Boxoffice-July.04.1960

. . . Casting
. . Horace
. . Visiting
. . Cecil
. . Florida
. . Marshall
MIAMI
pive South Florida theatres—the Carib,
Miami. Miracle. Capitol and Fort Lauderdale's
Gateway iWometcoi —grossed a
record $55,000 on the 8.500 seats sold for
the Patterson-Johansson fight. This was
the second sellout, according to Sonny
Shepherd of Wometco. The previous sellout
was the second fight between Ray
Robinson and Carmen Basilio. The next
TelePrompTer theatre television presentation
will occur July 18. A doubleheader of
some importance will match the lightheavyweight
champion. Archie Moore,
against the German challenger, Emil
Schoeppner. and Sonny Listen and Zora
FoUey will fight for the third position
among heavyweights.
Wometco theatres again are sponsoring
a children's summer movie club, with 11
big shows for $1.50, or single admission
25c. There are free gifts, special shows and
a new picture every week. The club shows
are held every Tuesday at the Miracle,
Rosetta, Surf. Essex, Tower and Sunset
theatres.
Harry Botwick, executive of Florida
State Theatres, is in charge of promotion
for the Downtown Miami Business Council
and is one of three veeps in charge of various
departments of the council, which has
been formed to stimulate business and redevelop
the downtown Miami area. The
latter has tended to deteriorate and stagnate
because of parking problems and the
rapid growth of shopping areas in outlying
districts. Planned is a series of retail events
and conventions, the first of which Is a
Sale-A-Thon slated for Monday UD.
If theatregoers here are fed up with
what Spyros Skouras recently described as
"Blood. Guts and Sex" movies, now is a
good time to demonstrate their preference
for better and more moderate films, according
to critic George Bourke of the Herald.
Bourke. in a recent column, wrote,
"You can't blame a businessman-theatre
owner for booking in the 'B. G and S' movies,
which bring in satisfactory returns for
the low rentals required, when they outdraw
the better things in cinema life on
which the margin of profit is not so profit-
Aj a screen game,
HOLLYWOOD fokestop*
honors. As a box-office attraction,
if Is without equal. It hat
been a favorite with theatre goers for
over 15 years. Write today for complete details.
Be sure to give seating or car capacity.
HOLLYWOOD AMUSIMINT CO.
3750 Ookton SI. • Skokic, Illinois
^
able. Especially when the element which
supports the 'B, G and S' filmfare also consumes
a profitable share of popcorn and
soda pop. It therefore behooves those who
would like to see the motion picture of
quality around a bit more frequently to
step up and be counted as an approver of
movies like Ben-Hur, Story of Ruth, Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn, Wild River,
Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Sergeant
Rutledge, Rat Race, Can-Can, Pollyanna
and Conspiracy of Hearts."
Fort Lauderdale's Pier 66 Motel is where
the MGM moviemaking boys and girls are.
The management welcomed them with a
press reception-cocktail party. The "them"
mcludes Dolores Hart, cast in the starring
role of Merrilt in "Where the Boys Are";
Henry Levin, who will direct the film in
Lauderdale locales: Joe Pasternak, who will
proQUce, and Connie Francis, George Hamilton,
Yvette Mimieux, James Hutton,
Paula Printiss and many technicians.
Satellite Films, 17 Northwest Third St.,
is planning what director Larry 'Wolk descriDes
as "First feature film for theatre
release by an all-Miami cast and crew"
is under way in New York for
"Last Cavalier," which Carl 'Warner's Locations
Limited will film in this area.
Joseph Lieber, Miami restaurant owner
and former executive secretary of the Miami
Variety, died recently. He was 47. He
came here nine years ago from his native
Pittsburgh, Pa., to organize the Dinner
Key Auditorium restaurant. Previously he
had been a member of the Pittsburgh Variety
Club. Surviving are his wife Hilda,
ms parents, two sons and a grandchild.
First casting for the Howard Koch production
of "Miami Undercover" was held
June 25 at the Film Sound Center, 1833
Bay Rd., Miami Beach . . . Lillian Claughton's
trip back from her North Carolina
vacation was delayed by the recent airplane
strike but it was an "ill grounding
that blew some good." She met Jane Wyman
in Atlanta and now the cuxuit Mrs.
Claughton owns will play Miss Wyman's
current film, "Pollyanna" . . . Guy Williams,
who stars in Walt Disney's "The
Sign of Zorro," has been vacationing at the
Eden Roc Hotel, Miami Beach. The film
will open at the Trail Theatre Friday i8».
Two for one Buddy Day Kiddies Fun
parties lyou and your pal admitted for the
price of onei arc being sponsored by Florida
State Theatres, with the Gables, Regent
and Shores theatres having the parties
every Wednesday and the Paramount,
Beach and Boulevard theatres having the
parties on Saturdays. Fun. games and
prizes keep interest aroused. The Miami
News is sponsoring a comic coloring contest
at these events, with tie-in ads in the
paper. Every week a new and fabulous
Mickey Mouse Kiddie Fun party is planned.
Seats From Chicago Annex
CHICAGO— Ace Seating & Upholstering
Co. removed the seats from the Annex
Theatre which has been leased for commercial
use.
'Rose Bemd' at Playhouse
CHICAGO — •The Sins of Rose Bemd"
started its exclusive first local showing at
the World Playhouse.
JACKSONVILLE
r* H. "Danny" Deaver, former local exhibitor.
was in from Miami on a booking
assignment for George Hoover's Interstate
Theatres . . Three lovely girls
.
dressed in can-can costumes spent three
days traveling through downtown and all
metropolitan Jacksonville shopping centers
for "Can-Can." They rode in three
convertible Renault automobiles and
handed out 4.000 autographed stills of
"Can-Can" stars. This excellent promotion
for the motion picture's north Florida's
premiere at the Five Points was carried out
by owner Sheldon Mandell. Manager Harley
Bellamy and Ed Hale. 20lh-Fox publicist
for Florida. The entire fleet of buses
operated by the Jacksonville Coach Co.
carried large, eye-catching "Can-Can"
ads on both sides for two weeks in advance
of the opening. Virginia Atter,
leading local TV personality, interviewed
the can-can girls on her popular daily
show.
Booker Glenn Gryder returned from
southern Florida where he visited many
exhibitors Ray Chambers. Paramount
. . .
booker, has moved into a new home in the
Cedar Hills suburb . . . Another Paramount
booker. Van Burney, used his vacation time
for a Marine Reserves summer encampment
Denning, Dixie Drive-
.
ins supervisor, attended the MPEOF conventionette
in Orlando . . . Lt. Ray King,
son of Charley King, Filmrow booker, has
gone to Paris. France, on an Army assignment.
. . . Bill Lovelace,
Celeste Bryan returned to the 20th-Fox
office after recovering from a major operation
exhibitors included
.
Leon Task. Miami: R. L. Bailey, Blountstown:
Bill Carroll. Orlando: Roy Bang,
Groveland: Benny Liveton. Homerville,
Ga.: J. S. Carscallon, Tampa; and Harry
formerly
Dale, Lake Butler
with Floyd Theatres in Sanford,
the new manager of the Rialto, Orlando,
is
succeeding relief manager Jerry Hayes
from Jacksonville.
The Johansson-Patterson championship
fight pictures at the downtown Florida
proved to have strong drawing power during
the theatre's first-run of "Circus of
Horrors" .
State Theatres' daily
newspaper ad layouts continued a series
of interesting teaser ads for the late July
opening of the downtown Arcade under a
new name for the first run of "Ben-Hur"
Mike Seravo, Warner salesman, returned
to his desk after a south Florida
tour.
New 20th-Fox office workers are Amelia
Wade and Lauretha Slaughter . . . Jerry
Hayes, assistant at the local Edgewood
Theatre, left here for a temporary post as
manager of the Rialto Theatre, Orlando,
when Manager Jack Stephenson was transferred
to the Palms Theatre. West Palm
Beach .
Cohen has an attractive
new newspaper advertising layout for his
Murray Hill and Dixie theatres and the
Twin Hills Drive-In Fling is
.
booking for the 14 theatres which Kent
Enterprises recently acquired from the
First Southeast Corp.
SE-4
BOXOFFICE July 4, 1960