Boxoffice-October.07.1968

Hollywood
^Al.L STRKET
Happenings
CONSULTANTS who
have handled the financial public relalions
account of National General Corp.
Iki\l- now included Warner Bros.-7 Arts fiiKiiKial
statements in their releases. Each
release is separate but it might be indicative
of the closer relationship existing between
the two companies.
*
Some 180 British journalists visited Hollywood
and the Los Angeles area and were
entertained by the major studios. A.A.E.
Franklin, British consul general, and John
Houlton, information officer at the British
consulate, greeted them at the Beverly Hills
Hotel for an afternoon reception September
26. Members of the Foreign Press Ass'n,
whose president Bertil Unger provides news
for Scotland, and Ivor Davis, Ivy Wilson,
Nora Laing, Gloria Geale and Mishel Green,
all covering for Great Britain outlets, were
at the reception.
•
While the lobby is not yet completed and
the contractors are still working. Sheldon
Smerling's new theatre, the Vine, already
has its marquee lights flashing. The opening
is scheduled for Friday (11), the day before
the Columbus Day holiday, and should provide
activity on the boulevard. Up the block,
at the Marshall Naify organization house,
the Egyptian, work is in progress for the
conversion to D-150.
Radio listeners here who get San Diego on
their sets, heard the announcement Septem-
I ber 27 that at a theatre down there where
"The Fox" is playing, patrons are met by a
burly guard in
front of the theatre. The idea
is to keep out those under 18. ID cards are
demanded,
•
Murray Weissman, Universal publicity
executive, discusses with his peers "Exploitation—Television"
at the 1 3th annual Broadcasters
Promotion Ass'n Seminar in Miami
Beach, November 19. Weissman is assistant
to Maurice Segal, executive in charge of
UniversaFs motion picture press department.
The talk will illustrate some of the outstanding
motion picture exploitation which will be
of interest to this group of 500 executives.
*
Paul Ford was ill and he was hospitalized
just as the new stage show at the Center
Theatre Group Ahmanson Theatre was about
to go on. The production, "Captain Brassbound's
Conversion," had the famed film
and stage actor in the role of Captain
Kearney. In the best of theatrical traditions,
Jim Backus, the voice of "Mr. Magoo" and
a veteran of the entertainment profession,
jumped in and took the part though he is
busy with a studio commitment.
•
The Southern California Motion Picture
Council has moved its luncheon headquarters
to the restaurant "The Fog Cutter" on La
Brea. Motion picture chairman is now Mary
Livingstone Nicklin who works with president
Elayne Blythe. The latter is working on
group sales for "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."
At the luncheon Wednesday, Ted Sills.
Palomar Pictures executive, received the
award from the group for "For Love ol
Ivy" while Robert Ellis Miller, director,
picked up one for Warner Bros.-? Arts "The
Heart Is a Lonely Hunter," which is expected
to open here in November. On the
list of evaluation, 18 films in the "family-all
ages" category were listed, with 14 of these
awarded honor scrolls. "'Vouth (over 12)-
matiue youth and adults" category listed 12
films with 9 of these getting scrolls. Of the
21 films listed for "mature (over 18)
adults," ten received the plaudits of the
group. In the category called "adults" none
of the 14 films listed have been honored.
The final category is "erotica and borderline,"
in which there are 20 films without
any kudos.
*
Marty Roberts is back from Chicago and
the Commonwealth United Entertainment
Corp. film division meeting where he outlined
promotion plans for the NATO convention.
•
Dave Wolper's office sent us a note that
they had resumed production on "The
Bridge at Remagen" on September 26 in
Hamburg, Germany. All the props they left
during the putsch in Czechoslovakia, except
tanks and armored vehicles, were reshipped
to them in West Germany. They move to
Italy Tuesday (15) to the Pope's residence
outside of Rome at his summer castle. Castle
Gondolfo, for further shots of the bridge
there resembling the German one.
•
The Columbia/ Screen Gems Studio Club
hosted a retirement party for a rather unique
employe on September 27 on stage 12 at the
studio. Howard Fabrick, director of industrial
relations, presented the traditional gold
and diamond pin to Charles Johnson, storekeeper,
who has completed over 20 years of
employment at Columbia. What makes
Johnson unique? In his entire tenure of employment,
he has never been absent, accumulating
a total of 720 hours of sick leave—Not
taken!
Three-Year Run at Regent
For 'A Man and a Woman'
HOLLYWOOD—Allied Artists' "A Man
and a Woman" has started its third year at
the Max Laemmie Regent Theatre in Westwood.
During the period of two years playing
here in Los Angeles the film has been
seen by approximately 350,000 persons at
an average price of $2.50. The Crest opened
with this film and stays right with it to the
delight of both distributor and Max and Boh
Laemmie. Gross is close to $1,000,000. Capacity
of the theatre is 400 seats.
Edwin Schallert Is Dead
HOLLYWOOD— Edwin Schallert, 78, retired
Los Angeles Times reviewer and dean
of the press corps here, died at the Brentwood
Convalescent Home, September 2S.
He was a recipient of the Hollywood Foreign
Press Ass'n. Golden Globe in 1956, the first
awarded to a non-film man. His sons William.
John and Roy survive.
Plane Crashes Into
20th-Fox Studios
1 OS ANC