Boxoffice-October.01.1955

I Theatre
.
LfH BOOIil OfflCf
Experience — Industry — Integrity
ALBERT E. ROOK, Owner
160 Walton $t. n.w.
^^ stR^^So**''*
tel. alpine 8314 stvtt^Vlo^f;^'
P.O. box 1422 ^tt^X^
atlanta, ga. Tt*»»«t**'*
l/fo-u (leceiae . . .
QUALITY • SERVICE
and
• SATISFACTION
^' when you entrust your business to:
i THE QUEEN FEATURE SERVICE, Inc.
f^ Complete Theatre & Drive-ln Equipment
'^ & Supplies
p )912-V,
Morris Avenue Phone 3-8665
Birminghom 3, Alabama
SPECIAL TRAILERS
Quality and Service
Serving theatres In the South for 31 yean.
12 cents per word
Lowest cost onyyfhere
STRICKLAND FILM CO.
220 Pharr. Road, N. E. Atlanto
DAVY CROCKETT BALLOONS
Printed with
Name and Date of Showing
SOUTHERN BALLOON COMPANY
6 Walton Atlanta, Georgia
Tax-Supported Foundation Makes
Children's Films in England
MIAMI—Many Miami theatre managers
are doing a good job of padding their regular
programs with cartoon shorts and other film
fare which they hope will appeal to the
juvenile clientele which descends on the
theatres before noon on Saturdays, reports
George Boui-ke in a Sunday Herald story. He
then informs readers that from a British
Information Service release, it was seen
that this "padding" is far short of the
thoughtful building from the ground which
has been done in England through the Children's
Film Foundation, successor to J. Arthur
Rank's Children's Entertainment Films Co.
The foundation, financed by a $350,000
annual grant from the British Film Production
Fund, which is collected from entertainment
tax receipts, has been providing the
main films for England's Saturday morning
.shows for the 12-year-oIds and under.
Although American cartoons and other
suitable short features may also be used, the
main film is always one made specifically for
this juvenile audience, which shells out its
seven cents admission fee with the expectation
of getting something new, not a film
purporting to have juvenile appeal but actually
produced with the idea of catering to
adults rather than children.
In Britain, films are classified according
to their suitability—U for general showing:
A for films desirable for adult audiences;
and X for exhibit to adult (over 16) audiences
only. "Until Rank started Entertainment
Films there were no pictures produced esspecially
for junior audiences—Disney features
and certain cartoon shorts excepted,"
the British Information report declares.
The children's films are made without any
consideration for the adult taste. At present
the subjects are wholesome tales of outdoor
activity—usually with animals and children
of normal appearance and intelligence, not
prodigies or cute tricks who might appeal to
adults but would leave the kids themselves
cold. But it wasn't always thus.
"When we first began making these films,"
a production spokesman said, "we had to deal
mainly with crime and violence of some sort,
because our audiences had been brought up
on gangster and western pictures—not all
from Hollywood by any means."
Three big circuits, and the independent
movie houses, all get the films in turn. Each
new picture is allocated to one of the four
groups, and is passed on to the next when
it has completed the rounds. It is estimated
that each picture takes four years to circulate
nationally—by which time there is a
new generation of under-12s and the film can
be booked again.
SAVANNAH
^Organization of a Downtown Merchants
Ass'n is being watched with interest by
operators of the downtown theatres, who plan
to cooperate in the movement. Its purpose
will be a strong merchant organization
planning events to bring more people into
the downtown areas. Additional shopper
buses may be one of the results. The new
organization is apart from any Chamber of
Commerce affiliation.
Frank Kossiter, one of the Savannah Morning
News editors, was flown to Washington
as a guest of Paramount Pictures for i
screening of "The Desperate Hours" ... At
tendance records are being set at the local
high school football games in the stadium
Three straight weeks of rain cut into attendance
at both the indoor and outdoor
theatres, and the threat of a couple of hurri
canes did not add to the situation.
'everything for the theatre except film
STEREOPHONIC
wil-kin theatre supply, inc.
allanta, 9a. . charlotte, n. c.
.
Bob Dyches, house manager of the Lucas
Theatre, was married recently to Gincej
Woods . . Robert Hardee, business agenl
of the local projectionists union, was called
to Daytona Beach because of the death of s
brother killed in an automobile accident
First run showings included "Night of th(
Hunter" and the Marciano-Moore fight film,
at the Weis, "Murder on Monday" at thi
Savannah, "Tlie Phenix City Story" at thi
Lucas and "Dam Busters" combined witl
"Retreat Hell" at the Avon.
Harry Ballance, southern district manage
of 20th-Fox, has contacted the Chamber
Commerce regarding a possible world pre
miere of "The View From Pompey's Head,
The chamber has been bombarding Fox of
ficials with requests that the premiere b
staged in Savannah. Several scenes of th
Cinemascope attraction were filmed here an
in nearby Brunswick . . . Albert Weis of We:
Theatres and Earle M. Holden of the Luc:i
and Avon theatres have been named cc
chairmen of the theatre division of the Marc
of Dimes drive to be staged in January .
Local theatres will cooperate with the fii
prevention drive by showing the official fii
prevention tr;)iler.>i.
74
BOXOFTICE :: October 1, 19: