im

. . Recovered
. . George
. .
. . . The
. . Stephanie,
ALBANY
priends and former neighbors of Alec Papayanakos,
for 33 years owner of the
American Theatre in Canton, gave him
and Mrs. Papayanakos a touching farewell
reception at the St. Lawrence Golf and
CountiT Club. Papayanakos and his wife
are returning to Greece, where Alec first
saw the light of day in Sparta. Recently
he has been suffering from high blood
pressure. A doctor-nephew, who came to
the U.S.A. several months ago, will accompany
the couple back to the nativeland.
A "testimonial of friendship from
the people of Canton" was presented to
Papayanakos, which was signed by Mayor
Milford Howe and inscribed in both English
and in Greek.
Th? Schine circuit, which has attracted
steady business with "Ben-Hur" since May
at its remodeled Riviera in Rochester, set
a second date for the MGM spectacle at
the Strand in Lexington. Ky. Sy Evans, director
of publicity and promotion, planned
a flight to Lexington for the opening .
Johnny Capano rebooked "Career Girl,"
a boxoffice sleeper, for a return engagement
at the American in Troy. He paired
"Diabolique" with it . Seed,
longtime Fabian manager and in recent
years until his retirement director of the
Cohoes, at Cohoes, said at the testimonial
dinner for Eddie Susse, new manager for
MGM in Detroit, that he would like to get
back in harness. He is living a life of ease
in suburban Latham, where Mrs. Seed for
a time operated a bridal shop. Ed Stillman
succeeded Seed at the Cohoes. Incidentally,
Ed Trilling, another guest at the Susse
dinner and current buyer for Fabian in
the Pennsylvania-Virginia territory, sei-ved
as buyer for F. F. Proctor in Albany years
ago.
The name of Howard Goldstein, theatre
operator and buyer, was unintentionally
omitted from the Boxoffice list of those
attending the recent farewell luncheon for
salesman Rudi Bach at Neil Hellman's
Thruway hotel. Goldstein, onetime chief
booker in the old RKO exchange and
later a salesman for 20th-Fox, was a
friend of Bach's for years. A resident of
Schenectady. Howard operates the Ft.
Warren Drive-In at Castleton, Vt., with his
younger brother Herbert. He also operates
several conventional hou.ses. in addition to
buying and booking for outdoor and indoor
situations . from a twoweek
bout with influenza. Joe Mirasola
disclosed on a Filmrow visit that he had
locked the gates of the Skyline Drive-In.
Crown Point August 21. Unemployment in
nearby mines cut grosses too sharply, according
to Mirasola. Helen Burrows had
been managing the ozoner. which Mirasola
acquired last year. He still operates the
9-L Drive-In. Lake George Village, and
the Glendale Drive-In, Pottersvllle.
One of the busiest among the newcomers
to exhibitor ranks is Frank Purden jr..
who since October has been operating the
Bijou in North Troy on lease from Charles
Wilson. He is a .son of Frank Purden sr.. a
projectionist at Bijou since 1940. and is a
salesman in the Cohoes branch of the former
National City Bank of Troy, now part
of the State Bank of Albany. Purden attends
night classes at Ru.ssell Sage College,
where he is working for a degree in
business administration. He has been
around the Bijou since boyhood, and managed
it for Wil.son before leasing it . . .
Sylvan Leff. Watertown-Utica-Vail Mills
theatre operator, was accompanied on his
weekly round of the exchanges by his 12-
year-old son Robert.
Renewing industry acquaintances on a
vacation visit here was W. Gordon Bugie.
former Paramount salesman in this area,
now Paramount manager in Cleveland. He
reported he regularly sees two ex-local film
men: Gene Vogel. onetime MGM salesman
and later Universal manager, who now is
with Confection Cabinets, and Joe Weinstein.
former booker for the old Warner
Circuit Management Corp.. now with Stanley
Warner working out of Pittsburgh . . .
A meeting of the Variety Club will be held
Tuesday night