Boxoffice-11.11.1950

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TORONTO
TUTanaser Howard Elliott of the Fairlawn has
secured the weekly Singing Stars of Tomorrow
broadcast, for a series of 26 weeks,
with the programs of new artists being presented
from the stage to the CBC circuit.
The sponsor is Canadian Industries, Ltd. As
president of the Bedford Park Busine.ssmen's
Association, Elliott organized a fashion show
at the theatre for Thursday afternoon in cooperation
with local merchants. Tickets were
sold by church organizations which realized
proceeds of $750. The Fairlawn supplied,
Romance on the High Seas."
Gene Lockhart, veteran screen actor, attended
a reunion at De LaSalle academy here.
Lockhart recalled his Toronto days when he
played football with the Argonauts and was
a champion paddler with the Toronto Canoe
club. Incidentally, he saw a great future for
actors, writers and producers in television . . .
Chief Barker Morris Stein of Toronto Variety
Tent 28 became proxy owner of a passenger
bus when it was presented to the Variety
Village school by the transportation commission
of Toronto. It used to be bus No. 574
on the Wellesley street route and was reconditioned
before presentation to the Variety
club.
George Degnon, former promotion manager
in Canada for RKO Pictures, has suffered a
serious illness since starting a business of his
own in Toronto . betting in film circles
locally is that Stan Gosnell, manager of
the Uptown, will be the choice of next president
of the Motion Picture Theatres Ass'n
of Ontario when the new directors meet to
pick the 1950-51 officers. He was the treasurer
during the past year and is the property
master of Toronto Variety.
J. J. Fitzgibbons, president of Famous
Players, and wife were in London last week
on the way home from a Holy Year trip to
Rome. Fitzgibbons and Barney Balaban of
Paramount combined in .sending a cable of
congratulations to Simon Meretsky, former
Windsor exhibitor, when he was being dined
by the Canadian Picture Pioneer.s at Toronto.
In a switch of organists by FPC here, Al
Bollington has gone to the console in Shea's
Theatre while Quentin MacLean, at that theatre
for a dozen years, is replacing Bollington
at the Victoria after recovery from illness
Sedgwick, manager of the Palace at
St. Catharines, had to pass up the convention
of the Motion Picture Theatres Ass'n
of Ontario for the first time. He sent word
that he was tied up with the organizing of
a group of Junior Farmers for the winter fair
in behalf of the Kiwanis club of St. Kitts.
J. A. Flinn of Toronto, one of the oldest
. . The
projectionists in Canada, died here in his
81st year. He was buried in Halifax .
Kent at Windsor, started continuous performances
with the presentation of the Italian
picture, "The Iron Crown." The Kent
uses the .slogan, "Windsor's Biggest Little
Theatre," becau.se of its type of attractions.
Manager Martin Simpson of the Downtown
here capitalized on the construction of the
city's first subway, which pa-s.ses the theatre's
front door, by displaying a map showing
the routes of the underground system in
London, England. He reported, that with
subway work under way nearby, the theatre
diiplay caught the attention of countless per-
Loas, including many war veterans who had
visited London.
Manager Simmons of the suburban Village,
says that an unusually large crowd was delighted
with the sneak preview of 'Jackpot"
in the regular Thursday night series of advance
showings, prior to downtown engagements
. Ulster, local theatre owner,
has retired as a director of the Motion Picture
Theatres Ass'n of Ontario, and maybe
there's a personal reason. His wife has presented
him with a baby daughter.
. . . Manager William
N. C. Rae, former supervisor of Theatre
Confections, has been appointed manager of
the Montreal branch by President J. J. Fitzgibbons
jr. The organization is a subsidary
of Famous Players
Payne of the Marks at Oshawa is recovering
from injuries received when his car was hit
by a hit-and-runner.
A misspelling by the Odeon ad artist in a
newspaper announcement for "Prelude to
Fame" caused Manager W. C. Tyers to offer
ten double passes for those who first spotted
the error. The mistake was "applaudes."
OTTAWA
f^ttawa delegates to the ninth annual convention
of the MPTA of Ontario at Toronto
were Morris Berlin, a member of the board
of directors and manager of the Somerset
here, and D. B. Stapleton, proprietor of the
Center . Enfants du Paradis," the
French feature which created an issue between
the French embassy in Ottawa and the
religious authorities when brought to Canada
a couple of years ago, was screened here recently
and appears to be due for theatre engagements.
The FPC Capitol presented a stage concert
Wednesday night (18), by Jan Peerce, who is
shortly appearing in a new Hollywood picture.
There was a big audience . first big
snowfall of the winter fell November 4, and
that was the date on which the Ottawa
Drvie-In near Britannia Beach decided to
call it a season with the presentation of
"Wake Island."
Manager Fred Leavens of the Elmdale in
the west end staged a full-fledged fashion
revue of fall and winter clothes, worn, of
course, by pretty young women on the three
nights, November 6-8 . . . Crowd pressure for
"Treasure Island" at the Regent was so great
that Manager Henry Marshall started the
continuous shows last Saturday at 11 a. m.
and held the program for a second week .
Arthur A. Crawley, who is associated with
Crawley Films, has been re-elected national
director of ,the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Toronto State Robbed
TORONTO—While a crime feature was
being shown on the screen of the State here.
Manager Dudley Dumond and the cashier,
Mrs. Norma Sexton, were held up in the theatre
office by two armed bandits who .secured
the night's receipts of approximately $600.
The crooks made a successful getaway.
WINNIPEG
J^r. and Mrs. Mort Calof announce tht
birth of their first born, a son named
Terence. The father is owner of the Vogue
general manager of Paramount.
Gordon Lightstone, presided over a threeday
regional conference at the Royal Alexandra
hotel. Present were all managers,
salesmen and bookers from the Vancouver,
Calgary and Winnipeg exchanges.
Lionel Slaven, Warner in.spector who covered
himself with glory playing for the Northern
hotel team (Manitoba Softball champs)
has been invited to try out with the New York
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Giants during their spring training . . . Ron
McPherson, Eagle Lion poster clerk, will leave
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for Orlando, Fla., in January to attend the
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Ted Williams baseball school January 4 to
February 8. McPherson, the son of Joe Mc- j
Pherson, Toronto manager of Eagle Lion,
played left field for the Rosedale Juniors,
1950 Winnipeg junior champions.
Plans are going ahead on a $160,000 theatre
and bowling alley project for Fort Carry,
Rudy Bessler, owner of the Park, reports.
We will use concrete blocks in construction
and stay clear of recently announced controls
on entertainment structures," he said.
"But we have yet to apply for permission to
build. We may run into difficulties even
with concrete blocks."
Bessler negotiated for
the Fort Garry property with the municipal
council over the past year, and the sale was
recently completed. One of the main attractions
of the new theatre will be a 150-foot
car park. Both the theatre and the bowling
alley will be equipped with lunch bars. Bessler
recently sold the Deluxe, installed Molly
Schultz in the Park as manager, and went
into semiretirement. News of the proposed
entertainment project came as a surprise to
the industry.
Montreal Asks Action
On Lease for TV Site
MONTREAL — The municipal executive
committee has reiterated its request that
the CBC be given exclusive right to use of
a site on Mount Royal on which to erect a
building and television station. This resolution
is tantamount to asking the Quebec government
to pass an order-in-council permitting
the construction. The issue still remains
in the hands of Premier Maurice Duplessis
who has consistently refused to give
effect to the city's wish to shift a piece of
the park property.
The premier has received requests from
the CBC, including visits from Dr. Augustin
Frigon, general manager, asking that the legislation
be approved at Quebec, but to date
the premier has refused to pass the necessary
order-in-council as a result of a deadlock
since 1945 between the province of Quebec
and the CBC over permits for a provincial
radio chain, which have been refused
by CBC. The resolution of the city executive
committee has aroused speculation that
Ottawa has agreed to accept the position
that the province is entitled to operate radio
stations.
The matter of television rights on Mount
Royal goes back to November 22, 1944 when
the city agreed to the request of CBC to be
allowed to erect the necessary buildings in
the park.
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BOXOFFICE :: November 11, 1950