Boxoffice-May.12.156

. . Roy
: May
. . Jack
. . George
'Bold and Brave' Bows
At 135 in Memphis
MEMPHIS— 'The Bold and the Brave" did
35 per cent above average busines.s at the
Warner Theatre to set the first run attendance
pace in Memphis.
(Average U 100)
Maico Invasion ot the Body Snotchers (AA) . . . . 50
PolQce—The Swan (MGM) I 00
State—The Rock (MGM) 75
Strand—The Come On (AA), 2rnd wk 100
Warner—The Bold ond the Brovc (RKO) 135
NEW ORLEANS
John Williams closed tlie State. Jackson,
Miss., May 5. Williams also operates the
first run Lamar in Jackson . Downing
of the Haven and Rex. Brookhaven, Miss.,
said the Pike Booking Co.. operated by T. G.
Solomon in McComb, MLss.. will buy and
book for his theatres. Pike Booking also does
the booking for the Dixie at Brookhaven, a
part of Dixie Amusement Co. Downing will
manage all three theatres there.
.
.
The first run Panorama here, a part of the
Joy Houck circuit, is undergoing vast improvements.
New carpets, seats and general
redecoration are planned Chadwick
of the 35 Drive-In, Carthage. Miss., has
been forced to close the drive-in on weekdays.
Poor business resulted in the partial shutdown
Varnado, formerly second
booker at Warner Bros., resigned to enter
another business. Joe Sacco. former head
cashier, moved over to the booking department.
The WOMPI's held their annual Bosses
luncheon Wednesday (9) at the Variety Club.
New officers for the 1956-57 term will be
elected this month . . . F. T. McLendon Theatres
reopened the Hub Drive-In, Monroeville,
Ala., Friday (4i for the summer.
Merger at Brookhaven
Headed by L. E. Downing
BROOKHAVEN, MISS.—The Haven, Dixie
and Rex theatres here have been merged
under the management of L. E. "Jack" Downing.
I. A. Foogo had operated the Dixie 11 years.
Downing took over the operation of the Rex,
which serves Negro patrons, several months
ago. The Dixie was taken over April 1 by
the Pike Amusement Co. of which Teddy Solomon,
McComb, is president. It had formerly
been operated by the Dixie Theatre Co.,
which has its main offices in New Orleans.
Solomon's organization operates theatres
in Yazoo City, Jackson, Crystal Springs and
Natchez, Miss.
Reopens at Demopolis, Ala.
DEMOPOLIS, ALA.—The Grove Drive-In,
on Highway 80 near here, has opened for
the season, offering two shows nightly.
PersonalHelptoShowmen
Available at Convention
ATLANTA— Personal counsclini; .service on
individual theatre problems will be available
to all exhibitors attending
the joint annual
convention of the
Alabama
Ass'n and
Theatres ^K^IiJV
the Theatre ^BLtm^
I'D
J • -
Owners and Operators
of Georgia May 27-29
at the Dinkier Plaza
hotel here.
Counselors will be
men from the exhibition
industry who
are well qualified by '
training and experi- Alfred Starr
ence to help the individual
showman on problems of concessions,
product, advertising or theatre equipment
and financing.
The personal counseling service, according
to J. H. Thompson, president of the
Georgia group and chairman of the convention
committee, and R. M. Kennedy,
president of the Alabama unit, came upon
the realization that many small exhibitors
have special problems in their operations
that are peculiar to their own situations.
The counseling will be available upon request
by the individual exhibitor, and it will
be something new in exhibition conventions,
according to the organization heads. It will
offer personal help on an exhibitor's particular
problem which may be unlike any
other covered in a general way on the program.
Theme of the convention this year, Thompson
and Kennedy said, will be "Gold Mining
.
flood rains . . .
Your Concession Stand."
in
M. A. Connett of Connett Theatres in Mississippi
"Sales and profits in concessions," Thompprize,
plans to close the Ritz, West Enterson
said, "have expanded tremendously, and
Miss . . A. L. Royal of the Meridian thousands of exhibitors have barely scratched
Drive-In, Meridian, Miss., set back the the surface of the gold mine in their own
scheduled reopening for the theatre. The backyards."
drive-in recently
and
was heavily damaged by A concessions clinic will be one of several
The HiWay 43 Drive-In, in the Cyclorama of Modern Exhibition
Mcintosh, Ala., was to reopen Saturday (12). clinics, dealing with all the major phases of
Johnny Waterall, owner, said the new screen theatre operation and management and including
product, advertising tower would not be complete until then. The
and general
tower was blown down recently by high winds. theatre equipment and financing.
ALFRED STARR TO SPEAK
BOXOFFICE :
Alfred Starr, past president of TOA, will
speak Tuesday afternoon. Thompson and
Kennedy said that in preparation for his
appearance here, Starr has been contacting
major distributors to ascertain what they
plan to do for the relief of the small exhibitor,
and has been bringing to distributors'
attention the serious plight of theatremen
faced with extinction unless something is
done to help them.
Planning of the convention has been concentrated
on making the features of value
to the average small town exhibitor, the
organization heads said, adding: "Never before
has the small exhibitor faced such perplexing
problems as he faces today. We
realize that neither we, nor anylxidy else,
have all the answers to these problems, but
out of the combined experience of many exhibitors,
some progress has been made in
coping with them successfully."
The Dinkier Plaza Hotel has been remodeled
recently and has fine convention
^
accommodations. It is located uptown, just
three blocks from Filmrow.
J. H. Thompson
>fe^i#fr;K«J
R. M. Kennedy
As the first event of the convention Monday
morning the Stanley Warner Corp.
has arranged for a special screening of "This
Is Cinerama."
Committee members for the convention
are:
General program—Thompson; Kennedy; J.
H. Harrison, Georgia; Gordon Bradley and
Paul Wilson, distributors.
Publicity—O. C. Lam, chairman; A. B.
Padgett, Ray Edmond.son, Ronnie Otwell.
Judson Moses and Leonard Allen.
Guest.s—C. L. Patrick, chairman, and John
Stembler.
Women's activities—Mrs. J. S. Tankersley,
chairman, and Mrs. John Carter and Mrs.
Lester Neely jr.
Equipment dealers—Coley Brown and Charlie
Fortson.
Registration—L. M. Stockton, chairman,
and Jimmy Gaylard.
Hotel reservations—John Thompson, chair-
Product—A. B. Padgett, chairman.
Entertainment—L. M. Stockton, chairman,
and John Stembler and A. B. Covey.
Program ads—Fred Storey, chairman, and
Harry Curl.
Industrywide affairs—E. D. Martin, chairman,
and Mack Jackson.
Resolutions—Willis Davis, chairman.
Clinics—J.
O. Hoover, chairman, and Emil
Bernstecker, E. E. Whittaker, William N.
Wolfson, Dan Davis, Norris Hadaway and
Eddie Watson.
Thieves Escape With $50
JACKSON, MISS.—Safe burglars raided
the Skyvue Theatre here after midnight,
escaping with nearly $50. A deputy sheriff
said safe robbers peeled the metal from the
top of the safe in the outdoor theatre with
a chisel and hammer and lifted the money
from inside. The burglars broke open a
window to climb into the concession building.
They ransacked a storage room in the
concession stand, but took nothing.
Started Career in 1908
NEW ORLEANS—Philip Foto. 85-year-old
pioneer theatre operator who died recently,
began his theatre career Ui 1908 in Algiers.
La., at the Market Theatre. In 1915 he
constructed Foto's Folly, then the south's
largest picture house. He later became
affiliated with United Theatres.
12, 1956 61