ynduA^

. .
. . Amelia
. . Ignacio
DALLAS
^he Texas Theatre in Ballinger, destroyed
by fire recently, was owned by the
Scales estate, and Lewis Brown was the
manager. Once before the Texas was razed
by flames, back in 1939 only three years
after it was constnjcted. The old Palace is
being reopened temporarily to replace the
Texas. Scales also owns the Hillcrest Drivein
there.
.
The WOMPIs will hold their annual Boss
of the Year luncheon in May. Members
again will submit names for the Boss of
the Year award. The February meeting will
be held March 1 since the regular date
falls on February 22, a holiday
Morrison of the
.
Paramount staff
. Pearl
reports
her niece Joamia Rodgers has come back
to Dallas after several years in Hollywood,
during which she worked as a model and
had a part in "Blue Hawaii."
Dorothy Matson, who managed her
mother's theatres in Madisonville for many
years, died at a hospital in Marlin after
an illness of nine months. Mrs. C. W. Matson,
th.e mother, died a few years ago, and
another daughter, Gladys Wallace, helped
out at the theatre. Pallbearers at Dorothy's
funeral, held in Rockdale, were C. C.
"Speed" Hoover. Ernest Herber, Stanley
Zimmerman, Hal Moore, Jake Watkins,
Sebe Miller, Louis Weber and B. T. Bm-nside.
Dorothy and her mother were regular
visitors evei-y week on Pilmrow for many
years. Besides the sister Gladys, her father
survives.
Eula McKinney, secretary to Debbie
Hayle of Jefferson Amusement Co., reports
her brother Joe King, onetime football
player at Texas U. and known to
several industry folk, was killed recently
in a hunting accident at Waco. His gun
discharged when he was crawling through
a fence.
B. A. Dobbs, who was forced to give up
his job as head shipper at Paramount by
a heart attack, is now back at work in a
clerical job with Weston Electrical . . .
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Gene Austin opened his new My Blue
Heaven night club at the corner of Gaston
and Abrams in the old Chalet quarters.
"The Seven Wonders of the World," Cinerama
spectacle, opened at the Capri at
regular prices. Ti-ans-Texas also reported
"The Mark" was doing great business at
the Fine Arts ... P. A. Bateman of Pathe-
America sends word he will attend the
Texas Drive-In Theatre Owners Ass'n convention
... J. Carroll Smith returned home
from the hospital to recuperate and should
be back to work in six to eight weeks .
Connie Johnson of Buena 'Vista is very
happy with her new baby daughter.
Tommy Hall of the Horseshoe Drive-In
at Ballinger was in on his regular trip to
the In-Dex office . . . Ralph Fry, 14 years on
the Paramomit exchange staff here, has
resigned to join North American Mogul
Products Co. of Cleveland as western Texas
representative, a territory he covered at
one time for Parainount. Fry was voted the
1960 Salesman of the Year by exhibitors,
and was a member of the Paramount 100
Per Cent Club. His wife and children will
remain here until school is out, when they
will move to Lubbock. His fellow workers
gave Fry a farewell Imicheon at Cattlemen's
Steak House on Bryan street. James
Broyles succeeds Pry a;s head booker.
SAN ANTONIO
n mong the out-of-town exhibitors calling
at the Azteca Films and Columbia
Pictures exchanges to book Mexican product
were Luis Puente, the El Rey, Raymondville;
Ray Hugger, the Ritz at Houston;
John Flache, Alameda Theatre and
Fiesta Drive-In, Lamesa, and Delmo Pierce,
Ascarte Drive-In, at El Paso.
Cinema Art Theatres city manager Tommy
E. Powers and J. Goldstein, publicity
executive from New York, are mapping out
elaborate plans for the gala premiere of
"El Cid" at the Woodlawn Theatre February
8. Newspapers, radio and television
are among the medimns that will be utilized
to herald the coming of the AA release to
San Antonio. The opening night's proceeds
go to charity.
Two holdovers were eminent on the local
theatre row during the week. "Babes in
Toyland" chalked up a four-week run at
the Broadway in Alamo Heights; the down-
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town ace Interstate house, the Majestic,
had "The Comancheros" running almost
the same amount of weeks, and another
downtown showcase, the Prince, did okay
with a first run of "Shirt Off Her Back"
and "Three Blondes in His Life" with Santone's
own Jock Mahoney. The Alameda
had the only vaudfilm in town that week,
with two pictures.
Four theatres had lines Sunday afternoon,
the Alameda, Aztec, Majestic and
Texas. The Alameda had a stage show during
the week ended January 24 which featured
Resortes. comic, with Maria Esquival.
Fernando Casanova and other entertainers
from Mexico . Torres,
Alameda manager, has been p:-omoted to
supervisor of the Guadalupe and National
as well by owners H. Rosenberg, H. Braha
and Al West.
Lula Lucchese, retiring president of the
Zaragoza Amusement Co., has moved to
Smithville . Mendoza, Mexican
actress, was married on the Alameda stage
to Jose Sugrio. The event was attended
by Jewell Truex, Azteca Films, and Egon
Klein and Don McConville, Columbia Pictures.
Lippert Sees More Foreign
Pictures in U. S. in '62
HOLLYWOOD—Producer Robert L. Lippert
estimates that, for the first time,
American theatres this year will play more
pictures made in Europe than in Hollywood.
Lippert, who also is a circuit operator,
said the handwriting was on the wall
unless there was a drastic change in the
economics that forced this situation.
Lippert said the only hope of reversing
the trend lay in concrete and realistic government
and union cooperation with the
industry, in the areas of taxes, subsidies,
costs, working rules and similar factors
now giving overseas production an overpowering
advantage. He said this should
be the main item on the agenda for the
February meetings of the Motion Picture
Ass'n and union leaders and for the various
Washington investigations touching on the
problem.
"Theatres must get product wherever
they can," Lippert said. "I can also say
from experience that the American producer
of low-budget pictures is being
fatally squeezed by rising costs and the
limitation of return from the world boxoffice."
While all tabulations do not agree, Lippert
based his estimate on data showing
that about 180 pictures were made in
Hollywood last year, 90 pictures were
financed or produced by American companies
abroad and 100 strictly British,
Italian and other foreign films were
imported.
Charlton Heston Places
Footprints in Concrete
HOLLYWOOD—More than 1,000 fans
gathered to watch Charlton Heston put his
footprints in concrete in the forecourt of
Grauman's Chinese Theatre. An Oscar
winner for "Ben-Hur," Heston became the
139th personality to cement his prints in
the famed tourist attraction. Participating
in the ceremonies were William H. Thedford.
Pacific coast division manager of
National Theatres, and Carl H. Anderson,
president of the Chamber of Commerce.
SW-2 BOXOFFICE Febmary 5, 1962