Boxoffice-11.04.1950

Good.—W. L. Stratton, Lyric Theatre, Challis.
Ida. Small town patronage. * * *
Fancy Pants (Para) — Bob Hope, Lucille
Ball, Bruce Cabot. This i.s tops. If your patrons
don't come out for this one, close your
theatre and take up plumbing. Hope is always
good for laughs and business in this
situation.—Arthur Goldstein, Ute Theatre,
Strasburg, Colo. Small town and rural patronage.
Furies, The (Para) — Barbara Stanwyck,
Wendell Corey, Walter Huston. I am not saying
"who," but in our opinion, someone in
this picture should get the Academy Award.
The reason we can't say who should get it is
that they all put in very good performances,
that only top actors can do. It was taken
very well here by all and played to the average
crowd. Due to the bad weather, many
were held at home. Played Sat., Mon.
Weather: Snow and rain.—Sam Holmberg,
Regal Theatre, Sturgis, Sask. Rural partonage.
• * *
Geronimo! (Para)—Reissue. Preston Foster,
Ellen Drew, Ralph Morgan. This is too old
for us. It let us down very badly. It should
be sold as a program picture for double billing.
Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Cool.—Harland
Rankin, Rankins Enterprises, Chatham,
Ont. Rural patronage. • * *
Great Lover, The (Para) — Bob Hope,
Rhonda Fleming, Roland Young. And to
think I paid top money for this one! This
was probably made before Movies Were Better
Than Ever. Hope needs Bing to put 'em
over. Played Fri., Sat., Sun.—Frank Sabin,
Majestic Theatre, Eureka, Mont. Small town
patronage. * * *
Paid in Full (Para) — Robert Cummings,
Lizabeth Scott, Diana Lynn. This is very
poor for a small town. Even with bank
night it didn't do 70 per cent of average.
Doubled with "The Golden Gloves Story"
(ELC), it was played Fri., Sat. Weather:
Fair.—Don Donohue, Novato Theatre, Novate,
Calif. Small town and rural patronage.
Wild Harvest (Para)—Alan Ladd, Dorothy
Lamour, Robert Preston. I played this picture
again within two years, and did better on it
this time than before. It's a natural for the
farmers. They really liked it, and of course
they showed it by turning out for it. Played
Tues., Wed. Weather: Rain. — Howard C.
Bayer, Iowa Theatre, Schleswig, Iowa. Small
town and rural patronage. • *
Wild Harvest (Para)—Alan Ladd, Dorothy
Lamour, Robert Preston. We traded "Song of
Surrender" for a repeat run on "Wild Harvest,"
and are not sorry either, as EHHS reports
on "Surrender" were not favorable. We
An Interesting Story
With This Musical
DAUGHTER OF ROSIE O'GRADY
(WE)—June Haver, Gordon MacRae,
James Barton. I have read so many
favorable reports on this that anything
I say will be superfluous. However, I
must have my "say." For once they made
a musical with an interesting story to it.
It has a little bit of everything and a
whole lot of something. The tall tap
dancer was good. Is he going to be another
Dan Dailey? Played Sun., Mon.
Weather: Rain.—Marcella Smith, Vinton
Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. Small town
patronage. * * *
*
•
believe this "Wild Harvest" is Alan Ladd's
best picture he ever made, and one of Paramount's
better pictures. It is okay for our
money. Played Tues., Wed. Weather: Indian
summer.—Ken Christiansen, Roxy Theatre,
Washburn, N. D. Small town patronage. • * *
REPUBLIC
Brimstone (Rep)—Rod Cameron, Adrian
Booth, Walter Brennan. I swapped this for
"House by the River." It's a little old but
they liked it. I doubled it with "David Harding,
Counterspy" (Col) and together they did
average business, so I can't complain. Played
Fri., Sat. Weather: Fair.—Don Donohue,
Novato Theatre, Novato, Calif. Small town
and rural patronage.
•
Hills of Oklahoma (Rep)—Rex Allen, Elizabeth
Eraser, Robert Karnes. We doubled this
with "I, Jane Doe" and had a full house
Sunday and did fair business the ne.xt night.
Allen's singing isn't bad. Weather; Mild Sun.,
cold Mon,—Robert B. Tuttle, Sky Drive-In,
Adrian, Mich. Rural and city patronage. •
Old Los Angeles (Rep) — William Elliott,
John Cai-roU, Catherine McLeod. They should
Sam Wants to Hear
From These Exhibitors
7ICTING as a microphone for Sam
Holmberg of the Regal Theatre at
Sturgis, Sask., we broadcast the following
message:
"May we, through the medium of yeur
paper, say 'hello' to the manager of the
Metropolitan in Iowa Falls, Iowa and to
the manager of the Strand in Ackley,
Iowa? I met these two fellows when I
was down in the corn state last year,
and they really have a couple of lovely
theatres. And say, fellows, let's have some
reports from you in EXHIBITOR HAS
HIS SAY.
"Also, could we have a report on how
Jim Mote is doing with his Friendship
Theatre in Sterling, Okla. Is Jim getting
back on his feet again? We all surely
hope so."
have kept this there! And they say Movies
Are Better Than Ever. If they want to keep
the slogan, they had better can half the product
they are putting out. Played Sat., Mon.
Weather: Good.—Sam Holmberg, Regal Theatre,
Sturgis, Sask. Rural patronage. * * *
Prince of the Plains (Rep)—Monte Hale,
Paul Hurst, Shirley Davis. This is the poorest
Monte Hale I have run so far. There is
too much talk, no western music, dark scenes.
Monte hasn't done any extra business for
me since he stopped making Trucolor westerns.
This is the first poor western I have
played from Republic. Played Fri., Sat.
Weather: Fair.—Carl Neitzel, Juno Theatre,
Juneau, Wis. Local and surrounding area patronage.
* * *
Sands of Iwo Jima (Rep)—John Wayne,
John Agar, Adele Mara. John Wayne can be
proud of his part in this production—he did
a nice job. So did all the other chaps in the
cast. It will get business, but it's rugged.
Played Fri., Sat., Sun. Weather: Okay. —
Frank Sabin, Majestic Theatre, Eureka, Mont.
Small town patronage. • • *
Wake of the Red Witch (Rep)—John
Wayne, Gig Young, Gail Russell. The title
was enough to kill this Republic so-called
"big-one." The word "red" and "witch" are
really killers in a small town. Let's wake up.
Calls Picture Perfect:
Exhibitor Made Proud
STARS IN MY CROWN (MGM)—Joel
McCrea, Ellen Drew, Dean Stockwell,
Pictures like this make an exhibitor proud
that he's in show business. We played to
a full house both nights. Joel McCrea
was perfect as the minister. In fact, I'd
say the picture was perfect. Please give
us more like it. Played Sat., Sun.
Weather: Good.— T. M. Patton, Scenic
Theatre, Lexington, 111. Small town patronage.
* * *
Hollywood, on our titles! Also, the story is
too slow-moving and pictures of this type
have limited appeal. Even John Wayne could
not save this from being a loss at the boxoffice.
This is my first and last Republic
picture on a Sunday playdate—people remember.
Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Indian
summer.—Ken Christiansen, Roxy Theatre,
Washburn, N. D. Small town patronage. * * *
20th CENTURY-FOX
Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend, The
(20th-Fox)—Betty Grable, Cesar Romero,
Rudy Vallee. This picture had nothing but
high praise here at the Regal from all its
patrons. This is one of the best comedy
westerns we have had. Many came back the
second night to see it. We had people the
second night that have rrot been to shows
j
in years, and they all went away happy. Thej
only trouble was that it was too short, but we
}
doubled this with "A Chump From Oxford,"!
with Laurel and Hardy, and we had one of j
the best double bills of the year. Play these)
two together and pack 'em in, pardner!
Played Sat., Mon. Weather: Good.—Sam
Holmberg, Regal Theatre, Sturgis, Sask.
Rural patronage. * * *
Broken Arrow (20th-Fox)—James Stewart,
Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget. This is an excellent
western which did very, very good
business. This picture has everything for a
small town showman—even Bill Wilkerson,
a Dewey Indian, who had a speaking part in
it—although I did not know this in time to
exploit it. Naturally, it showed a profit.
Played Tues., Wed., Thurs. Weather: Good.
—E. M. Freiburger, Dewey Theatre, Dewey,
Okla. Small town patronage. * * *
Gunfighter, The (20th-Fox)—Gregory Peck,
Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell. This is.
very good and a small town natural, as are
all superwesterns. Tliis is above average as
to draw. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Good.—
W. L. Stratton, Lyric Theatre, Challis, Ida.
•
Small town patronage.
Gunfighter, The (20th-Fox)—Gregory Peck,
j
Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell. This fine
picture doesn't have the hard-riding, fistfights,
and gunplay that the ordinary western
has, but when things do happen, they
happen fast. The audience interest was held
throughout because of the different story
twist and the excellent acting of Gregory
Peck and the supporting cast. I'm sorry to
say that I just broke even on the show but
Friday night I bucked a football game and
Saturday night the farmers were all tuckered
out, as the hunting season just opened. Played
Fri., Sat.—Carl Neitzel, Juno Theatre, Juneau,"
Wis. Local and surrounding area patronage.
* * *
Night and the City (20th-Fox)—Richard
(Continued on page 4)
BOXOFFICE BookinGuido :: Nov. 4, 1950