Boxoffice-May.03.1952

. . Morris
. . Tent
PHILADELPHIA Beaver Falls, Pa., Theatre, Doormats
Durglars stole $1,100 from a .sale at the
Lawiidale Theatre Sunday (27) after they
set off a tear gas valve in smashing the combination.
The burglars opened a skylight for
ventilation when the tear gas went off . . .
The brother of John Colder, Jam Handy repre.sentative,
died . . . William G. Mansell, WB
manager: Charles Beilan. his a.ssistant: Ben
Bache, T. N. Noble, D. M. Cooper and G. D.
Hutcheon returned from the regional conference
in Pittsburgh.
Si Perlsweig has resigned at Republic . . .
Lawrence Goldmeier, president of Popper's
Popcorn Supply Co.. presided over the regional
meeting of the National Ass'n of Popcorn
Manufacturers . Conner, manager
at the Orpheimi, has moved over to the
Lane while Jack Allen has taken over the
managerial post at the Fern Rock . . . Ted
Schlanger, S-W zone manager, was to leave
on a trip to the south and west . The
. .
Tannenbaum family, which operate the Surf
Theatre in Atlantic City, has taken over the
Lyric.
U.S. Judge Austin L. Staley has held that
while taking a jury in a criminal case to see
a film about criminals is not exactly a wise
practice, it is not necessarily prejudicial to
the interests of the defendant. The circuit
court got a complete transcript of the dialog
of "The Damned Don't Cry" to find out if
there was anything in it that might have
prejudiced the jurors in a case dealing with
alleged income tax evasion. The jurist said
that the film was "indeed a lurid tale about
the underworld." "A few isolated sentences
in the dialog," the Pittsburgh jurist wrote,
"allude to mistakes in income tax returns and
to lawful ways of reducing taxes." "However,"
he added, "we fail to find anything in the
film that could fairly be said to incite prejudice
against the defendant."
Marvin Bazin, a projectionist at the City
Line Center Theatre, beat the slate by receiving
the Democratic nomination for the
state legislature from the 18th district at the
primary elections on Tuesday i22) . . . Donald
Thomas McNeill brought his Breakfast
club into the Mastbaum on Friday (25) for
his daily network broadcast. The doors to
the theatre opened at 8 a. m. to allow firstcome-first
served seating for some 4.400 Philadelphians
who made successful bids for the
free tickets.
Ed McMahon has been
conducting a contest
on his daily Strictly for the Girls T'V
show, inviting his audience to try to guess
the number of freckles on the face of Katharine
Hepburn, star of "The African Queen"
. . . Iz Borowsky's New Jewel ha-s shuttered
. . . Ditto for Harry Perleman's 'West Allegheny
The Avon Theatre Corp. is now
operating the Bromley and also the Arcadia
and Queen in Wilmington.
A. M. Ellis Theatres is equipping the projection
room on top of the Warner building
so that it will be available for screenings
. . . Nat Levy, RKO eastern division sales
manager; R. J. Folliard, district manager,
and Sid Kramer, short .subject sales executive,
were in at the RKO exchange for a Ned
Depinet drive sales meeting . . . The Philadelphia
Motion Picture Preview group held
its annual spring luncheon at the Warwick
Thursday (1). Guest speakers from the in-
To Celebrate Joint Golden Jubilee
BEAVER FALLS, PA.—The entire Beaver
Valley soon will celebrate the Golden Jubilee
of the Rialto Theatre and the 50th anniversary
of one of its employes. Fifty years
ago this coming fall the Lyceum Theatre,
biggest and best theatre in a wide area, drew
crowds of people from all the little towns
up and down the valley to its inaugural.
James H. Carson, 19-year-old journeyman
printer on his father's weekly newspaper, applied
for a part-time temporary position at
the Lyceum. He had .^een the posters for
Rice's show, which had been booked for the
opening and he figured that spending his evenings
at the theatre would be fascinating
an exciting hobby.
Sam S. Hanauer, manager of the then-new
theatre, hired Carson and a.ssigned him to a
job as doorman. He remained at his printer's
job by day and continued enjoying his hobby
—ths theatre—at night.
A half-century later, Jim Carson still is at
the door of the theatre, which has been renamed
the Rialto. To two generations of
theatregoers, Carson has become one of the
landmarks of the Beaver Valley.
Carson has lived through the greatest days
of the theatre. Many of the outstanding stars
were pre.sented at the Lyceum, .some in the
earlie.st days of their careers. Prom his post
at the door, Carson has known the famous
personalities of the drama, musical comedy,
opera and minstrel shows.
He now has a 50-year service button given
to him by the Beaver Valley Typographical
union two years ago, marking his 50th year
as a union printer, all of them spent on the
Review. He served as editor for 18 years after
his father, John W. Carson, died. Seven years
ago he sold the paper, but he has continued
with his hobby and his job at the theatre.
Carson now recalls vividly the opening
night of the Lyceum. From miles around patrons
came in carriages, surreys, victorias and
barouches. They even came by train from distant
points. Boxes at $50 were sold out long
before opening night. Sam Hanauer remained
as manager of the theatre until his
death .some years ago.
dustry and "fashions of the stai-s" will be featured
at the occasion . 13 of the
Vai'iety Club held a "goodby" dance for conventioneers
leaving for the Las Vegas meeting
of Variety International.
Martin Levine to Install
NEW YORK—Martin Levine. president of
Cinema lodge, the entertainment industry
unit of B'nai B'rith, in New York, will be
guest of honor and the installing officer when
Sentry lodge, the newly reconstituted industry
unit of B'nai B'rith in Boston, installs
Samuel Pinanski. president of American Theatres
Corp., as president May 4. Levine, an
executive of Brandt Theatres, was recently
elected to head New York's Cinema lodge for
a second year.
Gail Davis in 'Wagon Team'
Gail Davis will be Gene Autry's feminine
lead in Columbia's "Wagon Team."
JAMES H.
CARSON
For ten years. Robert Higgins has been an
active showman in this community and for
the last seven years has managed the Rialto,
one of four local Cook-Anderson houses. Now
he is planning to restore some of the glamor
of the forgotten years to the Rialto. The
anniversary celebration will be a doublebarrelled
jubilee in honor of both Carson
and the theatre. In mid-June a new policy
of film presentation will be announced and
there will be stage events to add to the anniversary
celebration.
The Rialto is one of a very few theatres
in the nation w'hich has maintained continuous
operation for one-half century. Carson,
in his 70th year, hesitates to even estimate
how many tickets have been handed to him
by patrons entering the theatre. But he definitely
proclaims that motion pictures, which
he has followed since their inception, are
better all the time. He still claims that
"movies are his hobby," but adds he still
"has no idea that the job will be permanent."
Cinema Lodge to Revive
Golf Tournament May 22
NEW YORK—Cinema lodge of B'nai B'rith
will revive industry golf tournaments at the
Vernon Hills Country club at Tuckahoo, N.Y..
May 22. Annual industry tournaments were
held for many years up to World War II,
and Martin Levine, president of the lodge,
has decided now would be a good time to revive
them.
Alfred W. Schwalberg. president of Paramount
Film Distributing Corp.. has been
named chairman of the tournament committee,
with Harold Rinzler. e.xecutive of Randforce
Theatres, as co-chairman. Tournament
headquarters have been set up at 214
West 44th St.
Prizes will be awarded to the best foursome,
runnersup, plus awards for the best
net and gross scores, driving, putting, birdies,
etc. A $15 entry fee will include green fees,
lunch and dinner.
BOXOFFICE May 3, 1952 41