Boxoffice-May.03.1952

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The EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY
(Continued from preceding page)
Here Comes the Groom iPara) — Bing
Crosby. Jane Wynian, Alexis Smitli. I think
this is the best Crosby picture I ever played.
So much human interest, such nice, clean
comedy, such simple effective music. You
could hear a pin drop when Anna Maria
Alberghetti. as the blind giil. sang her solo.
Comments: the very best. Played Sun.. Mon.
—Leo W. Smith, Elk Theatre. Elkton. S. D.
Party Smarty iPara)—Noveltoon cartoon
was enjoyed by all. Played Sun.. Mon. Weather:
Rain.—Pearce Parkhurst. Lansing Drivein
Theatre, Lansing. Mich. Family patronage.
Peking Express iPara)—Joseph Cotten.
Corinne Calvet. Edmund Gwenn. A total loss
from start to finish. Too high rental, poor
plot, and a preach-preach story that was a
waste of time and money. Played Tiies.. Wed.
Weather: Fair.—Ken Christian.son. Roxy Theatre.
Washburn. N. D. Small town trade.
Rhubarb (Para>—Ray Milland. Jan Sterling.
Gene Lockhart. A dandy comedy and certainly
out of the ordinary. It's got the talking
mule picture beat a mile. Played Wed., Thurs.
Weather: Fair.— Bill Leonard, Leonard Theatre.
Cedar Vale. Kas. Small town and rural
trade.
RKO RADIO
Dynamite Pass (RKO>—Tim Holt. Lynne
Roberts. Regis Toomey. Tim Holt and Richard
Martin do all right here. Tim plays it
straight and his popularity has held here for
a long time. Played Sat. Weather: Good.
Audrey Thompson. Ozark Theatre. Hardy.
Ark. Small town and rural trade.
Tarzan and the Amazons —James
Stewart. Marlene Dietrich. Glynis Johns.
Wow. what a headache this gave us. We were
forced to pull the picture after the first day.
Cartoons Pull Saturday
Night Crowds
PVERY SATURDAY NIGHT is
"Cartoon
Circus" night—along with the
regular feature. We advertise this special
program on the monthly calendars
and it has really helped to boost attendance.
Rain or shine the crowd is always
good on "Circus" night.—J. D. Wilbanks,
Wagon Wheel Fly-In Drlve-In Theatre,
Spearman, Tex. Small town patronage.
and substitute a Gary Cooper, somewhat
aged: "You're in the Navy Now." James
Stewart, always popular with our patrons,
did a nose-dive with us. although his acting
ability was above par in this picture, and Miss
Dietrich did justice to the minor part she
played in it. The action was nil in the entire
picture. If you operate an arty house, this
might go over with your patrons, but our
rough-and-ready customers would have nothing
to do with it. We tried to play this on
our best time—Sun.. Mon.. Tues. The weather
was a typical rainy spell for this time of
year.—Roy D. Tidwell. Roxy Theatre. Barnsdall.
Okla. Small town and oil field trade.
People Will Talk (20th-Fox)—Cary Grant.
Jeanne Crain. Finlay Currie. We were afraid
of this picture but it did good business here
for these times. The picture was praised by
parents, young adults and children. One does
get surprised in this business. Played Sun.,
Mon.—Earl and Olive London, State Theatre,
Olivet, Mich. Small town, rural, college trade.
Rawhide (20th-Fox)—Tyrone Power. Susan
Hayward, Hugh Marlowe.
cooky this Marlowe can be!
What a tough
We had just finished
playing "The Return of the Texan."
where Marlowe played the part of the country
doc to perfection. Then to see this fellow
play the part as the leader of as tough a
gang of cutthroats as ever graced the .screen,
calls for some acting—and I don't mean maybe
—but Hugh Marlowe did just this to the
queen's taste. Tyrone Power played his usual
smooth part to perfection, while Susan Hayward
1 what a gal ! ) played the part of Power's
make-believe wife to the hilt. We played this
superwestern somewhat late but did a fine
Fri. -Sat. business. If your crowd likes 'em
rough (and ours does), play this fine picture,
by all means. Fox sold this picture to us
right.—Roy D. Tidwell. -Roxy Theatre. Barnsdall.
Okla. Small town, oil field trade.
Return of Frank James, The (20th-Fox)—
Reissue. Gene Tierney, Henry Fonda, Jackie
Cooper. Last week we had "Jesse James" and
this week "The Return of Frank James," with
two cartoons and a serial. Business was about
average for Saturday, though. I didn't see
anything extra in the picture, either, although
I must admit it held suspense. Played Saturday.
Weather: Fair.—Herman Perkins jr..
Alpha Theatre, Catonsville, Md. General patronage.
Return of Frank James (20th-Fox)—Reissue.
Gene Tierney, Henry Fonda, Jackie
Cooper. Yep, this was another lulu! Once
again business was above average, once again
it w'as a wonderful show, and once again both
the customers and the boxoffice were happy.
Small-towners, grab tlwse reissues and make
some dough. Even a blizzard Saturday night
didn't keep 'em away. Played Fri.. Sat.
Weather: Snow.—Carl F. Neitzel. Juno Theatre.
Juneau. Wis. Small town, rural trade.
UNITED ARTISTS
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Iroquois Trail (UA) —George Montgomery,
Brenda Marshall. Glenn Langan. Tliis Indian
thriller simply did not take here—maybe
I ran it on the wrong day of the week. Maybe
my patrons don't like so much blood spilling.
Whether the picture, the title, or the actors
kept them away, I'll never know. It wasn't
the weather 'cause that was fine. The print
was good! Played Wed., Thurs. Weather:
Fine and mild.—I. Roche, Veil and Vernon
theatres, Cottondale and Vernon, Fla. Small
town and rural trade.
Mickey (UAl—Lois Butler. Bill Goodwin,
Irene Hervey. This is a darling picture, and 1
although somewhat old, is still lovely enter-
,
tainment which you should be proud to play
on your screen. Played Wed., Thurs.-Har- ,
land Rankin. Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont.
General patronage.
UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL
Bend of the River lU-I) —James Stewart,,
Arthur Kennedy. Julia Adams. This was
o.k. but certainly did not live up to expectations.
It was just another glorified western.
The only draw was Jimmy Stewart. The
advertisement i ) terrific but the ]
average movie fan is not concerned about
how cold the river was. etc.. they just want
the finished product to be good. To sum it
up. I would say that if film exchanges are
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going to spend thousands of dollars on advertising,
why not spend it on pictures that are
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really going to merit this.—Roger Cloet, Bay
Theatre, Port Rowan. Ontario, Canada. Small
town and rural patronage.
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Raging Tide (U-H— Shelley Winters, Richard
Conte, Stephen McNally. Good action ij
feature. Charles Blckford stole the show. '
Winters and Conte O.K. Played with "I'll
See You in My Dreams" Wed., Thurs., Fri.,
Sat. No business because of Lent. Weather:
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Cold.—Graham and Yarnell, Kramer Theatre,
Detroit, Mich. Neighborhood trade.
WARNER BROS.
I'll See You in My Dreams (WB)—Danny I
Thomas, Doris Day, Frank Lovejoy. This is l
an excellent show—two different types of
features (doubled with "The Tanks Are Coming")
rounded this into a great show. We have '\
a great many families with youngsters in
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service here, and could do with less war picjj
tures. Played Tues. through Thurs. Weather: ij
Cloudy.—Al Hatoff, Park Theatre, Brooklyn,
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N. Y. Neighborhood trade.
Only the Valiant (WB)—Gregory Peck. Bar- I
bara Payton, Ward Bond. This is a good pic- \
ture but didn't seem to click. We had veryjl
bad weather the second night, and even I
though we played Hollywood, we didn't get |l
a lift out of it at all. It is an older war story >M
which didn't seem to go over with our audi- -J
ence. Played Mon., Tues.—Harland Rankin, jl
Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont. General pa-jj
tronage.
Starlift (WB)—Doris Day, Gordon Mac-1
Rae, Virginia Mayo. This picture drew well 'I
for us with just a little more than ordinaryi
advertising. This is now gay, now serious.J
It has a nice story and moves with a fast,j
fascinating pace. Played Sun., Mon. Weather:
Fair.—H. E. Porta, Civic Theatre, Osceola, Mo.j
Farming trade.
BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: May 3, 1952"