/

. . Sam
. . H.
spotted
CHICAGO
Jesse Lasky, producer of "The Miracle of the
Bells," will be honored at a dinner in the
Drake hotel May 24, the night before the
picture opens at the RKO Palace with gala
festivities. Frank Sinatra and other members
of the cast also will be on hand. Pi-oceeds
of the opening performance will go to
the American Cancer society . . . Brief visitors
in town were Pat O'Brien and his wife
who passed through en route to St. Louis
for the premiere of "Fighting Father Dunne."
Balaban & Katz, which has cradled
many
Hollywood luminaries, can now boast of a
producer in its ranks. He is Nathaniel Finston,
former musical director of Chicago
and Tivoli theatres. Finston is producer of
Allied Artists' "Song of My Heart," which
opened at the B&K Apollo May 14.
Milton Berle, comedian cun-ently appearing
on the stage at the Oriental, headed a
14-hour marathon broadcast last week over
WIND for the Chicago Heart Ass'n. The
show continued without interruption from
1:25 p. m. Wednesday until 3:35 a. m. Thursday.
Over $31,000 in contributions was received
and the money will be used to support
the LaRabida Sanitariiun in Jackson
Park. More than a dozen stars assisted Berle
including Jimmy Stewart, Tony Martin and
Willie Shore. Art Stegall, manager of the
Oriental, and Norm Kassel, Essaness press
agent, were on the job, too.
"Gentleman's Agreement" bowed out of
the Apollo after a run of 26 weeks, at top
admission of $1.25. It opened at 11 neighborhood
houses at regular admission prices
over the weekend . . . B&K personnel shivered
over their typewriters the other day.
There was no heat in the building for the
reason the engineer failed to show up.
Called by phone at his home the engineer
explained it was so chilly he decided to stay
home.
Jane Powell, MGM's cute canary, will follow
her picture to town. The lass, who does
right well for herself in "Three Daring
Daughters," now at the United Ai-tists, will
do personal appearances at the State-Lake
beginning May 28.
Harold Paul, recently manager of the Star
& Garter Theatre and husband of Inez Paul,
cashier at the Lake Theatre, died last weekend.
He had been ill for some time . .
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Irving Mandel, Monogram franchise holder,
has returned from Miami, fully recovered
from his auto injury . . . Milt Officer, long
a manager of various B&K theatres and recently
at the United Artists, is now manager
of the Lakeside Theatre on the north side
. . . Joseph Arlia, former assistant at the
Tivoli, is now at the UA.
Ed Haliday, Terminal operator since the
early days of vaudeville, is back on the job
. . . Jerry Winsberg,
after several months in Phoenix, Ariz., and is
feeling okay Paradise
manager, greeted a new daughter, his second,
at Michael Reese hospital recently, who was
named Julie Beth . . . Wayne Chance, for
many years on the staffs of the Granada
and Pantheon theatres, was killed in a crash
with naval air
force . . . Curtis Williams of the B&K poster
department greeted son David at the Provident
recently while on a flight
hospital last
weekend.
They're calling: Bill Eddy, director of television
station WBPCB, "Dream Boy" since the
Times published the story and picture spread
reporting the dream Eddy had that his private
plane was in need of repair. Heeding
his dream, Eddy checked his plane and
found a wing rotted in the same section he
had dreamed it to be . Horwitz, local
Selznlck manager, has returned from New
York conferences . . . Walter Green, Oscar
Oldknow and John Servies of the National
Theatre Supply Co. have returned here from
New York headquarters
. A. Spanuth,
director and general manager of Chicago
Film Studios, producers of "The Woman
Speaks," is now handling the distribution of
the Purdue university film, "One Brick
Higher," based on the history of this famous
school . . . J. E. Tottenhoff, B. C. Dorner and
V. Hallenberg have formed the Television
Productions, Inc., and Sport Television Productions,
Inc.
Len Utecht, manager of the Lake Theatre
in Oak Park, reports he had two successful
Saturday morning shows for youngsters.
Cooperation of PTA groups helped make
them a big success. The Oak Park paper.
Oak Leaves, helped publicize the shows . .
A role in a Hollywood motion picture is the
next activity for Joyce Thoresen. farm girl
from Lockport, 111., who recently was chosen
"Photo Girl of '48" by the Chicago Pi-ess
Photographers Ass'n. She left last week for
UA studios in Hollywood to appear in "My
Dear Secretary," a Cardinal Productions
picture starring Laraine Day and Keenan
Wynn
. . . L. B. Mayer was a stopover at
local MGM exchange en route back to Hollywood.
Birthday greetings to 'Vi Dane, secretary
to Irv Mack of Filmack ... It will be wedding
bells for Marion Tarant of Filmack
very soon. She will wed Jerome Somers . . .
Ed Masters, Len Utecht and Bill Koch, managers
of various Essaness houses in the Oak
Park area, awarded free ducats to winners
in a recent poster contest sponsored by a
women's guild. Children made posters on
"Movie Pests." Tlie contest was held in west
suburban schools and drew much attention
. . . Calvin Wellauer, formerly with Tri-
States in Omaha, has been added to the Uptown
Theatre staff.
Sam Lesner, assistant at the Tower Theatre,
has been appointed Southside director
of the B&K Employes club due to the transfer
of Joseph Arlia downtown to UA .
"Shoe-Shine," which had several banner
weeks at Abe Teitel's World-Playhouse, is
having an exclusive Evanston showing at the
Stadium Theatre. It also is doing well at
Bernie Malits' Midtown Theatre on the
south side.
Whiteway Sign Service reports many theatre
installations going into work at this
time. Among the largest jobs are the Paradise
Theatre, which will have a new vertical
sign and marquee; LaGrange Theatre, which
is getting an entire new canopy, and the
southside Gayety Theatre is getting a new
marquee and neon attraction signs . . . The
Young Moderns, whose pet charity is the La-
Rabida Jackson Park sanitarium, will have
a spring cocktail dance in the 'Variety Club
rooms Friday, May 21, starting at 6 p. m.
Mrs. James A. Conner is chairman.
Mike Yahr, who for many years has been
connected with RCA and has recently been
top man of Chicago Theatre Supply, has been
appointed by RCA to the post of district
manager in the theatre equipment section
. . . The Abbott Theatre Equipment Co. of
Chicago, which recently announced the purchase
of the Chicago Theatre Supply and the
Stanley Theatre Supply Co., has moved the
entire stock from both of these stores to the
Abbott location . . . "The Naked City" bowed
in very big over the weekend at the RKO
Palace and is running late shows every night
until 5 a. m. and serving free coffee and
doughnuts from midnight to 5 a. m. . . ,
"Berlin
Express" opened at the Palace May 12
and "Tlie Miracle of the Bells" bows in with
a benefit premiere May 25.
Babe Kuth stopped off en route to Holly-
'vood, where his life stoi-y is being filmed
by Monogram. He met friends, showmen and
the press at a party in the Blackstone. Roy
Del Ruth and Joe Kaufman, a former B&Ker,
are producers of "The Babe Ruth Story" . . .
Irv Kupcinet had in his column that B&K
will switch its stage shows from the State-
Lake back to the Chicago.
Joe Berenson of National Theatre Advertisers
retui-ned from a six-week Florida vacation
and amiomiced he will enlarge his local
quarters . . . Double feature listed on a theatre
marquee i
by Hank Porter): "The
Mating of Millie" "This Time for Keeps" . . .
Sally Gold. Metro booker, was married April
25 at Crown Point to Louis Scharff. She will
continue with Metro ... Si Greiver is booking
the new drive-in theatre at Griffiths,
Ind.. owned and operated by Phil Smith.
Delft Circuit Takes Over
Door in Sturgeon Bay
STURGEON BAY, WIS.—The Door Theatre
here now is under the banner of the
Delft Theatres of Marquette, Mich. The circuit
now operates 21 theatres.
Local 164 Elects
MILWAUKEE—Officers of the lATSE projectionists
local 164 elected at the recent
meeting were: President, Glenn C. Kalkhoff;
business manager. Otto A. Ti-ampe; vicepresident,
Walter Behr; recording secretary,
Robert Lucht; treasurer, George Wittman.
Executive board members: George Brader,
Norman Habersat, Charles Beggs and John
Black. Delegates to lATSE convention:
Trampe, Kalkhoff and Behr. Delegates to
Wisconsin State Federation of Labor: Kalkhoff
and Trampe.
.
68
BOXOFFICE :
: May
15, 1948
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