineage in both city newspapers.<br />
Jim Carty steers the Del Norte; Bill White,<br />
the Crawford . Pershing,<br />
managed by Nacim Miledi, said goodby to<br />
"Ben-Hm, and returned to a continuousrun<br />
policy.<br />
Bill White, manager for C. D. Leon's<br />
downtown subsequent-run Crawford, says<br />
in-town business is dying. He gave his<br />
reason as too many shopping centers, everincreasing<br />
in number. "People just don't<br />
come downtown anymore," commented<br />
White, "After 7:30 in the evening there's<br />
nobody on the streets" . . . Fred Landau,<br />
owner and manager of the beautiful Valley<br />
Theatre, says. "If we don't make money on<br />
weekends, we just mark up the entire seven<br />
days a deficit." His operation did a terrific<br />
business several years ago before the<br />
Lower Valley area became a city within<br />
itself and ozoners were not too plentiful.<br />
Fred says, "However, we manage!"<br />
In from New York for a look-see at<br />
Bordertown Theatres operations here were<br />
Ned E. Depinet, formerly with RKO, and<br />
Sam Dembow jr., with Al H. Reynolds,<br />
vice-president and general manager, and<br />
Dowlen Russell, executive vice-president.<br />
They inspected the Del Norte, Bordertown<br />
Twin-Screen and El Paso ozoners. Jack<br />
"Dutch" Veeren, city manager here for<br />
Bordertown, hosted the foursome and was<br />
assisted by Jim Carty and Clarence Habenicht.<br />
South of the border: Don Manuel Garcia<br />
Villa, manager of the Cine Variedades,<br />
Juarez, Mexico, in a recent interview revealed<br />
that his theatre would join forces<br />
with another Operadora De Teatros circuit<br />
operation, the Cine Coliseo, in the<br />
Spanish presentation of "Around the World<br />
in 80 Days." The dual engagement is<br />
to be highlighted by the personal appearance<br />
of Cantinflas.<br />
Producer Samuel Bronston has signed<br />
Charlton Heston to play the title role in<br />
"El Cid."<br />
GROSS '20°' MORE<br />
per 100 lbs. Raw Corn<br />
Get Full<br />
Logan Concession Company<br />
330 E. First St.<br />
Tuisa 3, Oklahoma<br />
Associated Popcorn Distributors<br />
2023 Jacl
. . Music<br />
. . George<br />
. . The<br />
. .<br />
. . Sylvan<br />
. . The<br />
. . The<br />
. . The<br />
. . M.<br />
. . Your<br />
. . Tom<br />
SAN ANTONIO<br />
gilly Sharp and wife returned from a<br />
month's stay down Houston Way .<br />
Cutp Frances Willard (Prof. Harry Willards<br />
dauRhten, left for Hollywood where<br />
she aims to make a name for herself in<br />
the movies. Miss Willard appeared here on<br />
the stage of the Majestic Theatre last<br />
yer when she was crowned Miss San Antonio<br />
"Ben-Hur " closed a long engagement<br />
. . .<br />
at Interstate's Broadway The-<br />
atre in Alamo Heights . . . The Columbia<br />
office has moved to new quarters at 222<br />
in the International building, which houses<br />
the Alameda Teatro . Prince raised<br />
its admission to 75 cents for "A Kiss for<br />
a Killer and "The Lovers." Only grownups<br />
"<br />
were admitted . M. Watson. Interstate<br />
city manager here, was home from<br />
a sojourn in the hospital.<br />
A new theatre is being readied for an<br />
early opening in Houston to show mostly<br />
Mexican-made pictures. According to word<br />
along the local Filmrow, it will make the<br />
fourth outlet for the showing of Spanishlanguage<br />
product in the Bayou City . . .<br />
Paul Garza, former San Antonio theatre<br />
operator, now is working for a theatre in<br />
St. Louis . . . Ramon Ruenes of the Rex<br />
at Mission was sending postcards from<br />
San Francisco where he was touring with<br />
the Tony Aguilar stage show.<br />
Calling at the Latin-American film offices<br />
to book were Andrew Majek, Wintergarden<br />
Drive-In. Carrizo Springs, and<br />
Eagle Drive-In, Eagle Pass; Mrs. F. Canas,<br />
the Azteca Teatro, Harlingen, and Mrs.<br />
Esther R. Ruenes, the Ruenes Teatro, San<br />
Benito.<br />
. . . Harry<br />
Texas' own film star, Martha Hyer, was<br />
seen in "Desire in the Dust," which was<br />
on a dual bill at the Texas<br />
Smith motored down to Corpus Christi to<br />
visit his daughter Julie, w-ho recently was<br />
married . composer Dimitri Tiomkin<br />
of "The Alamo" was a midweek visitor<br />
in town and was interviewed over WOAI<br />
by Carey Deckard.<br />
This item from Renwicke Carey's Around<br />
the Plaza in the San Antonio Daily Light:<br />
Tina Schmitt, the former Texas Theatre<br />
boxoffice cashier who joined the Marine<br />
Corps last October, was around town on<br />
a visit from Camp Pendleton, where she's<br />
now an operations clerk in the Marine<br />
exchange . Josephine, a Cinema Art<br />
Theatre, will start showing a series of<br />
Ingmar Bergman Swedish-made films following<br />
several postponements. According<br />
to manager William Farnsworth, the first<br />
one, "The Magician," has been booked to<br />
open October 20, followed by "Lessons in<br />
Love."<br />
Ed F. Brady of the Palace. San Benito,<br />
and Enrique Ccdillo, the Palace, Stamford,<br />
were at the Mexican film exchange to<br />
book product for the fall and winter season<br />
. K. Barry and family returned<br />
from a west coast vacation. He operates<br />
the El Capitan and the Fiesta driveins<br />
here . Rigsby Drive-In has<br />
gone on a three-night-a-week winter operation.<br />
It is also open on all holidays.<br />
.<br />
News in staccato: Correcting a recent<br />
item—it was a leg injury, not a foot injury.<br />
George M. Watson, Interstate city<br />
manager is recuperating from at a local<br />
downtown hospital R. Oliver, manager<br />
for the Frels circuit, Victoria, and<br />
John Flache, the Alameda, Lamesa. were<br />
visitors . . . "El Gato," a new Columbia<br />
release, had a recent tradescreening at the<br />
National Teatro.<br />
J. J. Rodriguez, owner of the Panamericano<br />
Theatre, Dallas, was at the Mexican<br />
film exchanges booking product for the upcoming<br />
new season . local correspondent<br />
has resigned as movie columnist<br />
for La Prensa and is devoting all his time<br />
to <strong>Boxoffice</strong> . Alameda held a Saturday<br />
sneak preview recently with three<br />
pictures on the program with no advance<br />
in admission prices . McGowan,<br />
onetime motion picture critic for the San<br />
Antonio Express, is now a feature staff<br />
writer for the San Antonio Light.<br />
Long-Closed Lyric Theatre<br />
Reopening in Casey, IlL<br />
CASEY. ILL.—The Lyric Theatre, closed<br />
since Aug. 1, 1959, was scheduled to be<br />
reopened Saturday < 1 ) by Mr. and Mrs.<br />
Robert L. Johnson of North Terre Haute,<br />
Ind.. who purchased the theatre in mid-<br />
August.<br />
s&Mf/ne H<br />
n 2 years for $5 D<br />
D Remiffance Enclosed D Send Invoice<br />
THEATRE..<br />
STREET ADDRESS<br />
1 year for $3 D 3 years for $7<br />
TOWN ZONE STATE..<br />
NAME<br />
POSITION<br />
BO/"OfflC( THE NATIONAL FILM WEEKLY 52 issues a year<br />
825 Van Brunt Blvd., Kansas City 24, Mo.<br />
All Wometco Properties<br />
Withstand Hurricane<br />
MIAMI—Wometco officials reported a<br />
complete inspection of all its properties in<br />
Florida and the Bahamas revealed no<br />
hurricane damage of any nature had been<br />
suffered, with the exception of broken<br />
neon tubing on three theatre marquees.<br />
Wometco's television station WTVJ in<br />
Miami remained on the air 24 hours a day<br />
—Thursday, Friday and Saturday—and<br />
resumed its normal operating schedule<br />
after the hurricane passed. All vending<br />
machines throughout the state and in the<br />
Bahamas remained unscathed and in<br />
place. The new 163rd Street Theatre will<br />
be ready for its premiere as scheduled<br />
this month.<br />
The Miami Seaquarium's geodesic dome,<br />
recently named the Golden Aquadome<br />
through a contest in which over 12,000<br />
persons took part, lived up to its designer's<br />
prediction that it was hurricane proof. The<br />
porpoises at the Seaquarium seemed to enjoy<br />
the hurricane except that they were<br />
lonely and appeared to welcome all visitors<br />
by insisting on playing.<br />
Hurricanes are no stranger to the<br />
Wometco operation. Since the company<br />
was first incorporated in 1924, some 22<br />
storms in Dade County have received the<br />
hurricane label from the weather bureau.<br />
The first building erected by the company,<br />
the Capital Theatre which is now the remodeled<br />
home of WTVJ, made its debut to<br />
the public as a hurricane shelter in 1926.<br />
With this early experience, Wometco's<br />
management has insisted thi'ough the<br />
years that its buildings and facilities include<br />
all hurricane precautionary measures<br />
possible. The employees of Wometco<br />
receive instruction each summer on procedures<br />
to be followed in the event of<br />
autumn storms.<br />
Memphis Tent 20 Given<br />
Its 1959 Award Plaque<br />
MEMPHIS—Edward Emanuel of<br />
Philadelphia,<br />
chief barker for International Variety,<br />
formally presented the Variety<br />
plaque for the 1959 heart award to the local<br />
Tent 20 Sunday in a ceremony at Variety<br />
Children's Heart Institute, 45 North<br />
Manassas. Lorin Ainger, member of the<br />
University of Tennessee division of pediatrics,<br />
is medical director of the institute.<br />
Howard A. Nicholson is chief barker of the<br />
club.<br />
$40,000 Remodeling Due<br />
DAYTON—Plans for remodeling the<br />
Victory Theatre at a cost of $40,000 have<br />
been announced by Robert Keyes, president<br />
of the Schwind Realty Co., which<br />
operates the houses. Keyes said the program<br />
involves the installation of new carpeting<br />
and seats, and some alterations in<br />
the ventilating system. He said the changes<br />
will reduce seating capacity from 1,400 to<br />
1,150. No time has been set for the start<br />
of the remodeling program.<br />
$3,500,000 for 'Cromwell'<br />
HOLLYWOOD — Ken Hughes,<br />
British<br />
writer-director, will helm "Oliver Cromwell,"<br />
A. R. "Cubby" Broccoli-Irving Allen<br />
production concerning the English dictator.<br />
Hughes also wrote the script for the<br />
film, budgeted at approximately $3,500,000.<br />
SW-4 BOXOFFICE :: October 10, 1960
—<br />
—<br />
gave<br />
—<br />
an<br />
Says Pay TV to Leave<br />
Dregs on Free Nets<br />
MIAMI—A critical and costly change<br />
would come about in the world of entertainment<br />
if the public is not properly informed<br />
about pay TV. Mitchell Wolfson,<br />
president of Wometco Enterprises, wrote<br />
in the Sunday. September 25, magazine<br />
section of the Miami News. He urged his<br />
readers to let their congressmen and other<br />
officials know how they felt about pay TV.<br />
"Nearly everyone has heard some talk<br />
about Pay TV. or subscription television,<br />
but the information of how drastically<br />
this could affect their leisure hours and<br />
their pocketbook has not been sufficiently<br />
brought to their attention," he wrote.<br />
COLLECTOR IN HOME<br />
Some of the systems for pay TV, by<br />
whatever name it is called, would put what<br />
amounts to a cash register in your home<br />
and you would pay cash in advance; another<br />
type woald require you to buy a decoder<br />
device; and yet another would total<br />
your viewing expense at the end of the<br />
month and send you a bill.<br />
"The promoters of this system neglect<br />
to mention the monopolistic hold they<br />
would have on almost all forms of entertainment.<br />
They promise first run movies<br />
and, perhaps, they could deliver some, but<br />
they don't tell you, as would happen, that<br />
you would have to pay for these and for<br />
everything worthwhile on television. They<br />
tell you that you would be able to see, in<br />
your home, for a fee of course, heavyweight<br />
championship prize fights. What they leave<br />
out is that you would probably not get<br />
any fights on free TV.<br />
"Another thing they fail to mention is<br />
that they have already entered into arrangements<br />
with big league baseball and<br />
that they are looking forward to a charge<br />
for all ball games, and certainly for the<br />
world series, which you now get free. Football<br />
games, both college and professional,<br />
would unquestionably be available only on<br />
the slot-machine television.<br />
RANSOM ON VIEWING<br />
"It is fairly obvious that unless this<br />
pay-or-you-don't-see system is either outlawed<br />
by Congress or disallowed by the<br />
Federal Communications Commission, you<br />
will be able to watch nothing in your<br />
home during the prime evening hours unless<br />
you pay a ransom to buy back the<br />
use of your own TV set. The system proposed<br />
is one where a minority could black<br />
out the TV sets of millions w-ho could not<br />
afford or don't choose to pay.<br />
"In much the same manner many of the<br />
popular programs could be put on a pay<br />
basis. In short, only the dregs would be free<br />
if pay TV became established. Pay TV,<br />
beyond eliminating the commercials—and<br />
there is no guarantee these will be eliminated—cannot<br />
possibly improve television,<br />
but would merely buy up the same actors,<br />
the same writers, the same producers and<br />
make you pay to view their work."<br />
'Sniper's' Start Nov. 7<br />
HOLLYWOOD—November 7 is slated as<br />
the starting date for "Sniper's Ridge,"<br />
Tom Marruzi screenplay which Robert L.<br />
Lippert purchased and assigned to John<br />
Bushelman to produce and direct for 20th-<br />
Fox release.<br />
New Site for Strip Show<br />
Riles Columbus Section<br />
COLUMBUS—The Parsons, south side<br />
neighborhood, was scheduled to become<br />
the Gayety burlesque house October 14<br />
under the management of LeRoy Griffith,<br />
Cincinnati, but opposition from several<br />
sources may prevent the change from film<br />
to live entertainment.<br />
Mayor Ralston 'Westlake said he will ask<br />
the city council to ban a burlesque hou.se<br />
within one mile of a school or church<br />
Several schools and churches are within<br />
the one-mile radius of the Parsons. 'Westlake<br />
also directed Raymond Goller, city<br />
building inspector, not to issue a permit<br />
for the burlesque operation pending council<br />
action.<br />
City Councilman William P. Hoermle,<br />
Democrat, said earlier he would introduce<br />
any legislation which would stop the opening<br />
of the burlesque show. Effects of the<br />
proposed striptease and other burlesque<br />
acts on children are the main concern of<br />
Westlake, Hoermle and a host of complaining<br />
south side residents. Ministers,<br />
priests, business and civic leaders wrote<br />
and telephoned complaints to Westlake.<br />
Griffith said the Gayety planned new<br />
traveling road shows each week, featuring<br />
burlesque's top stars, comedians and specialty<br />
acts. Shows would be from 7 to midnight<br />
nightly with matinees Saturday and<br />
Sunday and midnight shows Friday and<br />
Saturday.<br />
Columbus has been without burlesque<br />
since the South High Street Gayety was<br />
torn down for a parking lot.<br />
DES MOINES<br />
f^entral States has announced two changes<br />
in theatre managers. Tom Ryan,<br />
manager of the King Theatre in Albia, is<br />
now manager of the Majestic in Centerville.<br />
Replacing Ryan will be Bob Nicholson,<br />
who recently was released from the<br />
Air Force. Prior to his time in service, he<br />
was projectionist in a Rockwell City Theatre,<br />
leased the theatre in Eddyville, and<br />
worked in theatres in Fremont, Neb.,<br />
Esther ville, and Eagle Grove and Clarion.<br />
The Grove Theatre in Spring Grove is<br />
now being remodeled for use as a clothing<br />
store. Most recently owned by John Reque,<br />
the building had been used as a theatre<br />
since the mid-1930s when it was known as<br />
the Ristey. It was damaged by fire in 1949<br />
but was rebuilt and operated by Chuck<br />
and Alice Mersereau as the Grove Theatre.<br />
Reque bought it last year and continued<br />
operation until September 1.<br />
A. Hesseltine of Lineville is showing<br />
movies at the Humeston Community Center<br />
on Sunday nights. Hesseltine operates<br />
shows at Lineville, Allerton and Pleasantville.<br />
Drive-In Plan Rejected<br />
TWINSBURG, OHIO—A proposal to<br />
rezone<br />
16 acres on Route 14 for a drive-in<br />
theatre was rejected by the village planning<br />
commission. The enterprise reportedly<br />
needed 500 feet added to the present<br />
business zone to allow the development.<br />
The drive-in theatre project was headed<br />
by Twinsburg Plaza, Inc.<br />
'Young Men' Hits 300<br />
In Milwaukee Debut<br />
MILWAUKEE—"All the Young Men"<br />
made a great hit at the Warner here,<br />
opening with a mighty 300 per cent figure<br />
to bring it into the select circle which has<br />
been occupied by "Bcn-Hur" for 22 weeks.<br />
"<br />
"High Time a 200 per cent week to<br />
the Wisconsin Theatre in another good<br />
boxoffice<br />
week here.<br />
(Average Is 100)<br />
Polace—This Is Cineromo (Cineromo), 8th wk. 200<br />
Riverside Psycho (Paro), 6th wk 150<br />
Strand—Bcn-Hur (MGM), 22nd wk 300<br />
Towne Con-Con (20th-Fox), 8th wk 175<br />
Warner All the Young Men (Col); Diol M tot<br />
Murder (WB), reissue 300<br />
Wisconsin High Time (20th-Fox) 200<br />
British Fare 3 Rates 200<br />
In Mill City Opening<br />
MINNEAPOLIS—Surprise of the week<br />
was the 200 per cent rating scored by<br />
"Man in a Cocked Hat," an import, which<br />
opened at the Suburban World. Among<br />
"<br />
the holdovers "Ben-Hur in its 31st week<br />
at the Academy had a big 500 per cent<br />
week, and "Elmer Gantry" at the RKO<br />
Orpheum had a rating of 200 per cent for<br />
its second week. Most other offerings rated<br />
average or above.<br />
Acodemy Ben-Hur (MGM), 31st wk 500<br />
Century This Is Cineromo (Cineromo), reissue,<br />
7th wk 105<br />
Gopher Jungle Cot (BV) 150<br />
Lyric Hell to Eternity (AA), 2nd wk 120<br />
Orpheum Elmer Gontry (UA), 2nd wk 200<br />
Pan—Ocean's 11 (WB), 7th wk 175<br />
State Let's Moke Love (20th-Fox), 2nd wk 90<br />
Suburban World Mon in o Cocked Hot (Showcorporation)<br />
200<br />
Uptown Studs Lonigon (UA) 100<br />
World The Apartment (UA), 13th wk 120<br />
'High Time' Slips<br />
Past<br />
Average in Quiet Omaha<br />
OMAHA—The Orpheum Theatre set the<br />
pace on the first-run front last week with<br />
a 105 per cent of average mark for "High<br />
Time." The Omaha equaled average with<br />
"It Started in Naples" but others failed to<br />
meet that level.<br />
Cooper Ben-Hur (MGM), 33rd wk 100<br />
Dundee Moting Time (Kingsley-Union) 85<br />
Omaha It Storted in Noples (Poro) 100<br />
Orpheum High Time (20th-Fox) 105<br />
State-The Angel Wore Red (MGM) 95<br />
Action-Packed Featurette<br />
Completed by Continental<br />
DALLAS — "Beauty of the Cave, "<br />
action-packed<br />
featurette in Eastman Color,<br />
has been completed by Continental Artists<br />
Productions, an independent company<br />
formed recently by actor-producer Dale<br />
Berry. The initial Continental production<br />
stars Max Anderson and Dale Berry and<br />
features Libby Hall as "Beauty." It was<br />
filmed on location in the hill and cave<br />
country of Texas and Berry said the featurette<br />
could set a precedent in the short<br />
subject class of motion picture entertainment.<br />
"To further supplement the shortage of<br />
product," said Berry, "the firm also announces<br />
'The Racing Kid,' a family feature<br />
in black and white, to roll before the comeras<br />
in mid-October."<br />
Legion Cites Freeman<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Paramount Vice-President<br />
Y. Fiank F^-eeman was presented a<br />
citation by the American Legion at the<br />
Legion's National Court of Honor in the<br />
Beverly Hills Hotel.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960 NC-1
—<br />
. . . The<br />
. . Outstate<br />
. . Passes<br />
MINNEAPOLIS<br />
•The Downtown C'oiiiu-il ol Minneapolis<br />
siRain sponsored its restaurant and<br />
theatre night for "the American beauty<br />
who works downtown." A total of 22.000<br />
coupons were passed out to working women<br />
in the downtown area. Half the coupon en-<br />
the bearer to a discount on a dinner<br />
titled<br />
or special<br />
menu at downtown restaurants<br />
and hotels. The other half of the coupon<br />
let the women into most downtown theatres<br />
for 50 cents. The event was held<br />
September 27. Ev Seibel. advertising and<br />
publicity manager of Minnesota Amusement<br />
Co., said that business doubled that<br />
night at Maco's two Loop theatres, the<br />
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State and Lyric, as compared with a normal<br />
Tuesday.<br />
. . . Pat<br />
John Olson, formerly of the staff of the<br />
State, has finished his military service and<br />
joined Minnesota Amusement Co. . . .<br />
Word has been received of the death September<br />
22 in North Hollywood. Calif., of<br />
Ma.\ Gandel, 71, foniier Minneapolis contractor<br />
and builder, who erected several<br />
theatres In the Twin Cities area<br />
Delton has returned to 20th-Pox as head<br />
booker's stenographer.<br />
Theatres which closed recently include<br />
the Warren at Warren, operated by P. E.<br />
Snyder; the Idle Hour at Stephen, operated<br />
by Ted Han.son: and the Waubay at<br />
Waubay. S.D.. operated by Darrold Rebelski<br />
Marcus Theatre at Tamarack also<br />
closed for the winter. It is inin by Myrtle<br />
Harder . . . Donna Larson, cashier at<br />
MGM, is serving on a jury in .suburban St.<br />
Louis Park one day a week.<br />
Webb Raudenbush is doing the buying<br />
and booking for the Avon Theatre at<br />
Hankinson, N. D.. and the Wiley at Lidgerwood,<br />
N. D. . exhibitors on the<br />
Row included Al Smith, Winona and Rochester:<br />
Pete DePea, Milbank, S. D.; Otis<br />
Engen, Rugby, N. D., and Paul Perrizo,<br />
Blue Earth . . . Timothy White is the new<br />
assistant at the RKO Pan theatre.<br />
The Variety Club held its monthly meeting<br />
Monday (3) in the clubrooms at the<br />
Pick-Nicollet hotel . to his Campus<br />
and Varsity theatres are given to outof-town<br />
parents and relatives of patients<br />
at the Variety Club Heart Hospital by Sol<br />
Fisher, who operates the two houses and<br />
the Ritz in northeast Minneapolis. Fisher's<br />
passes help them to fill in the long periods<br />
while they are waiting for their loved ones<br />
to recover. Both the Campus and Varsity<br />
are located near the hospital.<br />
MOBERLY. MO. — The Highway 63<br />
Drive-In observed its tenth anniversary<br />
recently with a special admission price of<br />
$1.25 per car load and special attractions.<br />
Elmer Bills sr. of Salisbury still owns the<br />
drive-in and Homer Nichols is the local<br />
manager.<br />
Valiant Production Plan<br />
Announced by Sig Shore<br />
HOLLYWOOD—Valiant Films,<br />
distribution<br />
company which has a saturation<br />
booking of "The Sword and the Dragon"<br />
playing locally, has been forming plans to<br />
go into production, it was revealed by<br />
company topper Sig Shore here last week.<br />
While the company has no projects set<br />
so far. Shore reportedly has indicated they<br />
can make $5,000,000 available for production<br />
on films that would be of the $1,000,-<br />
000 budget classification.<br />
Meanwhile, Valiant has secured the<br />
American distribution rights to five films<br />
besides "Sword and the Dragon." "The<br />
Angry Silence," Pier Angeli starrer which<br />
Richard Attenborough and Michael Craig<br />
produced in England under the Beaver<br />
Films banner, heads the list, along with<br />
Regal Films' "Mania," produced by Joe<br />
Vigota and Michael Green; "Crime and<br />
Vengeance," Jayne Mansfield starrer under<br />
the British-Lion banner; "The Young<br />
One," starring Zachaiy Scott, and a documentary<br />
about the Nuremberg trials entitled<br />
"The Executioners."<br />
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NC-2 BOXOmCE :: October 10. 1960
, , The<br />
. .<br />
MILWAUKEE<br />
The 1,143-seat Milwaukee Theatre, closed<br />
for about three years, has been reopened<br />
by Robert Brill, under the coi-porate<br />
name of Argosy Theatre Corp., and will<br />
cater to the Negro patronage. Brill said<br />
he's still keeping an eye on the Garfield<br />
and Centui-y theatres for L. F. Gran, but<br />
the Milwaukee Theatre will be given top<br />
promotion and management treatment.<br />
Already, he has lined up ten merchants at<br />
$10 each to sponsor Saturday matinees:<br />
and to draw attention to the opening he<br />
had someone hang up i effigy style' a<br />
dummy on the wires strung across the<br />
street, which of course brought the police.<br />
He said he is doing a landoffice business<br />
at the concessions stand, and is off to a<br />
fine start.<br />
Screen star Basil Rathbone will appear<br />
at Alverno College January 8, in "An Evening<br />
With Basil Rathbone." He will give<br />
personal and professional reminiscences.<br />
The program is sponsored by the Home<br />
and School Ass'n,<br />
VVillard Zens, president of Riviera Productions,<br />
Hollywood, was in to confer with<br />
Father Edward J. O'Donnell, president of<br />
Marquette University, regarding a 15-minute<br />
film Zens is making for the university.<br />
depict the plans for the fu-<br />
The film will<br />
ture of the university.<br />
Interstate Theatres Poll<br />
Voters Throughout Texas<br />
DALLAS—Movie theatre patrons in<br />
Texas, representing a vast cross section of<br />
the state's citizens, are participating in a<br />
presidential poll which will continue until<br />
November 3, closing then so the result may<br />
be published prior to the presidential election<br />
November 8, according to James O,<br />
Cherry, city manager here for Interstate<br />
Theatres.<br />
Interstate Theatres' first presidential<br />
poll in 1952 accurately forecast Texas'<br />
swing to the Republican ticket and the ultimate<br />
election of President Dwight D.<br />
Eisenhower. The record shows that the<br />
poll's result, percentagewise, almost<br />
matched the actual margin of victory in<br />
the 1952 and 1956 national elections.<br />
"Taking the initial straw vote as a criterion,<br />
this new poll should determine in<br />
advance of the forthcoming election the<br />
vote-gathering strength in Texas of Vice-<br />
President Nixon, Republican, and Senator<br />
John Kennedy. Democratic candidate,"<br />
Cherry said.<br />
Cherry also pointed out that the poll<br />
procedure for theatre patrons is easy and<br />
not time consuming. There is a ballot box<br />
in the theatres. Patrons deposit their admission<br />
stubs for the candidate of their<br />
choice.<br />
A Day-Melcher Tour<br />
LOS ANGELES—Doris<br />
Day and Martin<br />
Mclcher left for Chicago, first stop on a<br />
five-week tour of key cities through the<br />
midwest and east to plug "Midnight Lace,"<br />
Ross Hunter-Arwin production for U-I release<br />
in which Miss Day stars with Rex<br />
Harrison and John Gavin and which<br />
Melcher produced with Hunter,<br />
Renovated Fox Reopened<br />
At Flint by Bob Fredley<br />
FLINT, MICH.—The Fox Theatre, 1,600-<br />
seat near-downtown house, will be reopened<br />
by R. O. Fredley as virtually a new<br />
house Sunday (2i. Some $20,000 has been<br />
spent on a complete remodeling job.<br />
The Pox formerly was known as tlic><br />
Michigan Theatre, and was operated lor<br />
years by the late Doc Eiseman, and has<br />
been closed only a few months.<br />
The remodeling program included an<br />
attractive new glass front, and installation<br />
of a new boxoffice in the lobby, which is<br />
in the auditorium style rather than the<br />
traditional exterior boxoffice used in most<br />
theatres. Mirrors have been installed<br />
around the lobby wall areas. A new 26-<br />
foot concessions stand is backed by mirrors.<br />
The interior and exterior have been<br />
repainted from stage to marquee. New<br />
equipment includes Altec stereophonic<br />
sound and a 40-foot seamless silver screen.<br />
Fredley was associated for some years<br />
with the North Flint Drive-In and the U.S.<br />
23 Drive-In.<br />
Airers Under Fire Law<br />
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. — Drive-in theatres,<br />
including those with amusement<br />
parks, are subject to inspection by the state<br />
fire marshal's office according to a ruling<br />
by Edwin K. Steers, attorney general.<br />
Steers said the theatres are public amusements<br />
under the 1937 Fire Act, which requires<br />
the drive-ins to obtain permits issued<br />
by the fire inarshal.<br />
OMAHA<br />
"The Donald V. McLucas funeral services<br />
at Crosby- Kunold Chapel drew a host<br />
of friends from many points in the midwest<br />
who had been associated with the late<br />
United Artists branch manager for many<br />
years. Among them were Earl Kerr of Pine,<br />
Colo., theatre circuit opeiator; Herman<br />
Fields, Clarina, of the Pioneer circuit: Don<br />
Allen, Des Moines, Tri-States circuit: Merv<br />
Lee, Des Moines. Central States; Walt<br />
Jancke, Irv Dubinsky, George Gau?han<br />
and Herman Hallberg, the latter two of<br />
Cooper Foundation: F. J. Lee, UA district<br />
manager at St. Louis: the entire Des<br />
Moines UA staff of Eugene Jacobs, H. O.<br />
Peterson and Dorothy Pobst, and exhibitors<br />
from throughout the territory.<br />
John H. McQuistan, 75, former theatre<br />
owner, died at Bloomfield, Neb. Survivors<br />
include his wife and two sisters . . Dolores<br />
.<br />
Kramper, Universal booker, vacationed .<br />
Hazel Dunn, who has the Jewell Theatre<br />
at Valentine, flew to Los Angeles for funeral<br />
services for her brother-in-law, who<br />
died at Van Nuys . Hastings Kiwanis<br />
Club celebrated its annual Kids Day<br />
with free movies for all boys and girls at<br />
the Rivoli Theatre.<br />
Exhibitors on the Row included George<br />
March, Vermillion: Oscar Johnson, Falls<br />
City: Wally Kemp, Grand Island; S. J.<br />
Backer, Harlan: John Renftle, Audubon;<br />
Sid Metcalf, Nebraska City: Phil Lannon,<br />
West Point: Charles Thoene, Lyons.<br />
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BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960 NC-3
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Every exhibitor is<br />
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NC-4 BOXOFFICE :: October 10, 1960<br />
i
i^<br />
—<br />
were<br />
NSS Is Combining Ohio<br />
Service in Cincinnati<br />
CLEVELAND—Pilmiow, accustomed to<br />
changes as it has been during the past<br />
several years, was shocked to learn that<br />
National Screen Service is closing its<br />
Cleveland office October 22nd and thereafter<br />
northern Ohio exhibitors will be<br />
served out of Cincinnati.<br />
Reasons given for this consolidation of<br />
operation are the reduction in the number<br />
of theatres open in the area, the growing<br />
prevalence of extended runs and increasing<br />
overhead.<br />
Cincinnati was selected as the Ohio service<br />
center so as to keep it an interstate<br />
operation.<br />
Nat Barach, local NSS manager for the<br />
past 27 years, and Justin Spiegle. salesman,<br />
will be on location after October 22<br />
until further notice to clear any complications<br />
arising from the changeover.<br />
Dubbed or Not Dubbed?<br />
Detroit Patrons 50-50<br />
DETROIT—The public is evenly divided<br />
in their preferences for the mode of presentation<br />
of foreign films, according to an<br />
experiment and subsequent poll conducted<br />
by Albert Dezel, operator of Coronet Theatre<br />
here. Fifty per cent want to see foreign<br />
films with English subtitles, and 50<br />
per cent want to have the English version<br />
dubbed in, Dezel found.<br />
The test, as reported in detail recently<br />
in these columns, was made with the<br />
Swedish "The Magician," produced by Ingmar<br />
Bergman. One factor that may have<br />
affected the answer is that the Swedish<br />
version went on at 7 p.m., while the dubbed<br />
version went on at 9:30. Dezel believes<br />
that a reversal of this schedule for a subsequent<br />
week's run would present a fairer<br />
test.<br />
But one conclusion was self-evident<br />
"They liked the idea of having a choice<br />
of going to either show," Dezel said. And<br />
of course any hardy soul could sit through<br />
both versions if he or she wished.<br />
Anti-Pay TV Petitions<br />
Termed Un-American<br />
DETROIT—An attack on the petitions<br />
being circulated against pay television was<br />
made by Arnold Hirsch, film critic of the<br />
Detroit Times. Noting that the source of<br />
the petitions is anonymous and adding<br />
that, according to an industi-y source, they<br />
originate with the Theatre Ovi'ners of<br />
pay TV may "work an extreme<br />
America, Hirsch says that "whoever assembled<br />
these could have indicated somewhere<br />
along the line that they were involved."<br />
Hirsch criticizes the petitions for failing<br />
to present the case for the film industry—that<br />
hardship on already hard-pressed theatres."<br />
They simply ignore this phase.<br />
"To pass these forms as merely the outci-y<br />
of a public frightened by the potential<br />
loss of free television seems cynical and<br />
insincere." Hirsch wrote.<br />
"And it seems an unfair means of trying<br />
to stifle competition by legislation."<br />
Hirsch's article was headed, "It's Un-<br />
American."<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960<br />
Ohio andMichigan Allied<br />
Conventions This Week<br />
DETROIT—Program details for Michigan<br />
Allied Theatres convention 'Wednesday<br />
and Thursday<br />
< i<br />
12. 13 announced by<br />
President Milton H. London.<br />
At the 'Wednesday luncheon, J. Berry,<br />
vice-president of Alexander Film Co., will<br />
exhibit award winning merchandising<br />
films. 'Wednesday afternoon, samples of<br />
both Columbia and National Screen Service<br />
trailers for Columbia pictures will be<br />
screened for a direct comparison by exhibitors.<br />
Also shown will be film on the<br />
Gilbert survey of impact on markets by<br />
teenagers, with Lawrence Herman, advertising<br />
director of Detroit News, as speaker.<br />
Margaret Twyman, MPAA director of<br />
community relations, will speak at a<br />
Thursday luncheon to be attended by<br />
presidents of women's clubs and PTA<br />
groups from the metropolitan area.<br />
A special medallion will be presented to<br />
Mrs. Han-y T. Jarvis, past president of<br />
Greater Detroit Motion Picture Council,<br />
in recognition of her services in behalf of<br />
the industry exhibit at the recent Michigan<br />
state fair.<br />
Harold Greenlin Leases<br />
Old Loop at Detroit<br />
DETROIT—The Loop Theatre, downtown<br />
house closed about three years, has<br />
been reopened by Harold Greenlin as the<br />
first unit of what may become a small<br />
independent circuit centered here. The<br />
house, at one time the home of burlesque<br />
type stage shows, was long operated as an<br />
all-night grind house by Associated Theatres<br />
from which Greenlin leased the house.<br />
The future of the Loop is problematical,<br />
as the theatre is slated to be razed by the<br />
city for a "skid row" rehabilitation project,<br />
but financing and timing of the project<br />
are very uncertain, so the house may be<br />
able to operate for a year or many years.<br />
Greenlin, sole stockholder of Gulf Theatres,<br />
Inc., has a couple of theatres in New<br />
Orleans and one in Toledo. He is moving<br />
his headquarters to Northwestern, highway<br />
in Farmington, northwest of Detroit, from<br />
New Orleans.<br />
Greenlin has been negotiating for the<br />
acquisition of at least two other theatres<br />
in the Detroit area, including the Bijou,<br />
another small downtow-n house closed<br />
about two years.<br />
Dave Kane and Gurman<br />
On Detroit AA Publicity<br />
DETROIT—The Allied Artists exchange,<br />
under the management of Nathan Levine,<br />
is strengthening its cuiTent offering of<br />
some unusual film attractions by the employment<br />
of two well-known exploitation<br />
men. David Kane, who regularly represents<br />
U-I here, is handling special AA assignments.<br />
His a.ssistant in the AA assignment is<br />
Maxwell M. Gurman, best known as general<br />
coordinator of the International Freedom<br />
Festival. Detroit's major annual promotion.<br />
COLUMBUS — Silver<br />
anniversary convention<br />
of the Independent Theatre Owners<br />
of Ohio will convene 'Wednesday il2)<br />
at the Neil House for a two-day session.<br />
Elimination of the usual closing-night<br />
banquet will allow delegates to spend only<br />
one night away from business, it was<br />
pointed out by Ken Prickett, executive<br />
secretary.<br />
Registration opens at 9:30 a.m. 'Wednesday<br />
and the first business session will begin<br />
at 1:30 p.m. with an address of welcome<br />
by Marshall Fine, Cleveland, president.<br />
A merchandising session, which begins<br />
at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, conducted by Martin<br />
Quigley jr., will feature outlines of<br />
campaigns on several big new fall and<br />
winter features. Representatives of advertising<br />
and publicity departments of Columbia,<br />
Paramount, 20th-Fox and Universal<br />
will discuss the new films.<br />
Annual business meeting and election of<br />
officers will conclude the convention late<br />
Thursday afternoon.<br />
Following is the program in brief:<br />
Wednesday, October 12<br />
1:30—Welcome from Marshall Fine,<br />
president,<br />
2:00—A. W. Smith, president of Popcorn<br />
Association.<br />
2:30—Prof. Fred Wirt, Denison University:<br />
"Again Censorship."<br />
3:00—George Kienzle, head of the Ohio<br />
State University School of Journalism:<br />
"New Drive for Old and<br />
New Customers."<br />
3:30—W. R. Mnich, president of WMNI<br />
radio station: "New Selling With<br />
Radio."<br />
4:00—Don LeBrun, Indiana: "A Tradeat-Home<br />
Campaign."<br />
8:30—-Screening of an outstanding new<br />
feature.<br />
Thursday<br />
9:30—First merchandising session. Campaigns<br />
on forthcoming films from<br />
Universal, Columbia, Paramount<br />
and 20th-Fox, presented by advertising<br />
and publicity representatives<br />
from respective distributors.<br />
1:30—Mel Tharp, advertising director of<br />
the Columbus Dispatch: "Newspaper<br />
Advertising Is Your Business."<br />
Resume merchandising session.<br />
4:30—Annual business meeting. Election<br />
of officers.<br />
Radio-TV Stations Being<br />
Enrolled in Rogers Drive<br />
DETROIT—The Will Rogers Memorial<br />
Hospital fund drive in this territory is being<br />
broadened this year by the inclusion of<br />
radio station and television staffs. Letters<br />
appealing for active support through employe<br />
contributions are being sent by Robert<br />
McNabb, chairman of the drive and<br />
manager for 20th-Fox, to 127 radio stations<br />
and 12 television stations in the state<br />
outside of the Detroit area. Scrolls for enrollment<br />
of employes are being provided.<br />
ME-1
. . Word<br />
. . Donna,<br />
M. A. CONNEn<br />
SOUTHLANDS PERSONABLE SHOWMAN<br />
Owner and Manager Connett Theatres<br />
NEWTON, MISSISSIPPI<br />
"Small savings in each theatre<br />
become large profits in chain<br />
theatre<br />
operations."<br />
ROMAN MIRIO<br />
Cinema Carbons<br />
Monufactured by Elettrocorbonium<br />
S.P.A. Milon, Italy<br />
If orl
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. On<br />
CINCINNATI<br />
H mong those from this area who attended<br />
the recent TOA convention in Los<br />
Angeles were Phil Chakeres. president, and<br />
Michael Chakeres, vice-president and general<br />
manager, Chakeres circuit, Springfield;<br />
and Gene Lutes of Frankfort, Ky.,<br />
Chakeres district manager, who was a delegate<br />
representing the Kentucky Ass'n of<br />
Theatre Owners.<br />
Norman Linz, formerly with Allied<br />
Artists in Indianapolis, is now MGM salesman<br />
in Kentucky and West Virginia. He<br />
succeeds Thomas Farrell, now operating<br />
the Put-Put golf course in the Plaza<br />
shopping center in Hamilton, Ohio.<br />
Shor Theatres. Inc., has assumed management<br />
of the 1,500-seat Paramount Theatre<br />
in nearby Middletown, with Rufus<br />
Brunke, manager of the Shor circuit Colonial<br />
and Dixie Cruise-In in that city,<br />
serving as temporary manager. The Paramount<br />
formerly was operated by the<br />
Northio circuit of Detroit.<br />
Although scores of Filmrow folks are<br />
ardent bowlers, the first local team representing<br />
the distaff side of the industry<br />
has been organized under the sponsorship<br />
of Twin Drive-In, with Marie Donelson of<br />
Screen Classics serving as captain. The<br />
team will bowl in the Tuesday Night Ladies<br />
League.<br />
The University of Cincinnati has announced<br />
its annual Silent Film Festival,<br />
with screenings weekly from October 6<br />
through December 1. Such old classics as<br />
the 1916 "Intolerance." 1920 "Way Down<br />
East" and 1925 "The Big Parade" will be<br />
shown, with Johanna Grosse, an oldtime<br />
theatre pianist, providing the musical accompaniment.<br />
. .<br />
Bay Bailer, widely know'n as a sports car<br />
racing enthusiast, has opened the Hangover<br />
Lounge, a popular Filmrow dining<br />
spot, formerly known as the Hey-Hay<br />
restaurant William H. Blum, former<br />
U-I<br />
.<br />
manager here, and his wife were at<br />
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., where<br />
their son, William L. Blum, is a freshman.<br />
Janet Stalf, secretary to Jack Finberg,<br />
United Artists manager, was married October<br />
8 to Arthui- Freeman, in Our Lady of<br />
Victory Chuixh in suburban Delhi Hills<br />
. . . Erdean Carter, who resigned recently<br />
as assistant WB cashier, was guest of honor<br />
at a dinner in Hotel Sinton given by the<br />
staff . . . William Determan, States Film<br />
Sei-vice shipper, is a young man aiming to<br />
get ahead. He is attending night classes<br />
at Villa Madonna College in nearby Covington<br />
. James Quigley, air freight service<br />
shipper for Lahmann Film Sei-vice, . .<br />
has<br />
been grounded temporarily with an infected<br />
hand.<br />
Gus Boudot.<br />
vacationing .<br />
UA office manager, was<br />
business trips were<br />
Milton Gurian, Allied Artists manager, to<br />
Columbus; Jack Finberg, UA manager, to<br />
Springfield, Weldcn Waters, 20th-Pox<br />
manager, to Huntington, and J. E. Watson,<br />
regional publicist for 20th-Fox, to<br />
Chicago.<br />
Filmrow visitors included John Consentino<br />
of New York City, UA auditor, and<br />
exhibitors Joe Jo.seph, Parkersburg;<br />
Charles Scott, Vevay. Ind.; Edward Payne.<br />
Chillicothe; A. D. Curfman, Westerville;<br />
William Queen. Columbus; James Chakeres,<br />
Washington C.H.; Carl Pfister, Troy,<br />
and Moe Potasky, Robert Epps, and Mr.<br />
and Mrs. Floyd Williamson of Dayton.<br />
Jack Needham of the Needham Booking<br />
Service, Columbus, was here en route to<br />
Milwaukee to visit relatives.<br />
Fred Sweet Is<br />
Speaker<br />
DETROIT—Fred Sweet, managing director<br />
of the Telenews Theatre, spoke at<br />
the fii'st fall meeting of the Greater Detroit<br />
Motion Picture Council Friday (7) on<br />
"Telenews Theatre for the Arm Chair<br />
Tourist." The meeting was held in the<br />
Crowley-Milner conference room, Gratiot<br />
at Library avenue.<br />
J. Ray Law, 82, Veteran<br />
Ohio Exhibitor, Is Dead<br />
LEBANON, OHIO—J. Ray Law, 82. who<br />
had operated the 800-seat Town Hall here<br />
for more than 50 years, died September<br />
28. Widely known along Filmrow here as<br />
one of this area's most active and astute<br />
showmen, he became an exhibitor when<br />
the motion picture industry was in its infancy,<br />
when he also booked theatrical<br />
shows, concerts, lectures and other entertainment<br />
into his theatre.<br />
For many years, his house was a center<br />
for a great variety of local activities in<br />
the small city. Law wsis widely recognized<br />
as an outstanding civic leader.<br />
Kennedy-Nixon Debate<br />
Empties Detroit Shows<br />
DETROIT—The first of the Kennedy-<br />
Nixon debates kept theatres here virtually<br />
empty. Local exhibitors, used to low nights<br />
when big shows go on television, were apparently<br />
not too much worried in advance<br />
until it happened. Then they decided that<br />
the managers who had adopted a policy of<br />
running weekends only might have something.<br />
GROSS '20°' MORE<br />
per 100 lbs. Raw Corn<br />
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If your present popcorn machine is 5 or mora<br />
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AMBASSADOR<br />
Th« (jiet^JLt<br />
Sets th« Poc* for th« Industry<br />
Details from These Dealers<br />
Falls City Theatre Equipment Co. -,..,., _ . ^ - Popcorn Supply Company<br />
Gold Medal Products Co.<br />
Louisville, KentuckJ<br />
rl.-u... /lu:!<br />
Columbus, Ohio<br />
'<br />
Cincinnati, Ohio<br />
Detroit Popcorn Company<br />
Wyandot Popcorn<br />
Detroit, Michigan<br />
National Theatre Supply Marion, Ohio<br />
Ringold Theatre Equipment Co.<br />
Grand Rapids, Michigan<br />
Blevins Popcorn Company<br />
Arcanum, Ohio<br />
OuJxLTLA —<br />
POPCORN VILLAGE<br />
NASHVILLE, TENN.<br />
Company<br />
Cincinnati, Ohio perfek Pak Popcorn Co.<br />
Mt. Gilead, Ohio<br />
National Theatre Supply , .....<br />
Cleveland, Ohio<br />
Toledo, Ohio<br />
Our 75th<br />
Anniversary<br />
SINCE 1885<br />
FACTORY:<br />
CHICAGO, ILL.<br />
Concession Supply Company<br />
MANUFACTURERS OF THE<br />
OFFICIAL WEIGHT VOLUME<br />
TESTER FOR THE<br />
POPCORN INDUSTRY.<br />
JonfKUf^<br />
BOONTON, N. J.<br />
Large Core<br />
Greater Crater Area<br />
mean*<br />
MAXIMUM LIGHT<br />
Evenly Distributed A<br />
in Illinois—Gordcner Theatre Service, Inc., 2831-33 N. Clork St., Chicago—Buckingham<br />
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In Kentucky—Standard Vendors of LouUville, Inc., Loubvilk—Wabash<br />
0039<br />
in Michigan— Natk>nal Th*atr« Supply, Detroit—Woodward 1-2447<br />
BOXOFFICE :: October 10, 1960 ME-3
DETROIT<br />
^otroit will lose a major second run theatre<br />
when the Fisher Theatre will close<br />
December 31 for conversion into a legitimate<br />
house. The United Detroit Theatres<br />
lease expires then. This circuit and its<br />
predecessor, the Kunsky circuit, have operated<br />
the Fisher for 32 years. The Fisher,<br />
in a central midtown location, will be remodeled<br />
at a cost of a million dollars, with<br />
the David T. Ncderlander family taking a<br />
long term lease. The Nederlanders will<br />
close the Shubert. downtown legitimate<br />
house, and reconvert the Riviera from<br />
legitimate to motion picture operation,<br />
presumably on a second run basis as in former<br />
years. Another possibility is that the<br />
Riviera will seek a first run position in<br />
the current unsettled booking pattern.<br />
Capitalizing on the appearance of Marcel<br />
Marceau. tho French screen star, at the<br />
Shubert Theatre in his own company, Albert<br />
Dezel has booked "In the Park" and<br />
"Pantomimes." in which Marceau stars,<br />
at the Surf and Coronet Theatres, both<br />
owned by Dezel. The featurettes opened on<br />
the 6th with "When Comedy Was King."<br />
Mrs. Mary Kennedy, widow of the late<br />
Roger M. Kennedy, longtime business agent<br />
of Local 199. is now with the sheet metal<br />
workers union, while her sister Anne Holo-<br />
WAHOO is<br />
th*<br />
ideol boxoffice attraction<br />
to increase business on your<br />
"off-nights".<br />
Write f*»day for complete<br />
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Be sure to give seating<br />
or car capacity.<br />
HOLLYWOOD AMUSEMENT CO.<br />
3730 Ookten St. « SkokU, lllinolt<br />
PAUL E. FIELD
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
——<br />
—<br />
'Heir and 'Young Men'<br />
Score in Hub City<br />
BOSTON—Weekend business continued<br />
to be strong but early in the week there<br />
was a drop off. The new fall product is<br />
ready for the season with big ads and extra<br />
newspaper space heralding the event. "Hell<br />
to Eternity" and "All the Young Men" were<br />
well above average in their openings here.<br />
(Average Is 100)<br />
Astor Strangers When We Meet (Col), 6th wk. 80<br />
Beacon Hill Come Donee With Me!<br />
(Kingsley-Union). 4th wk 100<br />
Boston This Is Cineromo (Cineromo), 2nd wk. 90<br />
Capri From the Terrace (20th-Fox), H th wk. 85<br />
Exeter Street School for Scoundrels (Cont'l),<br />
7th wk 85<br />
Fenway Hiroshimo, Mon Amour (Zenith),<br />
4th wk 185<br />
Gary— It Started in Naples (Para), 5th wk )25<br />
Kenmore Carry On, Nurse (Governor), 18th wk. 85<br />
Memorial All the Young Men (Col) 120<br />
Metropolitan Let's Make Love (20th-Fox), 5th<br />
wk 75<br />
Orpheum Fast and Sexy (Col) 80<br />
Poromount Hell to Eternity (AA) 125<br />
Saxon Ben-Hur (MGM), 44th wk 1 30<br />
'Carry On, Nurse' Proves<br />
Durable in Hartford Run<br />
HARTFORD— "Carry On, Nurse," one<br />
of the brightest attractions to come down<br />
in the pike in many months, rolled blithefully<br />
into a strong-grossing eighth Cine<br />
Webb week.<br />
Allyn The Crowded Sky (WB), The Poacher's<br />
Daughter (SR) 90<br />
Art—Temporarily shuttered.<br />
Cine Webb Carry On Nurse (Governor), 8th wk. 140<br />
E. M. Loew Fost and Sexy (Col); The Nights<br />
of Lucretia Borgia (Col) 90<br />
Meadows The Wosp Woman (Filmgroup-SR);<br />
Beost from Haunted Cave (Filmgroup-SR) . . , . 1 00<br />
Palace Thunder in Carolina (Howco); Ma<br />
Barker's Killer Brood (SR) 85<br />
Poll High Time (20th-Fox); Squad Cor<br />
(20th-Fox) 1 05<br />
Strand Ben-Hur (MGM), 20th wk 100<br />
'Hell to Eternity' Bests<br />
Average in New Haven<br />
NEW HAVEN — Zenith-International's<br />
"Hiroshima, Mon Amour" went into a third<br />
Lincoln week.<br />
College High Time (20th-Fox); The Third<br />
Voice (20th-Fox) 100<br />
Crown Jazz on a Summer's Doy (Union-SR);<br />
Young Mon With a Horn (WB), reissue 85<br />
Lincoln Hiroshima, Mon Amour (Zenith), 3rd wk. 105<br />
Paramount Hell to Eternity ( AA) 110<br />
Roger Sherman Jungle Cot (BV) 100<br />
Wholley ^Ben-Hur (MGM), 10th wk 100<br />
Warner in Worcester Due<br />
To Open 'Ben-Hur' 14th<br />
HARTFORD—Stanley Warner is<br />
equipping<br />
a second New England situation<br />
the first-run Warner Theatre in Worcester,<br />
Mass.—for Todd-AO and widescreen attractions.<br />
The Strand here began similar<br />
policy several years ago. James M. Totman,<br />
zone manager, said the Worcester<br />
house will open with "Ben-Hur" October<br />
14.<br />
At the same time, Murray Howard, who<br />
resigned from the Stanley Warner circuit<br />
in 1957 after 16 years, has been named director<br />
of group sales at the Worcester theatre,<br />
effective with start of the "Ben-Hur"<br />
run. Joe Quinn, Warner manager for the<br />
past three years, will continue in the same<br />
post.<br />
A Perakos Conierence<br />
NEW BRITAIN, CONN. — Sperie P.<br />
Perakos, general manager of Perakos Theatre<br />
Associates, presided at a managers<br />
meeting in the Palace Theatre building<br />
home office here.<br />
Enthusiasm and Industry Loyalty<br />
Are Products of Perakos Policies<br />
By ALLEN M. WIDEM<br />
HARTFORD—If anything, there is no<br />
lack of enthusiasm within the top management<br />
levels of the burgeoning Perakos<br />
Theatre Associates, operating eight hardtops<br />
and two drive-ins in Connecticut.<br />
Circuit president Peter Perakos, marking<br />
his 75th birthday and 54th year in show<br />
business, and circuit general manager<br />
Sperie P. Perakos. in his early 40s and<br />
already a veteran of 23 years in the film<br />
industry, have nothing but promise and<br />
hope and tremendous confidence in the<br />
business of buying, selling and merchandising<br />
motion pictui'es.<br />
Both men told an inquiring <strong>Boxoffice</strong><br />
correspondent: "We've got loyalty for this<br />
business!"<br />
THE PERAKOS LINEUP<br />
The Perakos banner today includes the<br />
Elm, West Hartford: Eastwood, East Hartford:<br />
Strand, Thompsonville; State, Jewett<br />
City: Palace, and Arch Street, New Britain:<br />
Beverly and Hi-Way, Bridgeport, and<br />
Southington and Plainville drive-ins.<br />
Starting in motion picture exhibition in<br />
1906 in New Britain after leaving his<br />
native Greece, Peter Perakos has concentrated<br />
on motion picture theatres in Connecticut,<br />
constantly aware that lengthening<br />
his lines of operations would weaken<br />
the possibility for personal supervision,<br />
contact and encouragement.<br />
Both Perakos senior and Perakos fils<br />
hold to the conviction that encouragement<br />
is necessary in this industry, most particularly<br />
on the local level.<br />
"It's so very easy for somebody on the<br />
circuit home office to look down at somebody<br />
in the field, perhaps managing a<br />
small, relatively undistinguished showplace<br />
in a small town, and say, 'Just what<br />
is that guy trying to prove to me at the<br />
home office? He doesn't mean much in<br />
our present day operations,' " remarked<br />
Sperie P. Perakos.<br />
STRONG AS WEAKEST LINK<br />
"But the truth very much remains that<br />
we are indeed as strong as our weakest<br />
link and both my dad and I have a personal<br />
philosophy, evolved over the years<br />
of handling large city and small town situations,<br />
that if a man in a small town is<br />
appreciated as much as the man in the<br />
large city, we've got something akin to<br />
greater esprit de corps, improved morale,<br />
less frustration, all around."<br />
For this reason, when Perakos Theatre<br />
Associates key managers sit in solemn conclave<br />
at the circuit office, they are joined<br />
by managers from the smaller tow'ns as<br />
well.<br />
"There are no secrets as such within our<br />
operating forms," added Peter Perakos.<br />
"When we want advice in Jewett City, we<br />
don't ask in Hartford or New Britain, we<br />
ask Jack Hoddy, our resident manager<br />
down in Jewett City.<br />
"Too many interests in the exhibition<br />
end of the business get the lamentably<br />
mistaken idea of overlooking the field. The<br />
field is the basis of our industry and we<br />
can't emphasize it too strongly. We are<br />
constantly checking with our managers.<br />
Top management team: Peter Perakos,<br />
industry pioneer and president of<br />
Perakos Theatre Associates, independent<br />
Connecticut circuit, left, poses<br />
happily with his son Sperie P., the circuit's<br />
general manager, at the Plainville<br />
(Conn.) Drive- In. Peter Perakos,<br />
in the industry since 1907, has long<br />
advised his son on the Intricacies of<br />
showmanship appeal and approach.<br />
either by mail or phone, and by personal<br />
visitations, at least once every week."<br />
Both Peter and Sperie P. Perakos. assisted<br />
by two other Perakos sons—John is<br />
assistant general manager and Peter jr.<br />
functions as office manager— are not<br />
strangers to personnel in Jewett City, in<br />
Thompsonville and elsewhere around Connecticut.<br />
They make a strong point of<br />
getting to know personnel and letting the<br />
personnel get to know them.<br />
Of vital concern at the moment, understandably,<br />
is exploitation activity. Regular<br />
home office bulletins detail what is<br />
being accomplished, w'hat is planned and<br />
what is suggested from city to city. The<br />
round-robin exploitation data is meticulously<br />
studied.<br />
"We don't think much of incentive plans<br />
— of offering a manager a bonus for selling<br />
a lot of candy or improving boxoffice sales.<br />
These plans tend to backfire in that the<br />
individual manager forgets what's happened<br />
before all the tumult and shouting<br />
of the tremendous quantity of bulletins<br />
began, and resumes the old routine, and<br />
the gains are quickly lessened, if not lost.<br />
No, we'd prefer to recognize ability through<br />
other, more permanent ways, and the man<br />
in the field seems appreciative of this<br />
thinking."<br />
Peter P. Perakos added: "In recent<br />
months, the exploitation details have been<br />
wonderfully rewarding, not only in the<br />
hard-tops, but in the drive-ins as well."<br />
Management promotions occur constantly<br />
within the ranks.<br />
As for 1961 and beyond:<br />
Sperie P. Perakos emphatically declared<br />
that the film industry will come out "a<br />
winner" if it takes stock in its advantages<br />
and continues to stress those advantages.<br />
"Nobody," he concluded, "wants to be<br />
associated with a loser,"<br />
BOXOFFICE :: October 10, 1960 NE-1
. . . "Bucky<br />
Harris<br />
—<br />
BOSTON<br />
^rs. Dorothy Feckc, wife of Al Fecke,<br />
United Artists salesman, died at<br />
Massachusetts General Hospital after a<br />
short illness. She and her husband resided<br />
in Duxbury. where services were held from<br />
St. John's Episcopal Church. She also is<br />
ideal<br />
WAHOO is<br />
the<br />
boxoffice attraction<br />
to increase business on your<br />
"off-nights".<br />
Write tocJay for complete<br />
details.<br />
Be sure to give seating<br />
or car capacity.<br />
HOLLYWOOD AMUSEMENT CO.<br />
3750 Ooklon SI. Skokie, Illinois<br />
survived b.v a son. A. John Fecke Jr.. and<br />
four grandchildren.<br />
In two successive weeks, Stanley Kramer,<br />
producer and director of "Inherit the<br />
Wind," and John Scopes, whose trial was<br />
the basis of the famous stage play of the<br />
same title, visited town. Kramer met the<br />
press Monday i3) and the following week<br />
Scopes arrived with Mrs. Scopes to talk<br />
about the film. "Inherit the Wind" will<br />
open November 2 at the Capri, a Sack<br />
theatre, for an extended engagement. Joe<br />
Mansfield handled both interviews for this<br />
United Artists film.<br />
.41 l.ongo, press agent, is handling several<br />
American International films for this<br />
area, including "House of Usher," for an<br />
early opening at the Paramount Theatre<br />
'<br />
of Universal is working<br />
on two personal appearances here<br />
that will promote "Spartacus." One appearance<br />
will be by Alex North, who wrote the<br />
music for the film, and later the star of<br />
the film. Kirk Douglas, will come in lor<br />
press interviews.<br />
Dr. Walter Wiesman, communications<br />
advisor for the U.S. Army Ordnance Missile<br />
Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.,<br />
visited this city for the first of a series of<br />
personal appearances on behalf of Columbia's<br />
"I Aim at the Stars," which tells the<br />
life story of the distinguished scientist Dr.<br />
Wernher von Braun. The film has its New<br />
England premiere at the Keith Memorial<br />
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AMBASSADOR<br />
The (jgxtcJLh<br />
Sets the Pace for the Industry<br />
Our 75th<br />
Details from These Dealers<br />
Anniversary<br />
SINCE 1885<br />
FACTORY:<br />
CHICAGO, ILL.<br />
Concessions Enterprises,<br />
96 Broadway<br />
Boston, Massachusetts<br />
Inc.<br />
MANUFACTURERS OF THE<br />
OFFICIAL WEIGHT VOLUME<br />
TESTER FOR THE<br />
POPCORN INDUSTRY.<br />
Theatre October 26 and stars Curt Jurgens,<br />
Victoria Shaw. Herbert Lorn and James<br />
Daly. Attending the press luncheon, arranged<br />
by publicist John Markle, were several<br />
air defense officers.<br />
Herman Rifkin, head of Rifkin Theatres,<br />
injured his shoulder while golfing at the<br />
Pinebrook Country Club and was rushed<br />
to the Newton Wellesley Hospital for treatment.<br />
He is expected to remain a week or<br />
two.<br />
\V.<br />
Lester Hughes, owner of the Nordica<br />
Theatre, Preeport. Me., is running for<br />
county commissioner for his district . . .<br />
The League of Women Voters of Needham<br />
staged a Movie Night at the Paramount<br />
Theatre, owned and operated by Ernie<br />
Warren, Wednesday (5).<br />
HARTFORD<br />
. .<br />
T ou Cohen, Loew's Poli, had a local caricaturist<br />
come up with di'awings of<br />
Yvette Mimieux and Rod Taylor for a<br />
special Hartford Times layout on MGM's<br />
"The Time Machine" . Morris Keppner<br />
and Lou Lipman, Mansfield Drive-In, have<br />
dropped Monday through Wednesday performances<br />
for the remainder of 1960.<br />
Joe Miklos, Stanley Warner district<br />
manager, lined up a live "Song of Naples"<br />
festival on the Embassy, New Britain, stage,<br />
the evening of September 30 . . . The SW<br />
State, Manchester, played a revival of<br />
Paramount's 1957 newspaper comedy,<br />
"Teacher's Pet," costarring Clark Gable<br />
and Doris Day, and featuring Allen M.<br />
Widem, Hartford Times, in a supporting<br />
role as newspaper man, appropriately<br />
enough.<br />
Bill Murphy, Lockwood & Gordon's Cine<br />
Webb, dressed a mannequin in the window<br />
at Sage Allen Department Store for Governor<br />
Films' "Carry On, Nurse." He also<br />
dispatched paper daffodils—used as a<br />
comedy gimmick in a strategic sequence<br />
to downtown drama desks . . . Charles<br />
Kurtzman of Loew's Theatres was in from<br />
New York conferring with Lou Cohen,<br />
Loew's Poli, and Mrs. Ruth Colvin, Loew's<br />
Palace.<br />
Lou's ex-aide, Norm Levinson, now general<br />
manager-advertising director for<br />
Trans-Texas Theatres, Dallas, postcarded<br />
greetings to his local pals from Los An-<br />
This is follow-through: Dave<br />
geles . . ,<br />
Jacobson, Jason Theatrical Enterprises, advertised<br />
in the Torrington newspaper,<br />
"Those who did not receive pencil boxes,<br />
please come in with your tickets!" He had<br />
run out of school gifts at recent matinee<br />
and, true to his word, quickly got more to<br />
fil Ithe request of youngsters inadvertently<br />
passed over at the Palace.<br />
'Parrish' Release in '61<br />
HARTFORD — Warner Picts. has informed<br />
Allen M. Widem, Hartford Times,<br />
that the release of Delmar Daves' "Parrish,"<br />
filmed this past summer on Connecticut<br />
locations, is slated for early 1961.<br />
Claudette Colbert and Troy Donahue are<br />
among principals in the Daves adaptation<br />
of the Mildred Savage best-selling novel of<br />
Connecticut's tobacco valley.<br />
NE-2 BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
. . Barton<br />
. .<br />
NEW HAVEN<br />
^harles Kurtzman of Loew's Theatres was<br />
in from New York to see Sid Kleper,<br />
Loew's College . . . Bill Ornstein of the<br />
Allied Artists exploitation force, working<br />
with Jim Darby. Paramount Theatre manager,<br />
dispatched a call, via newspaper.s,<br />
for Saipan Marine Corps World War II<br />
veterans living in the area, in conjunction<br />
with "Hell to Eternity." A Marine recruiting<br />
color guard backed up the opening<br />
night ceremony.<br />
Sperie P. Perakos, general manager for<br />
Perakos Theatre Associates, tied up with<br />
the Renault dealer in Bridgeport for a<br />
Beverly Theatre lobby display featuring a<br />
new Renault model, in conjunction with<br />
Columbia's "Song Without End." All persons<br />
taking "test rides" in new model from<br />
the dealer's showrooms were given two<br />
passes to the theatre, the dealer paying<br />
for all passes. Moreover, the cooperative<br />
dealer provided handsome newspaper ad<br />
space for the film.<br />
Both Filmrow and the Yale University<br />
campus here were saddened to hear of the<br />
death in New York of Stanleigh P. Freidman.<br />
76. a vice president and counsel for<br />
Warner Bros. Pictures. Friedman wrote one<br />
of Yale's most famous football songs,<br />
"Dow-n the Field." A member of Eli's Class<br />
of 1905, he maintained a lifelong interest<br />
in music. He wrote many songs. Yale honored<br />
him with an inscription carved on<br />
the wall of its Welsh Hall for "Down the<br />
Field."<br />
Filmrow visitors included Charlie Tolls,<br />
Meriden and Newington: Bernie Menschell,<br />
Newington and Bolton Notch, and William<br />
Ornstein, AA exploiteer, conferring with<br />
Manager Johnnie Pavone on "Hell to<br />
Eternity." Ornstein lined up Marine recruiting<br />
stations throughout the state in<br />
a headline-commanding quest for veterans<br />
of the Saipan campaign.<br />
BRIDGEPORT<br />
manager of the American Shakespeare<br />
festival theatre in Stratford, returned<br />
from a week in Bermuda.<br />
. . . Morris Jacobson<br />
A series of eight filmed grand operas is<br />
being shown on Tuesday nights at the<br />
Palace in Danbury<br />
has decided to continue the policy of Monday<br />
morning early bird shows at his downtown<br />
Strand. The shows were started back<br />
in World War II days.<br />
A Comic's Ambition<br />
HARTFORD— In an interview in the<br />
Hartford Times, British comic-leading<br />
man Peter Sellers defined his life's objective:<br />
"I think the ideal thing would<br />
be to work like stink, get somewhere,<br />
have a nice house, give your kids a good<br />
education, and have enough money—say<br />
$200,000— to sit back and think, 'I don't<br />
have to work anymore!'"<br />
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. . .<br />
^onn logha has been named manager of<br />
the Norwalk Theatre in Norwalk and<br />
supervisor of the Pine Arts Theatre in<br />
Westport. For the last four years logha<br />
was manager of the Plaza in Stamford. In<br />
Norwalk he succeeds Judd Beal, who has<br />
gone to Littleton, N. H., to operate his<br />
own theatre.<br />
New heating equipment has been installed<br />
in the concession and restrooms of<br />
the E. M. Loew Drive-In, Milford<br />
Louis Anger is closing his<br />
.<br />
Barnum on<br />
Mondays. Tuesdays and Thursdays<br />
Manager Earl Wright celebrated the opening<br />
of a playground at the Candlelite-Pix<br />
Twin Drive-In here by hosting a group<br />
Emmet, house<br />
from the YMCA .<br />
Mail this coupon ^<br />
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In Mossochuserts—MASSACHUSETTS THEATRE EQUIPMENT Co,<br />
Boston— Liberty 2-9814<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960 NE-3
7 ) . The<br />
Pay-TV Tests to Start<br />
With Few Hours Daily<br />
HARTFORD—Subscription programs, in<br />
the first large-scale test of over-the-alr<br />
subscription television on WHCT - TV<br />
(Channel 18 >. Hartford, will be broadcast<br />
for only a few hours a day initially, Ted<br />
lieitzell, director of public relations for<br />
Zenith Radio Corporation. Chicago, told a<br />
September 26 luncheon meeting of the<br />
Hartford Rotary Club.<br />
The proKrams are being lined up now<br />
and specific attractions will be announced<br />
as they are obtained. Leitzell promised. He<br />
said they will be known well in advance<br />
of the start of the test.<br />
The experimental Pay-TV project here<br />
is presently awaiting FCC approval in<br />
Washington. If test approval is received, it<br />
will be conducted by the Hartford Phonevision<br />
Co.. an RKO General subsidiary,<br />
which recently purchased WHCT-TV from<br />
the Edward Taddei interests of Hartford.<br />
Prospective subscribers, Leitzell added,<br />
will be furnished a complete schedule of<br />
features which are expected to include such<br />
boxoffice attractions as new. full-length<br />
motion pictures. Broadway plays and musicals,<br />
grand opera, symphony concerts and<br />
sports events not now available on commercial<br />
television.<br />
Zenith has been actively pui-suing authorization<br />
of a large-scale test of overthe-air<br />
subscription television for the past<br />
ten years, using its Phonevision system.<br />
Needhom Citizens Passing<br />
Up Chance for Free Coal<br />
BOSTON— Ernest Warren of the Paramount<br />
Theatre. Needham. has offered an<br />
unusual "giveaway" for citizens of Needham.<br />
Anyone who will cart away three<br />
tons of soft coal, original cost $9. may have<br />
it for the asking and it all came about<br />
when Warren converted his heating system<br />
to oil several years ago and decided<br />
to keep the coal "just in case." His oil<br />
burner has worked so efficiently that he<br />
has never used a shovelful of coal. Now<br />
he needs the storage space and rather<br />
than lug the coal off to the dump, he<br />
thinks it might be useful to someone else.<br />
Warren offered his gift through signs<br />
in the lobby, along with free passes as<br />
added inducement. A few weeks later, a<br />
lady from West Newton phoned that she<br />
would send a truck to pick it up, but it<br />
never showed up. Now Warren is trying<br />
desperately to find a customer who will<br />
take the coal off his hands.<br />
New Sal Adomo Giveaway<br />
MIDDLETOWN. CONN.—Sal Adorno sr.,<br />
general manager. M&D Theatres, has<br />
started a new chinaware giveaway for<br />
lady patrons at the first-run Palace, on<br />
Wednesdays. Thursdays, and Fridays. A<br />
unit is given to each lady patron with<br />
evening adult ticket purchase.<br />
Treasure Chest for Kids<br />
PUTNAM. CONN.—The Bradley Theatre<br />
provided a free "Treasure Chest" for all<br />
kiddy patrons attending the October 1<br />
matinee. The chest contained sui'prise<br />
novelty gifts. On the screen were "It<br />
Started in Naples" and "The Sword and<br />
the Cross."<br />
NE-4<br />
NEW HAMPSHIRE<br />
The Gorham Theatre on Androscoggin<br />
street in Gorham. formerly known as<br />
the Ritz, was almost completely destroyed<br />
by a fire which swept through the frame<br />
structure on the night of September 28<br />
following an explosion in the boiler room.<br />
The blaze, which attracted hundreds of<br />
spectators, resulted in no injuries. Clement<br />
LeBlanch. representing the LeBlanch estate<br />
which owns the property, estimated<br />
the loss at $20,000 with partial insurance<br />
coverage. John Boudoukis. who operated<br />
the theatre, which was open only on weekends,<br />
was on a business trip in Boston at<br />
the time of the fire. The theatre building<br />
at one time was a barn. About 1939 it<br />
was converted from a garage. A miniature<br />
golf course on the second floor was removed<br />
to heighten the ceiling for conversion<br />
into a movie theatre.<br />
Little Theatre as Place<br />
To Start Acting Career<br />
HARTFORD—To the would-be Hollywood<br />
star, the glamorous lure of the distant<br />
California movie colony should be far<br />
outweighed by the more basic careerbuilding<br />
approach of the community little<br />
theatre, Allen M. Widem, Hartford Times<br />
amusements editor, said here.<br />
"It's all too easy for somebody prepared<br />
or not. who would like to attain fame<br />
within the movie world to pack and take<br />
off for Hollywood in the hope they'll somehow<br />
be discovered while in California." he<br />
told the Agudas Achim synagogue sisterhood.<br />
"But when all's said and done, the people<br />
in charge look at newcomers and ask<br />
themselves, 'What can this person do that<br />
isn't being provided by someone in the<br />
field right now?'<br />
"The only way an individual can be<br />
really assured of a 'showcase' of talent, if<br />
you will, is to groom himself or herself in<br />
a given aspect of theatre and then display<br />
this ability in a little theatre or a<br />
university or college production. And<br />
preferably on a local level.<br />
"Contrary to public rumors, Hollywood<br />
hasn't curtailed its extensive talent-seeking<br />
corps. Constantly, the productions that are<br />
staged in the Times circulation area are<br />
'scouted' by Hollywood. If talent shines<br />
forth, Hollywood will find it, regardless of<br />
locale!"<br />
Exhibitor Nick Saraceno<br />
Wins $4,684.62 Judgment<br />
MIDDLETOWN, CONN. — A judgment<br />
for $4,684.62 was granted to Nicholas<br />
Saraceno. operator of the Capitol Theatre,<br />
against the local Middlesex Building Corp.<br />
in a session of Middletown common pleas.<br />
The case was first on a short calendar<br />
presided over by Judge Milton H. Meyers.<br />
Rogers Response Pleases<br />
NEW HAVEN—Charles Kurtzman of<br />
Loew's Theatres told a Connecticut Drive-<br />
In Theatres Ass'n meeting that the industry<br />
response to the annual Will Rogers<br />
Hospital Campaign has been "most gratifying."<br />
Harry Rose Is Feted<br />
By 100 at Farewell<br />
BRIDGEPORT. CONN.—Manager Harry<br />
A. Rose of Locw's Majestic Theatre, who<br />
has been transferred to Loew's Alpine<br />
Theatre in Brooklyn, was honored at a<br />
surprise midnight dinner-party on the<br />
stage of Loew's Poll Theatre. More than<br />
100 theatre associates from Bridgeport and<br />
the surrounding area attended the farewell<br />
dinner.<br />
Manager Alfred Domian of Loew's Poll<br />
served as toastmaster and brief remarks<br />
were made by James Tobin of the Merritt:<br />
Earl Wright, Candlelite-Pix Twin<br />
Drive-In; Otto Esposito, Strand; Robert<br />
Carney, Loew's Poll, Waterbury; Matt<br />
Saunders, manager emeritus of Loew's<br />
Poll here; John Martin, business agent of<br />
the projectionists union; Tony Marsella,<br />
formerly manager of Loew's Poli in Meridan,<br />
and Fred Russell, amusement editor<br />
of the Bridgeport Post and Telegram.<br />
Rose was presented with a cash gift by<br />
Mrs. Frances Augustine, his longtime assistant<br />
at the Majestic, who succeeds him<br />
as manager. Mrs. Augustine also was in<br />
charge of arrangements.<br />
Phil Haddad New Manager<br />
At Willimantic Capitol<br />
HARTFORD—Joseph C. Miklos. eastern<br />
Connecticut district manager for Stanley<br />
Warner Theatres, announced the promotion<br />
of Phil Haddad, acting manager of<br />
the Capitol. Willimantic, to manager of<br />
the State, Manchester, succeeding Mrs.<br />
Olive Recave, resigned.<br />
Gerard Bouchard, formerly assistant<br />
manager at the Strand, New Britain, replaces<br />
Haddad at Willimantic.<br />
Festival at Bridgeport<br />
Opens With 'Potemkin'<br />
BRIDGEPORT, CONN.—The University<br />
of Bridgeport opened its first foreign film<br />
festival with Russia's "Potemkin" Fri-<br />
( day film was shown in Trustees<br />
Hall in the Charles A. Dana Hall of Science.<br />
The festival will be concluded December<br />
9. Also to be shown are "Father Panchali,"<br />
"The Gates of Hell" and "The Magnificent<br />
Seven."<br />
Art Schuman Engaged<br />
HARTFORD—Arthur Schuman, a director<br />
and nephew of A. M. Schuman, industry<br />
pioneer and a founder of the Park<br />
Street Investment Co., owner of the five<br />
suburban theatres now operated by Community<br />
Theatres, has announced his engagement<br />
to Toby Ackerman, a physiotherapist<br />
at Mount Sinai hospital. The<br />
younger Schuman is an account executive<br />
at Lee Isenberg Associates, advertisingpublic<br />
relations agency.<br />
Ticket Service at Stores<br />
NEW HAVEN—Whalley Theatre is now<br />
providing reservation service for "Ben-<br />
Hur" in neighboring Bridgeport, via the<br />
Rudy Frank Record stores. The tickets can<br />
be picked up and paid for at the theatre<br />
boxoffice. through arrangements by Franklin<br />
E. Ferguson, promotion chief for the<br />
Bailey circuit.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
Sunday Big Movie Day<br />
In Montreal District<br />
MONTREAL—In this city of a million<br />
and a quarter, a widespread Sunday habit<br />
is to attend church in the morning and a<br />
motion picture in the afternoon or evening.<br />
There is no agitation to restrict entertainment<br />
on the Sabbath, neither in religious<br />
nor in any other circles, this despite the<br />
fact the church influence in Quebec province<br />
is supposed to be more dominating as<br />
compared to other provinces.<br />
Sunday is a big movie day in Montreal.<br />
Under a heading. "Toronto the Good."<br />
a local columnist pointed out that Toronto<br />
will decide on December 5 whether to show<br />
motion pictures and concerts for admission<br />
is a desecration of the Lord's Day. He<br />
commented that the archbishop's office<br />
here, asked if the Catholic Church has any<br />
opinion on the matter of Sunday movies,<br />
said: "There is no religious problem to<br />
Sunday cinema. In fact, a stand never was<br />
taken on the subject."<br />
PROTESTANTS AGREE<br />
Protestant clergymen in Montreal also<br />
feel the same way. Archdeacon John P.<br />
Morris of the Anglican Church, said "Sunday<br />
movies in Montreal never have been an<br />
issue. Our church has long accepted the<br />
continental Sunday which prevails here in<br />
Quebec province."<br />
The Sunday moviegoer is a mixed lot.<br />
According to Bill Robinson of United<br />
Amusement Corp.. which, with its affiliate<br />
Consolidated Theatres, controls the lion's<br />
share of film houses with 29 theatres in<br />
the Montreal district, there is no "typical"<br />
Sunday moviegoer. Robinson, however,<br />
pointed out that by far the most regular<br />
Sunday fan is the French-Canadian.<br />
Legislation on motion pictures in Montreal<br />
and throughout Quebec province is a<br />
provincial government matter. There are<br />
no midnight movies in Montreal. Doors<br />
must be shut at midnight, although no one<br />
knows why the niling applies or when it<br />
was first put into effect. However, a number<br />
of years ago movie houses used to have<br />
midnight shows to see the new year in.<br />
This was discontinued quite a number of<br />
years ago.<br />
NO QUEBEC DRIVE-INS<br />
Laws governing cinemas in Montreal<br />
and Quebec province are unique in other<br />
ways, too. Children under 16 are not allowed<br />
to attend movies, even with their<br />
parents. And drive-in theatres are taboo<br />
throughout Quebec. Public safety and public<br />
morality are the two reasons behind<br />
the "under 16" taboo and the drive-in.<br />
The ban on children in movies was imposed<br />
in 1927 when 82 children—many of<br />
them "parked" by their parents in the theatre—died<br />
in a fire that swept through<br />
the Laurier Palace Theatre.<br />
And the late premier Maurice Duplessis<br />
vowed that the "sin bins" of the drive-in<br />
would never, during his lifetime, become a<br />
part of Quebec scene.<br />
But it is felt that the elimination of the<br />
younger teenager has one favorable influence<br />
on the theatre behavior. Quebec<br />
operators claim rowdyism is almost nonexistent.<br />
Bill Murray of United Amusement,<br />
said "the older teenager is not a<br />
trouble maker, and the theatre manager<br />
can handle any isolated disturbances by<br />
barring the offender."<br />
CONFERENCE IN TORONTO—In Toronto for conferences with Empire-<br />
Universal officials and Canadian circuit representatives on promotion plans<br />
for the forthcoming Universal- International releases, Philip Gerard, eastern<br />
advertising and publicity director, is seen here with, left to right, Frank Fisher<br />
(seated) vice-president and general manager of Odeon Theatres; Hatton Taylor,<br />
general manager of Empire-Universal, and Harvey Hunt, head buyer and<br />
booker for Odeon.<br />
Art Houses Offer Russian<br />
And Japanese Film Fare<br />
TORONTO—In the art film section of<br />
the entertainment field, a picture called<br />
"Old Khotabych" from Russia took to the<br />
Radio City screen while the International<br />
Cinema held "Hiroshima. Mon Amour"<br />
for a fourth week. The Christie Cinema<br />
continued its own Japanese film festival<br />
with "Ugetsu" which was good for a second<br />
week, to be followed by "Gate of Hell."<br />
At the Odeon Fairlawn in North Toronto.<br />
"The Royal Ballet" was doing very well,<br />
the British production being held for a<br />
third week on a roadshow basis, all seats<br />
reserved.<br />
Toronto Vote Dec. 5<br />
On Sunday Movies<br />
Toronto—The city council approved<br />
by unanimous vote the holding of a<br />
referendum in connection with the<br />
December 5 municipal elections to decide<br />
the issue on Sunday shows but,<br />
surprisingly, broadened the question<br />
to include stage performances and<br />
concerts in addition to film theatre<br />
programs.<br />
The question on the ballot paper<br />
will read: "Are you in favor of the<br />
city of Toronto seeking legislation to<br />
legalize the showing of motion pictures<br />
and the performance of concerts and<br />
plays in theatres and halls on Sundays?"<br />
The original issue concerned the<br />
Sunday operation of motion picture<br />
theatres, and the belief is expressed<br />
that the widened scope of the referendum<br />
will complicate the situation.<br />
Montreal, for example, has long had<br />
Sunday films but no stage shows.<br />
Manitoba Gathering<br />
On Dec. 5 at Winnipeg<br />
WINNIPEG—Directors of the Manitoba<br />
Motion Picture Exhibitors Ass'n. headed by<br />
President Harry Prygrocki. approved December<br />
5 for a general meeting at the<br />
Marlborough Hotel, starting at noon.<br />
Election of new officers will cap the<br />
program.<br />
Prygrocki and HariT Hurwitz were<br />
named delegates to the national council<br />
meetings in Toronto October 25-27. Ken<br />
Beach will be the alternate.<br />
A donation of $50 to the Canadian cancer<br />
fund in the name of the late Harold<br />
Bishop and wife was approved.<br />
The Association members wlil be asked<br />
to request the provincial government for<br />
repeal of the amusement tax on theatre<br />
tickets at the February session.<br />
Another important issue is Sunday motion<br />
pictures, supported by the Lord's Day<br />
Alliance.<br />
Claude Anison Managing<br />
St.<br />
Petersburg Drive-In<br />
PETERSBURG, FLA.—Claude Ani-<br />
ST.<br />
son, formerly supervisor for the Williston<br />
circuit and the Canto circuit, Indianapolis,<br />
Ind., is the new manager of the Garden<br />
Auto Outdoor Theatre here. The de luxe<br />
drive-in is owned by Ben Cohen, who operates<br />
a circuit from his home office in<br />
Cincinnati.<br />
"We currently are beginning an expansion<br />
program at the Garden Auto Outdoor<br />
Theatre," said Anison. "The expansion will<br />
include a new 70xl20-foot screen, enough<br />
new ramps to double our current capacity,<br />
a new playground and tropical planting to<br />
rival any Florida beauty scene."<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960 K-1
costing<br />
. . The<br />
. . Abe<br />
.<br />
bowing<br />
moved<br />
Etobicoke Telemeter Takes Pause<br />
To Check on Expansion Plans<br />
VANCOUVER— Will pay TV be comins<br />
to Vancouver. Paul King, staff writer for<br />
the Vancouver Sun reporting on the Telemeter<br />
installation at Etobicoke near Toronto,<br />
sa.vs that the answer is highly likely:<br />
the only question is when.<br />
Eugene Pitzgibbons. a member of the<br />
Famous Players Canadian Fitzgibbons<br />
family, and Canadian boss of Telemeter.<br />
King reports, cautiously avoids any grandiose<br />
claims about Telemeter expansion.<br />
By the end of September TM installations<br />
were in 6.000 Etobicoke homes, and future<br />
installations were .suspended for a spell<br />
while TM evaluates the situation to learn<br />
if Ifs profitable to expand.<br />
Is Telemeter currently making money in<br />
Etobicoke? The answer: a flat no. but,<br />
TeleMen hastily add. "We never expected<br />
it to in the first few months with only<br />
5.000 units installed." They compare the<br />
present setup to a new 600-room hotel with<br />
only 60 rooms ready for occupancy. Before<br />
going ahead they want to know:<br />
First: Subscribers' buying habits over a<br />
full yeai-. "We want to compare the summertime,<br />
when people take holidays, with<br />
winter ratings when TV hits its boom<br />
viewing period." Pitzgibbons says.<br />
Second: "We want to wait for the novelty<br />
period to wear off. Viewers may watch<br />
Telemeter a lot when they first receive it,<br />
taper off when they get used to it." Although<br />
an electric computer in TM's head<br />
office shows exactly how many subscribers<br />
watch a given show i Charlton Heston's<br />
"Ten Commandments" led with 3.000 total<br />
viewers', TeleMen haven't as yet established<br />
the annual amount subscribers will<br />
pay (but they hope for an average $2 a<br />
week or $100 a year per family).<br />
Third: Operational costs have far exceeded<br />
profits so far. Total cost of TM's<br />
coaxial cable alone was $250,000. Less than<br />
half of the 13.000 potential homes it passes<br />
are currently hooked up. Also, the Etobicoke<br />
TM units $65 each to make)<br />
I<br />
are already obsolete, latest units wOl cost<br />
$15 less to manufacture—although the<br />
FOR SALE<br />
YES! 10,000 LATE MODEL<br />
USED OR RECONDITIONED<br />
Also new British-Luxury Chairs available<br />
Indoor & Outdoor Stadium Chairs<br />
THEATRE CHAIRS<br />
Spring edge steel bottom seat cushions and<br />
fully upholstered backs—spring bock types also.<br />
Carpeting, osphalt, rubber. Vinyl tites orKf<br />
linoleum.<br />
WE ARE FACTORY AGENTS-<br />
AT BARGAIN PRICES<br />
Drop us o line—we will give you photographs<br />
and full information.<br />
y\<br />
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I<br />
MARINE 5034-5428<br />
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rental cost to subscribers will still be only<br />
$5.<br />
Another large cost to TM is the cable<br />
amplifiers, currently all made by hand.<br />
"After our present pilot-run wc will go into<br />
mass production." Pitzgibbons says. "It will<br />
prove a tremendous saving."<br />
Finally. TM doesn't have enough home<br />
unit* now to meet the demand, or enough<br />
trained men to install them i30 new crews<br />
i<br />
were speedily added the first month<br />
While adding a severe drawback, this<br />
still<br />
proves a strong publicity asset. "It shows<br />
the people want them." Pitzgibbons says.<br />
"Canadians are by nature conservative,<br />
cautious.<br />
In a five-mile radius of TM's Etobicoke<br />
station ai'e 40,000 homes. TM estimates it<br />
could reach 75 per cent of these with ea.se.<br />
"We have to lay sufficient cable, anyway,<br />
so it would cost as much to service four<br />
homes as forty thousand."<br />
Still thinking in theatre terms, veteran<br />
movie-man Fitzgibbons says: "If Famous<br />
Players (which operates Telemeter as a<br />
i<br />
subsidiary built a new theatre in Etobicoke,<br />
it would cost $550 a seat. If we can<br />
build a theatre in the home for $100 a<br />
seat, it makes sense."<br />
Even with their spoken reservations.<br />
TeleMen are already planning widespread<br />
expansion.<br />
Fizglbbons predicts that after the evaluation<br />
pause. TM will be breaking into the<br />
entire metropolitan area and from there<br />
will spread to outlying Ontario centers<br />
(London. Port Arthur. Fort William), and<br />
investigators have been surveying Winnipeg<br />
for a year.<br />
WINNIPEG<br />
J^any friends of the late Samuel 'Weiner<br />
have made contributions to the Canadian<br />
Picture Pioneers benevolent fund<br />
in lieu of floral tributes . . . Harry Prygrocki<br />
has returned from Clear Lake<br />
where he was operating his Park Theatre.<br />
Prygrocki has resumed his duties as<br />
president of the MMPEA from Harry Gray<br />
who handled them in his absence.<br />
.<br />
Jack Bernstein, Allied Artists, was in<br />
town to install Len Herberman as local<br />
manager . Film Exchange Five Pin<br />
League will operate this year at the Uptown<br />
lanes Kovnats reports the<br />
addition of Margaret Katchen to the Astral<br />
Syl Gunn, Paramount, has<br />
staff . . . taken over management of the new Affiliated<br />
Pictures office here.<br />
The International documentary film<br />
festival sponsored by the Yorkton, Sask.,<br />
Film Council, will be held in the auditorium<br />
of the Yorkton College October 17,<br />
19.<br />
HOLL'YWOOD — Producer-writer<br />
Oscar<br />
Brodney will make "The Live Wire," Garson<br />
Kanin comedy owned by 20th-Fox. The<br />
property was recently slated for producer<br />
David Weisbart, who will now concentrate<br />
on "Flaming Heart" and his upcoming<br />
"The Comancheros."<br />
Newcomers Are Rare<br />
On Toronto Scene<br />
TORONTO—New attractions continued<br />
scarce in the offerings at major theatres,<br />
only two of which made a change for the<br />
"<br />
week with "Jungle Cat in at the<br />
Eglinton and "The Angel Wore Red" at<br />
"<br />
Loews. "Bells Are Ringing to the<br />
Uptown after five weeks at the downtown<br />
Loew house. "Ocean's 11" had a nice second<br />
week at the Imperial.<br />
'Averoge Is 100)<br />
Carlton— Doctor In Love (20th-Fox), 4ttl wk...lOO<br />
Eglinton— Jungle Cot (BV) 110<br />
Hollywood— Psyclio IPara), 9tti wk 100<br />
Hylond— From tlic Terrace (20th-Fox), lOtti wk. .100<br />
Imperial—Occon's 11 (WB), 2nd wk 110<br />
LDew's—Tlic Angel Wore Red (MGM) 105<br />
Ncrtown— It Started in Noples (Paro) 100<br />
Tivoli—Con-Can (20th-Fox), 27th wk 100<br />
Towne— School for Scoundrels (IFD), 7th wk 100<br />
University— Ben-Hur |MGM), 4 1st wk 110<br />
Uptown— Bells Are Ringing (MGM), moveover<br />
. . 1 05<br />
'Psycho' and" "Ocean's 11'<br />
Stay Brisk in Vancouver<br />
VANCOUVER—Three spots are showing<br />
"<br />
The<br />
the way here— all holdovers: "Psycho,"<br />
"The Apartment" and "Ocean's 11.<br />
rest of the town was on the light side. "All<br />
the Pine Young Cannibals" stayed only<br />
six days at the Capitol.<br />
Capitol— All the Fine Young Cannibols (MGM) Mild<br />
Orpheum—Ocean's II (WB), 3rd wk Excellent<br />
Park— I'm All Right, Jock (20th-Fcx), 13th wk. Good<br />
Plaza— Chartroose Caboose (U-l); College<br />
Confidential (U-l) Moderate<br />
5tanley~Bcn-Hur (MGM), 23rd wk Good<br />
Strand—Psycho (Paro), 6th wk Excellent<br />
Studio— Chaplin Revue (IFD) Good<br />
Vogue—The Apartment (UA), 3rd wk Good<br />
Cooler Weather Catnips<br />
Montreal <strong>Boxoffice</strong>s<br />
MONTREAI^Managers of the leading<br />
cinemas here reported improving boxoffice<br />
conditions in the past week. A few<br />
outstanding holdovers, such as "Ocean's<br />
11" and "Upstairs and Downstairs" at the<br />
Loew's and Avenue theatres, respectively,<br />
helped to swell attendance along with<br />
longer holdovers such as "Ben-Hur" at the<br />
Alouette and "Can-Can" which bowed out<br />
of the Seville after an extended run to<br />
make room for "The Cranes Are Plying."<br />
The colder weather and shorter days seem<br />
to have resulted in sending a greater<br />
number of people to the cinemas.<br />
Alouette Ben-Hur (MGM), 37th wk Excellent<br />
Avenue— Upstairs and Downstairs (20th-Fox),<br />
7th wk Excellent<br />
Imperial—This is Cinerama (Cineromo),<br />
8th wk Good<br />
Loew'st— Oceon's 11 (WB), 3rd wk Excellent<br />
Palace— Strangers When We Meet (Col), 2nd<br />
wk<br />
Good<br />
Westmount— Carry On, Teacher (Anglo-<br />
Amolgomoted), 3rd wk Excellent<br />
'Usher' and 'Terrace' Are<br />
Good Winnipeg Entries<br />
WINNIPEG — "Prom the Terrace" at<br />
the Odeon and "The House of Usher" at<br />
the Lyceum led regular grossers, while<br />
"Ben-Hur" continued to draw well at the<br />
Gaiety as a hard ticket offering.<br />
Airport Dnve-ln— Psycho (Pore), 6th wk.,<br />
moveover 110<br />
Capitol—Bells Are Ringing (MGM), 2nd wk 95<br />
Gaiety— Ben-Hur (MGM), 6th wk 175<br />
Gorrick— Elmer Gantry (UA), 2nd wk 95<br />
Lyceum, Starlite Drive-ln—The House of Usher<br />
(Astral); Jailbreakers (Astral) 135<br />
Met, Pembino Dnve-ln—The Adventures of<br />
Huckleberry Finn (MGM) 90<br />
Odeon— From the Terrace (20th-Fox) 135<br />
"The Greengage Summer," a Columbia<br />
release, was adapted from the novel by<br />
Rumer Godden.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960
. . . Jimmy<br />
. . Ernie<br />
. . Heather<br />
. . The<br />
. . Pat<br />
. . The<br />
and<br />
VANCOUVER<br />
John W. Panrucker, manager of the municipal<br />
Queen Elizabeth Theatre, was<br />
suspended by the board of management as<br />
a result over the promotion of several attractions<br />
at the big theatre. A. K. Gee of<br />
World Adventure Tours, Winnipeg, revealed<br />
he and Panrucker were partners in<br />
a deal to show eight travel films at the<br />
civic theatre.<br />
The mother of Frank Troy, district manager<br />
here for Theatre confections, died in<br />
Toronto in her 80s . . . Bill Howe, Orpheum<br />
assistant, went back to his hometown of<br />
Melville, Sask.. on a vacation . Johnston<br />
of the Strand boxoffice vacationed in<br />
Frank Soltice of the<br />
Lacombe, Alta. . . .<br />
Pines Drive-In at Penticton was in town.<br />
Affiliated Pictures, combining distribution<br />
for Columbia and Paramount, started<br />
operation in the former Paramount office<br />
on the Row . Walton, newcomers<br />
from England, succeeded Joan Sterling,<br />
killed in an avalanche on Mount Waddington,<br />
as secretary of Eric Rosebourne of the<br />
theatre supply company. Elfreda Pigou of<br />
a show business family was also a victim of<br />
the avalanche.<br />
Owen Bird of West Coast Booking Associates<br />
went fishing on Vancouver Island.<br />
Secretary Violet Hosford vacationed in<br />
Chicago . . . Jack Pairley. projectionist at<br />
the Paramount Theatre at Port Alberni,<br />
returned from a trip to Merritt and Princeton<br />
in the interior . . . Diane Overbo of WB<br />
vacationed in Edmonton.<br />
Marjorie Muir, secretary at General<br />
Sound & Equipment, is a new subscriber<br />
Patterson, former 20th-Fox<br />
manager here, is now booking 16mm and<br />
35mm situations.<br />
OTTAWA<br />
Cam McLean, prime mover in the campaign<br />
for an open Sunday here, announced<br />
his candidacy for an aldermanic<br />
seat in the city council. The election is<br />
December 5. No plebiscite on the Sunday<br />
question is planned . E. L. Bushnell<br />
Broadcasting Co. has purchased the television<br />
and radio stations at Cornwall from<br />
the Cornwall Broadcasting Co., of which<br />
Stanley R. Shenkman is president. Associated<br />
with Bushnell is David Greisdorf,<br />
executive vice-president of International<br />
Film Distributors. The Bushnell group<br />
also has the TV station at Pembroke.<br />
Bill Cullum has two stage attractions<br />
coming up on successive nights at the<br />
FPC Capitol. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet<br />
will be featured on the 11th. followed by<br />
the 50-piece Mantovani orchestra from<br />
England . Warren held "Strangers<br />
When We Meet" for a third week at the<br />
Elgin, while "The Apartment" rounded out<br />
13 weeks at the Little Elgin.<br />
The clubhouse of the Gatineau Golf and<br />
Country Club, where scores of Hollywood<br />
stars have appeared over the last 10 years,<br />
was destroyed in a $200,000 fire. Joe Saxe.<br />
the owner, said he would rebuild<br />
Rialto had what was called a<br />
. . . The<br />
World War<br />
II show, playing two releases from Astral<br />
Films, "Ski Troop Attack'<br />
Blood Island."<br />
and "Battle<br />
The National Museum went Japanese<br />
in its free show la.st week, featuring "Chogolisa.<br />
" or "The Bride's Peak," which won<br />
an award at the 1960 Vancouver Film<br />
Festival . Film Club of Brockville<br />
had a full page in the Daily Recorder<br />
and Times to announce its season of pictures<br />
from eight countries in the Auditorium<br />
Theatre, formerly the Famous Players<br />
Regent. The Kingston Film Society<br />
has announced its fifth season with bookings<br />
which include "Eva Wants to Sleep,"<br />
"<br />
"400 Blows "Don Quixote."<br />
15 Theatres. All Closed,<br />
Dismantled in Detroit<br />
DETROIT—The dismantling of 15 theatres<br />
in Detroit was reported by exchange<br />
sources. Most of these have been closed<br />
for sometime, so that this does not mean<br />
any wave of fresh closings. All are neighborhood<br />
houses, ranging from 399 to 1,536<br />
seats in size.<br />
The 15 theatres, with last recorded operators,<br />
are: Arcade. Donald Lovewell;<br />
Delray. Max Gealer: Dix. Jack M. Krass;<br />
East Side. Dave Korman: Grande. E. B.<br />
Dudley: Graystone. Jack M. Krass: Imperial.<br />
George Burgess: Lakewood and<br />
Plaza. Leonard and Bernard Brooks: Perrien.<br />
Sophie Weklie: Priscilla. Charles<br />
Bagons: Rivola. Harry Knot and John<br />
Sizemore: Warfield. Moe Teitel: Willis,<br />
Fred Lokar. and Tuxedo, located in Highland<br />
Park, Lew Wisper and William Wetsman.<br />
of<br />
New Distributing Firm<br />
Under Way in Canada<br />
TORONTO—Affiliated Pictures Corp.,<br />
the new company formed to dl-stributed<br />
Columbia and Paramount pictures, made<br />
an auspicious start October 1 in the six<br />
exchanges in Canada. Famous Players<br />
Canadian Corp. and Odeon Theatres gave<br />
theijTblessings to the new organization.<br />
Affiliated personnel follows: Gordon<br />
Lightstone. managing director, after many<br />
years with Paramount: Harvey Harnick,<br />
general sales manager, from Columbia, and<br />
Mickey Stevenson, assistant general sales<br />
manager, who formerly was Paramount<br />
manager in Toronto.<br />
For the branches the following were<br />
listed: Toronto, Leonard Bernstein, manager.<br />
Jack Allen, salesman; Montreal,<br />
Romeo Goudreau and Eloi Cormier: Winnipeg,<br />
Syl Gunn and living Fogel: Calgary,<br />
Robert Lightstone and Saul Isenstein,<br />
.salesman: Vancouver, Nat Levant, and St.<br />
John, Louis J. Simon.<br />
At Torono, Abe Fox is office managsr<br />
and head booker while Robert E. Smith<br />
and Ernest Heath look after accounting.<br />
Winston Barron continues in charge of<br />
promotion for Paramount product. Gordon<br />
Lightstone and Harvey Harnick will sell<br />
Paramount and Columbia pictures. re.spectively,<br />
to major circuits. Louis Rosenfeld<br />
remains president of Columbia Pictures of<br />
Canada.<br />
Affiliated Pictui'es operations will be directed<br />
from 72 Carlton St.. Toronto.<br />
GROSS '20" MORE<br />
per 100 lbs. Raw Corn<br />
Super Pufft Popcorn Co.<br />
97 Duke Street<br />
Toronto, Ontario, Canada<br />
POPCORN VILLAGE<br />
NASHVILLE, TENN.<br />
K your present popcorn machine is 5 or mora<br />
years old,<br />
then the championship production<br />
of this Cretors Ambassador will increase your<br />
gross up to $20 per 100 lbs.<br />
The ^£taJLA<br />
of raw com.<br />
AMBASSADOR<br />
Sets the Pace for the Industry<br />
Get Full Details from These Deolers<br />
Service Confections, Ltd.<br />
243 Lilac Street<br />
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada<br />
Our 75th<br />
Anniversary<br />
SINCE 1885<br />
FACTORY:<br />
CHICAGO, ILL.<br />
Theatre Confections, Ltd.<br />
234 King Street, East<br />
Toronto, Ontario, Canada<br />
MANUFACTURERS OF THE<br />
OFFICIAL WEIGHT VOLUME<br />
TESTER FOR THE<br />
POPCORN INDUSTRY.<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10. 1960 K-3
. . Back<br />
. . "Song<br />
"<br />
. . . Judith<br />
. . . Membership<br />
. . Among<br />
. .<br />
TORONTO<br />
"The capture of an armed bandit by detectives<br />
has put an end to a series of<br />
robberies at theatres in the downtown section<br />
of the city which netted the comparatively<br />
small total of $700 because of<br />
police warnings. The gunman gave the<br />
name of D. W. Kelasher from New Zealand.<br />
In the belief that one man was responsible<br />
for the holdups, 16 detectives, equipped<br />
with pocket radio transmitters, were assigned<br />
to watch the theatres. When the<br />
boxoffice of Loew's Uptown closed at 9:40<br />
p.m.. Detective Herb Hillier proceeded to<br />
the Astor nearby where he grabbed a suspect<br />
who was found to have a loaded gun,<br />
nine holdup notes and a number of press<br />
clippings of previous robberies. He was<br />
charged with eight holdups.<br />
International Film Distributors, of<br />
which N. A. Taylor is president, has secured<br />
the Canadian rights for Swedish<br />
features directed by Ingmar Bergman and<br />
the first to be released will be "Wild Strawberries,"<br />
shown at this year's Stratford.<br />
Ont., film festival. It will be followed by<br />
"The Magician" . from Europe<br />
where he appeared in several pictures, Toronto's<br />
Austin Willis commented that film<br />
studios on the Continent were similar to<br />
washrooms, functional but not attractive.<br />
The Kingston Drive- In, an Odeon operation,<br />
has closed for the winter. For most<br />
of the season it was teamed with either<br />
. .<br />
the Odeon or Biltmore in downtown Kingston<br />
Suffering from a cold, John<br />
.<br />
Wayne nevertheless spent a busy day in<br />
promotion of "The Alamo," which will<br />
open shortly at the Tivoli. He attended a<br />
press luncheon in Port York, appeared<br />
for the United Appeal campaign, was interviewed<br />
on TV, visited a hospital and a<br />
community center and gave countless autographs.<br />
For Senior Citizens<br />
Week in Brantford,<br />
a group of oldtimers. many in Gay Nineties<br />
garb, attended a performance at the<br />
Famous Players Capitol as guests of Manager<br />
Bill Burke . Without End,<br />
in which Lou Jacobi, Toronto actor, has<br />
a role, opened the 6th at the Carlton here<br />
after it had been screened for all the Famous<br />
Players managers at their national<br />
convention recently.<br />
Edward Fisher, advertising manager for<br />
Pepsi-Cola of Canada, has been promoted<br />
to the new post of manager of marketing<br />
services . . . Jack M. Fine, film buyer and<br />
supervisor for B&P Theatres, is now manager<br />
of the new bowling alley division of<br />
Famous Players . . . Ernie Smithies' Capitol<br />
at Kingston, an FPC unit, is the third<br />
theatre in Ontario to get "Ben-Hur," starting<br />
the 6th. The other engagements are<br />
*^©©@«®©©««©@©S5©€5^e«®«®^«««©«®'<br />
at the University, Toronto, and the Nelson,<br />
Ottawa.<br />
Alartin Simpson of the Downtown has<br />
been appointed chairman of arrangements<br />
for the Canadian Picture Pioneers awards<br />
banquet October 26 at the King Edward<br />
Hotel.<br />
Mrs. Taylor of Toronto<br />
Opens Two Art Spots<br />
TORONTO—Taking note of the growing<br />
popularity of film .societies here, Yvonne<br />
Taylor, proprietor of the Towne and International<br />
cinemas, has made arrangements<br />
for the opening of two new intimate<br />
theatre type showcases on Avenue road<br />
in north-central Toronto.<br />
Mrs. Taylor, wife of Nat A. Taylor, president<br />
of 20th Century Theatres and of distributing<br />
and producing companies, announced<br />
that each of the two new theatres<br />
would accommodate 130 persons in<br />
luxurious appointments for the enjoyment<br />
of unusual programs. The policy will be to<br />
specialize in motion pictures usually shown<br />
to film society audiences.<br />
Features are to have unlimited engagements<br />
but with the possibility they would<br />
move into either the Towne or International<br />
for conimercial runs if they prove<br />
to have general appeal.<br />
MONTREAL<br />
R series of fine street and highway safety<br />
films have been produced by Jacques<br />
Pelletier. The 30-minute pictures are<br />
distributed by the Service du Film<br />
Industriel and were narrated by Lucien<br />
Wattier . . . Romeo Goudreau, Paramount<br />
office manager until that company merged<br />
its distribution with Columbia's, has moved<br />
to the Associated Screen Industries building,<br />
where Affiliated, the new company<br />
will headquarter.<br />
Gerard Langevin reopened the Rio Theatre<br />
at Sorel on the first. The 500-seater,<br />
equipped with CinemaScope and a widescreen,<br />
formerly was owned by Edouard<br />
Joe Dorfman. E-U head<br />
Gauthier . . .<br />
booker, was vacationing in Miami Beach<br />
Joseph, receptionist at Warner<br />
Bros., is back on the job following her<br />
marriage to Norman Small, and a wedding<br />
trip.<br />
. . .<br />
Nick Martini, distributor of 16mm film<br />
in Quebec, died while driving his car<br />
Mel Johnston, manager of the Seville The-<br />
. .<br />
atre, was recuperating from an ear ailment<br />
. Art films were going good here.<br />
"Tirez sur le Pianiste" grossed well at the<br />
La Comedie Canadienne in its third week<br />
was reported increasing<br />
in the Centre d'Art de L'Elysee. "Umberto<br />
D" is scheduled for early showing by the<br />
club.<br />
The auxiliary of Notre Dame Hospital is<br />
sponsoring the premiere of "Le Secrete Professional"<br />
at the St. Denis Theatre .<br />
Michael Costom, president, and Cine-Art<br />
distributing Co. hosted industry folk at a<br />
screening at the rebuilt Cinema Canadien<br />
on St. Catherine street. A cocktail party<br />
followed . . . Roger Chartrand, MGM, was<br />
in the Gaspe peninsula . exhibitors<br />
on Filmrow were Mr. and Mrs.<br />
Pelletier of the Alma Theatre in St. Joseph<br />
d'Alma.<br />
Brockington Retires<br />
As Odeon President<br />
TORONTO—The retirement of<br />
Leonard<br />
W. Brockington as president of the Rank<br />
Organization's Canadian companies was<br />
announced at a directors meeting of Odeon<br />
Theatres, effective October 1, after a tenure<br />
of ten years. He will continue on the<br />
board.<br />
Brockington was closely associated with<br />
the British industry leader, now Lord<br />
Rank, since 1943 when the Rank Organization<br />
stepped into Canadian exhibition and<br />
distribution, and the Odeon chain became<br />
the second largest circuit in the Dominion.<br />
Last March 20th-Pox took over the handling<br />
of product for Rank Film Distributors<br />
of Canada.<br />
While he never became a member of the<br />
Parliament, Brockington was assistant to<br />
prime minister W. L. Mackenzie King until<br />
the latter's death. As an orator Brockington<br />
spoke for Canada on historic or<br />
state occasions. He was rector of Queen's<br />
University.<br />
More Video to Winnipeg;<br />
Theatremen Don't Agree<br />
WINNIPEG—There has been only one<br />
TV channel for the past six years in this<br />
area, and during this time theatre attendance<br />
has declined 42 per cent and<br />
motion picture houses have closed their<br />
doors. Soon two new T'V stations will be<br />
on the air, affording viewers a choice of<br />
three channels. At least one theatreman<br />
is optimistic. Bill Novak, Metropolitan<br />
manager, is quoted in the Free Press as<br />
follows: "People can only look at one channel<br />
at a time. If they're watching CBC<br />
we've lost them anyway so it doesn't make<br />
any difference how many channels you<br />
get. If they are looking at one they can't<br />
look at the other. It might hurt CBC but<br />
it won't hurt us."<br />
On the other hand. Ken Beach, secretary<br />
of the Manitoba Motion Pictui-e Exhibitors<br />
Ass'n, has this to say: "Give the<br />
public a wider choice on T'V and it is<br />
reasonable to expect that more people will<br />
be glued to the TV set. It is to be hoped<br />
however that the quality of entertainment<br />
offered by the theatres will be strong<br />
enough to meet this increased competition.<br />
When the public is given what it wants<br />
in motion pictm-es that carmot be seen on<br />
television, the response is there. There is<br />
no doubt however that the pubUc has<br />
become really choosy; also there is no<br />
doubt that producers of motion pictures<br />
are doing their utmost to meet this challenge."<br />
Philips Introduces Sound Systems<br />
TORONTO—Philips Electronics Industries,<br />
Ltd., light and appliance division,<br />
announces the introduction of a complete<br />
sound system service for the Ontario market.<br />
The line includes amplifiers, microphones<br />
and sound columns. Philips has<br />
been a pioneer in Canada with organization<br />
of outdoor high-fidelity concerts in<br />
Toronto's Edwards Gardens and similar<br />
sound installations across Canada. Philips<br />
offers free of charge, a pamphlet titled<br />
"191 Ways to Use Sound Systems Indoors<br />
and Outdoors."<br />
K-4 BOXOFFICE :: October 10, 1960
In^<br />
• ADLINES & EXPLOITIPS<br />
• ALPHABETICAL<br />
INDEX<br />
• EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY<br />
• FEATURE RELEASE CHART<br />
• FEATURE REVIEW DIGEST<br />
• SHORTS RELEASE CHART<br />
• SHORT SUBJECT REVIEWS<br />
• REVIEWS OF FEATURES<br />
• SHOWMANDISING IDEAS<br />
THE GUIDE TOM BETTER BOOKING AND B U S I N E S S B U I L D I N G<br />
Publicity Success in<br />
Radio-Sponsored Preview<br />
Station and Showing of<br />
'College<br />
Are<br />
Benefited<br />
Confidential'<br />
The radio station-sponsored preview is<br />
coming into increasing prominence in motion<br />
picture promotion. The station advertises<br />
the preview and asks listeners to<br />
write in for special tickets, or if a larger<br />
response is desired, phone in their names<br />
and addresses and the tickets are mailed.<br />
The selling point in contacting the station<br />
managers is the film itself, one that<br />
will give the station prestige or appeal to a<br />
segment of the public which the station<br />
seeks to impress.<br />
Ed Linder, manager of the Gopher<br />
Theatre in Minneapolis, made the sponsored<br />
preview with WDGY, one of the<br />
larger Twin Cities stations, in behalf of<br />
"College Confidential," the film which<br />
stars Steve Allen in a campus life story.<br />
WDGY agi-eed to sponsor a special early<br />
bird showing of the film in return for<br />
which they broadcast ten spots a day for<br />
five days in advance of the screening. The<br />
station distributed special tickets on request.<br />
The early bird showing was a tremendous<br />
success, Linder reports.<br />
For a standout ballyhoo, Linder promoted<br />
a new Oldsmobile convertible from<br />
the dealer to take four college-age girls<br />
dressed in "College Confidential" T-shirts<br />
and shorts around town and to the Minnesota<br />
state fair, which was under way at the<br />
time.<br />
Other details of the campaign:<br />
Fifty window streamers placed in lunchrooms<br />
and stores near bus stops.<br />
Wholesalers of the Gold Medal book<br />
bannered a dozen trucks with "Read the<br />
Book . . . Now See This Hit at the Gopher<br />
Theatre." Fifty Gold Medal books were<br />
promoted to give to the first 50 patrons<br />
on opening day.<br />
Five thousand "College Confidential"<br />
quiz throwaways distributed in advance<br />
and on opening day at the state fair and<br />
in downtown Minneapolis, bearing numbers.<br />
Those having numbers posted in the<br />
Gopher lobby were admitted free to see<br />
the film.<br />
Special front was built around stills<br />
and the photos cut out from the 24-sheet.<br />
Art and news mention obtained in the<br />
newspapers.<br />
Linder reports the opening was the best<br />
in the last several months.<br />
Four jiris in labeled T-shirts and shorts, plus o big white dog, made an eye-catching ballyhoo for<br />
"College Confidential" as they toured downtown Minneapolis and the Minnesota state fairgrounds in<br />
odvance of the opening at the Gopher Theatre. Standing at the right is Lee Boyan, WDGY executive.<br />
The "College Confidentiol" opening at the North Flint (Mich.) Drivc-ln ond the ncorby U.S. 23<br />
Drive-ln at Bay City was advertised as a "World Drivc-ln Premiere," with Bob Fredlcy, manager of<br />
the North Flint, in charge of the promotion. U-l sent in starlet Nancy Root and Fredley made the most<br />
of her day's stoy at Flint. Nancy was presented the keys to the city (on a bracelet) by Mayor Robert<br />
Egan and escorted through a schedule of activities designed to garner the maximum of publicity. In<br />
the group at left she is shown, left to right, with Manager Fredley; Jim Leotherman of the Flint Journal,<br />
Mayor Egan; Ronald Craig, vice-mayor, and Dick Chappell, critic for the Flint Journal. At right, Nancy<br />
is shown debarking from a convertible for one of the functions.<br />
BOXOFTICE Showmandiser :: Oct. 10, 1960 — 159 — 1
. . . VIOLENCE<br />
. . REALISM<br />
. .<br />
All the Young Men' Gets Civic Aids<br />
In Its First National Playdates<br />
First national playdates of "All the<br />
Young Men." the Hall Baitletl piodiiction<br />
beins released by Columbia, are obtaining<br />
support of the U.S. Marine Corps, the<br />
YMCA and a number of other civic organizations.<br />
In addition, in cities where<br />
there is a substantial Negro population,<br />
special campaigns have been angled at this<br />
segment of the community because the film<br />
deals with tensions arising within a small<br />
Korean combat unit when its dying lieutenant<br />
passes command of the group to<br />
the only Negro in the group.<br />
In addition, the press has been uniformly<br />
helpful in almost all situations in<br />
giving the film a good sendoff.<br />
When the picture opened in Denver at<br />
the Denver Theatre, the management was<br />
quick to take advantage of a cover story<br />
on comedian Mort Sahl in Time magazine.<br />
A 40x60. using the cover as the key illustration,<br />
was hurriedly turned out and used<br />
in front of the theatre. It attracted considerable<br />
attention.<br />
Overall, the campaign provides a number<br />
of working tools for exhibitors. The<br />
popular singer Jimmy Darren is one of<br />
the stars of the picture, along with Alan<br />
Ladd and Sidney Poitier. and he has recorded<br />
the title song for Colpix. a division<br />
of Columbia Pictures. In the first dates.<br />
exhibitors have been tieing in with record<br />
shops, using stills from the picture, of the<br />
yoimg star and Colpix promotional material<br />
for window and counter displays. Exhibitors<br />
who want to make tieups with<br />
disc jockeys can obtain the record from<br />
Columbia's exploitation department, 711<br />
Fifth Ave., New York.<br />
Pocketbooks has an edition of "All the<br />
Young Men" on the stands and local distributors<br />
are assisting in promoting the<br />
picture in a variety of tieups. There also<br />
is the possibility of tieups with bicycle<br />
shops. Alan Ladd is national chairman of<br />
the annual salute to bicycling by the Bicycle<br />
Institute of America, and posters<br />
showing the star with a list of safety rules<br />
have been sent to approximately 8,000 bike<br />
shops in the country.<br />
A complete exploitation kit has been created<br />
for the picture, outlining a substantial<br />
Lots of White Space Sets<br />
Emergency 'Hell' Ad<br />
When the newspaper mats for "Hell to<br />
Eternity" failed to arrive on time, Rufus<br />
Neas, manager of the Playhouse in Statesville,<br />
N. C, used a 3-col. 7-inch space<br />
with 6-point type in the center (9 ems<br />
wide) as follows:<br />
"This space was reserved to advertise<br />
the biggest, blasted story of those bruising,<br />
cruising Marines. HELL TO ETERNITY<br />
stars Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Vic<br />
Damone and Patricia Owens. This picture<br />
is all new and must not be confused with<br />
any picture similarly titled . . . The first<br />
100 Marines or ex-Marines will be admitted<br />
for only 25 cents on Saturday<br />
night. Based on the TRUE life of Guy<br />
Gabaldon, Marine hero who captured over<br />
When "All the Young Men" opened at the Denver<br />
(Colo.) Theotre, the current cover of Time featured<br />
comedian Mort Sahl, a star of the film, and<br />
the above poster was quickly turned out to capitalize<br />
on the break.<br />
number of promotional projects which an<br />
exhibitor may undertake. Because of the<br />
popularity of Sidney Poitier and the explosive<br />
theme of the film, an entire section<br />
of the kit is devoted to the special exploitation<br />
approach to be taken in effecting<br />
the campaign directed toward the local<br />
Negro community. Included in this material<br />
is an attractive two-page herald which<br />
lists cast and credits on one side and a<br />
discussion of the role the Negro soldier<br />
plays in the story on the other.<br />
Other campaign materials which have<br />
been used include a series of five public<br />
service radio spots on juvenile delinquency<br />
by heavyweight Ingemar Johansson who<br />
appears in the film; a 21/4x2 V2 black and<br />
white sticker with the legend "All the<br />
Young Men Are Coming"; a series of<br />
drawings by artist Julius Kroll suitable<br />
for newspaper reproduction; reprint of a<br />
Jackie Robinson column lauding the film;<br />
and a newspaper limerick contest.<br />
1.000 prisoners. You will never forget<br />
HELL TO ETERNITY, the 'Battle Cry'<br />
of 1960."<br />
This copy really stood out what with<br />
two inches approximately of white space<br />
surrounding it on all sides.<br />
Safety Series for Kids<br />
Lester Stepner, who has achieved outstanding<br />
success in working with the PTA<br />
and school groups, has started a series of<br />
special safety films at the Evanston (111.)<br />
Theatre. The Evanston police department,<br />
Bell & Howell Co. and the Chicago projectionists<br />
union are cooperating on the safety<br />
feature. The first such film was "The<br />
Safety Patrol." The Evanston police will<br />
play host to the Junior Police Guards of a<br />
different elementary school each week of<br />
the year.<br />
Foreign Films Keeping<br />
Neighborhood in Black<br />
Popularity of foreign films has been<br />
credited with helping the Five Points Theatre<br />
in Columbia. S. C. .stay in the black.<br />
The neighborhood house turned to the<br />
foreign product five years ago by sponsoring<br />
a fine films program planned and<br />
promoted by an interested group of citi- .-<br />
zcns. The Columbia Fine Films Committee le<br />
begins its fifth year of operation next<br />
month under its permanent chairman. Dr.<br />
George Curry.<br />
Meanwhile, it is reported that the house<br />
may change its weekday operating policy<br />
somewhat. If projectionist union negotiations<br />
are successfully completed, the house<br />
will drop continuous performances in favor<br />
of a single matinee and two night performances.<br />
The continuous policy would<br />
remain on weekends.<br />
Since management shows an interest in<br />
keeping foreign policy as a staple—it has<br />
been considered as a Tuesday, Wednesday<br />
and Thursday feature each week—the new<br />
viewing schedule would fit in with habits<br />
of most foreign-film fans, it is believed.<br />
lATSE interest, of course, is fact that an<br />
operator would be eliminated, with only<br />
one needed during the week instead of two.<br />
Violence-Sex Twin Bill<br />
Big St. Louis Grosser<br />
"Curse of a Teenage Nazi" and another<br />
exploitation picture, "Unwed Mothers,"<br />
. . Girls<br />
were booked into the Ansel Bros. Enterprises<br />
Ritz Theatre out on Delmar boulevard<br />
in St. Louis where Don Meyers is<br />
manager.<br />
Meyers pulled out all the stops in promoting<br />
the violence-sex twin bill, pro- 1-<br />
claiming from a shocker front, handbills, r!<br />
etc. "Trapped, They Defied Their Killer<br />
Captors . . . ROMANCE . . . SHOCKING<br />
. ... See<br />
Women Enslaved by Nazi Werewolves .<br />
It Screams the Terrifying Truth .<br />
Now It Can Be<br />
Choose Death to Nazis . . .<br />
Told ... It Will Tear Your Mind With<br />
Puiy."<br />
With this kind of advertising, the twin<br />
bill went on to outgross such films as The<br />
Big Fisherman, Solomon and Sheba. The<br />
Unforgiven, the Last Voyage and Porgy<br />
and Bess at the Ritz, Meyers reports. He<br />
comments he would be pleased to forward<br />
a copy of his campaign to anyone writing<br />
him at the Ritz Theatre, 6267 Delmar<br />
Blvd., St. Louis.<br />
Hypnotized Man Buried<br />
As 'Hypnotic Eye' Stunt<br />
The Miracle Mile Drive -In near Toledo<br />
was open 24 hours a day for the 72 hours<br />
in which a man was hypnotized and<br />
"buried alive in a grave." Drive-in patrons<br />
could see the subject at any time to verify<br />
authenticity of the stunt. The man was<br />
hypnotized at 10 p.m. on a Friday and<br />
placed in a grave, where he remained<br />
without food or water until Monday niglit<br />
—a total of 72 hours. Patrons to the film .-<br />
feature were admitted at no change in 'n<br />
price. The screen program featured "The<br />
Hypnotic Eye," first-mn showing, and<br />
every patron received a hypnotic-eye balloon<br />
to enable him or her to enjoy the<br />
thrills of Hypnomagic.<br />
— IGO — BOXOFFICE Showmandiser :: Oct. 10, 1960
I<br />
which<br />
-<br />
. . You'll . . . Be<br />
Using a Public Preview<br />
In<br />
Push for Top Gross<br />
^^ Disc Jockeys are Called on to Help Bring in<br />
1,000 \o 'Pollyanna' Screening<br />
Promotion of the "Pollyanna" engagement<br />
at the Imperial Theatre in Toronto<br />
was started more than a month in advance<br />
by Michael King, manager of the<br />
Famous Players Canadian showplace.<br />
The opening push of the concentrated<br />
effort to bring in top grosses on this picture<br />
was a screening, planned and executed<br />
on a large scale. Since more than 1,000<br />
regular patrons of the Imperial attended<br />
this press-public screening as guests, a<br />
step-by -step outline of the procedure<br />
follows:<br />
1. Invitations went to press folk, radio,<br />
VIP, shareholders, group sales contacts<br />
included schools. Girl Guides, Boy<br />
Scouts, etc. and PPC Gift Ticket contacts.<br />
I<br />
Most of<br />
the invitations were RSVP.<br />
2. When reply cards were received,<br />
names were checked off the lists and admittance<br />
tickets mailed.<br />
3. General public invitations were handled<br />
as follows: Trailer on screen two<br />
weeks ahead, and 40x60 in the lobby, both<br />
announcing the preview mo title) and inviting<br />
the audience to write in for tickets.<br />
As public response was something less than<br />
expected, various disc jockeys were contacted<br />
to work in announcements regarding<br />
the unique public screening. On receipt<br />
of requests for tickets from patrons, invitational<br />
tickets were mailed out.<br />
4. The regular show was scheduled so<br />
that it ended at approximately 7 p.m.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong> had, of course, been closed at<br />
the start of the last feature, and appropriate<br />
signs had been placed around the boxoffice.<br />
5. When regular patrons left, theatre<br />
w^as tidied up, confection bars readied and<br />
staff briefed.<br />
6. Doors were then opened at 7:30 p.m.<br />
A lineup had formed considerably earlier,<br />
and was controlled by ushering staff.<br />
7. As people came in they were handed<br />
programs by attractive young women.<br />
8. Before program was started, the audience<br />
was greeted by manager and asked<br />
to take a few minutes as they left to fill<br />
in comment cards.<br />
9. "Pollyanna" postcards were distributed<br />
to as many of the audience as possible<br />
as they left.<br />
10. Stills from the picture were imprinted<br />
with, "Hope you enjoyed me in<br />
'Pollyanna,' " and mailed to all surrounding<br />
newspapers so that they would be received<br />
the morning after the screening.<br />
To stir up interest in the screening disc<br />
jockeys were persuaded to broadcast spots<br />
such as the following used on CKLB at<br />
nearby Osliawa, Ont.:<br />
"Ladies and gentlemen: the other day<br />
while I was in Toronto, I had occasion to<br />
join Michael King for coffee. Now, in the<br />
event that there are some who are not<br />
acquainted with Mike, he is the Manager<br />
of the Imperial Theatre in Toronto. He<br />
told me of a special private screening of<br />
what he felt was an 'outstanding' movie:<br />
and he kindly invited my wife and myself<br />
to attend . . . and he asked me to invite<br />
you too!! Now when movies are advance<br />
screened like this, generally only the press,<br />
radio and television are admitted, let alone<br />
invited: however; Mr. King feels that this<br />
is the exception inasmuch as this is a very<br />
exceptional movie. Now, if you would like<br />
to join me at the Imperial Theatre this<br />
coming Thursday evening at 8:15 do this<br />
right now: write to The Manager, The<br />
Imperial Theatre, Yonge St., Toronto: say<br />
'I would like to bring a friend to your<br />
special screening' and sign your name and<br />
address CLEARLY. You should write soon,<br />
because, obviously, these invitations will<br />
not last."<br />
For the public screening. Manager King<br />
decorated the theatre with special care.<br />
For example, more than $600 worth of<br />
planters and floral arrangements were obtained<br />
"on consignment" for use around<br />
"Pollyanna" setpieces and display frames.<br />
King's personal appeal for comments<br />
produced plenty of filled-in cards, and he<br />
selected the best for an impressive preview<br />
board isee photo herewith), which was<br />
used inside prior to engagement and out<br />
front during the run.<br />
Press previews < raves) were blown up<br />
and displayed out front the morning after<br />
they appeared.<br />
i<br />
The lengthy one-third of a city block)<br />
entrance lobby proved excellent for use of<br />
Burma-Shave type signs on the balustrade<br />
through the long lobby center. As patrons<br />
came in they read, "Every . . . Pollyanna<br />
Impressive preview board arranged by Manager<br />
Mike King at the Imperial Theatre in Toronto<br />
following a press-public screening held month in<br />
advance. Note the blowup of a photo of the preview<br />
crowd. At the left is an easel containing blowups<br />
of press reviews of the film.<br />
BOXOFFICE Showmondiser Oct. 10, 1960 — 161 —<br />
Planters and floral arrangements will beautify an<br />
otherwise ordinary lobby disploy, as is illustrated<br />
in the above arrangement from the Imperial Theotre<br />
in<br />
Toronto.<br />
.<br />
.<br />
As they left the patrons were advised,<br />
"Tell . . . Your . . . Friends . . . About . . .<br />
Pollyanna . . . . Glad . . .<br />
You . . . Did!"<br />
The confection bar was decorated in<br />
"Pollyanna" style, also promoting popcorn<br />
and Pepsi-Cola.<br />
A "Pollyanna" Truth Ring giveaway<br />
zoomed the sales of the 25 -cent Buttercup<br />
popcorn. Signs advertised a Pollyanna<br />
Truth Ring free in every bag of the 25-<br />
cent corn.<br />
A thousand inflated toy balloons were<br />
distributed at parks and playgrounds<br />
around town. Any child presenting a balloon<br />
to the boxoffice was admitted free.<br />
This was advertised in lobby pieces, etc.<br />
Eaton's of Canada, department store<br />
chain, went in on a Lucky number contest<br />
featuring a Pollyanna doll. Displays at the<br />
store and at theatre advertised the free<br />
doll for all ticket numbers ending in a<br />
given sequence.<br />
Plugging Via Tape Lifts<br />
Airer Concession Sales<br />
Per-person concession sales at the Havana<br />
I 111.) Drive-In have been increased<br />
by Don Bowen, manager, to the second<br />
highest in the 35-theatre Kerasotes circuit<br />
by means of his own tape-recordings.<br />
Bowen has recorded music for his preshow<br />
time all summer, changing the tape<br />
every two weeks. This allows him personally<br />
to plug his soft-sell items.<br />
Bowen promoted a 1953 Buick hardtop<br />
from the local dealer for a Labor Day show<br />
giveaway. He also rounded up a basket of<br />
groceries, a free oil change and a grease<br />
job to sweeten up the prize pot. He WTOte<br />
concession items on some 50 paper picnic<br />
plates and tossed them from the roof of<br />
the concession building for an additional<br />
giveaway, advertising this as a flying<br />
saucer landing.<br />
A display of fireworks also was featui-ed.<br />
Bowen, who also manages Kerasotes'<br />
Lawford Theatre in Havana, reports a great<br />
personal and business loss, the death of<br />
Kay Bracndel, local newspaperman who<br />
assisted him two nights a week at the<br />
drive-in. Braendel was killed while serving<br />
as a volunteer fireman fighting a downtown<br />
store fire. "He was a theatreman at<br />
heart," Bowen lamented, "and always gave<br />
me 100 per cent cooperation."
Films. Like Noodles and Cereak Sell<br />
Better When Put in Catchy Packages<br />
Drive-In theatres In and around New<br />
Orleans have taken counsel from the<br />
grocery and gadget-drugstore merchandisers<br />
and are putting up their product<br />
in attractive packages.<br />
Two. three tand sometimes foui-) features<br />
having something in common—in<br />
theme, in actors, or type—are being<br />
booked for weekend shows and ticketed<br />
under special names, making free use<br />
of such suffixes as "arama." "arious"<br />
and "iffics," to give them that certain<br />
must-see appeal.<br />
The Do Drive-In, the Airline and the<br />
Drive-In Movies at one time or other<br />
have offered their Spook-A-Rama.<br />
Doggone - A - Rama, Terror - If fie and<br />
other itchy-witching specials.<br />
Latest in the catchy tagline parade is<br />
the St. Bernard Drive-In, which on a<br />
recent weekend advertised three comedies<br />
rolled into one "Howl-Arious" bill<br />
consisting of Abbott and Costello in<br />
"Dance With Me, Henry," the Bowery<br />
Boys in "Let's Go Navy" and Mickey<br />
Rooney and Virginia Welles in "Francis<br />
in<br />
the Haunted House."<br />
The guarantee? "If You Die Laughing<br />
We Will Bury You FREE!"<br />
A few weeks ago the Do Drive-In advertised<br />
"3 Daffy Comedies," with the<br />
line set in irregular letters, and this<br />
catchline: "Filmed Entirely Off Limits<br />
... If These Are U.S. Fighting Men,<br />
How the Devil Did We Win the War?"<br />
The films were "Up Front," "Let's Go<br />
Navy" and "Operation Mad Ball."<br />
Anything for a Show-A-Thon!<br />
Deejay in Helicopter<br />
Drops Tickets to 'Sky'<br />
The sky was crowded with tickets to the<br />
Palace Theatre's opening of "The Crowded<br />
Sky." WERE radio's traffic helicopter with<br />
deejay Phil McLean flew over four leading<br />
Cleveland area shopping centers on opening<br />
day and dropped 1.000 free tickets to ie<br />
.see the picture.<br />
Hundreds of shopping center shoppers,<br />
alerted to the helicopter diop by announcements<br />
on the air, waited and watched<br />
while the 'copter zoomed down and Mc-<br />
Lean showered the area with tickets. In<br />
A First in Canada! Radio Station Holds<br />
Anniversary Party at Drive-In Theatre<br />
R. N. "Bob" Hubbard, who managed the<br />
Starlite Drive-In at Chippawa. Ont.. last<br />
season for Famous Players Canadian, Is a<br />
native of Sydney, Australia, who gained<br />
his theatre experience working for Greater<br />
Union and Metro Theatres there, then<br />
migrated to Canada in 1952. Hubbard reports<br />
what he feels is a "first in Canada"<br />
promotion.<br />
Chippawa is a peaceful village of 3.800<br />
on the Ontario side of the Niagara River<br />
six miles above the city of Niagara Falls,<br />
and early in the season Hubbard decided<br />
he had to do something to attract attention<br />
and patronage from the tourist center.<br />
In his area he couldn't depend much on<br />
sultry evenings, and what with daylight<br />
time the screen program could not get<br />
under way till 9 pjn. and later.<br />
ON 13TH ANNIVERSARY<br />
Hubbard went to Mike Mezo jr., the<br />
sales manager for radio station CHVC at<br />
Niagara Falls, and talked up the benefits<br />
to the station of holding its coming 'the<br />
13th) anniversary celebration at the Starlite<br />
Drive-In in the form of a party for<br />
Mom, Pop and all members of the family.<br />
This idea fell on fertile ground, since<br />
CH'VC prides itself on being a family station.<br />
Manager Hubbard set his rental just<br />
high enough to cover film costs and his<br />
overhead.<br />
CH'VC immediately announced the 13th<br />
CHVC Anniversary Party on its newscasts,<br />
and its disc jockeys started plugging the<br />
event ten times daily 16 days prior.<br />
Admission to the party was by special<br />
tickets distributed at the radio station by<br />
the disc jockeys through contests and gimmicks,<br />
and also by the A&W Drive-In<br />
restaurant. The ticket distribution was<br />
limited to 500. Prizes were promoted from<br />
52 Niagara Falls merchants for awarding<br />
at the big party.<br />
CHVC had its equipment all ready and<br />
broadcast one hour of the proceedings from<br />
a stage built by Manager Hubbard. There<br />
were entertainers from the station. Between<br />
these acts the prizes<br />
were awarded.<br />
A numbered CHVC bumper strip was<br />
pasted on each car entering, and the merchandise<br />
gifts were distributed via the<br />
numbers.<br />
Franklin J. Miller, mayor of Niagara<br />
Palls, and Ed Mitchelson and John Mackenzie,<br />
township reeves, joined CHVC<br />
staffers in welcoming the guests. More<br />
than 420 cars filled the Starlite Drive-In<br />
that night, carrying approximately 1,600<br />
persons.<br />
The stage show got under way at 7:30<br />
with the broadcast extending from 8 to 9,<br />
after which was the screen program consisting<br />
of "Shane" and a cartoon and a<br />
Three Stooges comedy.<br />
And the Starlite concession stand that<br />
night more than doubled the best night<br />
of the season.<br />
A. W. Blakely, manager of CHVC. wrote<br />
a letter of commendation to Hubbard<br />
which included the following comment:<br />
"The event did us both good and I hope<br />
we'll be able to arrange a repeat at some<br />
future time. We were pleased that CHVC<br />
is the first station in Canada ever to purchase<br />
the facilities of a drive-in theatre<br />
for an anniversary party."<br />
MESSAGE FROM WIN BARRON<br />
Win Barron, Toronto, Paramount Pictures,<br />
in a telegram, and Jim Cameron,<br />
FPC district manager, in a broadcast telephone<br />
interview, congratulated the station<br />
on its anniversary.<br />
As for Hubbard, the party was a success<br />
in many ways. "It was a joy to see the<br />
family business; the teenager and his girl<br />
friend were definitely in the minority," he<br />
comments.<br />
each shopping center where this was<br />
staged, there was a rush to capture tickets.<br />
In addition to the helicopter drop, the<br />
Palace Theatre and WERE featured a contest<br />
to guess the number of airplanes landing<br />
at Cleveland Hopkins airport within<br />
a three-day period. The first 50 winners<br />
received free tickets to "The Crowded<br />
Sky."<br />
The promotion was handled by Manager<br />
Max Mink in cooperation with publicists<br />
Bernice Kanel & Associates. The<br />
photo shows Mink, standing, presenting<br />
sacks of tickets to deejay McLean, seated<br />
in the 'copter with the pilot. At right is<br />
Mink's secretary.<br />
Christmas Toys in Stores<br />
To Help Launch 'Dondi'<br />
One of the most extensive merchandising<br />
tieups Allied Artists has ever devoted<br />
to a motion picture will launch "Dondi"<br />
for Christmas release. AA has secured a<br />
deal with the Jac agency whereby 17 items<br />
carrying the cartoon character's name and<br />
appealing to children will be manufactured<br />
and distributed to some 100,000 department<br />
stores, toy stores and drug stores<br />
simultaneously with the release of the<br />
pictui'e.<br />
Dondi dolls, a Dondi bank, squeeze toy,<br />
pencil and paint sets, magic erasable<br />
games and cards, jig saw puzzles and<br />
coloring books are among the articles included.<br />
Bank Sponsors Kid Show-<br />
John J. Scanlon jr. of the Winsted,<br />
Conn., Strand ran a Back to School show,<br />
consisting of 16 cartoons. A free pencil<br />
box went to all patrons. The Winsted savings<br />
bank picked up the tab.<br />
— 182 — BOXOFFICE Showmandiser : : Oct. 10, 1960
BOxorricE<br />
BOOKINOUIDE<br />
An Interpretative onotyKis of loy ond trodepress revlow». Running time Is In parentheses. The<br />
plus ond minus signs Indicate degree of merit. Listings cover current reviews, updoted regularly.<br />
This deportment also serves os on ALPHABETICAL INDEX to tcoturc relcoscs. c is tor<br />
CincmaScope; V VistoVision; s Superscopc; H Naturamo; Ri Rogolscope; t Tcchniroma<br />
Symbol CJ denotes BOXOFFICE Blue Ribbon Award; Q color photography. For listings bv<br />
compony in the order of release, see FEATURE CHART.<br />
—<br />
REVIEW DIGEST.<br />
AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX In the summory '<br />
2458 0Ltl'< Makt Lwo (U8) ®<br />
Com«d>/Muiic 2(Hh-Fox 9- 5-60 H t+ H -ft +<br />
2465 Litllt Shoo of Horron, Tfit (70)<br />
Horror Comtdy Filmgroup 10- 3-60 •<br />
2439 uOLost Wofld. The (96) (£)<br />
Sciwcf-Ficlion 2 Borgia (83) Melo Vog SR 8-15-60 :!;<br />
2454 Ma Barktf's Killer Brood (89)<br />
Crime Dr Filmservtce-SR<br />
242S OMacumba Lore (86) Ho UA<br />
2431 Man In a CKkeo Hat (87)<br />
Comedy Show Corp. of Amcr.<br />
2414 Man on a String (92) Dr Col<br />
2452 Man Who Wculdnl Talk. Tlie (97)<br />
Myilery Drama Show Corp.<br />
2405 OMastirs of the Congo Jungle<br />
(88) © Doc 20111-Fox<br />
2410 Mountain Road. Vk (102) Or Col<br />
2438 Murder. Inc. (103) ® Crime. .20th-Fox<br />
2427 Music Box Kid. Ttie (74) Cr. Or. UA<br />
2421 My Dog, Buddy (76) Dr Col<br />
—N<br />
2463 Naked and the Wicked. The<br />
(90) Melodrama (Eng-dubbed) SR<br />
2435 0Nexl to No Time (93) Com. Show Corp.<br />
2462 Night F;ghters. The (85) Or UA<br />
2447 Night of Love (93) Melodr Howco<br />
2450ONights of Lucretia Borgia. Tlie (108)<br />
ToLilscope His. Dr Col<br />
2423 Noose (or a Gunman (69) Western. UA<br />
2411 Nude in a White Car (87) Mystery<br />
(English-dubbed)<br />
Trans-Lux<br />
C Outdoor Dr 20th-Fox<br />
2410 Operation Amsterdam (94) Dr. . .20th-Fox<br />
2445 Oscar Wilde (96) Dr Four City Ent<br />
2409 00thello (108) Drama<br />
(English-dubbed)<br />
2400 Our Man in Havana<br />
Tr3tis-Lux<br />
(112) ® Com. Or Col<br />
—P—<br />
2417 Pay or Die (110) Dr AA<br />
2422 Platinum High School (93) Dr MGM<br />
2408 UCFIease Don't Eat the Daisies<br />
(111) © Comedy MGM<br />
2413 Poacher's Daughter. The<br />
174) Com Show Carp.<br />
2416 (.JOPollyanna (134) Com. Dr BV<br />
2436 QPortrait in Black (111) Or U-1<br />
2397 Pretty Boy Floyd (96) Cr Con'tl<br />
2431 Prime Time. The (76) Or. Essanjay-SR<br />
2420 ©Prisoner of the Volga (92) Totalscope<br />
Spectacle Dr. (English-dubbed) ..Para<br />
2414 Private Property (79) Dr Citation<br />
2440 Psycho (109) Suspense Drama ....Para<br />
—R—<br />
2420 ©Rat Race. The (105) Comedy. ... Para<br />
2419 Raymie (73) Drama AA<br />
2454 Rebel Girls (70) Action Luzon-SR<br />
2395 Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond. Ttie<br />
(101) Crime Drama WB<br />
2432 Rosemary (105) Drama F-A-W<br />
2460 Runaway (76) Melodrama Group 9<br />
—S<br />
2451 Savage Eye, The (67) Semidocumentarv<br />
Drama<br />
Trans-Lux-Kingsley<br />
2464 .gSavage Innocents, The (110)<br />
. .Todd<br />
f Adv. Dr Para<br />
2391 ©Scent of Mystery (125)<br />
Todd Process (^medy-Drama<br />
2432 School for Love (76) Dr NTA<br />
2456 School for Scoundrels (94)<br />
Comedy<br />
Cont' I<br />
2403 Sea Fury (72) Ac. Drama Lopert<br />
8-2260 -<br />
3-30-60 + -<br />
6-13-60 -f H<br />
4-11-60 -f ±<br />
8-22-60 -f<br />
3- 7-60 + H<br />
23910*'»ti'>(i Time (95) Com. (Reviewed as<br />
"The Bridal Path") . . Kingsiey-Union 1-18-60 +<br />
242SOMichael SIrogofI (115) ®<br />
Ad«. (Englith-dubbtd) Cont'l<br />
2443 Missile From Hell (82) Dr NTA<br />
2444 Model for Murder (75) Cr Cin. Assoc<br />
2344 Morals Squad (57) Crime Dr Brenner<br />
5-30-60 4- +<br />
7-18-60 ±<br />
7-18-60 :t<br />
6-20-60 ±<br />
3-28-60 -f ±<br />
7- 4-60 + +<br />
6- 6-60 + *<br />
5.16-60 + ±<br />
9-26-60 +<br />
6-27-60 ± +<br />
9-19-60 + +<br />
8- 8-60 ±<br />
S-15-60 ^ +<br />
5-23-60 ± +<br />
4- 4-60 ± +<br />
—O<br />
2451 ;^O0ceans 11 (128) c Com-Dr. WB S-22-60 't<br />
2401 Oklahoma Territory (67) Western.. UA 2-22-60 It<br />
2450 ©One Fool in Hell (89)<br />
8-15-60 +<br />
3-28-60 ±<br />
8- 1-60 +<br />
4- 4-60 ±<br />
2-15-60 4+<br />
5- 2-60 ++<br />
5-16-60 ±<br />
H +<br />
+ -<br />
+ +<br />
4+ ±<br />
H +<br />
+<br />
+ +<br />
++ ft<br />
is rotcd 2 pluses, os 2 minuses. Very Good; ' Good; Fair; Poor; '-- Very Poor.<br />
a: ++ -<br />
It »1 tl<br />
H 11+<br />
1+<br />
± ± 9+2-<br />
1+1-<br />
1 + 1-<br />
1-<br />
- ± 5+6-<br />
± H 6+1-<br />
+ + 7+3-<br />
1+<br />
+ H 7+<br />
+ 3+1-<br />
+ * ++ 6+1-<br />
1+1-<br />
1+1-<br />
1+1-<br />
H - + ++ 9+3-<br />
+ ++ + ++ 9+1-<br />
+ + - - 5+3-<br />
+ - ± 5+4-<br />
1+<br />
+ ± 4+2-<br />
+ + + + 6+<br />
1+1-<br />
+ +<br />
+ =t<br />
-H-<br />
H<br />
+ +<br />
H +<br />
+<br />
t+ +<br />
++ +<br />
+ +<br />
± + 7+2-<br />
+ 6+3-<br />
± 4+2-<br />
± ff 12+1-<br />
4+5-<br />
+ 6+<br />
+4 9+3-<br />
++ ++ 11+<br />
± H 6+2-<br />
± -H- 10+1-<br />
+ ++ 12+<br />
+ + 6+3-<br />
3-21-60 ftHHttttff++14+<br />
4-U-60 +<br />
4-18-60 ff<br />
6-27-60 ft<br />
2- 8-60 +<br />
6-13-60 It<br />
5- 9-60 +<br />
4-11-60 +<br />
7-11-60 ff<br />
5- 9-60 H<br />
5- 9-60 +<br />
8-22-60 ±<br />
2- 1-60 +<br />
6-13-60 +<br />
912-60 +<br />
8-22-60 H H<br />
9-26-60 \i<br />
1-18-60 +<br />
6-13-60 zt<br />
8-29-60 +<br />
2-29-60 ±<br />
+<br />
+ -<br />
+ +<br />
ft H<br />
ft<br />
ff<br />
ft<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
ft<br />
H<br />
H ft<br />
+ -<br />
+<br />
+ :t<br />
+<br />
ft<br />
ff<br />
+ + 6+<br />
ff ff 14+<br />
ff ± 7+4-<br />
+ i 6+3-<br />
= 2+4-<br />
+ ± 6+3-<br />
+ ± 6+1-<br />
+ ft 13+<br />
H ft<br />
+<br />
H<br />
+<br />
H 14+<br />
4+<br />
1+1-<br />
++ + + + 8+1-<br />
+ ff 7+<br />
1+<br />
if<br />
ft<br />
± ++ 7+1-<br />
+ +f<br />
+ +<br />
8+<br />
1+1-<br />
5+<br />
1+1-<br />
2415 ©Sergeant Rulledoe (11) Dr WB<br />
2460 ©Seven Ways From Sutidown<br />
(87) Western U-l<br />
2448 Sign of Zorro. The (91) Adv BV<br />
2455 Sill & Desire (77) Dr Atlantis<br />
2398 Sink the Bismarck! (97)<br />
(^ W
.My.<br />
j<br />
PARAMOUNT<br />
! The<br />
Inc<br />
Peature producMons by company in order of rclcosc. Running time is in poronthcscs. (O is for CinemoScopc;<br />
Vi VistoVision; iS Supcfscope; iHi Naturamo; R Rcqolicopo; t: Teehniromo Svmbal i. denotes BOXOFFICE<br />
t'.uQ Ribbon Award; n color photoqraphv Letters and coirbinotlons thereof indicate storv type—(Complete<br />
key on next page.) For review dates ond Picture Guide pogo numbers, soo REVIEW DIGEST. 9<br />
ALLIED ARTISTS g<br />
AMERICAN<br />
INT'L<br />
. .<br />
Tlie Purple Gano (83)<br />
. - Ac. .5919 ©Goliath and the Barbarians<br />
llnrry Sullivan. Elaine Edwarlts (90) Totalscooe Ad .406<br />
Sieve l:i'i'\w. Oieln AIoubo<br />
COLUMBIA M-G-M<br />
i<br />
Siirtdcnly. L.ist Summer<br />
(114) D..417<br />
Klizabctli T«lor. Monljunicry<br />
Cllfl. Katharine Hepl)urn<br />
The Gene Krupa Story (101) Bl. 419<br />
Sal Mliiw]. Susan Kcihncr<br />
ONe»er So Few (124) (©0.. 8<br />
I'lank Sinatra. Clna I^illobrlglda,<br />
Steve McUueen. Paul llenrled<br />
The Gazebo (102) ©<br />
.<br />
(Ilenn Font. Deblile<br />
Carl<br />
llclner<br />
EATURE CHART \<br />
...My C.<br />
Ueynolili.<br />
10<br />
R 5i<br />
A Touch of Larceny (93) CD<br />
J.imes Majiiin. Vera .Miles<br />
5911<br />
><br />
-<<br />
The Hypnotic Eye (77) .<br />
.6001<br />
.l.iriiiM's KcTtrraf, Alllion Hayes<br />
©The Anory Red Planet<br />
(S3) Cinemaoic SF .<br />
. 501<br />
Ccrald Mohr. Nora Haydwi.<br />
Les Tremayne<br />
Who Was Thai Lady? (115) C. .418<br />
Tonv Curtis. Dean Martin, Janet<br />
l.elgli<br />
©Once More, With Feelino<br />
(92) C..421<br />
Yiil ItfiTiner. Kay Kendall<br />
Our Man in Havana (112)<br />
© CO. .420<br />
AU'c (iulnness. Burl Ives, Maureen<br />
(I'llara, Ernie Kovacs<br />
©The Last Voyaoe (91) . . . .D. .11 Jack the Ripper (85) ..Ho.. 5910<br />
Kiiliert Slack. Dorothy Malone lyce Patterson. Betty MeDowill<br />
|<br />
Bio Night (74) D..5912<br />
Handy Siiarks, Venctia Stevenson<br />
©Circus Stars (61) ©..Doc. 5913<br />
Soviet clrCTis artists<br />
00<br />
70<br />
><br />
TO<br />
Pa-sed (or White<br />
(91) 0. .6005<br />
S..Mya Willie. James Franclstus<br />
©Comanche Station<br />
(74) © OD.<br />
Kundnlph Scott. Nancy Gates<br />
422<br />
©Home From the Hill<br />
(150) © D..12<br />
!ii>l)ert MItchuni. Elftanor Parker.<br />
1 "orge Peppard, (leorgo Hamilton<br />
Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons<br />
(92) D..6002<br />
r.wirge S.in(lers. Corinne (Mvet<br />
©Babette Goes to War<br />
(103) © C..423<br />
llaiglish-rtubbeill Brtgltle Bardot,<br />
.l,iin;ies<br />
(!liarrier<br />
Because They're Youno<br />
(102) CD. 424<br />
Kick Clark, Victoria Shaw<br />
Mlcbael Callan, Tue.sday Weld<br />
(^©Please Don't Eat the<br />
Daisies (111) © C. .13<br />
Miirls Hay. liavld .NIvon, Janls Paige<br />
(WC,<br />
sepi<br />
©Circus of Horrors (89) Ho. 503<br />
Antfln Diffrlng, Erika Kembiirg<br />
©Killers of Kilimanjaro<br />
(91) © Ad.. 425<br />
K'obert Taylor, Anne Aubrey<br />
Man on a Strinn (92) D..426<br />
Krni'st llurgnine. Carole Matlieiva<br />
Straiiglers of Bombay<br />
(SI) © My.. 427<br />
(,'iiv Itolte. .\llan (SitJibertson<br />
The Electronic Monster (72) D..428<br />
Knd Cameron. Mary Murphy<br />
Platinum High School (93).. CO.. 14<br />
Mickey Uw)ney, Terry Moore, Dan<br />
Diiryea<br />
©The Giant of Marathon<br />
(92) D..15<br />
Steve liceves. Mylene Demongeol<br />
Raymie (73) Ad. 6006<br />
havld Ladd. Julie Adams, Jotin<br />
.Vfar<br />
Why Must I Die? (90) D..504<br />
Tefry Moore, Dobra Paget<br />
Jailbreakers (64) Ac.<br />
Kobeit Hutton. Mary Cattle<br />
.408<br />
The Mountain Road (102) . . D. .429<br />
.lames Stewart, Lisa Lu<br />
©Battle in Outer Space<br />
(90) Ac. 430<br />
l!yo ikebe and all-Japanese cast<br />
iii©Adventures of Huckleberry<br />
Finn (107) © CD.<br />
Tony Itandail. Kildle llodges.<br />
Arclile Moore, Judy (^anova<br />
16<br />
12 to the Moon (74) SF..431<br />
Ken (aark. Rob't Moattomery jr.<br />
Pay or Die (110) Cr..6104<br />
Rmest Bor^lne. Zohra Lampert<br />
Sex Kittens Go to<br />
Colleje (94) C..6003<br />
Miiniit Van Doreti, Tuesday Weld.<br />
.Mijaiiou Hardot. Mickey Shaughne-iwy.<br />
liOuis Nye<br />
©The House of Usher<br />
(90) (g Ho.. 502<br />
Vincent Price, Mark Damon,<br />
Myma Fahey<br />
Beyond the Time Barrier<br />
(SO)<br />
SF..505<br />
Robert (Tlarke. Parlcne Tompkins<br />
Amazing Transparent Man<br />
(60) SF..506<br />
Marguerite (3iapman, Douglas<br />
Kermedy<br />
©Strangers When We Meet<br />
(117) © D..501<br />
Kirk Douglas. Kim Novak<br />
B.u-bara Rush. Kent SmltJi<br />
13 Ghosts (S8) Ho C. .502<br />
.In Morrow, Kopemary I)eC!an)P,<br />
liuriaUl Woods (partly in color)<br />
Stop! Look! and Uugh! (78) C..503<br />
Three Stooges, Paul Wlnchell<br />
My Dog. Buddy (77) D..450<br />
l>ondon (dog star), Traiis Lemmond<br />
©The Nights of Lucretia Borgia<br />
(108) Totalscope Hi. 504<br />
Belinda Lee. Jacipies Semas<br />
The Day They Robbed the<br />
Bank of England (85) .0..19<br />
Aldo Itay. Hugh Griffith,<br />
Kli7abeth Sellars<br />
©Bells Are Ringing<br />
(127) © M..17<br />
Judy Holllday, Deun Martin,<br />
Fred Oark<br />
©The Time Machine (103).. SF.. 9<br />
Rod Taylor. Yvette Mlmlcul<br />
©All the Fine Young<br />
Cannibals (122) © D..20<br />
Natalie Wood. Robert Wagner,<br />
Su.-ioii Koluier, George Hamilton<br />
ou\<br />
Hell to Eternity (132) D..6007<br />
.U-Ifrrv ll-iiUvT, Itaud .lanssen.<br />
Vic l>.imonf. I'atrlcia Owens<br />
Caltiki. The Immortal<br />
Monster (76) SF..6009<br />
.lulin .Merivale. Dldl Sullivan<br />
The Tormented (75) D..6010<br />
lllchard Carlson, Susan Oordon<br />
©Journey to the Lost City<br />
(94) Ad.<br />
liebra Paget, I'aul Oirbttan<br />
The Enemy General (74).. D.. 505<br />
Van Joltnson. .lean-Pierre .\umont<br />
All the Young Men (87).. D.. 506<br />
Alan Liild. Sidney Pnltler.<br />
Ini;cniar Johiuissun. Mort Salll<br />
©Fast and Sexy (98) © CD.. 507<br />
Oina 1/illobrlgida. Dale Robertson,<br />
Vl'toro lie Slca<br />
As the Sea Rages (74) D..50S<br />
Maria Schell. Cliff Robertson.<br />
Cameron Mitchell<br />
The Angel Wore Red (99).. D.. 101<br />
Aia G.cnllier. Dirk Uogarde.<br />
.Iiiseph Cotten<br />
©The Subterraneans (88) © D. .102<br />
Leslie Caron, George Peppard,<br />
Janice Rule, Roddy .MacDouall<br />
Time Bomb (92) Ac . . 6011<br />
Curl Jtirgens, Mylene Demongeot<br />
Bloody Brood (71) Ac. 6012<br />
Barbara Lord, Jack Belt<br />
Rough and the Smooth (100) D.<br />
Nadja Tiller, Wm. licndix.<br />
Tony Britton<br />
I Aim at the Stars (107) BiD. 512<br />
C\\n Jiirgens. Victoria Shaw-<br />
Let No Man Write My<br />
Epitaph (106) .513<br />
Burl Ives. Shelley Winters, Jimcs<br />
Darren, Jean Sebcrg<br />
I'm All Right, Jack (104) C.SIS<br />
Ian (-irmlchael. Peter Sellers. I<br />
TiTrv Thom.i^ Drrnl^ Price<br />
Key Wilnus (81) © ....D..103<br />
Jeffrey llunler, Pat Crowley<br />
Where the Hot Wind Blovus<br />
(120) D..104<br />
GIna Lollobriglda, Yves Montand
'<br />
Ilkhnrd<br />
John<br />
(130)<br />
.Montgomery<br />
I<br />
Jolui<br />
Dirk<br />
,<br />
.<br />
.<br />
WARNER<br />
CD<br />
.D<br />
. . BID<br />
.<br />
.<br />
.<br />
.<br />
.<br />
.<br />
The key to l.tton ond combinotioM th.root indicoNng ttory typo: (Ad) Adventure Oro,„„, mo; (Ac) ,„^, Action „„„„<br />
FEATURE CHART Dromo; (An) Animated-Action; (C) Comedy; (CO) Ccmedy-Dromo; Xr) Crime Dromo' (DM) DrJmn<br />
with Mu»ic; lOoe) Documenlory; (0) Oromo; (F) Fontosy; (FC) Force-Comedy; (Ho) Horror Dromo- (Hi)<br />
H.sloricol Dromo; (M) Musicol; (My) Myjtcry; (OD) Outdoor Dromo; (SF) Science-Fiction- (W) Wc'stern<br />
^<br />
<<br />
I<br />
20TH-FOX UNITED ARTISTS g 2^ UNIVERSAL-INT L I |^<br />
i<br />
Thi Slory on Pxc One<br />
(122) lO CD OOl<br />
Kill Havuorth. Anthon)- Krancluis,<br />
(Jig YiMIII;:<br />
Snen Tliinti (102) _ OFIame 0»er India<br />
]<br />
<<br />
ig) Ad. 017<br />
Kenneth Mure. Ijuren ]:.i(-all<br />
Crack in the Mirror (97) © D. .018<br />
Ursun Wi-lles, Juilelte Greco,<br />
IlndTord Dlllman<br />
Operation Amstentam (94).. Ac. 015<br />
Peter Flncb, Ba Bartok<br />
OWild Ri«er © (105) D..009<br />
uj Cli/t, Lee Remlck.<br />
,<br />
2 Jo Van Fleet<br />
Bohbihins (90) C..004<br />
.Max Byeraves, SlUrley Jones<br />
12 Hours to Kill (S3) igi Ac. 022<br />
NIco .Minardos. Barbara Eden<br />
©The Story of Ruth<br />
(132) © D..021<br />
ana Eilrn. Stuart WliUnnn<br />
Trapped in Tangiers<br />
(77) © Ad. 027<br />
Gdmriml Purdoni. Genevieve Pa^e<br />
©From the Terrace (144) ® D. .028<br />
Paul .Newman, Joanne Woodward<br />
i^OLost World (98) c Ad 026<br />
Fornondo U-iraas. Claude Rains<br />
Murder. Inc (103) © Cr. .031<br />
May Brltl, Stuart Whitman<br />
Sons and Lovers (103) © D..035<br />
II. Slock.itll,<br />
I— lOOne Foot in<br />
Wenilv<br />
Hell (90)<br />
lllller<br />
© D 029<br />
!^ A l.ail.1. I). .Murray, D. Michaels<br />
i©For the Love of Mike (84) (g). .020<br />
^<br />
Ba.seturt. Trim Evvell<br />
Jeanne<br />
.Jean-Pierre<br />
Maria<br />
.Gerard<br />
Jean<br />
G.<br />
CD.<br />
Dec<br />
Or . Jan<br />
Hardv<br />
.Vlttorlo<br />
. Ac<br />
.<br />
.<br />
,<br />
,<br />
FEATURE<br />
CHART<br />
Short subjects, listed by company, in order<br />
of rclcose. Running timo follows title.<br />
Dote is notional release month. Color ond<br />
process OS specified.<br />
^HORTS<br />
CHART<br />
!nc<br />
sepi<br />
TQ'<br />
ASTOR<br />
Career Girl (61) D.. Feb 60<br />
June Wilkinson. Cturia R. Keaiie<br />
^Hideout in the Sun<br />
(72) D Feb 60<br />
(»rt'g Cuiirftil. Iiolora tirlos<br />
BUENA VISTA<br />
UQToby Tyler (96) .<br />
MISCELLANEOUS<br />
.Feb 60<br />
Kevin Oorcuriui. lUcii&rd Baftiuun<br />
©Kldnaoped (97) .. .Ad. .Apr 60<br />
I'eter t^cll. J&mc8 Mac.VrUuir<br />
OOPollya"'" (134) ... CD. .Jul 60<br />
Jane Wyman, Ulcha/d Etian,<br />
Uaylpy Mills<br />
©Junole Cat (70) . . . . Doc. . Ott 60<br />
Tniel.ife .Vdientiire<br />
CONTINENTAL<br />
Breakout (99) D . 59<br />
lUi^wrd Todd, .Mkhael Wilding<br />
Pretty Boy Floyd (96) . 60<br />
John Erickson. Joan Harvey<br />
Expresso Bongo<br />
(lOS)<br />
CD/M..Apr60<br />
LaiirerKe Uai-vey. YolaiHle Dotrfan<br />
Battle of the Sexes. The<br />
(88) C. May 60<br />
Peter Sellers. Constance (^lmtIllne8<br />
©Michael StroBoff<br />
(115) © Ad..Jun60<br />
t>irt Jurgene. Genevieve Page<br />
Tiaer Bay (105) D. Jul 60<br />
John Mills, llayley Mllli.<br />
Horst Buchholz<br />
School for Scoundrels (94) C. .Jul 60<br />
liin C^armlchael, Terry-Tbonua<br />
Four Desperate Men<br />
(105) D..Apg60<br />
.\I(lo Ray. Heather Sears<br />
The Man Who Wagged<br />
His Tail (94) CD Sep 60<br />
Peter I'stinov, Pablito Calvo<br />
Happened in Broad<br />
It<br />
Daylight (97) D.. Sep 60<br />
Ilcitiz Kiihman. Michel Simon<br />
FILMGROUP<br />
The Girl in Lover's<br />
Lane (78) D. .Jun 60<br />
Joyce NIeadows. Brett Halsey<br />
The Wild Ride (63) D. .Jun 60<br />
Jack Nicholson. Georglarvia Carter<br />
©The Last Woman on Earth<br />
(71) D. Sep 60<br />
.\ri!luinv C^rt)one. Betsy .lunes-<br />
Mon-laJMl<br />
The Little Shop of Horrors<br />
(70) HoC..Sep60<br />
Jorriillian Haze, Jackii^ Joseph<br />
FOREIGN<br />
ARGENTINA<br />
End of Innocence (74) 9-19-60<br />
(Kmg.'ilcy) . .Elsa Daniel<br />
DENMARK<br />
Young Have No Time (95) 3- 7-60<br />
(Klngsley) . .Gblta Norby. FrlU<br />
HelmuUi<br />
FRANCE<br />
Back to the Wall (74) 10-26-58<br />
(Ellis) . Mofeau. 0. Oury<br />
©Belles and Ballets (92) . .8-15-60<br />
(E.\cel.sior) . .FreiKh ballet stars<br />
©Black Orpheus (95) 2-29-60<br />
(Lopert) . -Breno Mallo. Marpe«s3<br />
Dawn. (Frencb-made; Portugese<br />
dUloK)<br />
Children of Paradise<br />
(162) 6-20-60<br />
. ..loa^ljauls Barrault,<br />
(.\i;ty)<br />
.\rlelly<br />
.<br />
.<br />
Chasers, The (75) 6-6-60<br />
(Hakim) . .Jacques Charrler, Dany<br />
Kol)in<br />
Cousins, The (112) 2-22-60<br />
(F-.\-W) Blain, Juliet<br />
Mayniel, .lean-tHaude Itrlaly<br />
©Eye for an Eye, An<br />
(93) iVj 10- 5-60<br />
IManhutlan) . .Orrt Jurgens<br />
400 Blows, The (98) 1-11-60<br />
C/enilti) L«aud<br />
Lady Cnatterlc/s Lover<br />
(102) 8-31-59<br />
(Kintisley) .. Danielle Darrleiix<br />
Lovers. The (90) 12- 7-59<br />
(Zenith) . .Jeanne Moreau. Jean-<br />
Marr Bory. Alain Oiny<br />
©Paris Hotel (90) 10-12-59<br />
(F-A-\V) . Charles Boyer. F. Amoul<br />
Possessors. The (90) 11-16-59<br />
. (bipert) (iibin. B. Blier<br />
©Sans Famine (100) 3-7-60<br />
(r:vU'l)) . .Glno Cenl. Bernard<br />
Blier<br />
©Virtuous Bigamist (90).. 11- 2-59<br />
IKlngsley) . Fernandei. G. [fublnl<br />
GERMANY<br />
. 7-11-60<br />
.<br />
.<br />
A Day Will Come (91) .<br />
Rdlell<br />
(Cji.'ilmi)<br />
Aren't We Wonderful? (108) 1-25-60<br />
Film Alliance) .. Hubert Graf.<br />
Johanna von Kocezian<br />
©Dancing Heart. The (91) . 8-15-60<br />
Kuorkelmann<br />
(Ci-^iriiO<br />
Eighth Day of the Week.<br />
The (84) 7 -20-59<br />
(Cont'l) .SoTJa Zlcroajin<br />
GOVERNOR<br />
Carry On. Nurse (88) C.<br />
Kriuiclh CorUKir. Shirley ESatoii<br />
Incredible Petrified World.<br />
The (70) D. Apr 60<br />
John t'arradlne. Phyllis Coales<br />
Teenage Zombies (75) . . Ho .. Apr 60<br />
liitn Sulliv;ui, KaituTlne Victor<br />
KINGSLEY-UNION<br />
Broth of a Boy (77) . . . .C. .Jan 60<br />
Harry Klligcrald. June Ttiorbtim<br />
©Mating Time (95) C. Mar 60<br />
lim Travers. (Jeorte Cole<br />
(l!evleuf
—<br />
know<br />
—<br />
5•<br />
"5.XHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY<br />
Vincente Minnelli Gets<br />
A Real Accolade!<br />
MGM's "Home From the Hill" is the<br />
best acted ond photogrophcd picture in years;<br />
production is excellent from every imaginable<br />
angle. Credit must be given to Vincente Minnelli<br />
whose knowhow wos dcmonstrotcd in the excellent<br />
"Gigi" last year. Business was especially<br />
good for the Sun., Mon., Tucs. playdatc.<br />
Acadia Theatre,<br />
St. Leonard, N. B<br />
ALLIED ARTISTS<br />
PAUL FOURNIER<br />
Al Capone lAA)—Rod Steiger, Fay Spoin, James<br />
Gregory. For its gor^ster type, not a bod movie.<br />
Focf, not fiction; for those who knew, it was interesting.<br />
Business rtot up to expcctotion here. Night<br />
boseboli, night swimming, 90-dcgree heat all hurt.<br />
Just mode it here. Played Fri., Sot. Weather: Hot ond<br />
humid,—Ken Chnstionson, Roxy Theatre, Washburn,<br />
N. O. Pop. 968.<br />
Raymie (AA)—David Lodd, Julie Adorns, John<br />
Agar. A very good family picture. Why, oh why<br />
wosn't this in color?? We need more of these, and<br />
less sex and violervce. Played Sun., Mon. Weather:<br />
Very hot.—James Hardy, Shoals Theotre, Shoals, lr>d.<br />
Pop. 1.555.<br />
Sex Kittens Go to College (AA)—Momie Von Doren,<br />
Tuesday Weld, Mijonou Bordot. The poorest picture<br />
we hove hod since "Top Bonono" several years ogo.<br />
Eighteen walked out the first hour, all teenagers,<br />
arxJ five of them asked for their money bock.<br />
Played Tues., Wed. Weother: Okoy,—R. V. Rule, AIco<br />
Theatre, Harhsville, Mich. Pop, 485.<br />
COLUMBIA<br />
Bobeffe Goes to War (Col)—Brigitte Bardot,<br />
Jacques Chorner, Ronold Howard. Even I didn't like<br />
this one. "B.B." better stick to pleasing the men, or<br />
else forget pictures. No comedy to me or my patrons<br />
Ployed with "12 to the Moon." Played Sun., Mon.,<br />
Tues. Weather: Good.—Arlen W. Peahl, HiWoy Theatre,<br />
Sheridon, Ore, Pop. 2,000.<br />
Edge of Eternify (Col)—Cornel Wilde, Victoria<br />
Show, Rian Garrick. The Grand Canyon picture thot<br />
was very good, but boxofficewise a flop. Columbia<br />
progrommers don't have erxjugh punch for rental<br />
osked. Columbia of '59 has been costly for me. This<br />
was a good action show, though. Played Fri., Sat.<br />
Weattier: Fair to worm.—Ken Christiarwon, Roxy<br />
Theatre, Woshburn, N. D. Pop. 968.<br />
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER<br />
Home From the Hiif (MGM)—Robert Mitchum,<br />
Eleanor Parker, George Peppard. This picture is a<br />
real dandy. Some claimed it was over long but none<br />
complained. Averoge business. Ployed Sun., Mon.,<br />
Tues Weother: Good.—Joe Mochetto, Emerson Theatre,<br />
Brush, Colo. Pop. 4,000.<br />
Myiterions, The (MGM)— All-Japanese cast. The<br />
first scierKe-fiction we played in yeors to average<br />
weekerxt business. Better than most science-fiction<br />
pictures. It held their interest ond seemed possible.<br />
A good picture. Played Fri., Sat. Weother: Hot and<br />
humid.—Ken Chnstionson, Roxy Theatre, Washburn,<br />
N. D. Pop. 968.<br />
Please Don't Eaf the Daisies (MGM)— Doris Day,<br />
David Niven, Jams Paige. A good picture that did<br />
not bring in enough extro business to warrant the<br />
50 per cent terms demanded. Played Thurs , Fri<br />
Sot. Weother: Fine.—R. V. Rule, AIco Theatre Horrisville,<br />
Mich Pop. 485.<br />
PARAMOUNT<br />
Circus Stors (Poro)—Documentary. Played this with<br />
"Isroel" iWB). No business on this program. Had<br />
church feast as opposition which, of course, didn't<br />
give us a chance. Hod some walkouts. They said,<br />
"We saw this on TV." "Israel" hod no oppeal here.<br />
Played Sat., Sun. Weather: Nice.—Carl P. Anderka,<br />
Rainbow Theatre, Castroville, Texas. Pop. 1,500.<br />
Jael< the Ripper (Para)— Lee Potterson, Betty Mc-<br />
Dowoll. Lay off of this onel I should hove taken the<br />
advice of other exhibitors. They also stuck me top<br />
film rental for it. Cancel it out if you can. A waste<br />
of film and time. Played Fri., Sot. Weather: Hot.<br />
James Hordy, Shools Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Pop.<br />
20th<br />
CENTURY-FOX<br />
Holldoy for Lovers (20th-Fox)—Clifton Webb, Jone<br />
Wyman, Carol Lynley, This is a pretty good picture<br />
in Cinemascope and color, but they just don't seem<br />
to go for this type of show here. Played Thurs,,<br />
Fri.—Charles E. Smith, LoMar Theotre, Arthur, III,<br />
Pop. 2,000,<br />
Journey to the Center of the Eorth (20th-Fox)<br />
Pat Boone, James Mason, Arlene Dohl, This one<br />
was tops in my opinion for value and entertainment.<br />
Fox set the percentage terms real high, but when<br />
the boxoffice receipts went in, they cut it down to<br />
reoson and gove me a real break. Had fair crowds<br />
Ploy it. Ployed Sot,, Sun, Weother: Good,—Arlen<br />
10<br />
lABOUT PICTURESI<br />
W Pcahl, HiWay Theatre, Sheridon, Ore, Pop, 2,000.<br />
Soy One for Mc {20th-Fox) Sing Crosby, Debbie<br />
Reynolds, Robert Wogner, Roy Wolston, This is a<br />
good show in Scope ond color that just did overogo<br />
business<br />
If you haven't<br />
here. Debbie<br />
ployed<br />
Reynolds<br />
it, it's worth<br />
Is good<br />
a dote.—Charles<br />
in any show.<br />
Smith, LoMar Theotre, Arthur,<br />
Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, The<br />
III. Pop. 2,000,<br />
(20th-Fox)—Jaync<br />
E.<br />
Monsfield, Kenneth More, Henry Hull, Kicked this<br />
one oround a long time, too long It seems, as it<br />
did OS much business as most of the big ones. Good<br />
color, low rental, which is what us "poor little<br />
fellers" must have to keep open. Thank you. Fox,<br />
Ployed Thurs., Fri., Sot.—Bob and Joyce Alexander,<br />
Pork Theatre, Brohom, Minn. Pop. 960.<br />
UNITED ARTISTS<br />
Solomon and Shebo (UA)—Yul Brynner, Ginc Lollobrigido,<br />
George Sanders. This is o good picture that<br />
o few odults come to see and commented very well<br />
on. Even a few teenagers liked it, olthough most of<br />
the young bucks come because of Gino's oppeoronce<br />
in the near-nude. Played Sot., Sun. Weather: Good.<br />
Arlen W. Peohl, HiWoy Theatre, Sheridan, Ore. Pop.<br />
2,000.<br />
Unforgiven, The (UA)— Burt Lancaster, Audrey<br />
Hepburn, Audic Murphy. We played this after the<br />
onnuol church feast which (eft everyone broke and<br />
numb, so we did not expect any business, A great<br />
picture, worthy of anybody's screen. Played Men.,<br />
Tues. Weather: Nice.—Carl P. Anderka, Rainbow<br />
Theatre, Castroville, Texas. Pop. 1,500.<br />
This Ad Was True<br />
"The Lost Voyoge" from MGM Is something<br />
thot even Hitchcock wouldn't mind having his<br />
name on. Very good! The advertising soid "91<br />
minutes of suspense" and tor once we got it.<br />
Opera House,<br />
Cooticook, Que.<br />
HAROLD BELL<br />
UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL<br />
Chortroose Caboose (U-l)—Molly Bee, Ben Cooper,<br />
Edgar Buchonan. Here's o swell little gem, filmed<br />
near here, which didn't mean a hoot to these characters.<br />
It's swell family entertainment, you couldn't<br />
osk for better, good story, color, etc., so teenagers<br />
thought It was lousy and families didn't core to leave<br />
home, so I starved. Played Fri., Sot. Weother: Good.<br />
Arlen W. Peohl, HiWoy Theatre, Sheridan, Ore. Pop.<br />
2,000.<br />
Snow Queen, The (U-l), animated feature—More<br />
kids than usual and they i'n turn brought their<br />
porents, so it was very satisfactory in every respect<br />
including the terms. A very nice cartoon feature.<br />
Played Sun., Mon, Weather: Fine.—R. V. Rule, AIco<br />
Theatre, Hornsville, Mich. Pop. 485.<br />
Wild ond the Innocent, The (U-I)—Audie Murphy,<br />
Sandra Dee, Joanne Dru. Very well done. Sandra Dee<br />
o good draw and might well be our next reigning<br />
queen of the movies. Audie Murphy is still popular<br />
too. So what more could you wont in a western?-—<br />
Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N. B.<br />
Pop. 2,150.<br />
WARNER BROS.<br />
Forbidden Desert (WB), Feoturette. Forty minutes<br />
of ruins in the Arabian desert, tn color, most interesting,<br />
in on educational woy.—Frank E. Sobin, Majestic<br />
Theatre, Eureka, Mont. Pop. 929.<br />
Guns of the Timberlond (WB) Alan Lodd, Jeanne<br />
Croin, Gilbert Rolond, Frankie Avolon. Beautiful<br />
color, good story ond a good cost. Most of the kids<br />
were saying "Just another western," but the ones<br />
who sow It gave many compliments on it. Business<br />
was fair.— Ployed Sot., Sun. Weather: Humid and<br />
stormy.—Harold J. Smith, Wilson Theatre, Wilson,<br />
N, Y. Pop. 1,100.<br />
—30— (WB)—Jock Webb, William Conrad, Dovid<br />
Nelson. Now I what the title stands for— 1<br />
patrons each night, totaling 30 for the two-day run!<br />
Terrible business! Played Wed., Thurs. Weather:<br />
Good.— Joe Mochetto, Brush, Colo. Pop. 4,000.<br />
MISCELLANEOUS<br />
Golden Age of Comedy, The (SR), compilotion of<br />
silent comedy favorites. We got some of the "good<br />
people" who used to be regulars out to see this<br />
one, so mode o few dollars. How they do crave<br />
comedy. Every exhibitor in small towns has said this<br />
many times. Reolly think we will get an occasional<br />
comedy—the more slapstick, the better. Played Sun.,<br />
Mon., Tues.—Bob ond Joyce Alexander, Pork Theotre,<br />
Brohom, Minn. Pop. 960.<br />
A New High for Year<br />
Jerry Lewis in "Visit to a Siroll Plonet"<br />
(Pora) gave us our best Thurs,, Fri., Sot, chonge<br />
for all yeor. Ployed with one hour of comedies<br />
ond cartoons.<br />
Fayette Theotre<br />
Foyetteville, W. Vo.<br />
G, J, THOMAS<br />
Writi<br />
To:<br />
YOUR REPORT OF THE PICTURE YOU<br />
HAVE lUST PLAYED FOR THE<br />
GUIDANCE OF FELLOW EXHIBITORS<br />
— Right Now<br />
The Exhibitor Has His Say<br />
EOXOFFICE, 825 Van Brunt Blvd.,<br />
Kansas City 24. Mo.<br />
Title<br />
Comment..<br />
Days of<br />
Weather<br />
Title<br />
Comment<br />
Days of<br />
Weather<br />
Title<br />
Comment<br />
Days of<br />
Weather<br />
Title<br />
Comment<br />
Week Ployed..<br />
Week Played..<br />
Week Played,.<br />
Days of Week Played .<br />
Weather<br />
Exhibitor<br />
Theatre...<br />
City<br />
BOXOFFICE BookinGuido<br />
Company<br />
Company<br />
Company<br />
,.Company<br />
Population<br />
..State<br />
Oct, 10. 1960<br />
I<br />
£ ll<br />
i<br />
'Jl<br />
(<br />
f
Opinions on Current Productions<br />
Feature reviews<br />
Symbol © denotes color; ® CinemoScope; (? Vistovision; ® Superscope; Ri Naturom a; ® Regolseopc; ® Technlromo. For story synopsis on eoch picture, sec re.crs. >ld.<br />
Ratio:
. . Yul<br />
. . She<br />
. . The<br />
. . Three<br />
. . They<br />
—<br />
FEATURE REVIEWS Story Synopsis; Exploitips, Adiines for Newspaper and Programs<br />
THE STORY: Surprise Package" (Col)<br />
Yul Brynner, a gangster who collects protection money, is<br />
deported to a Greek island by Uncle Sam lor tax reasons.<br />
More than a million dollars is to be sent to him by an aide.<br />
But his pals send Miss Gaynor, his girl Iriend, instead and<br />
Brynner finds himsell financially strapped. However, Noel<br />
Coward, on exiled monarch, has a jewelled crown worth a<br />
couple oi million and oilers to sell it to Brynner who prefers<br />
to steal it. Meanwhile, native thugs believe that Brynner has<br />
received the expected money from America and so there is<br />
a two-way intrigue; they wont the money which he doesn't<br />
have and he and some counter-revolutionists ore alter the<br />
crown. Brynner gets the crown loses it, regains it. When the<br />
smoke clears away, Brynner, Coward and Mitzi open a night<br />
club and the ex-king is the head waiter. Everybody is happy.<br />
EXPLOITIPS:<br />
Arrange with a jewelry store to display a crown in the<br />
window, pointing out that this is the crown in the picture.<br />
Tie up with stores to give away "surprise packages" with<br />
purchases. In every 15 or 20 packages, put in passes lor two<br />
to the theatre. Play up the three stars, each ol whom has<br />
drawing power.<br />
CATCHLINES:<br />
A Zany, Wacky, Screwball Story About a Deported Gangster<br />
.<br />
Yowl at Yul .<br />
Was Unchaste<br />
Brynner in His First Comedy Role .<br />
Crowns an Uncrowned King .<br />
and Chased.<br />
. . You'll<br />
. She<br />
.turc<br />
th N<br />
nry I<br />
Ion'<br />
THE STORY: "The Magnificent Seven" (UA)<br />
Rebelling from the annual plundering raids ol bandit Eli<br />
Wallach, the citizens ol a small Mexican village hire Yul<br />
Brynner and six other lamed gunmen to drive him away.<br />
They set a trap and teach the villagers to light, resulting in<br />
a successful resistance to the thiel's next raid. The peaceloving<br />
farmers are frightened ol fighting, however, and easily<br />
lall victim to Wallach's threats, turning against their protectors<br />
and causing them to fall into a trap. Thinking he is<br />
the winner, the bandit turns them loose, liowever, they intend<br />
to complete their altruistic mission, plot a new surprise<br />
attack and kill Wallach and most of his men, saving the<br />
townspeople from certain strife at their hands.<br />
EXPLOITIPS:<br />
Play up Brynner's first western role. Offer free passes to<br />
people whose last name is Seven. Promote in any Japanese<br />
area by noting its base from the "Seven Samurai" film. Use<br />
posters and lifesize cutouts of the stars on theatre and<br />
throughout town.<br />
CATCHLINES:<br />
They Had to Learn to Kill ... or Die . Lived and<br />
Died by Their Guns ... A Raw, Gutsy Drama ol Human<br />
Magnificent in Life, They Died a<br />
Courage and Frailty . . .<br />
Magnificent Death.<br />
^<br />
THE STORY:<br />
"September Storm" (20th-Fox)<br />
In Majorca, Asher Dann, maintenance mem for wealthy<br />
yacht owner, Jean-Pierre Kerien, meets vacationing Joanne<br />
Dru and impresses her by pretending to own the large yacht.<br />
Mark Stevens and Robert Strauss, adventurers who know<br />
about some sunken gold coins, persuade Joanne to influence<br />
Dann to let them hire the yacht lor their under-water chores<br />
to bring up the gold. Dann is hesitant but finally agrees to<br />
a lour-way split and they go about diving and bringing up<br />
pails-lul ol gold coins. But dissension develops with Dann<br />
and the lecherous Strauss quarreling over the girl. Returning<br />
to Majorca, the yacht encounters a storm and Kerien learns<br />
about his yacht. As they sail into the harbor, Kerien catches<br />
up with them and the coast guard approaches to take over<br />
the gold.<br />
EXPLOITIPS:<br />
Stress the miracle of Stereovision, which will enable moviegoers<br />
to see the fabulous underwater adventures in 3-D<br />
with the aid of special glasses. Use photos of Joanne Dru<br />
wearing her bikini bathing suit. Mark Stevens is the star of<br />
T'V's "Martin Kane" and "Big Town" and starred in "Jack<br />
Slade" and other Allied Artists films.<br />
CATCHLINES:<br />
You Have to See It to Believe It . . . The Wonders ol the<br />
Deep Seen by the Miracle of Stereovision . Men and<br />
a Beautiful Girl Search lor Buried Gold in the Harbor of<br />
Majorca.<br />
THE STORY: "Girl of the Night" (WB)<br />
Anne Francis, an attractive lass from the hinterlands and<br />
one who has had a disturbed childhood, falls in love and into<br />
the hands ol John Kerr, slimey, conscienceless procurer who<br />
submits her to the usual brain washing and turns her into a<br />
prostitute. Later, following a particularly unpleasant experience,<br />
she places herself in the professional hands of Lloyd<br />
Nolan, kindly and understanding psychoanalyst. From then<br />
on there is a battle in her mind between good and evil. She<br />
is determined to turn "square," even takes a boring job and<br />
considerably lowers her standards of living. But the appeal<br />
of the old life with its excitement and luxuries proves too<br />
strong and she returns to Kerr who has promised to marry<br />
her. One brief encounter, however, reveals him in his true,<br />
scabulous character and she turns her back on sin to devote<br />
the remainder of her life to decency.<br />
EXPLOITIPS:<br />
A panel of photos, plus poster art, cut out and mounted,<br />
would attract attention to the film and its sensational-type<br />
title. Point up the "Adults Only" angle in newspaper copy<br />
and on marquee. If local TV commentator or newspaper<br />
columnist specializes in off-beat interviews, hove masked<br />
or unidentified girl—used as subject on prostitution. Otherwise,<br />
use a policewoman who has worked on such cases.<br />
CATCHLINES:<br />
The Picture Every Advilt Must See! . . . Trapped in the<br />
Tawdry World Where Love Is for Sale.<br />
a-<br />
THE STORY: "It Happened in Broad Daylight" (Confl)<br />
The body ol a little girl is found in the woods near a Swiss<br />
tov/n and Michel Simon, a peddler who notilied the police, is<br />
immediately suspected but he commits suicide rather than<br />
sutler constant grilling. Heinz Ruhman, the local inspector, i.'s<br />
rhaken vrhen he has to tell the stricken parents and he vows<br />
to find the real murderer Attracted by something in the dead<br />
girl's school drawings, Ruhman uses his housekeeper's little<br />
daughter, Anita Van Ow, as bait to attract a man he believes<br />
will travel along a certain road. Finally, Gert Frobe,<br />
a middle-aged man whose domineering wife has given him<br />
a hatred of all womankind, sees little Anita, makes an appointment<br />
with her in<br />
set by Ruhman.<br />
the woods and then falls into a trap<br />
EXPLOITIPS:<br />
For art hou.-e patrons, play up Heinz Ruhman, who starred<br />
in "The Captain From Koepenick," prize-winning German<br />
film; Michel Simon, French character star, and Roger Livesy,<br />
British star of "Colonel Blimp" and the current "The Entertainer,"<br />
Make a tieup with a local bookshop for window displays<br />
of Friedrich Duerrenmatt's novel, "The Pledge," from<br />
vrhich the film was adapted, Duerrenmatt also wrote "The<br />
Visit," in which Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontonne starred.<br />
CATCHLINES:<br />
Prepare Yourself for a Most Unusual and Disquieting Tale<br />
of Suspense . Startling Story of a Psychopathic Killer—Based<br />
on the Novel by Friedrich Duerrenmatt.<br />
THE STORY: "Santa Claus" (K. Gordon Murray)<br />
Santa Claus, a rotund, merry old gentleman in a red suit<br />
and white whiskers (Joseph Elias Moreno), has a workroom<br />
up in the heavens where children of all nationalities help<br />
him make his Christmas toys. He also has a crystal laboratory<br />
with a telescope and earscope to aid him in watching<br />
over the children down on earth. Meanwhile, the forces ol<br />
evil appoint a mischievous demon to lure the earth children<br />
into mischief, such as stealing dolls from department stores,<br />
etc. Before starting on his journey to earth, Santa Claus is<br />
provided with miraculous powders to keep children asleep<br />
on Christmas Eve. On earth, Santa has to battle hard<br />
against the little demon, but he eventually triumphs over<br />
evil and good children are made happy on Christmas Day.<br />
EXPLOITIPS:<br />
As the picture is designed for juvenile appeal, play up the<br />
Christmas-Santa Claus plot by tieups with toy shops or department<br />
stores for displays with a real or dummy Santa<br />
Claus surrounded by his toys and a mention of the theatre<br />
playing the film. Have a loud-speaker playing Yuletide songs<br />
in the lobby.<br />
CATCHLINES:<br />
See Santa Claus in His Heavenly Workshop Making Toys<br />
for All Good Little Boys<br />
Young Entertainment for<br />
and Here is Ideal Holiday<br />
Girls . . .<br />
and Old Alike . . . See. the Story<br />
Behind the Christmas Stockings Bulging With Toys and Other<br />
Gifts.<br />
\P<br />
BOXOFFICE BookinGuide Oct. 10. 1960
I with<br />
—<br />
.<br />
.<br />
lATES: 15c per word, minimum $1.50, cash with copy. Four consecutive insertions lor price<br />
f three. CLOSING DATE: Monday noon preceding publication date. Send copy and<br />
answers to Box Numbers to BOXOFFICE, 825 Van Brunt Blvd.. Kansas City 24. Mo. •<br />
HELP WANTED<br />
REPRESENTATIVE WANTED. Exclusive<br />
erritory available to sell advertising in<br />
onjunction with Theatre Outdoor Frame<br />
Service. Experience in advertising or<br />
pecially selling preferred but not<br />
essential Liberal commission plan<br />
high earnings to qualified man<br />
Ksures<br />
3iter short training period. Car required.<br />
A'rite or wire at once, ROM AR- VIDE<br />
;OMPANY. Chetek. Wis,<br />
Wanted: Manager, small town theatre,<br />
naintenance knowledge. Apply H. A.<br />
Daniels, Palace Theatre, Seguin, Texas.<br />
Manager for drive-in and hard-top in<br />
^mall growing California desert town.<br />
3ive all mlormation in iirst letter, include<br />
snapshot and reierences, salary, etc<br />
Hoxolfice, 9159.<br />
POSITIONS WANTED<br />
Experienced projectionist and maintenance<br />
man. Indoor or drive-in, year round<br />
job, go anywhere, non-union, Boxoihce,<br />
)151.<br />
Manager, tomily man, experienced, now<br />
employed lirsl run. Seeking secure posi-<br />
I'on, decent salary. Boxofiice, 9158.<br />
Projectioziist: Available now. 14 years<br />
experience, San Antonio area preferred:<br />
can furnish references. James H. Watson.<br />
178 Pennystone, San Antonio 10, Texas<br />
Manoger: Wife concession, boxoffice,<br />
Ic, Available now, Reierences. H. A<br />
G^^r''tt Box 180, Marion, Alabama.<br />
Projectionist wants year round job. Sober<br />
and single 34 years old. Will go<br />
anywhere Reply to W. R. Leckett, P.O.<br />
Box 130. Fruitvale. B C, Canada,<br />
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES<br />
BIGGEH POPCORN PROFITS with all<br />
new Tender-Vender, now re-designed to<br />
pven finer operation and results. Nothinc<br />
Id corrode, rust or peel. Warms, lendeizes<br />
and dispenses crisp, hot, deliciou<br />
popcorn Shipped assembled; easy t<br />
move; capacities right for anv location<br />
Wnte for facts, TENDER-VENDER POP<br />
ORN SERVICE CO, Popcorn Building<br />
Nashville, Tennessee<br />
BOOKS<br />
Prepare for Summer and Fall: Prepare<br />
lor it with "The Master Guide to Theatre<br />
Maintenance " Twenty-three chapters or,<br />
refreshment sales, exploitation, orojection<br />
sound, sanitation and every other aspect<br />
of profitable operation. All based on<br />
practical theatre experience Only $5 00<br />
greatest bargain in show business. Send<br />
for your copy NOW, Cash with order<br />
COD'S BOXOFFICE Book Dept , 825<br />
Van Brunt Boulevard, Kansas City 24, Mo,<br />
COMIC BOOKS<br />
Comic Books buiid attendance<br />
wn'e for free sample and prices. Strand<br />
Theatre. Marshall1ov/n, Iowa,<br />
POPCORN MACHINES<br />
Popcorn machines, all makes. Complete<br />
nevi copping units. $185 00 ex Replacement<br />
settles, all macnmes 120 So Hoi<br />
sted. Chicago 111,<br />
SOUND & PROJECTION SERVICE<br />
Best service at lowe:t cost. If you are<br />
•,i;hln 200 miles of Lexington write us for<br />
a money saving deal. Blue Grass Theatre<br />
Service. 1S92 Malvern Road, Lexington,<br />
Ky.<br />
MARQUEE LETTER REPAIRING<br />
Plastic Weld. Will repair broken plastic<br />
n-.arquee letters. Order from National<br />
Theatre Supcly Company or Plastic Weld,<br />
513 Hollywood, Dallas 8, Texas,<br />
Want Ads Work Fast!<br />
Get Results at Onco!<br />
BOXOFFICE<br />
BOXOFFICE October 10, 1960<br />
GENERAL EQUIPMENT—USED<br />
Best Value:l Bau.'^ch (S Lomb anamorphics,<br />
$275 pou; RCA MI-9030 soundheads,<br />
rebuilt, $495 pair; Magnarcs, rebuilt, new<br />
reilectors, $545 pair; 60/65 ampere rectifiers,<br />
6 new tubes, reconditioned, $315<br />
pair; E-7 mechanisms, recently rebuilt,<br />
$375 pair, Tliousand other bargains. Star<br />
Cinema Supply, 621 West 55th Street, New<br />
York 19,<br />
Complote Century drive-in booth equipment<br />
lor sale. Call WH 5-2125, write A. D.<br />
Ruff, Huron, California.<br />
Miscellaneous; Film cabinets, $1,25 section;<br />
Aluminum reels, $1.25 each; Grisv/old<br />
film splicers, $12,50; enclosed electric<br />
rewinds, $35; Hand rewinds, $7,50 set;<br />
upper (S lower 16" magazines, $30 set of<br />
4; 18" magazines, $60, set of 4, Ger-Bar,<br />
Inc, 442 N. Illinois Street, Indianapolis 4,<br />
Indiana.<br />
Five point Simplex bases, $50 pair, 3<br />
point Simplex bases, $20 pair, LL-3 Simplex<br />
bases, $150 pair, Motiograph bases,<br />
$50 pair. Ger-Bar, Inc., 442 N. Illinois<br />
Street, Indianapolis 4, Indiana.<br />
Motiograph model 7500 sound heads,<br />
complete w./'dnves, motors, P, E, cells,<br />
exciters, cables, etc. In excellent condition,<br />
ready to use. Priced at $275 pair,<br />
Ger-Ecr, Inc, 442 N. Illinois, Indianapolis<br />
4, Indiana<br />
BIGGER, BETTER BAHGAINS: Super E7<br />
Simplex mechanisms^ $195; regular Simplex<br />
mechcmisms, $99.50; Simplex Acme<br />
35nim arc sound projectors with pedestals,<br />
$195; Filmoarc 16mm sound projectors complete,<br />
$975; Hi-Intensity arcs w/rectiiiers,<br />
Brenkert, Simplex, Strong. Forest, $195.<br />
SOS, E02 W 52nd Street, New York 19,<br />
GENERAL EQUIPMENT—NEW<br />
V/eatherprool. Wearproof Masonite Marquee<br />
Letters, Black or Red, fit all signs-<br />
4", 40c; 8", 60c; 10", 75c; 12", $1.00; 14",<br />
$1,''0; 16", $1.75; 17", $2-00; 24", $3,00<br />
(10% discount 100 letters or over $60 00<br />
list) SOS,, 602 W, 52nd Street, New<br />
York 19<br />
DRIVE-IN THEATRE EQUIPMENT<br />
ANTI-THEFT SPEAKER CABLE PRICE<br />
?tEDUCEDl Protect your speakers and<br />
lealers now ior less than 75c pe: unit!<br />
Jo;nplete satistacnon reported by leading<br />
;nains and exnibiiors For full details<br />
/.rue: Speaice: Security Co., Dept. 58,<br />
A'lllow Avenue at 17th St.. Hoboken, N. J.<br />
Heater ground cable, crimp-on heavy<br />
duty terminals with 1/4 inch eye, $10<br />
per 1,000. Sample 100 pieces, $1.50.<br />
Switches of all types to quantity buyers.<br />
Switchboard type electric counters, 4-<br />
column, sample $3.00, lot $200. Berns<br />
Electronic Sales, 80 Winder Street, Detroit<br />
I, Michigan.<br />
Drive-In Theatre Ticketsl 100.000 l"x2"<br />
special printed roll tickets, $34.95. Send<br />
for samples of our special printed stub<br />
rod tickets tor drive-ins. Safe, distinctive,<br />
private, easy to check. K'jnsas City Ticket<br />
Co., Dept. 10, 109 W, 18th St, (Filmrow),<br />
Kansas City 8, Mo<br />
EQUIPMENT<br />
WANTED<br />
Wanted: Drive-in, speakers complete<br />
junction boxes, also theatre equipment.<br />
Write Harry Melcher Enterprises,<br />
117 West Highland Avenue, Milwaukee 3,<br />
V/isconsin<br />
EQUIPMENT REPAIR SERVICE<br />
GATORHIDE absolutely guaranteed to<br />
repair your broken glass reflector! Hundreds<br />
of users delighted! Save dollars<br />
rvoid shutdown. Regular pack $1 95<br />
Economy, $2.95. Order now from Gatorhide,<br />
Box 71, Jopiin, Missouri.<br />
TICKET MACHINES<br />
WANTED AUTOMATICKET Models.<br />
Supclv<br />
serial numbers Ticket Register Industries.<br />
1223 South Wabash Ave., Chicago<br />
5, 111,<br />
CUeRinG HOUSE<br />
THEATRES FOR SALE THEATRE SEATING<br />
West Coast theatres lor sale. Write ior<br />
list. Theatre Exchange Company, 260<br />
Kearny Street, San Francisco 8, California<br />
Sierra Theatre, ChowchiUa, exact center<br />
of California, No smog, snow, floods,<br />
earthquakes or tornados. Ideal family openlion.<br />
Require $10,000 down. Write,<br />
For Sale: Small town theatre, 310 seats,<br />
building and equipment. Price reasonable.<br />
Write Roxy Theatre, DeGraff, Ohio.<br />
Theatre building, 300 seats, fully equipped,<br />
sacrifice for quick sale. Out of town<br />
owner. Coventry-Meicher, Findlay, Illinois.<br />
Drive-in theatre. Wichita, Kansas. Fully<br />
equipped, large, CinemaScope steel<br />
screen. Priced to sell. Peerless Theatres,<br />
Inc.. 2124 Park Place, AM 5-8441—AM 2-<br />
1091,<br />
Modem 3S0-seal theatre. Excellently<br />
equipped, CinemaScope, wide screen, air<br />
conditioned. Real money maker for man<br />
and wife combination. Elderly lady no<br />
longer able to take care of business. Low<br />
down payment, convenient terms. <strong>Boxoffice</strong>,<br />
9155.<br />
NOTICE—FOR SALE TO SETTLE ES-<br />
TATE: Real estate only Capitol Theatre,<br />
Delphos, Ohio (600 seats) appraised at<br />
$30,000 and real estate and equipment<br />
Van Del Drive-In Theatre (500 cars) Delphos,<br />
Ohio, appraised at $40,000. Theatres<br />
oilered as a going business and as a<br />
package deal. Sealed bids for these two<br />
to be mailed to lohn Marsh, Attorney at<br />
Delphos, Ohio. Bids must be appraised<br />
value or higher and must be in by No-<br />
/eir.ber 1st, 1960, Terms 25% down. Financing<br />
available on balance to responsible<br />
parties. Three highest bidders afforded<br />
opportunity to bid verbally after<br />
sealed bids are opened. Equipment now<br />
in Capitol available for purchase if desired.<br />
Two 700-seat Ihealres in Kentucky,<br />
County Seat Towns, both over 6,000 populaticm.<br />
Owner retiring to Florida. All<br />
reasonable offers considered. <strong>Boxoffice</strong>,<br />
91C0.<br />
THEATRES WANTED<br />
Theatre Wanted: Family operation, percentage<br />
basis. Best of reierences. H. A.<br />
Garriitt, Box 180, Marion, Alabama.<br />
Indoor lor 1961 lease. New York. New<br />
lersey, Penna., or New England. Populat'on<br />
exceeding 5,000. Boxofiice, 9156.<br />
Will lease, with option 10 t^uy, indoors<br />
and drive-ins located in Eastern Kentucky<br />
or Southwest Virginia. Send complete<br />
information fust letter. <strong>Boxoffice</strong>,<br />
9161.<br />
THEATRES FOR SALE<br />
DR LEASE<br />
Virginia Drive-In Theatre, sale or lease<br />
option. Write Hardm, 2730 Richmond Highway,<br />
Alexandria, Virginia,<br />
Fully equipped theatre, brick building,<br />
East Texas town. Reasonable terms. No<br />
opposition. O. L. Smith, Marlow, Oklahoma<br />
SOUND MAINTENANCE BOOK<br />
Simpliiied Servicing Data on sound<br />
equipment—many basic schematics and<br />
voltage data— trouble-shooting data, etc.<br />
Practical data on "How to Keep Your<br />
Equipment Operating" and obtain high<br />
quality sound reproduction. A "must"<br />
for every projection room. For projectionists<br />
and exhibitors. In handy looseleaf<br />
binder A bargain price—onlv $3 95<br />
copy; prepaid. Order today. No COD's.<br />
Weslev Trout S»- .1-" Fnmnepr P.~x 575<br />
Enid, bklahcmi<br />
STAGE SHOWS<br />
Guaranteed top boxoliice grossesi Horror<br />
Mystery Stage Shows equipped with<br />
portable stages, lights, PA system, etc.<br />
Coast-to-coast units for drive-ins and indoor<br />
theatres Irom largest producer in the<br />
world Kara-Kum Attractions, c/o Box<br />
949. Hollywood 28, Calilomio.<br />
Good used late model chaira available,<br />
rebuilt chairs. Chaira rebuUI In your theaire<br />
by our factory trained men, get our<br />
:ow prices. Parts for all makes of chaira<br />
Sewed covers made to your aize, alao<br />
leatherette 25"i25", 55c ea ; 27 i27", 65c<br />
ea Chicago Used Choir Mart, 82
—<br />
|THE KEY TO BETTER BUYING<br />
m PRODUCT-SERVICE DIRECTORY<br />
of The MODERN THEATRE<br />
section of BOXOFFICE<br />
^iBttLWi.*"*<br />
I All These Classifications<br />
I<br />
I<br />
Covered in the Directory<br />
and Reference Pages<br />
i<br />
DECORATING<br />
Is the buying guide for circuit executives, theatre owners,<br />
managers and technicians. It is their key to ideas and<br />
sources when planning theatre improvements and replacements,<br />
when purchasing different equipment, supplies<br />
and refreshment products.<br />
A few of its many valuable features include:<br />
— Portfolios on Theatre Planning, Design and Construction,<br />
Drive-in Design, Projection and Sound, Air<br />
Conditioning and Heating, Refreshment Service<br />
including technical information, "how-to" instructions,<br />
useful tables, the newest ideas and trends<br />
on all phases of motion picture theatre operations<br />
presented by experts.<br />
Listings of equipment and supply sources.<br />
— Hundreds of leading Brand Names, indexed with firm<br />
names and addresses.<br />
— Directory of Theatre Equipment and Supply Dealers.<br />
lUllOING<br />
MAHRIAl<br />
FURNISHINGS<br />
1? STAGE EQUIPMENT<br />
] All) CONDITIONING<br />
14 PROJECTION<br />
18 SOUND EQUIPMENT<br />
10 HEATING<br />
17 SEATING<br />
1 ADVERTISING DiSPlAYi<br />
FRAXTAGI<br />
6 FLOORS and CARPETS<br />
CONCESSIONS<br />
11 INSULATION -ACOUSTICS<br />
]| lUTOMATIC VINDINC<br />
9 FURNITURE<br />
12 LIGHTING<br />
IS SAFETY DEVICES<br />
20 TICKET OFFICE<br />
13 PLOMIING<br />
16 SANITATION 22 MISCELLANEOUS 23 DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT<br />
I<br />
BOXOFFICE<br />
825 Van Brunt Blvd., Kansas City 24, Mo.<br />
Please enter my subscription to BOXOFFICE, 52 issues per yeor (12<br />
of which contain The MODERN THEATRE section) and including the<br />
BAROMETER and BUYERS' GUIDE and REFERENCE issues.<br />
D $3.00 for 1 year S5.00 tor 2 years D $7.00 for 3 years<br />
n Remittance Enclosed D Send Invoice<br />
THEATRE<br />
STREET ADDRESS<br />
TOWN ZONE STATE<br />
THE MOST COMPLETE REFERENCE<br />
compilation of its kind, tbeatremen prefer it also because<br />
it is an integral part of their contprehensive service from<br />
BOXOFFICE, included in their yearly subscription.<br />
NAME<br />
POSITION