Boxoffice-December.17.1955

: December
Adventure Films Now Main Kid Draw
With Westerns Hurt by TV Surfeit
MIAMI—Walton Oakerson, manager of the
neighborhood Essex, will present his annual
free Christmas holiday show December 28,
sponsored by Gilbert's department store of
the theatre's community. Oakerson's part is
to have special screen fare lined up to include
a comedy and plenty of cartoons. For
the feature, he is booking an adventui'e picture,
or a picture with science fiction as the
theme.
Westerns, he says, are a declining interest
among his kid clientele. "They see too many
of them on television," he says, "and they're
deserting even their favorite western heroes."
A good adventure film pulls them in now,
Oakerson finds. Anything about space travel
gets their attention. Undersea and pirate
pictures are the main draw.
s.eadon 5
CHARLOTTE
He cites the success of Wometco's "Out of
This World" day some weeks back, when such
features were booked at all the neighborhoods
and did good business.
Oakerson has had plenty of experience at
this sort of thing. He has been with the
circuit 19 years, starting at the old Plaza, now
torn down, and going on to the Center and
thence to the Essex.
Business at the moment? "Good," says
this manager. Saturday matinees draw about
1,000 children. Increasing business, he believes,
can be traced largely to the fact that
areas of new homes have been opened within
the theatre's range. Right now, with the
opening of the racing season, the Essex benefits
from the proximity of these attractions
as evidenced by the jockeys, exercise boys and
t^''
reetinad
?//i
9'
and Best Wishes for the Coming Year
Charlotte Staif
Dean Phillips
Panny Cobb
Nancy Weaver
Edward Thompson
Jennings Brewer
Henry L. Phillips
PHIL WICKER
MRS. ALICE J. WICKER
Greensboro Staff
Lawson Rankin
Elmo Cobb
W. Markham Fletcher Owens
J.
Lloyd Parsons
Thomas Peoples
Kermit Clark
Lawrence Johnson
Jimmy Barham
Joe Humphries
Swannie Brown
Jimmie Ensor
Eula Grantham
Jerry Boiling
Doris Utley
i STANDARD THEATRE SUPPLY CO. |
i Charlotte, N. C. Greensboro, N. C. 'i
other track personnel to be spotted nightly
in the audiences. Oakerson believes in making
his theatre an integral part of the community
and he himself takes as much part
in civic clubs and affairs as he can find time
for. He caters to his teenage patrons of
whom he has an unusually large number.
"Some of the teenagers we used to have
at the Center," he says, "are now mothers and
fathers with teenagers at the Essex!"
Finals in the yo-yo contest, the series being
held Saturday in several Wometco houses,
were to be staged in a 40-minute finale at the
Essex. A handsome $65 bicycle was to be
the grand prize. The series, put on before by
the circuit, seems to have quite a following.
On December 9, for the second straight
year, the Essex staged the finals in selecting
"Miss Youth Bowl" who was to reign as queen
of this year's smallfry football game, the
.sixth annual "bowl" event. Sponsbred by the
Optimist Club, the event began in a small way
as a game played in some handy vacant lot,
with spectators sitting around on the grass.
Last year it drew some 3,000 spectators,
bleachers were built and a "queen" selected
to participate in the festivities between the
halves—a la the Orange Bowl.
Manager Oakerson became interested in the
project as a member of the Optimist's, which
sponsors two local teams, one for 85-pounders
and one for 101-pounders. They are sent in
buses, under proper chaperonage, to play
other such teams in the state.
Girls sell coupons to help the team, with
the ten girls selling the most, eligible for the
"Miss Youth Bowl" contest, provided they
are 11, 12 or 13 years of age. Oakerson
stages the contest with fanfare on the stage
of the Essex—music, girls parading in evening
dresses mo bathing suits), and being
chosen on the basis of poise and personality,
no acting or performance required. Three
judges decide the winner.
Oakerson puts up pictui-es of the players in
the lobby of the theatre, helping to ballyhoo
the game which this year will take place on
one of the high school fields.
"The kids play hard," says Oakerson,
"mostly in their sock feet. They put their
shoes on only to kick."
Bernard Herrmann will compose and conduct
the score for Paramount's "The Mountain."
CHARLOTTE
Season's Greetings
From
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER
Jack Reville, Branch Mgr.
Dick Huffman, Asst. Branch Mgr.
Hugh McDonald, Office Mgr.
Salesmen
C. L- Autry Amos Boyette
Bookers
Frank Savage Bobby Lynch
Walter Thomas W. H. Peake, Jr.
Bill Walker
Merry Christmas
CHARLOTTE THEATRICAL
PRINTING CO.
221 W. Second St.
Charlotte, N. C.
SE-6 BOXOFFICE
:
17, 1955