Boxoffice_May.09.1960

ST .
LOUIS
Hndy Dietz, owner of Astral Film Distributors
and Cooperative Theatres, a
booking and buying organization, has
moved into new quarters on the second
floor at 3238 Olive St. The building at 3142
Olive he formerly occupied is to be razed
for a gigantic redevelopment project.
Howco Exchanges also has its new office
at 3238 Olive St.
Harry C. .Arthur jr., Arthur Enterprises,
has gone to the West Coast on business
Ben Lass, National Screen Service
. . .
manager, was in Chicago for a company
meeting.
Members of WOMPI are promoting a
trip Saturday. June 11, to Independence,
Mo., and the Truman Library via the Missouri
Pacific Railroad. They have obtained
a special round-trip rate of $13 for adults
and $8.65 for children from 5 to 12, including
railroad fare, bus trip to and from
the library, library entrance fee, a box
lunch on the way and dinner in the train's
diner returning. If 30 sign up for the trip,
the railroad will provide a special car for
the Pilmrow party. Those interested should
contact Jane Smoller, Paramount Pictures,
WOMPI first vice-president, who is in
charge of arrangements.
Speaking of WOMPI, Grace Engelhard,
Realart Pictures, the retiring president,
automatically becomes a director. Other
directors are Mrs. Jean Daniels, Kahan
Service, who replaces Marcella DeVinney,
20th-Pox, who is the new president iJean
will serve one year), and Marge Collins,
|JU>J-O-0-9_0J?J>JLg-0-ajJ)-0-0-g-g-gJLflJL0J|
SPECIAL
PRICES ON 1
POPCORN
IN
TRUCKLOAD LOTS
SAMPLES AND PRICES UPON REQUEST
Send for pricelist of cartons, Jumbo Peanuts,
bags, oils. Star Popcorn Machines and popcorn
supplies.
• RUSH HOUR, GOLDEN HULLESS,
SILVER HULLESS & POP KING
HULLESS POPCORN.
Popcorn packed in 50 lb. and 100 lb. bags.
Also coses containing 4-12'/i lb.
polyethylene bags.
PRUNTY POPCORN DIVISION
620 N. 2nd St. St. Louit 2, Mo.
Popcorn Processon— In our 86th year.
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"SELECT" FOUNTAIN SYRUPS
DRINK DISPENSERS
Select Drink Inc.
4210 W. Florissant Ave.
St. Louis 15, Mo.
Phono
Evergreen S-5935
Allied Artists; Julia January, National
Theatre Supply, and Frances Hoffman,
MGM, all recently elected for two-year
terms. Holdover members are Charlotte
Murphy and Dorothy Dressel . . . Hostesses
for the regular May luncheon meeting of
WOMPI at Paramount's club will be the
gals at Realart Pictm'es.
Illinois exhibitors on Pilmrow included:
Mrs. Catherine Beckemeyer, Ti-enton: Al
Spargur. Du Quoin; Tom Baker, Bunker
Hill; George Barber, Tuscola: Charley
Beninati, Carlyle; Vince O'Leary, East St.
Louis, and Joe Goldfarb, Upper Alton.
A special press preview of 2 0th -Pox's
Can-Can" will take place at the Ambassador,
and 20th-Pox will be the hosts. It is
an invitational affair . Jerry Bahner,
. .
Paramount office manager, is recovering
at St. Mary's Hospital from a fractured
left arm and other injuries sustained in an
automobile accident near Ironton April 23.
His wife and sister escaped with minor
injuries.
State Senator Frank X. Keller, Wentzville.
Mo., exhibitor, will be a delegate to
the Democratic National Convention which
opens at Los Angeles July 11.
Ralph Hacker, head booker for United
Artists, will join the sales staff of Columbia
Pictures, Monday i9), filling the
vacancy caused when George Cohn became
office manager, succeeding Rose
Hearle, who retired recently. Hacker
has been with UA for five years. He was
manager of Loew's Orpheum in 1948-50
prior to joining the Army Security Agency
for two years. Prom 1952 through 1953 he
was assistant manager at Loew's State.
Then he managed the Ambassador under
Cinerama for two years prior to joining
UA . . . Martha Baker, formerly with
Columbia Pictures in Memphis, recently
joined Columbia here as a booker-stenographer.
The evening of April 29 Stafford Lambert,
Belgian consul in St. Louis, presented
an award to Spyros Skouras, 20th-
Pox president 'accepted by William Gehring,
St. Louis manager! for his masterful
handling of "Masters of the Congo Jungle."
A reception took place in the consulate
immediately following a screening of the
picture at the Pox Theatre screening room.
Marie Becker, secretary for William
Gehring, is on the job after a brief stay
at Paith Hospital . . . The opening night
of the Swedish film, "The Firebird," at the
Apollo Art Theatre was sponsored by the
St. Louis String Ensemble, all proceeds
going into that group's maintenance fund.
The picture is to be seen in only a few
major cities in this country.
The annual Chris Award of the Columbus,
Ohio, Industrial Film Festival has
been won by the Premier Film & Recording
Corp. of St. Louis with its "A Place
to Get Well," which tells about the St.
Louis Children's Hospital on Kingshighway.
The script was written by Robert
Kirven and Roger Leonhardt directed.
2Dth-Fox hosted a luncheon at the Sheraton
Jefferson April 26 for 14 representatives
of various railroads and bus lines at
which tours were planned to bring into
St. Louis groups to see "Can-Can" at the
Ambassador, commencing May 18 . . .
Wayne Allen, movie critic for the Springfield
111. Journal-Register, was here
I
I
Monday i2i to interview Dick Shawn, who
is appearing in 20th-Fox's "Wake Me When
It's Over.
Mail orders are being received for "Ben-
Hur." which opens an extended run at
Loew's Midcity May 27 . . . "Can-Can"
will be represented in the Armed Forces
Day parade May 21 with a float.
James Darst, 69, newspaperman and political
adviser who died of cancer April 25
at St. Luke's Hospital, once was director
for the old Pox Movietone Newsreel and
managed Kiel Auditorium from 1933-1941,
serving also as chairman of the municipal
auditorium commission from 1949-1954.
He was a cousin of the late Mayor Joseph
Darst.
St. Louis Roxy Theatre
Back to Regular Policy
ST. LOUIS—The Roxy Theatre, 550
Lansdowne Ave. in the southwestern part
of the city, will resume a regular picture
policy June 4 when new lessees, Dave
Ganz, a former employe of the house, and
John Conner, a newcomer to exhibition,
take over. They have leased the house from
its owner.
The art policy the Roxy has followed
for several years has been meeting growing
disapproval by church members in the
area.
Carrollton Airer Improved
CARROLLTON, MO. — The reopened
Carol Drive-In has undergone a facelifting
during recent weeks. A new tile
floor on the concession stand, refinishing
of the restrooms, several technical changes
in booth equipment and a layer of new
rock on ramps and roadways have improved
the situation.
MITO Board in Session
ST. LOUIS— Officers and directors of
Missouri-Illinois Theatre Owners, an affiliate
of Theatre Owners of America, met at
the Chase Hotel Monday i2i. Subjects discussed
included plans for the 1960 annual
meeting. Mayor Ray Parker of Brentwood,
MITO president, presided at the board
meeting.
Opens St. Louis Amythis
ST. LOUIS—The Amythis. 4300 South
Ferdinand Ave., has been reopened by
Mort S. Silvers, a former vaudeville entertainer
and Universal Pictures employe for
40 years. Silvers had planned to reopen
the house January 11 but was delayed
when he was hospitalized for a long period.
Curtis Savage New Lessee
FARINA, ILL.—The 37 Drive-In, a 250-
car theatre on Route 37 south of the city
limits, has been leased to Curtis Savage,
who has reopened it for the 1960 season.
Phil Davis, vice-president of the Cinemagic
Corp., wrote and produced the nev
cartoon series. "Hound for Hire."
C-2 BOXOFFICE Uay 9, 1960