Boxoffice-March.10.1951

. .
. . Herb
Jersey Showman Given
Community Award
WILDWOOD, N. J.-.The B'nai B'rith
award presented annually to a citizen of
Wildwood, N. J., in
'
"recognition of o u t-
standing service in the
community and civic
affairs for the general
advancement of Americanism
and citizenship
responsibility"
went this year to William
C. Hunt, theatre
operator and publisher
of the Wildwood
Leader. Since Hunt,
William C. Hunt who is 79 years old,
was in Florida, it was accepted by his son
Guy. Samuel Garfinkle, chairman of the
award committee, made the presentation for
the lodge and the Wildwood Civic club in
commemoration of National Brotherhood
week.
Hunt opened the first amusement house
in Wildwood in 1905. He now operates the
Shore, Casino, Strand, Blakers and Regent
at Wildwood, the Beach at Cape May and
the Starlight ballroom on the boardwalk at
Wildwood.
The qualifications the committee found for
making the award were many. They included
organization of the first Board of
Trade which later became the Wildwood
Chamber of Commerce, a founder of the
Wildwood Golf and Conutry club, active participation
in highway and airport improvements,
chairman of the war bond drive in
the second world war which far exceeded its
quota, work for several years for the March
of Dimes campaigns, a fund raiser for the
Red Cross during the last world war and a
fund raiser for the Burdette Tomlin Memorial
hospital. When the Wildwood Trust
Co. closed its doors in 1932, he obtained permission
to reopen it and served as its president
for 11 years without any compensation
with the result that all depositors received
over 96 per cent of their deposits.
Dick Perrys Celebrate
Their 31st Anniversary
ALBANY—Dick Perry, United Artists salesman
in this district, and his wife celebrated
their 31st wedding anniversary. They were
married 31 years ago in a brownstone residence
which now is the site of Loew's Ziegfeld
in New York.
A veteran of more than 35 years in the
film business. Perry reminisced here with
another oldtimer Joe Miller of the Menands
Drive-In. Dick at one time traveled in five
states with a trunkful of silent films, which
included "New York Society and the Underworld,"
photographed on Pell street in Chinatown
and featuring the original Chuck Connnrs;
"Auto Bandits of Paris," "Civilization"'
and others. Perry then was a states-rights
man. He said the daily rental for "Civilization"
was $200 and worth the price. Perry
also was a theatre operator in the five-andten
days. One of the houses which he operated
was the Greenport in Greenport, L. I.
Signed for a character role in 20th -Fox's
"Friendly Island" was Gene Lockhart.
ALBANY
T^^. Luther Grand, owner of the Mountain
Drive-In at Loch Sheldrake, probably will
not open the ozoner before May 15. according
to his buyer-booker Joe Miller. Loch
Sheldrake is in the CatskiU mountains, where
few summer vacationists check in before
Decoration day. Dr. Grant first operated the
Mountain in 1949 . . . Warner Theatres zone
office Is losing two men to the armed forces.
Bob Schraver, navy reservist, is being called
back and Jerry Oles is entering the army.
Both are in the bookkeeping department.
Frank Garcin was transferred from assistant
manager at the Ritz to replace Floyd Moon
in the circuit bookkeeping department. Moon
resigned to join Frigidaire.
Navy reservists in the theatre business in
this area were watching war conditions
cautiously. Eddie Fabian, roving manager for
Fabian Theatres and son of Si Fabian, is a
reservist. He trained in the midshipman's
school at Notre Dame during World War II
and served in the Atlantic theatre during the
war. Sandy Miller, manager of the Menands
Drive-In and another trainee of the midshipman's
school, also is in the reserves. Both
men were lieutenants.
Mrs. Blanche Van Buren, cashier at the
Eagle Theatre, died in Albany hospital recently.
She had been a resident of Albany
for 40 years and is survived by a son, living
in Buffalo, four brothers and two sisters.
Interment was in Boston . . Mike Kallet,
.
president of Kallet Theatres, has been vacationing
in Miami. His brother Sid is in
charge of circuit operations.
. . Clara
.
Nate Dickman, Monogram manager, went
to Oneida to talk with Sid Kallet .
bell, clown of a local television show, will
make a personal appearance at the Palace
Theatre Saturday morning kiddy show
Warners Madison staged a comedy-western
kiddy party on a
and gave away 15
recent
prizes.
Saturday afternoon
. .
A lighted cigaret butt caused minor damage
in the balcony of the Leland recently. Flames
did not get any headway, however, because
the Leland was fireproofed in a major remodeling
job which followed a serious fire
two years ago The annual inspection
of
.
Albany theatres, now almost completed,
has revealed that most houses are "in good
condition, barring a few minor conditions
that need attention," according to the city
building commissionei*.
Many drive-in operators in this area plan
to open about April 15. Easter comes too
early this year for a teeoff . . . Drive-in operators
on the Row included Don Gilson, who
has the Sunset in Canton and the Sunset
in Massena, and Santos Smalldone, who owns
the Malta in Malta . . . Bill Voss, RCA factory
representative from Camden. N. J., was seen
dining with the Variety Club in Keeler's
Monday . . . Gene Vogel, U-I manager. Is a
pipe smoker these days.
The Evangelist, official publication of the
Catholic church, this week denied that any
"responsible Catholic authority has approved"
the sex hygiene film, "Because of Eve." The
denial came after reports that promoters of
the picture had claimed in two midwestern
cities that "several Catholic bishops" had approved
the film. Reviewers for the Legion of
Decency, the Evangelist said, "have not been
given an opportunity to see the picture,"
thus no classification has been made for the
film by that body.
Janet Lee Coddington, Summit, N. J., is
engaged to Bob Halliday, Warner salesman
here . . . The report that Rocky Bellesario
had closed the Roxy, New Hartford, proved
erroneous. Salesman and bookers explained
that occasionally a Little Theatre group presents
a stage play in the house, but that
Bellesario features a picture policy the rest
of the time . Gaines, Warner salesman,
has been transferred to Buffalo as city
salesman, effective March 19. He will take
the place of Pat Sullivan, promoted to Buffalo
branch manager. A Warner employee
for six years, Gaines came here in 1949 from
the Buffalo territory.
"The Renee Waltz," composed by Mrs.
J. Myer Schine in honor of her daughter
and first played at Renee's marriage to
Lester Crown in New York last December,
was included in the Sunday concert in the
Boca Raton Club auditorium, Boca Raton,
Fla., recently. Mrs. Schine is a pianist . . .
Robert L. Shattuck of the Uptown, Rensselaer,
became the father of a baby daughter
named Janet Louise recently. They have
another daughter, Constance Ann.
The Evangelist, in an editorial titled
"Sabotaging Brotherhood," strongly criticized
the New York Times for "its espousal of the
cause of irreligious groups in attempting to
impinge the decision" of the Board of Regents
revoking the license of "The Miracle,"
The Regents, reviewing the film, "unanimously
judged it to be sacrilegious on the
grounds the picture takes the concept of the
Virgin Birth, sacred to millions of Catholics
and Protestants, and associates it with
drunkenness, seduction, mockery and lewdness."
A directory of the Albany Variety Club,
. . .
listing the 139 members, their business affiliation
and telephone number, is being printed
for the first time. Chief Barker Leo Rosen
showed a proof copy last week. The
inside back cover will carry the story of
the national Variety Club movement
The Albany area is not the only one singing
the boxoffice blues. The metropolitan sector
is doing likewise, an informant said. "The
bottom has fallen out of business there, even
for the first runs," he reported. "The reasons
are baffling. Only the Paramount, with 'At
War With the Army,' has held up. High
living costs may be the answer. Loew's has
compiled statistics showing that 80 per cent
of television sets and automobiles have been
paid for; that savings banks have the largest
deposits in history, with so-called small people
well represented, and that unemployment
is the smallest in years."
David A. Babcock Retires
ROCHESTER—David A.
Babcock, superintendent
of the emulsion coating department
at the Eastman Kodak Co. Kodak Park plant
retired March 1 after completing nearly 45
years service. He was honored at a dinner
held at the Powers hotel. Babcock joined
Kodak May 7, 1906, as a loop-shifter in the
emulsion coating department.
k
BOXOFFICE :
: March
10, 1951 N 46-A