Boxoffice-March.24.1956

. . Carl
BUFFALO
Ctanley Weber, former local theatre manager,
will arrive here early in April to
take up duties as manager of the Turf clubs
at the racetracks in Buffalo and Toronto
operated by the Ontario Jockey Club. Weber
also will be in charge of public relations,
arranging special events such as Variety Club
Day, Ad Club Day, etc. . . . Sloan Wilson.
whose book "The Man in the Gray Flannel
Suit" is now in its eighth printing and is the
subject of the 20th Century-Fox film of the
same name, is a former University of Buffalo
professor of English. He resigned last June.
He now resides in West Newton, Mass. The
picture will open Friday (30) at the Center
here.
Jack Mundstuk, manager at MGM, chairman
of the Variety Club booklets sale, is appealing
to members to step on it and dispose
of the booklets in their possession as the club
is in need of funds to carry on its charitable
work. Barkers needing more booklets are
asked to get in touch with Mundstuk or Mrs.
Nina Lux, wife of the chief barker, Elmer
F. Lux . . . Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. of
Rochester has announced the appointment of
Alton K. Marsters as administrative assistant
to President Carl S. Hallauer. For the past
seven years, Marsters has been vice-president
with American Optical Co. . . . Arthur A.
Rose, Buena Vista manager, is expecting some
big grosses on some of his Buffalo area bookings
of "Song of the South." The Century
here will play it on Easter.
Charlie McKernan at the Seneca and Bill
Colson at the Niagara conducted an Oscar
Race at their Paramount community houses
in advance of the Academy Awards presentation—offering
guest tickets as prizes to
those who selected the winning nominees . . .
The Autovue in Niagara Falls was the first
drive-in in this area to open for the season,
starting Thursday (22). The Starlite in the
Falls area planned to open last weekend, but
a terrific snowstorm threw the wrench into
32
that plan . S. Hallauer, president of
Bausch & Lomb, says that among the company's
promising developments are the new
series of photographic and printing lenses
for 55mm films used in the production of
movie versions of "Carousel" and "The King
and I."
TV station WGR is cooperating with the
Paramount Theatre in a contest which has
a free trip to Hollywood as the prize. The
contest is open to secretaries only and the
entrant is asked to write a letter of 200
words or less on "Why I Would Like This
Miracle—a Free Trip to Hollywood—To Happen
to Me." WGR's Helen Neville is using
the contest on her daily program. The stunt
is tied in with the coming of "Miracle in the
Rain" to the Paramount April 13 . . . George
H. Mackenna, general manager of Basil's
Lafayette and president of the Main Street
Ass'n, and Arthur Victor jr.
were co-hosts at
. .
a luncheon in the Buffalo Athletic club when
Edward T. Dickinson, New York Department
of Commerce commissioner, spoke and
declared that the Niagara Frontier may become
one of the great industrial research
centers in the nation.
Women can be a vital factor in helping to
improve their city in the rehabilitation of
run-down neighborhoods, Elmer F. Lux, chief
barker of the Variety Club, told members
of the Women's City Club . Probation for
one year with a suspended one-year penitentiary
sentence was ordered by city Judge
Madge Taggart for Raymond Wilson of
Middletown, N. Y., convicted of making obscene
lettering on the wall of Keiths theatre,
The theatre in Hilton,
261 Main St. . . .
near Rochester, which was to have been
closed March 10, was closed ahead of schedule
as the result of a riot of teenagers. Ray
Allgeier, owner, had to call in police to quell
the antics of a couple hundred boys and girls
who apparently were celebrating the closing.
Plans call for conversion of the theatre into
a bowling hall.
SWISS EXHIBITORS VISIT U. S.—Westrex Corp. in cooperation with officials
of the Port of New York Authority took a gTOup of visiting Swiss exhibitors on a tour
of the Authority's building at 111 Eighth Ave., New York, where the headquarters of
Westrex is located. The above photograph was taken at the Authority's Heliport on top
of the building after the visiting group had viewed the city and the port during helicopter
flights. From left to right: Karl Huber, Philip J. Landi, airport operator; George
Zenaty, American Express representative; Alfred H. Britten, terminals renting agent;
Mrs. Johanna Blum; H. B. Allinsmith, Westrex vice-president; Jules Lesegretain; Mrs.
Germaine Lesegretain; Willy Hohl; V. B. Ross, Westrex manager of foreign operations;
Rudolf Hoch; Ray Chaisson, pilot; Josef Frei; Viktor Kehler; Adolf Leemann; V. J.
Kaven, Westrex sales assistant; Mrs. Frieda Leemann; E. A. Dickinson, Westrex
assistant commercial engineering manager, and Mead Walworth, sales promotion
manager.
A special screening of "The King and I" and "Carousel" was arranged by 20th
Century-Fox in New York. They also attended "Cinerama Holiday" and "Oklahoma!"
The visitors left New York for Hollywood where they visited Westrex's Hollywood
Division, laboratories, and studio subsidiary, Sound Services. They also were shown
around the major Hollywood studios.
Flick Says 'Censorship'
Affects All Activities
ALBANY—The regulation established by
the people of the state to prevent the "abuse"
of motion pictures is working well, and on
the whole, is very effective. Dr. Hugh M.
Flick, director of the State Education Department's
motion picture division for six
years and now executive assistant to the
commissioner, declared here.
Speaking on "Freedom and Censorship"
before the local unit, Daughters of the
American Revolution, at a meeting in Brubacher
Hall, Dr. Flick said the film setup
is termed "censorship" by some, and "regulation"
by others. To him, it is simply sensible,
every-day, garden-variety regulation. "There
is nothing spectacular about it," Dr. Flick
added. "I think on the whole it is very
effective."
The new mediums—motion pictures, television
and radio—are currently going through
the same evolutionary process which the
press experienced for some 200 years, the
educator pointed out. He foresaw them enjoying
the same freedom as the press when
they develop sufficient protective laws and
mechanisms. Dr. Flick does not think industry
self-regulation ever can be the sole
dependence in protecting the public from
"abuse" of motion pictures.
Tracing the concept of "man's freedom and
human rights" from the earliest times, the
speaker stressed that it can be found in the
Old Testament and said the Bible and the
teachings of Jesus had been powerful factors
in transmitting the lofty message. Dr.
Flick stated that "freedom has a counterpart
in restraint; there can be no freedom,
without restraint." He preferred the word "restraint"
to that of "censorship."
MPEA Asks Johnstons' Aid
In Italian Neaotiations
NEW YORK—Eric Johnston, president of
the Motion Picture Export Ass'n, now on a
worldwide business trip, has been asked to
meet with the Italian government during his
stopover in Rome on its demands for more
color printing by Italian laboratories. The
attitude here is that the Italian demand is
not a practical one.
The MPEA also has told Charles Baldwin,
its Mediterranean manager, to protest the
refusal of the Italian government to issue
provisional import licenses before ratification
of a new TJ. S.-Italian film pact. The
MPEA has been hesitant about ratifying the
pact before passage of a new film law which,
it is feared, will contain unacceptable provisions.
Passage of the law has been pending
for some time.
'Man Who Never Was' Set
NEW YORK—"The Man Who Never Was,"
20th-Fox film, will open April 3 at the Victoria
Theatre. It is an Andre Hakim production
in De Lux color directed by Ronald
Neame in England and Spain. The cast is
headed by Clifton Webb and Gloria Grahame.
"The Man With the Golden Arm" is now
playing the Victoria.
Newcomer in Monroe Starrer
Don Murray, a screen newcomer, will play
the key role of the cowboy in the Marilyn
Monroe starrer, "Bus Stop," a 20th-Fox release.
BOXOFFICE March 24, 1956