Boxoffice-December.20.1952

. . Eddie
. . Herb
:
MIAMI
jyjr.
and Mrs. Mitchell Wolfson have cause
for rejoicing. Their first grandchild,
Lynda Louise, was born December 6 at St.
Francis hospital. The parents are the Louis
Wolfsons . . . Florida State Theatres wiapped
up an attractive package of entertainment
for Christmas day. with the opening at the
Beach and Paramount of "April in Paris,"
at the Florida and Sheridan of "Road to Bali"
and at the Colony of "Hans Christian Andersen"
The Olympia's holiday offering,
. . . in addition to stage and screen attractions,
is the special Christmas prologue featuring
the Lester Singers from Miami Senior high.
It probably is a bad time to suggest motion
picture price conce.ssions, writes George
Bourke in the Miami Herald, immediately
following a piece about lagging attendance,
but it is a fact that better than 10,000
•servicemen are in the area. Some of them
remember the special servicemen's rates of
World War II and wi.sh the same thing prevailed
now. At the moment, the Miami
Drive-in gives a special servicemen's admission
rate, a policy that has been in effect
for some months. Bernstein's Little River,
according to Manager Doug Jernigan, recently
instituted identical servicemen's and
students' admissions. Jernigan says the policy
has brought back considerable family attendance
to the theatre. At a time of year
when attendance in this area at all theatres
is normally lower than usual, the Little River
gained.
has
Earl Potter, manager of the Tivoli, saw his
theatre play host to the Christmas party
staged there for children, under the auspices
of the Elks club. A stage show was part
of the entertainment.
Doug Jernigan, the young man v.'ho got
out of show business to get into something
else—and jumped right back in as manager
of Bernstein's Little River Theatre—made an
Early Bird Shoppers tie-in with four merchants
in his neighborhood. Some 15(1 tickets
each were supplied to a gift shop, jewelry
store, men's shop and women's apparel store.
Early morning shoppers received a theatre
ticket as a gift, good up to 2:30 in the afternoon.
Merchants used advertising stre.ssing
the theme: Go shopping early in the morning
and avoid the crowds. The theatre tickets
were mentioned in advertising. Jernigan
ran a trailer on .screen to publicize the plan.
Jernigan was ably assisted in putting over
this promotion by his assistant, Charles Tritton.
Tritton is learning the business from
the ground up, having .started with the theatre
as usher. Jernigan, who is married and
has a little boy 4 years of age, has bought
a new home in Miami and hoped to be
moved in by Christmas.
The Little River is having great success
with Its "Triple Treat" Saturday ,shows, according
to Manager Jernigan. These bookings
consist of three features, six cartoons and
free candy. A useful stunt has been the
practice of giving the candy as a reward
for each child who turns in his empty popcorn
box, or other debris, to an usher in-
,stcad of leaving it In the auditorium.
The I). K. McComas" Dixie Drlvn-In is
calling special attention to its refreshment
f.land which has been placed in
. the center
of the parking area ... A letter from the
. . .
daughter of film producer Filippo Del Guidice
("Hamlet," "Henry IV," etc.) to the
Herald's amusement editor, states that Guidice
is recuperating in Rome from serious
illness, started when he had a relapse from
a recent operation here Claughton's free
show for children under 12 was the Saturday
special at the Grove. The carnival show
included a stage feature as well as cartoons,
full-length thrillers and a Dick Tracy
serial. Youngsters could stay and see "The
Quiet Man" if they wished.
.
The neighborhood Shores Theatre had an
archery exhibition as a special Saturday
feature for the children's matinee. The Coral
put on a Talent parade for its small-fry
audience The Cameo has inaugurated
. .
its stage and screen policy . . . The Tropicaire
Drive-In was held up and robbed of about
$50 recently at 10 p. m. The holdup man
was called a "cold-weather version of Miami's
notorious silk stocking bandits" because he
wore a woolen sock with holes cut for eyes
and nose. Manager and part owner Keith
McComas said a car with the bandits drove
up to the boxoffice. The driver, wearing the
woolen sock, got out, shoved a pistol intxj the
boxoffice and said, "This is a stickup; hand
it over." McComas said he replied, "Come in
and get it if you want it." The bandit complied
and scooped the money out of the
change trays.
The coming year should be putting much
Florida scenery on movie screens. "The
Miami Beach Story" is to be released, filmed
on the spot. Key locations are being sought
for "Twelve Mile Reef." "The Big Leaguer"
may have Melbourne locales, and filming is
scheduled in Cypre.ss Gardens for "Ea.sy to
Love." In addition, there are numerous television
projects afoot which have been undertaken
by local production companies such
as Ball and Rainbow Productions and Miami
National.
. . . Live burlesque
.
.
Nicholas Schenck of MGM was expected
in Florida for Christmas
was scheduled for the Flagler Theatre December
26. Harry Finkelstein and Pat Murphy
are producers Rau spots an
actor in "Pony Soldier" who is the ex-University
When
dramatic student Bob Horton . 1,200 youngsters, admitted free, saw "Hans
Christian Andersen" at the Paramount before
Christmas, their hosts were not only the
circuit, but Food Fair stores, which contributed
candy, and the Velda Co., which gave
a cup of ice cream for each child. Children
from social agencies and those recommended
by schools were among those to see
the picture.
Jay Solomon, Independent Theatres, Chattanooga,
was in town booking pictures and
meeting exhibitor friends . . . Arv K. Rothschild,
Jacksonville, visited the Bailey Theatres
office here . Atkinson, formerly with
RKO here, will soon open his own booking
R. J. Ingram,
office in Jacksonville . . .
southern district manager of Columbia, has
returned to his desk after an illness.
Under discussion is the advisability of building
a drive-in theatre near the end ol one
of the runways at the marine air station
in Opa-Locka. Mayor Frank Slade and Col.
T. G. Ennis, commander of the station, debated
the idea. "I'd like to correct an erroneous
rumor," said Mayor Slade, "that
there is any controversy between the nmniei
pality and the marine corps over the pro
posed theatre. Ennis made it quite clea
that the only objection by the marine corp
is the danger of placing the theatre at th>
end of the runway. We discussed the thini
from all angles and I feel the matter wil
come out all right" Final decision on
permit for Nate Bernstein, head of Bernst(
Southern Theatres, Inc., will be made at tbi
next meeting of the council (30).
Florida State hosted a "Hans Christiar
Andersen" Christmas party at the Paramount
Theatre Monday (22) for childrer
from charity homes and institutions with i
sack of candy for each child . . . Show stai
. . Miami'
Lillian Roth (Mrs. T. Burt McGuife ji.) has
a new home in Fort Lauderdale .
Tropical Hobbyland has supplied a monkej
to Arthur Hornblow jr., the MGM produce!
who is soon to join Cinerama, and anothej
to Adrian, Hollywood designer.
5
Walter Klements, manager of the Mayfair
Art Theatre, turned over the exhibits
Being shown through Christmas, the exhibit
includes oils and pastels by Venita Kneublei
... A pleasant by-product of the Olympia'i
return to vaudeville is the fact that th«
Variety Club resumes its Saturday nighi
shows in the clubrooms, with the theatre':
talent as entertainment.
Ed Reilly, formerly of the Paramount home
office in New York and now managing rea
^;
fldtelL
Held in
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Fay
^
Ca
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[.1 Distritt M
^MriKatlileti
Onalia,
Ni
B.-.l'iiiversi
hffet supper
ciestWeii"
at
i Rex
estate in the southeastern district for Flor-f'""
ida State Theatres, has been elected president
of the Greater Miami chapter of the National
Ass'n of Building Owners and Managers.
Thatie,
Norri!
; F«rt Myets,
s-In. St,
At
tjiion in bis
UHaigett,C(
a'
iiom with t
iiSi, Faijo, C
;'Jii,J,O.Bid
Manager Eugene Race is helping ready thi « at
Cinema, a Florida State house in Mianr
Beach, for its change in policy to a picture
and stage play bill, beginning New Year's '*«*.
eve. The stage show, consisting of a play-
the Ai
Hmk Beam,
snbutor visiti
. . . BiB fe-Iii, Aubui
let, will probably run a week or two before sraijABCB
being replaced with the next in the series
The Cinema has followed a somewhat similw *! a m
policy during other winter seasons
Dock of the Sheridan Theatre reports the
three-dimension feature, "Bwana Devil," wUl tajlierty.new
open there January 15 for an extended run. steii here wit
The neighborhood Shores Theatre pre
sented a stage show, "Stars of Tomorrow,'
in 15 acts . . . Xavier Cugat, who married I
Miami girl here last year, is licensing 15C;
dance schools and he and his wife have made
a series of 16mm motion pictures to demons
strate the dances Film stars Hoag>
Carmichael, Les Barker, Mickey Rooney
Gordon MacCrae, Johnny Weissmullei, Buddy
Rogers and Bob Steele were to fly here foi
. . .
Bill MacDonald's four-ball pro-amateur linkS
jamboree Anne Mitchell, singer in a
local club, was formerly governess to the
Meyer Schine children in Gloversville, N. Y.''
Sal Aragoma of Jacksonville, N. C. owner
of a chain of drive-in theatres, started conn
struction on the Starlight Drive-In in Fort
Lauderdale. The 650-car airer is located at
the north fork of Middle river between Oakland
Park and Wilton Manors. It is to have
a restaurant, a full stage for in-person sho'
and a supplementary screen for three'
dimensional films.
Tombstone Trail' New Title
The Edward Small production, formerlj)
called "Johnny Ringo," for United Artists
release, has been changed to "Tombstone
Trail." r.
a Pull,
Hal
l»yo,wreiii,
* taken over
«*(N 1(22
70
BOXOFFICE December 27, 195J
»10FFICE