Boxoffice-August.21.1954

I
Kansas
I The
. . Figures
. . Ab
. . Lawrence
CHICAGO
^ B.
Shumow, who recently took over own-
^ ership of the DeDuxe Theatre, said the
oncession business has increased between 40
ind 50 per cent since he started popping his
)wn corn about a month ago . . . Bert Lytell
vas here with an exhibit of color sketches of
The Egyptian" which he showed on TV and
lectures before fraternal and women's
lubs. The film is scheduled to open at the
State Lake Theatre in September.
Doug Helgeson, managing director of "This
Cinerama" at Eitel's Palace, returned from
s
California vacation. He said attendance
uring the 53rd week wa,s only 4 per cent
nder the attendance record of the third
eek last year . presented at the
ity tax collector's office showed that theatre
usiness for the month of June was approxilately
3 per cent better than a year ago. In
ollars and cents, tax from theatremen
mounted to $86,760 for June, 1954, against
84,130 collected in June, 1953.
Joseph Rehak of H&E Balaban left for a
oliday in Michigan . . . Marilyn Levin,
;cretary to Joseph Fuelner. left for Coloido
on her vacation . . . When Kenneth
odson, author of "Away All Boats," arrived
sre he was presented with an honorary
ivy scroll by Comdr. Thomas S. Hanson,
arold Perlman of U-Ts publicity staff said
le film on the book is scheduled to go into
eduction early next year ... By mere
incidence, H&E Balaban's drive-in at Rockrd
is called the Robin, the manager is
»med Mr. Wren, and the assistant maner's
name is Mr. Crow.
Columbia publicist Bob Weiner reports that
Id Schulberg, author of "On the Wateront,"
will be here for exploitation activity
fore the film opens at the Woods Theatre
ptember 14 . . . Shirley Peltz, Republic
oker, left for a vacation at Eagle River,
and Mackinac Island . Klein of
e Bellevue Drive-In, Peoria, was here this
;ek to discuss campaigns for first runs of
Kansas City U-I Greets
trade in New Home
City—Universal is holding open
fiouse Monday (23) in its new building at
700 Wyandotte, from 1 to 4 p.m. F. P.
iWurray, manager of branch operations
from the home office, and Foster Blake,
testem division manager, will act as hosts
ith District Manager Lester Zucker,
jwanch Manager Jack Langan and office
jnanager Larry Klein.
move from the old offices at 214
West 18th was made over the weekend.
K feature of the new building construcion
which arouses comment is the lack
if vaults for the films. The reason these
ire not needed is because no nitrate film
'iU be handled.
Columbia will move into the building
acated by Universal, which is owned by
)r. Nathan ZogUn. The move will be
lade from the present quarters at 219
Vest 18th on September 18. Some relaodeUng
and renovation will be done
efore the change. New furniture wiU
e installed by Columbia.
"About Mrs. Leslie" with Dave Pi-iedman of
Paramount.
Nicky Goldhanuner, AA eastern division
manager, was a visitor here last week .
Paramount Manager J. H. Stevens and hi.s
family are on a Florida vacation ... A float
manned with navy per-sonnel was part of the
ballyhoo which heralded the opening of "Victory
at Sea" at the Carnegie Theatre I20j.
NBC-TV, which originally ran the film as a
television series, is cooperating by furnishing
announcements gratis.
Lou Kravitz and his family are vacationing
in Wisconsin . . . Bob Weiner, Columbia Pictures,
escorted Kim Novak on a series of
personal appearances and radio and TV interviews
in connection with "Pu,shover,"
scheduled to open at the Grand in a few
weeks
. Stewart, former assistant
manager at the Metropolitan, has been promoted
to manager of the Oakland Square.
Dave Friedman reports that Tri-States-
Des Moines winners of Paramount's "Quarterback"
contest are Don Knight, Des Moines
Theatre, Des Moines; Don Shane, Orpheum,
Omaha; Gene Moore, Ingersoll, Des Moines,
and Tony Abramovich, Rivoli Theatre, Hastings,
Neb. Accompanied by Don Allen, advertising
manager, the winners had a three-day
vacation here visiting such local high spots
as "This Is Cinerama" at Eitel's Palace and
"Living It Up" at the Chicago Theatre.
Dore Schary, head of MGM, accompanied
by his wife and his sister Mrs. Paul Small,
were stopover visitors en route back to Hollywood
after attending the funeral of agent
Paul Small in New York . . . Charle.s Teitel
is spending the week in New York in behalf of
Abe Teitel Film Co. business . . . MGM publicist
Norman Pyle is spending a portion of
his annual vacation in Minneapolis.
Jack Garber, B&K publicity staff, is vacationing
. . . Rita Melnick, also of B&K, is
spending her vacation in New York . . . jkck
Webb of "Dragnet" fame was here for a
round of personal appearances and press conferences.
"Dragnet" opened at the Chicago
Friday (20) with Webb appearing on the
stage.
Stan Leseritz, manager of the Commercial
Theatre, is in Cleveland filling in as manager
of the Kiddie Amusement park
Jack J. Karsten of Green Bay reported that
James J. Docter is celebrating his fu-st anniversary
as head of the Climax Theatre there.
Docter took over the Climax when it was
ready to close for good and, in addition to
making various improvements, he has had
a wide screen installed. Prior to becoming an
exhibitor, Docter was a projectionist for 36
years and served 22 years with Local 164 at
Milwaukee. His younger brother Pete Docter
runs the Violet in the same city.
Indiana Airer Opens
JEFPERSONVILLE, IND. — Schuler Baird
and Merritt Wilkins of Clarksville and operators
of the Twilite Drive-In at Tell City,
have opened their new 500-car drive-in near
here. The airer features Cinemascope, and
future plans call for the installation of in-car
heaters.
Illinois Briefs
Jack Brigham recently opened his Zestos
Drive-In at Waukegon.
The Twin City Drive-In ha,s been equipped
with a wide screen, according to John Barr,
the manager.
The theatre at Erie, which has been closed
since January. 1953, was reopened as the Don
Theatre by Don Bowen. Films wUl be shown
four nights a week.
Bill Cain, manager of the Roxy Theatre at
Lockport, reports the theatre is now ready
to screen CinemaScope productions.
The Belmont Theatre in Chicago was
robbed of $815 when a gunman held up
Assistant Manager WiUiam Doonan and
forced him to open the safe.
Publix Unit Gets C'Scope
WOOD RIVER, ILL.—The installation of
Cinemascope was completed at the Wood
River Theatre, a unit of the Publix Great
states circuit.
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BXOFFICE :: August 21, 1954
45