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Jefferson<br />
. . Addie<br />
were<br />
.<br />
HOUSTON<br />
Jl ugie J. Schmitt, Houston Popcorn Co., was<br />
awarded the Golden Ear of Corn at the<br />
annual convention of<br />
International Popcorn<br />
and Concessions Ass'n<br />
in Chicago for being<br />
the "Popcorn Man of<br />
the Year." The committee,<br />
of which Augie<br />
was chairman, pulled<br />
a "this-is-your-life"<br />
surprise by giving the<br />
award to him. With<br />
his speech all prepared<br />
to go along with presentation<br />
of this much<br />
A. J. Schmitt<br />
coveted prize to the<br />
man elected by ballot from the membership,<br />
who most nearly met the industry's<br />
requirements,<br />
Augie was floored when not he, but<br />
"everybody else," made the speech—about<br />
him.<br />
Visitors at the Variety Club included,<br />
according to Manager Rex Van, cast members<br />
from the Alley Theatre who are doing<br />
"The Glass Menagerie"; Leopold Stokowski,<br />
new conductor of the Houston Symphony<br />
orchestra, with director Tom Johnson, and<br />
members of three nationally known orchestras<br />
on tour—the Ted Weems, Stan Kenton<br />
and Guy Lombardo aggregations. Variety<br />
Manager Van's mother will be here from<br />
Dallas for a week's visit with her son who<br />
will help her celebrate her 80th birthday<br />
November 28.<br />
ASTOR PICTURES Cd^ DiLllAl I TyiAt<br />
. . . Interstate<br />
. . .<br />
Loew's State advertised a preview of "Night<br />
of the Hunter" along with their regular feature,<br />
prior to its opening date<br />
Theatres had an ad for all its houses<br />
listed in a one-column box in Sunday papers<br />
side-by-side with the Sunday-TV schedule<br />
The first holdover for a while in the area<br />
was at River Oaks Theatre with Disney's<br />
"The African Lion" and "Peter and the<br />
Wolf."<br />
The Metropolitan Theatre had an advance<br />
sale of tickets for a special Saturday midnight<br />
show, "Dr. Silkini's Asylum of Horrors." Besides<br />
a live Frankenstein, Silkini has a large<br />
group of ghouls, specters and other weird apparitions.<br />
A new mystery movie was also — included<br />
in the grisly entertainment "Case<br />
of the Red Monkey."<br />
. . .<br />
Lucy Brown and Mary Louise Young are<br />
back on their feet, if a bit wobbly, at 20th-<br />
Pox after bouts with the flu and the pneumonia<br />
. . . Helen Harris, biller at 20th-Fox,<br />
became Mrs. McClendon last month<br />
Exhibitors gave an unusually enthusiastic reception<br />
to "The View From Pompey's Head"<br />
at a 20th-Fox trade-showing. Among spectators<br />
were Mrs. Bill Clayborne of the Galena<br />
Theatre; Mrs. Dale Collup and her guest,<br />
Mrs. W. V. Durden; Mrs. Albert Raines,<br />
whose husband is district manager of the<br />
Korn Theatres, and her guests, Mr. and Mrs.<br />
Paul Brown; Mrs. O. F. Zedler, Mrs. H. K.<br />
Davis and Mrs. D. B. Evans. George Moore<br />
of Eastern Airlines was a guest of Office<br />
Manager Bill Keith. With Millie Stockard,<br />
Chronicle film critic, was Liz Rasch, press<br />
agent for Edna Saunders Entertainment.<br />
From out of town were Mrs. Forest Gamble of<br />
the Humble Theatre, Humble, and Maxine<br />
Sarver.<br />
John Winberry, Columbia manager, took<br />
a swing through south Texas last week with<br />
salesman Robert Mann . . . Henry Harrell,<br />
manager at 20th-Fox, was in Dallas on busi-<br />
POP CORN<br />
and<br />
SUPPLIES<br />
Competitively Priced<br />
POP CORN, COCONUT OIL,<br />
SALT, BAGS, CARTONS, ETC.<br />
Order Now<br />
HERBER THEATRE EQUIPMENT CO.<br />
"Fair Treatment and Adequate Service for Thirty Years"<br />
408 S. Harwood St Dallas, Texas<br />
Prefacing the arrival of Liberace<br />
ness . . .<br />
here in connection with "Sincerely Yours,"<br />
the Metropolitan staged a contest for admirers,<br />
ten of whom would get to attend a backstage<br />
party with him. Free pictures of the<br />
star were distributed along with entry blanks<br />
on which contestants could write in 30 words<br />
or less why they would like to meet Liberace.<br />
Ruben Frels jr. and Doyle Oliver of the<br />
Frels circuit, Victoria, and Marty Marks of<br />
Jefferson Amusement Co., Beaumont, came<br />
to Houston and entrained with Augie Schmitt<br />
for the convention in Chicago . . . The Irving<br />
Cohns<br />
I<br />
Amusement i<br />
up from<br />
Beaumont to attend the Rice-Texas football<br />
game with the Augie Schmitts. Randall<br />
Clark of Long Theatres, Bay City, was also<br />
up for the game . Addison of UA was<br />
in from New Orleans recently.<br />
John Blocker's new 1.000-car Bordertown<br />
Twin Drive-In at Laredo has installed RCA<br />
widescreen and Cinemascope, and is prepared<br />
to play anything, according to Tom Vincent<br />
from Southwestern Theatre Equipment, who<br />
handled the installation. Vincent and Alex<br />
McKenzie, also of Southwestern Equipment,<br />
attended TESMA-TEDA-IPA convention in<br />
Chicago.<br />
The Studio Theatre in the Heights has been<br />
turned into a church . . . Johnny Stitts of<br />
Republic was a recent Houston visitor . . .<br />
The Trail Drive-In, advertising "Cell 2455.<br />
Death Row" ran a small box with a headline<br />
proclaiming "Chessman Wins Another Delay<br />
From High Court, Los Angeles." It continued<br />
with an outline of how Chessman was convicted<br />
and received the death penalty and<br />
the stay of execution during which he wrote<br />
"Cell 2455, Death Row"<br />
. . . Trail owner Jack<br />
Farr is still improving from his recent heart<br />
attack, but is leaving the theatre-running<br />
to Manager T. J. Cheney.<br />
General Barraco lent his Bellaire Theatre<br />
to the Bellaire High School two nights last<br />
week for a company of more than 50 teenage<br />
performers to produce their "Curtain Call of<br />
1955," a musical revue.<br />
Note: By the time this issue reaches your<br />
mailbox, this Houston area correspondent<br />
will be in New York State cuddling her notyet-seen<br />
second grandchild. When she lands<br />
back in Houston Sunday (27^ it would be<br />
mighty nice if she found her mailbox stuffed<br />
with news items about all of you and your<br />
doings, so there'd be a whopping column in<br />
the December 3 issue. How about joining<br />
the BOXOFPICE spy ring and sending along'<br />
news about youi'self and your friends, such<br />
as you like to read about others? Now and<br />
forever after! 2119 Tangley Road, Houston<br />
is the address . . . And thanks a million!<br />
Air View Drive-In Theatre, also known as<br />
the Chocolate Bayou Drive-In, was held up<br />
and robbed at gun-point Sunday recently by<br />
a bandit who distorted his appearance with<br />
a stocking pulled over hLs face. Two employes<br />
reported $200 taken from them. The man fled<br />
in a stolen car which sheriff's deputies recovered<br />
a few blocks from the theatre . .<br />
Johnny Smith, manager of the River Oaks<br />
Theatre, spent four days (7-10> down in the<br />
Valley at the ranch of Interstate Theatres<br />
President Karl Hoblitzelle, partly on vacation,!<br />
partly<br />
business.<br />
A preview of "The Gul in the Red Velvet)<br />
Swing" at 20th-Pox exchange brought out<br />
Mrs. Eula McKinney of the OST Theatre with.<br />
]<br />
j<br />
58 BOXOFFICE :: November 19, 195^
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