Boxoffice-August.21.1954

! Walsh
j
I representative
j
Re-elected
?'l"?i!=!l"'*.?'''*'
As lATSE President
RICHARD F. WALSH
CINCINNATI—The efforts of Roy Brewer
to unseat Richard F. Walsh as president of
the International Alliance of Theatrical and
Stage Employes failed at the convention
held here last week, and Walsh was returned
to office during an election Friday (13) by an
overwhelming majority. Voted back into office
were all incumbents.
poUed 798 votes, against 408 for
Brewer, who had resigned as an international
of the union a year ago.
Margin of victory was virtually the same for
[general secretary-treasurer Harland Holmden,
Inine vice-presidents, three trustees and two
delegates to conventions of the American
pederation.
as vice-presidents were James
iJ. Breiman, New York; Carl Cooper, Los An-
|geles; Harry J. Abbott, Philadelphia; Orin M.
Jacobson, Tacoma, Wash.; Hugh J. Sedgwick,
Hamilton, Ont.; Albert S. Johnstone, New
Orleans; William Donnelly, Minneapolis;
John A. Shuff, Akron, Ohio, and Miss Louise
Wright, Dallas, Tex.
Returned to office as trustees were William
p. Scanlon, Lynn, Mass.; R. E. Morris, Mo-
»ile, Ala., and George W. Brayfield, Denver,
slo.
APL delegates re-elected were Thomas V.
3reen, Newark, N. J., and James McNabb,
Seattle,
Wash.
H. W. Lackey of Calgary, Alta., was chosen
lelegate to conventions of the Trades and
^abor Congress of Canada, following his seection
by a Canadian caucus.
The officers were installed by former Inernational
president William F. Canavan.
Dhicago Censors Delete
Prairie' Birth Scene
CHICAGO — "The Vanishing Prairie"
pened at the Loop Theatre August 20. Joe
ongo, Walt Disney representative who
andled preliminaries in connection with the
pening, ran into a censorship snag. The
Fnsor board ordered 30 seconds of the film
t showing the birth of a buffalo calf.
OXOmCE :: August 21, 1954
Detroit Exhibitors Launch
Cooperative TV Program
DETROIT—A cooperative advertising progi-am
Theatres, and William Wetsman, Wisper and
by 17 second run Detroit theatres, using Wetsman Theatres.
a daily television program, was launched Participating theatres are regularly booking
last week in what believed to be the most
product on a second run day and date
is
ambitious use of video by any local motion
with one or two exceptions, permitting
basis,
maximum effectiveness to be derived from
picture group since the advent of television.
Costing $850 a week, the program had been
bought tor 13 weeks, to be aired over WXYZ-
TV, at 6 p. m. Monday through Friday.
The purchase is of a five-minute segment
Hi "Detroit Deadline," a regular and highrated
news program on the station. Beverly
Eeltaire, who formerly was women's editor
nf the same program, will emcee the program
and make comments on film clips being
liown, which will be run both with and without
sound.
Another feature of the program on the
Tuesday and Thursday showings will be a
brief appearance by visiting stars and other
personalities. Typically, the opening guest
on the show was "Roxanne," local television
personality.
SCREEN TRAILERS BACK SHOWS
Film clips for the showings have been
secured through local and home office
distributors, and it was indicated that the
availability of improved quality film clips on
forthcoming product is a major reason for
the decision to go into television in a big way.
Backing up the shows, each theatre will run
a screen trailer for the duration of the sponsorship,
plugging the program.
The theatres cooperating for the sponsorship
of the new program are adopting the
group name of Movie Preview Theatres, as
a listed assumed name, with James F.
Sharkey, film buyer for the 100-member Cooperative
Theatres of Michigan, as the trustee
for the group. On the planning committee,
representing other theatre circuits and booking
services involved are: Hyman Bloom,
Sloan Theatres; Irving Goldberg, Community
Theatres; Alden W. Smith, Mutual
Rigs Office Telephone
And Traps Prowlers
Miami — A unique protection trick
conceived by Manager F. J. Stubblefield
trapped two burglars at the Center Theatre.
Stubblefield had rigged his office telephone
by dialing all but the last digit
of his home number. He then dialed the
last digit, but with the use of a pencil and
pin, held the mechanism in the dialed
position. A string was then attached from
the pin to the office door. When the
prowlers entered, the string pulled out
the pin, causing the pencil to release the
hung-up dial and thus complete the
call to Stubblefield's home.
When the telephone rang and no one
answered to his reply, Stubblefield realized
the theatre had been broken into
and quickly informed the police who
apprehended the burglars.
the timed daily exploitation. The setup includes
most of the second run houses in the
city excepting those operated by United Detroit
and the Cohen circuits.
Unusual a.spect is the inclusion of ten
drive-ins—Bel-Air, Dearborn, East Side, Fort,
Grand River, Gratiot, Oak, Town, Wayne and
West Side. Indoor theatres involved are the
Eastown, Harper, Mercury, Redford, Royal.
Royal Oak and Wyandotte.
OBJECTIVES OF THE VENTURE
Objectives sought by the unique venture
into television are indicated in a comment by
Sharkey:
"Direct sincere commentary on a motion
picture is more valuable than a strict commercial.
On this basis, the group has organized
a program which is both entertaining
and accomplishes an adequate indirect selling
job without appearing overly commercial."
Significantly, the news program in which
the 5-minute screen show will appear as a
segment, has been well established with a
recognized viewing audience at this time,
being on the air steadily for the past two
years, so that it will not be necessary to
create a new audience for the show.
Answering the doubts of exhibitors who
may be concerned over this employment of
a traditionally competitive medium, Sharkey
said:
"Television is no longer a thing to fight,
but something to incorporate and exploit
when selling a picture. Too long Detroit has
remained on the sidelines of television and
radio promotion. At last, through the intelligent
cooperation of several exhibitors, the
program will provide an outlet for a new and
different kind of promotion. And a program
that's entertaining to watch."
INSTITUTIONAL PLUGS USED
The institutional element will be given a
consistent tie-in on the daily shows, with a
cutoff slogan to build the habit of showgoing.
Typical samples to be used are:
1. There are whole worlds of entertainment
waiting for you in your theatre's
seat.
2. Movies are still your best bet in
entertainment.
Working on the preparation for the series
on behalf of distributors are: Joseph J. Lee,
20th-Fox manager; Sam Levin, Allied Artists
manager; Jeff Livingston, U-I; William
Brumberg, Warner Bros.; Edward Solomon,
20th-Fox; Dave Cantor, RKO; Al Rylander,
Columbia; Mori Krushin, United Artists, and
Dan Terrill, MGM.
Conception and production of the show
were worked out by Robert Solomon and
Shan Sayles of Solomon-Sayles Productions,
who are acting as advertising counsel for the
theatre group.