Boxoffice-January.24.1953

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The EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY
(Continued from preceding pagei
of competition. Played Fri., Sat. Weather:
Terrible.—Bob Walker. Uintah Theatre.
Fruita, Colo. Small-town and rural patronage.
REPUBLIC
Sands of Iwo Jima (Rep)—John Wayne,
John Agar, Adele Mara. One of the very
best war stories we have seen for years. Action
and excellent performances make this a
"must" for any house anywhere. Apart from
John Wayne's popularity the film is strong
enough to make any exhibitor happy. The
scenes of the landing on Iwo Jima are the
most realistic in a long while. Good work
Republic! Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Pine.—
Dave S. Klein. Astra Theatre, lOtwe-Nkana,
Northern Rhodesia, Africa. Government,
mining and business patronage.
20th CENTURY-FOX
Deadline—U.S.A. (20th-Fox) — Humphrey
Bogart, Ethel Barrymore. Kim Hunter. Bogart
has had it here. This is his third picture that
has failed badly. I, personally, like to see him
but my paying customers do not. Played
Tues. Weather: Fair and moderate.—N. D.
Patterson, Tate Theatre, Coldwater, Miss.
Small-town and rural patronage.
Diplomatic Courier (20th-Fox) — Tyrone
Power, Hildegarde Neff, Patricia Neal. Good
picture but it won't draw flies. Business below
average. Played Sun.. Mon. Weather: Pair
and cool.—Dan Guest, Tower Theatre,
Wichita Palls, Tex. Subsequent run, city patronage.
Lady in the Iron Mask f20th-Fox)—Louis
Hayward, Patricia Medina, Alan Hale jr. Good
double-bill feature for weekend. Kids will
like it but it wasn't too well received by
adults. Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather:
Fair.—George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar,
Colo. Small-town and rural patronage.
Leave Her to Heaven (20th-Fox") —Reissue.
Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Grain.
Wonderful cast and gorgeous Technicolor. A
story of a very possessive woman who would
do anything, even take her own life, to have
her own way. Some beautiful scenery. Pre-
Christmas slump hurt us. Played Sun., Mon.
Weather: Fair and mild.—James Wiggs jr..
Tar Theatre, Tarboro, N. C. Small-town and
rural patronage.
My Friend Flicka (20th-Fox) — Reissue.
Roddy McDowall, Preston Foster, Rita Johnson.
A reissue that stood up well at the
boxoffice for pre-Christmas showing. Everyone
enjoyed it and very few recalled seeing
It before. Fox knows what to reissue and
theirs are good. Played Thurs., Fri., Sat.
Color Gives Business
A Shot in the Arm
gIG SOMBRERO, THE (Col)—Gene
Autry, Elena Verduffo, Stephen Dunne.
Attention, Mr. Autry! If you still want to
stay in the movie business you had better
start making all your pictures in color as
you did this one. Previously, it had
reached the point where you were very
weak at the boxoffice with your sepia
filmed pictures. Patrons have told mc
they wouldn't come because it was in
Sepiatone with the reasons that "it hurts
my eyes" and "it looks like pictures
Grandma took when she was a girl." Patrons
are be^rinning to think they are
cheated unless a picture is in color—so
let's have more of it. Played Thurs., Fri.,
Sat.—Dwight and Janice Hanson, Valley
Theatre, Eddyville, Iowa. Small-town and
rural patronage.
Weather: Fair.—Ken Christianson. Roxy
Theatre, Washburn. N. D. Small-town and
rural patronage.
People Will Talk (20th-Fox)—Cary Grant,
Jeanne Crain, Findlay Currie. Excellent
comedy for any theatre. No business, due to
Christmas shopping, etc. A shame to waste
such an excellent attraction that has all the
ingredients for capital A entertainment.
Played Mon., Tues. Weather: Mild.—K. R.
Corkum, Cross Tlieatre, New Ross, N. S.,
Canada. Rural ctjmmunity patronage.
Red Skies of Montana (20th-Fox)—Richard
Widmark, Constance Smith, Jeffrey Hunter.
Good action picture. You can't go wrong on
this in a .small town. Lots of everything in
this picture. Played Tues., Wed. Weather:
Snow and cold.—George Kelloff, Ute Theatre,
Aguilar, Colo. Small-town and rural patronage.
Take Care of My Little Girl (20th-Fox)—
Jeanne Crain, Dale Robertson, Mitzi Gaynor.
A dandy picture. Just a nice, clean, wholesome
picture that is top entertainment. Don't be
afraid of this one. Played Fri., Sat.—Bill
Leonard, Leonard Theatre, Cedar Vale, Kas.
Small-town and rural patronage.
UNITED ARTISTS
.\ctors and Sin (UA)—Edward G. Robinson,
Marsha Hunt, Eddie Albert. Two-episode
comedy-feature by Ben Hecht kidding Hollywood.
This was passed by our competition
pos.sibly because they considered it an art
type. Pi'oved surprisingly good.—Martin
Brown, Avenue Theatre, Yakima, Wash.
Small-city patronage.
Red River lUA)—Reissue. John Wayne,
Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan. Howard
Hawk's production in which a man built up a
great empire in the cattle country. Scenes of
a big cattle drive to a northern market. Guns,
horses, cattle, men. Indians. Running time
is two hours and five minutes—a bit long.
Busine.s.s was at par. Played Sun., Mon.
Weather: Cloudy and cold.—James Wiggs jr..
Tar Theatre, Tarboro. N. C. Small mill-town
and rural community.
UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL
Cattle Drive (U-I) — Joel McCrea. Dean
Stockwell, Leon Ames. Perfect western—in
color with Dean Stockwell and everyone's favorite,
Joel McCrea. This one satisfied them
all and, brother, that takes a lot of doing.
Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Mild and wet.
K. R. Corkum, Cross Theatre, New Ross, N. S.,
Canada. Rural community patronage.
Frenchie (U-D—Joel McCrea, Shelley Winters,
Paul Kelly. Wow ! This one is a dilly. A
fine story, superb cast and a bang-up job all
around. The outdoor shots in this picture are
beautiful. Don't be afraid to boost this one.
Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Rain.
Bill Leonard, Leonard Tlieatre, Cedar Vale,
Kas. Small-town and rural patronage.
No Room for the Groom (U-D—Tony Curtis,
Piper Laurie, Don DePore. Here's a real
picture. Everybody who saw it had something
good to .say about it. Of course, Tony Curtis
made a hit with our teenage patrons. Leave
it to Universal to make a comedy good for
the whole family Played Thurs., Fri., Sat.
Weather: Cold.^Tom Hetherington, Musicland
Theatre, Kaslo, B. C. Small-town and
rural patronage.
Sally and Saint Anne (U-I)—Ann Blyth,
Edmund Gwenn, John Mclntire. Good family
comedy picture. About average draw here
—even though we had a football game one
night. Played Wed., Thurs. Weather: Mild.—
L. Brazil jr.. New Theatre, Bearden, Ark.
Small-town and rural patronage.
Son of Ali Baba (U-D—Tony Curtis, Piper
EHHS Just One Big
Happy Family
RETURN OF THE TEXAN (20th-Fox)—
Dale Robertson, Joanne Dru, Walter
Brennan. Boys and girls, I hope you are
able to use my comments to help you
make a buck as often as I use yours for
that same purpose. Without these columns,
how else would I have known I had
a great little patron-plcaser in this'? Fox
didn't know it—if you could tell by the
price they posted on it—for I've never
found them playing Santa Claus. It's one
of the l)est I've had from them to date,
and the price was the lowest. A wonderful
job of casting, a down-to-earth smalltown
story and simple, plausible direction
give it the bait to lure movie masses. I
went to work after so many of you passed
the word. Doubled with "Roffue River"
for SRO both nights. Thanks for a tip
that paid off. Played Fri., Sat. Weather:
Cold.—Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre,
Fruita, Colo. Small-town and rural patronage.
Laiu-ie, Su.san Cabot. This did very well.
These two stars have what it takes to bring
in the young crowd. Keep them together and
they 11 get bigger and better. Played Thurs.,
Fri.. Sat. Weather: Cold.—George Kelloff,
Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. Small-town and
rural patronage.
WARNER BROS.
Big Jim McLain iWB) — John Wayne.
Nancy Olson, Jim Ai'ness. John Wayne will
bring them in—but, they will be most disappointed
when they come out. Filmed in
Hawaii—in about two days, it looks like. It is
not TV but pictures like this that are hurting
theatre business. Poor acting. Business was
good but I don't know why ! Played Sun., Mon.
Weather: Warm.—Dan Guest, Tower Theatre,
Wichita Falls, Tex. Subsequent run, city
patronage.
Big Trees, The (WB)—Kirk Douglas, Eve
Miller, Patrice Wymore. Tliis is a color drama
of the Redwodtis of northern California. A
good story and good scenery with intrigue and
a railroad wreck. Our action fans liked it.
Played midweek.—C. E. Bennewitz. Royal
Theati'e, Royalton, Minn. Small-town and
rural patronage.
Lion and the Horse, The CWB> — Steve
Cochran, Ray Teale. Bob Steele. A beautiful
picture in color, suitable for family trade. I
would say good for any day in the week.
Played Fii., Sat. Weather: Cold.—L. Brazil
jr., New Theatre, Bearden, Ark. Small-town
and rural patronage.
Lion and the Horse, The (WB) — Steve
Cochran, Ray Teale, Bob Steele. Doubled with
"Outlaws of Boulder Pass" for our after
Christmas weekend. "Lion" was second run
and continued to please our western patrons.
Beautiful in WarnerColor and has plenty of
family appeal. Animals, a little girl and
"Wildfire." Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Cold
and fair.—James Wiggs jr.. Tar Theatre, Tarboro,
N. C. Small mill-town and rural patronage.
Where's Charley? (XN'^)—Ray Bolger, AUyn
McLerie, Robert Shackleton. A mild offering
that gets off to a slow start but picks up
as it goes along. The English accent is hard
to understand. Buy it RIGHT and play it.
Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Favorable.
—Bob E. Thomas, Orpheum Theatre, Strawberry
Point, Iowa. Small-town and rural patronage.
BOXOFFICE BookinGuide Jan. 24, 1953