Boxoffice-December.02.1950

Exhibitor Has His Say
(Continued from page 3)
Good. — Prank E. Sabin, Majestic Theatre,
Eureka, Mont. Small town and rural patronage.
• • •
Macbeth (Rep) — Orson Welles, Jeanette
Nolan, Roddy McDowall. I had an idea it
would not be too good at the boxoffice, but
being a college town, we did very well indeed;
for the title of "Macbeth" is really something.
It is worth good playing time. Played Wed.,
Thurs. Weather: Pretty cold and stormy.—
Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury,
Vt. College patronage. • • •
This reissue is a fine war picture. If the war
in Korea is helping your boxoffice with war
pictures, this is one of the best. Terms are
most reasonable, too. Played Sun., Mon.
Weather: Cold.—I. Roche, Vernon Theatre,
Vernon, Fla. Small town and rural patronage.
...
Mister 880 (20th-Pox)—Burt Lancaster,
Dorothy McGuire, Edmund Gwenn. This,
ladies and gentlemen, is a natural. It is a
great story (yes, wonderful!) and Edmund
Gwenn is absolutely tops. In fact, they love
him in our city. Played Sun., Mon., Tues.
Weather: Good.—Ken Gorham, Town Hall
Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. College patronage.
. » •
Competitor's Appraisal
Not the Same as His
COMANCHE TERRITORY (U-I)—
Maureen O'Hara, Macdonald Carey, Will
Geer. Our competitor played it and we
asked for his comments. He said it was
beautiful and a good cast but not much
else. I can't agree, as it did above normal
business for us and we received more good
comments than poor, so it was okay for
us. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather:
Fair and cool.—Ken Christianson, Roxy
Theatre, Washburn, N. D. Small town
and rural patronage.
* » •
Plunderers, The (Rep) — Rod Cameron,
Ilona Massey. Adrian Booth. This is a nice
western from Republic in color, that did above
average midweek business. It had romance,
comedy, Indians and all the contents that
make a "western" for the small town. It was
sold right and pleased all. Played Tues., Wed.,
Thurs. Weather: Cool. — Ken Christianson,
Roxy Theatre, Washburn, N. D. Small town
patronage. * * •
Rock Island Trail (Rep)—Forrest Tucker,
Adele Mara, Adrian Booth. This is a nice
Technicolor action picture for the weekend.
We should have had more business but on
Saturday they had a Catholic wedding, and
there isn't anything I've run, even from
MGM, that can buck this kind of celebration,
and it's only once in a lifetime. However, I
wish they would marry any day but Saturday.
Played Sat., Sun. Weather: Cold.—Harland
Rankin, Rankin Enterprises, Chatham, Ont.
Small town patronage. • • •
20th CENTURY-FOX
AU About Eve (20th-Fox) — Bette Davis,
Aime Baxter, George Sanders. My personal
comment is that Pox made a poor selection
when they attempted, and then gave up, what
they believed to be a good stunt in showing
this. This picture has questionable morals,
has very flippant remarks, and while well
done, was not too well received. It's too bad
Bette Davis ran out of cigarets. Played Sun.,
Tues. Weather: Rainy.—M. W. Mattecheck,
Mack Theatre, McMinnville, Ore. City and
rural patronage. * . •
VCome to the Stable (20th-Fox)—Loretta
Young, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe. I
played this Sun., Mon. and believe me, I
sometimes wonder what patrons really want
for entertainment. We had poor houses for
this excellent film. Play it at all times—even
if only to satisfy yourself.—Dave S. Klein,
Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern
Rhodesia, Africa. Mine and government employe
patronage. »
Guadalcanal Diary (20th-Fox) — Reissue.
Preston Poster, Lloyd Nolan, WUliam Bendix.
Says Occasional Fantasy
Was Well Received
DESTINA'nON MOON (ELC)—Warner
Anderson, John Axcher, Tom Powers.
This picture was well received, and while
fantasy, it was a good drawing card.
Most people expressed satisfaction. One
like this occasionally is different and is
well received. Played Wed., Sat. Weather:
Rainy.—M. W. Mattecheck, Mack Theatre,
McMinnville, Ore. City and rural patronage.
• • •
UNITED ARTISTS
Champagne for Caesar (UA)—Ronald Colman,
Celeste Holm, Vincent Price. This is a
very good comedy take-off on the radio quiz
shows, with Vincent Price stealing the bows.
The picture did just average business and the
title confused the patrons until they had
seen the picture. Play up the laugh angle, as
there is an over-abundance of guffaws. In
most cases, comedies mean cash! Played Sun.,
Mon. Weather: Cold.--Carl F. Neitzel, Juno
Importance of Titles
To Drawing Power
LONDON of the State Theatre at
Jl A.
Olivet, Mich., has analyzed the business
slump in his locality as follows:
"Our business has been down for about
16 months. We have made a careful study
of our local situation and believe we have
found the reasons: 1. Not enough good
pictures (with strong stories). 2. Even
fewer strong titles.
"Titles are extremely important. They
should be pleasing, morally clean and
wholesome, and they should refer to the
main theme of the story. Among the
newer good pictures we have some extremely
weak titles: 'Two Weeks With
Love,' 'To Please a Lady,' 'Toast of New
Orleans,' 'Devil's Doorway,' 'Duchess of
Idaho,' "The Jackpot,' Ittister 880.'
"When we have a good picture with a
good title we have good business and if the
producers will give us a higher percentage
of these, we won't have to worry about
television or anything else."
Theatre, Juneau, Wis. Local and surrounding
area patronage. • • •
Love Happy (UA)—Marx Bros., Ilona Massey,
Vera-Ellen. I thought this would be a
natural for small towns but it didn't click
here. The price was okay though, so we
aren't kicking, even though we had slightly
below average business. Played Thurs., Fri.,
Sat. Weather: Nice.—Clinton Bahensky,
Time Theatre, Albert City, Iowa. Small town
and rural patronage.
•
Red River (UA)—John Wayne, Montgomery
Clift, Walter Brennan. This one came
through under the toughest circumstancespouring
rain both nights. The picture itself
is two years old. Nevertheless, it was the
best Tuesday in four months and an average
Wednesday, so no complaints from me.
Weather: Rain.—Don Donohue, Novate Theatre,
Novato, Calif. Small town and rural
patronage.
•
UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL
Abbott & Costello in the Foreign Legion
(U-D—Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Patricia
Medina. This team in a first run feature
really brought out the laughs but not the
crowd. We've had plenty of comedies lately
and the people are eating them up. Played
Sun., Mon. Weather: Cold.—Ralph Raspa,
State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va. Rural patronage.
» • • «.
I
Buccaneer's Girl (U-D—Yvonne DeCarlo, '
Philip Friend, Robert Douglas. If there's anyone
in your vicinity who likes pirates, then
this will be okay. I like this sort of stuff so
I thought it altogether too short, but there
aren't enough in Fruita who have my taste.
However, it did fair business for the midweek
and I about broke even. If I were to do it
over it would go on a double Fri., Sat. If
you can buy it right for such a program, it
should make some dough in action spots.
This has a nice cast, fine color and a fair
story. Played Wed., Thurs. Weather: Beautiful.—Bob
Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita,
Colo. Small town and rural patronage. * * •
Kid From Texas, The (U-D—Audie Murphy,
Gale Storm, Albert Dekker. I guess if
you're going to film the life of Billy the Kid.
there's going to be a lot of blood spilled, and
Universal certainly gets that part of the job .
done royally. It's a pretty fair western, J
though, and Audie Murphy makes quite a ]
convincing counterpart of the notorious gunslinger.
If you haven't given them an overdose
of horse opera this year, then this
should be the one you're looking for. Played
Fri., Sat. Weather: Perfect.—Bob Walker,
Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Rural patronage.
• » •
WARNER BROS.
Colt .45 (WB)—Randolph Scott, Ruth Roman,
Zachary Scott. This is truly a superwestern
in every sense of the word. It has
plenty of everything to satisfy every moviefan.
Comments were better on this than
on any western I have played this year.
The boxoffice was slightly below average, but
I had a near record attendance of kids.
Many sat through it twice or until the parents
dragged them out. Played Fri., Sat.
Weather: Cool.—Carl Neitzel, Juno Theatre,
Juneau, Wis. Local and surrounding area
patronage.
• • •
South of St. Louis (WB) — Joel McCrea.
Alexis Smith, Zachary Scott. This picture
is well done and the selection and work of
the actors are excellent. Joel McCrea and
his supporting male actor thrill, while Alexis
Smith wows the audience. It is well directed
and expensively done. Patrons liked it and it
drew above average attendance.—C. E. Bennewitz.
Royal Theatre, Royalton, Minn.
Small town patronage. • * *
BOXOFFICE BookinGuide Dec. 2, 1950