Boxoffice-Febuary.28.1953

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Grosses at Twin City
Fair Despite Storm
MINNEAPOLIS—A weekend storm cramped
the boxoffice potential here, but the damage
was not as great as was at first feared.
"Bwana Devil" continued at the State Theatre,
while "The Bad and the Beautiful" at
the World, and "Mississippi Gambler" at the
Radio City showed strong appeal.
(Averoge Is 100)
Century— Foce to Face (RKO) 1 00
Gopher The Naked Spur (MGM), 2nd wk 95
Lyric Ivonhoe (MGM) 125
Radio City Mississippi Gambler (U-l) ISO
RKO Orpheum The Jan Singer (W8) 100
RKO Pan Rogues March (MGM); Sky Full of
Mooc< (MGM) 100
State Bwana Devil (UA), 2nd wk 175
World The Bad ond the Beautiful (MGM) 150
'Peter Pan' and 'Andersen'
Retain Chicago Lead
CHICAGO— It looks like there has been a
revival in local theatre attendance. Both
newcomers and holdovers in Loop theatres
continued to enjoy excellent business. "Peter
Pan" at the State-Lake and "Hans Christian
Andersen" at the Oriental took top honors,
as in the previous week. Washington's birthday,
a holiday for school children, found the
State-Lake opening its doors at 7:30 a.m.
It was a good idea.
"The Stooge" opened at the Chicago with
a stage show headed by Eileen Barton. "The
Stars Are Singing" proved to be an excellent
vehicle for the Palace reopening. "Limelight,"
a big business getter at the Esquire, was held
over for another week, and "Above and
Beyond" at the Carnegie brought full houses,
Stote-Loke Peter Pan (RKO); Bear Country (RKO),
3rd wk 200
Oriental Hons Christian Andersen (RKO), 2nd
wk 200
Palace The Stors Are Singing (Para) 110
Chicago The Stooge (Paro), plus stage show.... 125
Grond The Clown (MGM); Despcrote Search
(MGM), 2nd wk 1 40
United Artists Blockbeard the Pirate (RKO);
Tarzano's Savage Fury (RKO), 2nd wk 150
Roosevelt The Redhead From Wyoming (U-l); The
Lowless Breed (U-l), 2nd wk 110
Monroe Anna (IFE), adults only, 5th wk 130
Vvoods The Bod and the Beautiful (MGM), 2nd
wk 130
;
World Playhouse One Summer of ffoppiness
(Teitel), 9th wk 100
Ziegfeld Leonardo da Vinci (Pictura), 4th wk...ll5
Esquire Limelight (UA), 3rd wk 140
Carnegie Above and Beyond (MGM) 1 20
Surf The Promoter (U-l), 8th wk 125
'Niagara' Scores Top Mark
Of 115 in Omaha
OMAHA—The Omaha took the top spot
among Omaha first runs with a 115 per cent
mark, showing "Niagara." The Orpheum reported
good weekend business for "Mississippi
Gambler," boosted by standout
crowds Saturday and Sunday. Bad weather
struck Monday to cut attendance early in
the week.
Brcndeis The Mon Behind the Gun (WB); Lodies
of the Chorus (Col), reissue 100
Omaha Niagara (20th-Fox) 115
Orpheum The Mississippi Gambler (U-l); Sky Full
of Moon (MGM) 110
State The Prisoner of Zendo (MGM); The Return
of Gilbert and Sullivan (LP) 100
Town Backlash (LP); Affairs of a Model
(RDG) 90
Closes and Waits for 3-D
NEOLA, IOWA—The Phoenix Theatre here
has closed with the operators blaming poor
business, resulting from television. The management,
however, said they expect threedimensional
pictures to help restore business.
Until 3-D pictures are available, the Phoenix
will show film on a part-time basis.
D E S
MOINES
•The four players who bravely met all the
terrible film terrors of "Gunsmoke" faced
another ordeal—this time in Des Moines
with dramatic calm. For the sake of politeness
and a penchant for publicity, in the hot
upper foyer of the Paramount Theatre, they
signed autographs until foreheads dripped
and mascara moistened. Audie Murphy, Susan
Cabot, Jesse White and Renate Hoy, here
to plug their picture, "Gunsmoke," signed
their names to 750 pictures and when those
ran out they started in on sheets of memo
pads. Fans lined the barriers around the
Hollywood lolk and crowded the stairs. They
queued up to get the four names. The group
worked away at a table, like judges at a
show, instead of appearing on stage, because
the Paramount management believed people
liked to see the stars "close." Those who
came to stare and to collect also took pictures
and exchanged quips with White.
Washington's birthday was a holiday on
Filmrow here, and several persons took advantage
of the three-day weekend to make
out-of-town trips , . . Lester Zucker, Universal
district manager, was at the local
office several days ... J. J. "Sparkle" Sparks,
former RKO booker, has been released from
the army after two years of service and
has returned to the exchange as a salesman.
Airman Alfred Lundh, 20, son of Mr, and
Mrs, Swan Lundh of Alonga, Iowa, was greatly
surprised when he sat down at the dinner
table at the third annual GI Pal dinner held
at the Belleville, 111., USO recently and
found that his "date" for the evening was
actress Veronica Lake, Lundh wrote his
parents that he was easily one of the proudest
airmen at the dinner.
Lou Levy is noting with pride the reports
from Detroit on the strong opening of "City
, . . Sol Francis, district
Beneath the Sea"
manager for Allied Artists, was at the local
exchange . . . Betty Olson, former MGM
booker and wife of Ralph Olson, Universal
salesman, received acclaim from the Des
Moines Tribune food editor who devoted a
column to Betty's cooking and gave some of
Paul Webster, former
her favorite recipes . . .
Republic manager, visited his
family
here last week, Mrs. Webster and the children
plan to remain in Des Moines until the
end of the current school year when they
will move to New York City.
BECAUSE WE
KNOW IT'S SO
ON
WE KEEP
SAYING . ,
3" - 4" -
5"
In Lots of Ten:
Single
Cones
$1.10
Double Cones
$1.30
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1112 Davis Ave. Des Moines, Iowa
OfiDER YOUR POPCORN SUPPLIES FROM US
White Japanese Hulless Popcorn Per 100 lbs. $11.95
South American Yellow Hybrid Per 100 lbs. 11.95
(Packed in 50 lb. bags)
Liquid "Popsit Pius" Seasoning Per Case 17.50
(Packed 6 gallons
per case)
"Seazo" Coconut Oil Seasoning Per 50 lbs. 16.25
Morton's Popcorn Salt Per Case 2.95
10c Popcorn Boxes, 2 ounce Per 1000 10.75
10c Popcorn Boxes, VA ounce Per 1000 9.75
1 lb. Popcorn Bags, flat bottom, brown Per 1000 1.80
1 lb. Popcorn Bags, flat bottom, white Per 1000 2.20
Vi lb. Popcorn Bags, flat bottom, brown Per 1000 1.20
IV2 lb. Popcorn Bags, pinch bottom, white Per 1000 1.95
Special Softex V4 lb. Bags, white Per 1000 2.00
Printed Sacks, 1 lb. flat bottom, white Per 1000 3.10
Printed noiseless, 1 lb. pinch bottom Per 1000 4.60
Prices Subject to Change Without Notice
DES MOINES THEATRE SUPPLY CO.
1121-23 High St. Des Moines, Iowa
BOXOFFICE :: February 28, 1953 81