TO LORD

BROADWAY
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, now in the
new Easter show, will have
midst of its
a Pop Arts Festival on a twice-a-year, sevenweek
basis. The opening series, running
from September 15 to November 3, will feature
such stars as Neil Sedaka, the Boston
Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler
and Tony Orlando and Dawn.
Shows will van from one-night stands
to several weeks and will include jazz, pop,
semi-classical concerts, rock, ice shows and
children's programs. Producers are Sid
Berstein.
Bill Fields and the Music Fair.
•
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and
The American Cinematheque's "Paris/ New
York" program is now under way, with
screenings at the museum's Junior Auditorium
through May 7. A highlight was the
presentation Tuesday evening (5) of the late
silent "The Shopworn Angel" (1928), directed
by Richard Wallace and starring
Gary Cooper. Nancy Carroll and Paul Lukas.
Although the last two reels were missing
and the sound portions of the film also
were gone, the Paramount release was still
very impressive, especially as accompanied
by Dick Hyman on the Baldwin organ.
Cinematheque head Gene Stavis introduced
the program, which had been created
by the late Henri Langlois, head of the
Cinematheque Francaise. Upcoming are
DeMille's "Saturday Night" (1922) Tuesday
(12), James Cruze's "Mannequin" (1926)
with Warner Baxter, Zasu Pitts and Walter
Pidgeon, Saturday (16), and the French film
"Prix de Beaute" (1930), by G. W. Pabst
and Genina, with America's Louise Brooks,
Saturday (23).
•
The 107th edition of Ringling Bros, and
Barnum & Bailey Circus is now at Madison
Square Garden through June 5. The unquestioned
star of the show is animal trainer
Gunther Gebel-Williams, who has several
spots on the program and major participation
in the processions. Exhibitors could
take a few tips on showmanship from the
latest presentation of "The Greatest Show
on Earth."
•
"The Goodbye Girl," a romantic comedy
written for the screen by Neil Simon, is
filming in
the city for the next month after
six weeks of shooting at MGM Studios in
Culver City. Described as a happy love
story, the Warner Bros, presentation stars
Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason and
introduces nine-year-old Quinn Cummings.
Ray Stark is producing and Herbert Ross
is directing.
The Rastar feature will use such local
sites as Shubert Alley, Showcase Studios.
Open Space Theatre, the Metropole Cafe
and the Roosevelt Island tram, plus various
streets, stores and buildings. Also to be
filmed is the Subaru display at the Auto
Expo at the Coliseum, during the time the
exhibition is open to the public.
•
In town: Sissy Spacek arrived Tuesday
(5) for promotional activities on behalf of
E-2
Robert Altman's "3 Women," the 20th
Century-Fox release in which she stars with
Shelley Duval and Janice Rule. The film
is now at the Coronet.
The Film Society
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of Lincoln Center anil
the Department of Film of the Musuem of
Modern Art is presenting the sixth annual
"New Director/ New Films" series, Wednesday
(13) through Wednesday (27). Representative
works will be screened from such
countries as Hungary, the USSR. Poland/
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Portugal, Great
Britain, France, Canada and West Germany.
The U. S. is represented by two features
and two featurettes.
•
Updating: The Elgin Theatre again has
abandoned its revival policy and is now advertising
itself as an outlet for rock acts.
The Embassy Theatre on 49th Street is
changing its name to the Pussycat Theatre
and will debut Wednesday (13) with Alex
De Renzy's very hard-core feature, "Babyface."
The theatre once was called the
Trans-Lux West and then briefly the Bryan
West.
a
Congratulations to film importer and distributor
Robin von Joachim, who was married
here March 31 to Rachel von Mandovska.
•
"The Beast," Walerian Borowczyk's erotic
fairy tale of beauty and the beast, opens
Wednesday (15) at the RKO Stanley Warner
59th Street East. Sirpa Lane stars as the
beauty portion of the story, a Jason Allen
Films release.
Biiier Winter Didn't
Hurt Some Pa. Airers
WILKES-BARRE, PA. — In spite of
devastating winter weather, energy crunches,
tightened finances and stiff first-run competition
from the indoor movie houses, the
long, hard winter did not seem to hurt the
six drive-ins operating in this northeastern
Pennsylvania area.
Of the six ozoners in the immediate area,
four have been operating on a seven-day-aweek
basis, including the West Side Drivein
at Larksville and the Comerford Drivein
in Dupont, both owned and operated by
Sportservice of Buffalo, N.Y.; the independently
owned Oak Hill Drive-in. Moosic,
and the Garden Drive-in, Hunlock
Creek.
Another airer, the Wilkes-Barre Drivein,
only operated weekends, while the West
Wyoming Drive-In in West Wyoming is
waiting for fairer weather to reopen for the
season. The only underskyer to shutter was
the Sunset Drive-In in Mountaintop.
The Wilkes-Barre Drive-In, which usually
closes for one month when winter is at
its worst, lost two to three months' business
this past season, according to Arthur Scavo,
manager. "When highways are impassable,"
he said, "you can't expect people to fight
their way to a drive-in."
The major problem, Scavo said, apart
from the weather itself, is the matter of
vandalism. "But it's a problem we've learned
to live with," he added. "Financially, it's
too high to overcome. Prosecution is tough,
especially when the damage has been caused
by juveniles."
The only other time of the year when
patronage falls down is in the fall when
football is king, Scavo said, because the
Wilkes-Barre caters to a clientele generally
16 to 25 years of age. This drop usually
lasts from September until Thanksgiving.
At present, Scavo said the ozoner is doing
standard business "but once the weather
gets better, the drive-in again will excel in
the type of movie that has made us the
home of big pictures." Scavo points out that
the Wilkes-Barre Drive-In plays first-run
features during its regular spring and summer
season.
Scavo explained that he feels the demand
for different types of motion pictures may
be influenced by social trends but the outdoor
theatres will continue to have a unique
group of patrons year after year. At the
Wilkes-Barre Drive-in, where there is no
charge for children under 14, rainchecks
and refunds are provided for dissatisfied
customers.
UA's 'Audrey Rose' Bowed
In Greater NY April 6
NEW YORK—"Audrey Rose," a Rober
Wise production based on the Frank D<
Fellitta best seller about reincarnation, open
ed at seven first-run theatres in the Nev|
York area Wednesday (6) as an Easter holi
day attraction from United Artists. They ar<
the Loews' State 2, Loews' Cine and thj
Eastside Cinema, Manhattan; Plainviewl
Plainview, and Lynbrook, Lynbrook, L.l)
and Cinema 46 1, Totowa, and the Middle
town 1, Middletown, N.J.
The film stars Marsha Mason, Anthon
Hopkins and John Beck and introduce]
Susan Swift as Ivy.
Wise directed from a screenplay by Ef
Felitta and Joe Wizan and De Felitta pn
duced the film for release by United Artis
Music is by Michael Small.
Ralph Bakshi Will Visit
NYC to Plug 'Wizards'
NEW YORK—Ralph Bakshi, whose aimated
science-fiction film "Wizards" wl
open at the Trans-Lux East and othr
metropolitan area theatres in late April, wl
arrive in New York Monday (18) fori
series of screenings, seminars and int