PG^

1 of
,
Bougainville,
Stime and Liberty Theatres in Grcen-
;.c.
next move was to Charlotte, N.C..
lager of the Imperial Theatre. One ol
things Whitaker did upon his aras
to transfer his Kiwanis mcmberthe
Charlotte club. There followed
to Spartanburg and Montgonicr\
where he was city manager of the
I Strand in 1928 and 1929,
ne.xt two years he was Charlotte
lanager in charge of the Carolina.
and Alhambra theatres,
sptember 1931 he was the only thealager
in the Southeast with stage
orchestra experience, and was
by Paramount Publix to Atlanta
the Paramount and Georgia
later named the Roxy).
Lucas and William Jenkins took
operation from Paramount Publix
: L & J banner in 1933 and Whitpromoted
to district manager and
apitol, which was next door to the
ja, and the 4.600-seat Fox were added
responsibilities. He was promoted to
il manager of the circuit in 1940.
Eanwhile. Whitaker had transferred
his
lis membership from Charlotte to the
club and found the "big town" asn
a wonderful asset to a young man
learn and succeed.
ta Kiwanians were kind and hclp-
Whitaker recalls, "and their
will never be forgotten."
itaker was drafted as a private in the
World War II, serving from 1943
He was discharged as captain. He
lissioned and appointed officer in
motion picture operations in the
Pacific, with headquarters in New
Before the war was over he had
and opened more than 500 theatres
:s such as Guadalcanal, New
Espirto Santa. Fiji.
Congareve, Vella la Vella and
locations.
the death of Lucas in 1944. the
were split and Jenkins formed the
Theatre Co., which has grown to
) theatres, and since the death of
jnder has been headed by John H.
er jr., as president, which brings us
ite to Whitaker's 45-year Kiwanis
his present title, executive viceand
director of operations.
New Tennessee Anti-Obscenity Law
Redefines 'Obscenity' and Prurient'
MEMPHIS— Tennessee, without an antiobscenity
law since February 19 when the
state Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional,
moved with speed last week.
A new law. drafted to meet the specifications
of the Tennessee and U.S. Supreme
courts, passed the Senate, 26 to 2, and the
House, 87 to 0. on the same day. It was then
rushed to Governor Dunn to be signed into
law.
The bill says a film is obscene if it 'describes
or shows sexual conduct in a patently
offensive way or if it, as a whole, lacks
serious, literary, artistic, political or scientific
value."
Prurient interest is defined in the bill as
a "shameful or morbid interest in sex,"
Fines of from $250 to $1,000 and jail
terms up to five years are provided in the
new law for violations.
With such pictures as "Deep Throat" and
'The Devil in Miss Jones" doing a big business
since the law was struck down, the
Memphis board of review (movie censors)
decided to establish a new set of guidelines
in Memphis.
Las Savell, chairman, named a five-member
committee from the board of 13 to set
up the guidelines for all members of the
board. The board reviews films and defines
what it thinks is obscene and not suitable for
juveniles.
Meanwhile, in Memphis, the board of
review moved to bring about the arrest of a
theatre manager for showing the film "Good
Guys Always Win," which had a PG rating.
Board members screened the film under
the title "The Outfit." The title of the film
was changed after the board decided the
film would constitute a violation of the
city's ordinance under a PG rating.
The board swore out a warrant for Danny
Hardin, manager of the Whitehaven
Cinema, who changed the rating of the film
from PG to R after the warrant was issued.
Mayor Wycth Chandler and his wife went
to see the film. They decided it was a good
movie but Mrs. Chandler said she thought
it should have an R rating "because the
language was unnecessary and the film
should not be shown to children."
Mayor Chandler intervened in the dispute
and the city dismissed the warrant less than
24 hours after it had been issued.
6 Theatres at New Mail
M F M P H I S
BOCA RATON. FLA.—The 390,000
square-foot Boca Raton Mall is
rapidly taking
shape, with an opening predicted by mid-
October according to leasing agent and project
coordinator Charles Von Stein jr. The
mall, just north of the city's main post
office, will have Britt's and Jefferson's department
stores, about 40 smaller stores and
a complex of six movie theatres.
Tampa Theatre Starts Family Rates
TAMPA. FLA.—The Todd Theatre has
a new policy of "family entertainment."
with a one-dollar admission price in effect
to 4 p.m. daily. The charge goes to $2 for
remainder of the da\' and evenina.
Tt was homecoming recently for Arthur
Groom. Also for a host of Memphis
friends who welcomed him back to Memphis.
Groom has been with Ixiews Theatres
for about 40 years, except during the five
years he worked for Malco in Memphis. His
latest job was in Nashville. He will be
manager of Loews TTieatre. Memphis.
Four March re-openings were recently
announced. They are luka Drive-In, luka.
Miss.: New Theatre, DeWitt, Ark.; Europa
Drive-In, Europa, Miss., and Buffalo Theatre.
Jasper. Ark. .All were back in business
bv Friday (15).
le of Madness' Will Be
April 5 at Filmex
YORK—The 1926 Japanese classic
Madness," directed by Teinosuke
I, has been selected for showing at
_
jrear's Los Angeles International Film
^position at midnight Friday. .April 5. The
announcement was made by Robert Shave.
president of New Line Cinema Corp.
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BOXOFnCE :: March 25, 1974 SE-3