Boxoffice-Febuary.14.1948

J
LEFT: The big three of the A. H. Blank operations.
Left to right, Myron Blank, genera!
manager of the Central States circuit; the
pioneer exhibitor, A. H. Blank, and Ralph
Branton, general manager of the Tri-States
circuit.
FIL.MI10WS OF AMERICA XIV
HN
DES MOINES
Out of the tall corn country comes another
story in the series devoted to film distribution
and exhibition in the United States
By RUSSELi SCHOCH
Des Moines
THE LAND where the tall corn grows,
Filmrow stretches for three blocks aloiig
Des Moine.s' High street. Here is the
nerve center for a segment of the motion
picture industry which boasts of such an
illustrious a name in exhibition as A. H.
Blank, as a literate spokesman for the independent
as Leo Wolcott, and a long directory
of veterans who have served the film business
since its earliest days.
The Des Moines Filmrow is primarily for
Iowa. Of the 416 theatres serviced out of the
High street sector, all but 17 are in the state.
In the area, there are 192,906 seats and 20
per cent of them are concentrated in the
state's four largest cities—Des Moines, Davenport.
Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, which
have 43 houses. Des Moines has 21 theatres,
with a total capacity of 14,000 seats.
That Iowa is basically a state of small
communities with small theatres is illustrated
by the recently published Des Moines theatre
directory by the Motion Picture Ass'n of
America. It revealed that of the 416 theatres
in the area, 141 have a seating capacity of
less than 300, and 27 theatres have less than
200 seats each. The rural character of the
business is also highlighted by the fact ^lat
there are 45 communities with less than 500
population which have theatres. One of
the unusual operations listed in the MPAA
directory is the portable circuit of J. D. Peck,
of Van Cleve, Iowa, which brings motion
pictures to 41 communities in the state.
THE STORY of A. H. Blank is the story of
the growth of motion pictm-e exhibition
in this area. Head of the vast Tri-States
and Central States theatre empire. Blank
is now in his 36th year as an Iowa film
figure—and the circuit officially is celebrating
its 35th year. The story goes back to
1912 when he opened the Casino Theatre in
partnership with the late Abe Frankl.
With the idea of giving Des Moines something
new in motion picture houses. Blank
sold cut his Casino interest in 1914 to Frankl,
and opened the Garden in its present location.
At that time, the Garden was considered
the last word in theatre architecture
and construction.
Quick to see the possibilities of the industry.
Blank began an expansion program
with new theatres in Davenport, Cedar Rapids,
Omaha and many other cities of Iowa
\
and Nebraska. He became a member of the
executive committee of First National Pictures
and soon was considered one of the
major exhibitors of the midwest.
In 1926, he sold a half interest in his 22
theatres to Famous Players Theatre Corp.,
and three years later he disposed of his remaining
interests to Paramount Famous
Lasky Corp., and announced his retirement
from the business.
But Blank discovered about that time that
retirement failed to satisfy him, and he
organized Tri-States Theatre Corp., comprised
of a group of independent theatres.
It has since grown to become one of the
largest motion picture circuits in the midwest
and now numbers more than 50 theatres in
Iowa. Nebraska and eastern Illinois.
In 1929. Blank was named receiver of his
original theatre holdings when the Paramount-Publix
Corp. went into bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Central States Theatre Corp.,
also headed by Blank, was growing steadily
after its organization in 1928. Today this
chain numbers 52 houses, more or less paralleling
the territory covered by the Tri-States
group.
The year 1937 was an important one for
Blank. At that time he went into a permanent
partnership with Paramoimt Pictures,
Inc., retaining 50 per cent ownership in both
Tri-States and Central States circuits. That
year marked also one of the high spots in
his life—celebration of his twenty-fifth anniversary
in the motion picture business.
On the evening of Dec. 9, 1937, more than
400 of his friends both in and out of the
industry met at Hotel Fort Des Moines to
pay him tribute. Among the speakers and
special guests were film executives from New
York and Hollywood and exhibitors and distributors
from all sections of the country, in
addition to the governors of Iowa and Nebraska.
In 1945, Blank was chosen winner of the
Des Moines Tribtme's community award for
outstanding service to the city during the
previous year.
At that time. Blank had just finished
giving the city the new $300,000 "Raymond
Blank Memorial Hospital for Children, in
memory of his elder son. who had been
associated with him in the theatre business
and who had died in 1943 at the age of 33.
In making the award, the committee which
selected him—pointed out the hospital donation
was but one of a "series of unselfish
acts performed by Mr. Blank for the benefit
of the city and state."
He was cited for his record of service during
the war years when he headed the war
activities committee of the Iowa-Nebraska
territory, leading the group's work in publicizing
all of the war loan campaigns. In
I Continued on page 23
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BOXOFFICE :: February 14, 1948