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Ia.-Neb. Allied Unit
Elects Myrick Head
DES MOINES— A. C. Myrick of the Lake
Park was named president of the AUied Independent
Theatre Owners of Iowa and Nebraska
at the conclusion of a two-day meeting
here. May 11. Phil Lannon of West Point,
Neb., was named vice-president and Tim
Evans. Clinton, secretary-treasurer.
Leo Wolcott of Eldora again was chosen to
serve as chairman of the board. The officers
for the 1948-49 term were selected by a
21 -member board of directors, which was appointed
earlier by a nominating committee.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
The board consists of the following exhibitors:
Walt Bradley. Nealy, Neb.; Elmer
Huhnke, Omaha; Carl Mansfield, Schulyer,
Neb.; Myrick; Bob Hutte, Osceola; J. H.
Watts. Osage: Howard Brookings, Oakland;
Elmer Tilton. Seward: George March. Vermillion.
S. D.; Evans; Charles Niles. Anamosa;
Wolcott; Harold E. Field of the Pioneer
circuit, Minneapolis; Lannon; Arnold Neyerdircks,
Pender. Neb.: Mrs. Lorinna Houson,
Woodward; Mi's. Thelma Parsons, Keota;
William Horstman. Odeboldt: Henry Rehfield.
Bloomfield; Werner Grossman. Nevada,
and Earl Kerr of the Kerr circuit.
Much of the discussion at the convention's
business meetings was devoted to the recent
supreme court decision in the government
antitrust suit against the industry. Abram
F. Myers, Washington. D. C, general counsel,
was bombarded with questions, concerning
the effects of the decision by convention delegates.
Questions, in general, dealt with the matter
of being able to choose pictures without
"bribes," and that of clearance.
In addition to Myers, other speakers at the
conclave were Sidney Samuelson, Philadelphia,
Pa., chairman of the Allied Caravan;
William Ainsworth, Fond du Lac, Wis., president;
H. M. Richey, assistant to the general
sales manager of MGM; David Palfreyman
of the Eric Johnston office; Myron Blank of
Tri-States and Marie Frye of Central States.
Featured speaker at the final banquet, May
11, was Iowa Gov. Robert D. Blue.
BROOKINGS SOUNDS WARNING
A warning was sounded to the more than
150 exhibitors present by Brookings, retiring
president of the group. A return to "oldfashioned
showmanship" is needed. Brookings
cautioned, if "we are to keep our place
in
the amusement world.
"It may be true the gi'avy train is over,
but if we can get back to the actual selling
of entertainment by every means at our disposal
we can hold our position " he declared.
"Some of Hollywood's bigwigs should put
more money into the production of films and
less into personal salaries." Samuelson told
delegates. "In the motion picture business,
many of the officers and company directors
don't get paid what they are worth," he said.
"Instead, they are paid on the basis of what
they can extract from the company." Samuelson
emphasized he wasn't ci'iticizing salaries
of the stars, but only of some officers and
directors.
Richey, in his talk, said it is the duty of
independent exhibitors to "sell the American
public on the fact that the movie industry
is the biggest entertainment value in the
world."
Non-Profit Buying Service
Set Up by Kas.-Mo. Allied
KANSAS CITY—Devoting most of its proceedings
to problems besetting an infant organization.
Allied Theatre Owners of Kansas
and Missouri at its first annual convention
set up a nonprofit buying and booking service
for its members. Definite settlement of film
transportation charges, which this unit has
been trying to reduce for the last two months,
was postponed another 30 days.
Abram F. Myers, chairman of the board
and general counsel for Allied States Ass'n,
explained the supreme com't's recent decision
and told the group that the proposed .system
of selecting and buying pictm'es "is what
Allied has been striving for aU these years."
Arbitration and block licensing are now voluntary,
he continued, "and now it's the exhibitor
who is protected." "The future of
exhibition rests in the hands of the independent
exhibitor." he concluded.
Other national Allied leaders attending the
Wednesday and Thursday sessions were William
Ainsworth. president of Allied States
Ass'n; Edward Lachman of New Jersey; Sidney
Samuelson of the eastern Pennsylvania
unit, and Trueman Rembusch of Indiana.
Col. H. A. Cole of Texas Allied, also slated
to appear, was absent from the convention
floor due to a fractiu'ed wrist suffered the
previous day in Des Moines.
O. F. Sullivan of Wichita was re-elected
president of the unit and Larry Larsen of
f*xm
Spotted during the Kansas-Missouri
Allied convention were (top photol, O.
F. Sullivan, president of the unit, and his
wife, and (bottom) Sidney Samuelson of
Allied Independent Theatre Owners of
Eastern Pennsylvania and his wife.
Webb City, Mo., and V. R. Stamm of Kansas
City continue as vice-president and secretary-treasurer
respectively.
Under the constitution and bylaws adopted
in Thursday's sessions, a board of 16 directors,
eight each from Kansas and Missouri,
also was elected. Those Kansans chosen to
serve three-year terms are P. L. Norton of
Atwood and Cle Bratton. Council Grove.
Those to serve two years are O. C. Alexander
of Kiowa; A. K. Smith, Johnson, and William
Blair, Osborne. Don Phillips of Colby,
O. F. Sullivan, and Ben Adams of El Dorado
were chosen for one year each.
SULLIVAN TO DENVER
Directors from Missouri to serve a threeyear
tenure are Louis Sosna of Moberly and
J. T. Ghosen of Sedalia. A. E. Jarboe of Cameron;
Jay Means, Kansas City, and A. J.
Simmons, Lamar, were named to serve two
years each. Stamm, Dan Payton of Lamar,
and Larsen are to serve for one year.
The buying and booking service will be open
to any member of Allied wishing to participate.
The service is to be set up under the
direction of Jack Stewart, general manager,
and the executive committee of the board
of directors. A $10 fee for each participating
theatre will be charged.
In an effort to conclude a reduction in film
transportation rates with Exhibitors Film Delivery
here, Sullivan announced he would
attend a meeting in Denver Saturday and
Sunday with national Allied members and
James P. Clark, president of National Film
Carriers. It was hoped that Earl Jameson
of the local trucking firm would also be present.
The convention adopted a resolution
to extend the time of the transportation committee
for 30 days and empowered it to take
"all actions necessary to secure relief."
INDUSTRY PIONEERS HONORED
Following adjournment Thursday evening,
nine industry members having over 40 years
of service were honored at a Pioneers banquet
and were presented copper plaques from Alhed.
Those honored were John A. Schnack, owner
of the Electric in Larned. Kas.. who has
been an exhibitor since 1902; his manager,
M. E. Bybee. who has been in the industry
since 1906: R. R. Winship. Majestic. Phillipsburg,
Kas.. 1905; A. E. Jarboe. Ritz. Cameron,
Mo.. 1906; Larry Larsen. Civic and Jimior,
Webb City. Mo.. 1906; Clyde H. Badger. Stebbins
Theatre Equipment Co.. Kansas City,
1906; Ralph A. Morrow. Universal city salesman,
Kansas City, 1906. and Mr. and Mrs.
Sam Blair of Belleville. Kas.
Henderson M. Richey. exhibitor relations
official of MGM and the only distribution
official to address the group, said that in the
present economic picture "exhibitors have to
sell motion pictures for their share of the
amusement dollar." Security, he said, comes
only when the motion picture industry' can
convince the public that it misses something
worthwhile when it doesn't see a picture.
"We haven't sold ourselves. In the tremendous
problems we've had together, the public
has begun to notice our slip is showing."
BOXOFFICE :
: May
15, 1948
11