Boxoffice-May.21.1979

ST.
LOUIS
^^inter Kills," the story of a presidential
assassination and the end of an era in
American history with Eli Wailach portraying
a Jack Ruby-type character, opened
May 18 at the Esquire, Crestwood, Village,
Woods Mill and the Nameoki in Granite
City. III. The all-star cast also includes Jeff
Bridges, Anthony Perkins, Sterling Hayden,
John Huston and Dorothy Malone.
Filmed entirely in the state of New Jersey.
"Voices," a contemporary love story
involving a singer and a deaf girl, opens
May 25 at Northwest, Sunset. Chesterfield
and the Petite in Collinsville, III. Michael
Onkean and Amy Irving are the co-stars of
the MGM film distributed by United
Artists.
Peter Sellers stars in a dual role in "The
Prisoner of Zenda." a comedy version of
the Anthony Hope classic novel which will
be on the screens of the Sunset. Westport
and Paddock beginning May 25. Elke Sommer
and Lionel Jeffries are featured in the
Mirisch production directed by Richard
Quine. Henry Mancini. who composed the
music for all of Sellers" "Pink Panther"
films, wrote the score for "Zenda."
With the drive-ins open on full-time basis,
horror films are again on the horizon. Currently
in a wide multiple in (the area arc
"Suspiria" coupled with "Eyeball."
Disney's "101 Dalmations" is scheduled
for re-release in June and the West County
Shopping Center was host to a troupe of
entertainers from that studio May 16. In
Disneyland character costumes, the group
sang and danced under the leadership of
emcee Fulton Burley, who told the story of
the production. While here, the performers
cut a promo spot for KDNL-TV. Channel
-^0, to be aired in early June. The station
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will be giving away 101 stuffed dalmalion
pups that month in connection with the
Buena Vista release.
The local Humane Society will sponsor a
benefit performance of "Fiec Spirit" May
24 at the Des Peres Theatre before the regular
run May 25 at the Des Peres. St. Ann
Cinema. Cross Keys. Ronnie's, Cinema 4
and South Twin Drive-In. The film, released
by Midwest Pictures involves the relationship
between a hunting dog and a fox. Real
animals are used throughout the production
which was entered in the Children's Film
Festival. It examines the risks of personal
relationships of domestic and wild animals.
It was chosen by Seventeen Magazine as its
"Movie of the Month" and Scholastic Magazine
in its review called it a "must see
movie."
Globe-Democrat entertainment editor
Frank Hunter gave Woody Allen's "Manhattan"
four stars, calling it an "acidulous
valentine to Allen's beloved city of New
York, capturing the feel of the city with
the zest of a 1930s romantic comedy. He
appreciated the employment of George
Gershwin's superb and vital music as a fitting
background and found Mariel Hemingway,
who portrays the 17-year-old schoolgirl,
bearing a startling resemblance to her
grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, when he
was her age." The film is enjoying what
promises to be a long run at the Varsity.
Ronnie's. Cypress Village and BAC Fair-
Hunter awarded three and a half stars lo
"Last Embrace." pioclaiming it an adventure
of an unusual sort. He found the ending
at Niagara Falls "exceptionally well done
although the scary stuff was created in the
studio," and enjoyed the interesting roles
played by such actors as Sam Levene and
Christopher Walken along with Roy Scheider
and Janet Margolin. The drama is on the
screens at Ellisville. Halls Ferry. Ronnie's
and Cinema IV.
Paramount's Heyday
Recalled in Twilight
DES MOINES, IOWA — "When
Clark
Gable swore to Vivien Leigh, "Frankly, my
dear, I don't give a damn," some of the
Des Moines audience feared the
strait-laced
Paramount Theatre might come tumbling
down.
They were right . . but years early. Des
.
Moines' Paramount Theatre's pinnacle was
the premiere of "Gone With the "Wind." It
was on an unforgettable day—Jan. 26,
1940. The cost of admissions was a fortune:
weekdays, 75 cents; evenings and weekends,
$1.12. It was two degrees below zero on
THEWTRE EQUIPMENT
"Everything for the Theatre"
No. CAPITOL AVE., INDIANAPOLIS, INO.
that opening day and line formed. an hour
before the 10 a.m. showing. Some brought
lunch and sat through the show twice.
Even the local newspaper The Register
gave the premiere a page one "top head."
Other rival theatres suffered while the
Paramount basked in the limelight, its customary
spot.
The Paramount began as the Capitol Theatre,
an afterthought to ,the eleven-story
building built for offices in 1923.
In the absence of TV, Little League and
other organized activities, theatres were
very much a part of the family liife in the
1920s. Parents attended in the evening, kids
on Saturday.
'Capitol Organ Club'
The Capitol had an organist, and for a
dime the i little kids could go to "Herbie's
Capitol Organ Club," named after Herbie
the organist who clowned around, and the
kids would get a funny hat and see very
bad silent one-reel comedies.
A. H. jBlank's organization bought the
Capitol in 1929 and launched its heyday as
the Paramount Theatre. Talkies were just
beginning after movies had shared the billing
for many years with live entertainment.
The movies were killing vaudeville and it
went down with a smile.
Mary Bernstein Rubin remembers it well,
since she was a member of the Paramount
Rockets after graduating from a local high
school in 1932. Bigtime entertainers and:
bands would come through town and be
billed with major movies. Local entertainers
would fill out the stage show—^the
Rockets were such a group. Mary says they
danced to whatever the bands would play,
including tunes with the likes
of Edgar Bergen
and Charlie McCarthy, torch singer
Helen Morgan, Ginger Rogers (before she
became a movie star), Blackstone the Magician,
Cab Calloway and other name bands
of the early swing era.
To launch the Paramount a bigshot emcee,
from Chicago, Charles Agnew, was
called in. Gradually, however, the stage
shows gave way to double features.
Almost a Riot
Des Moines almost had a riot in 1949
when "I Married a Nazi" played and two
fellows were hired to dress like Nazis and
stroll the streets to advertise it.
After the war and on into the '50s the
Paramount hung on pretty well. It was the
first theatre to advertise air conditioning in
the '30s and also offer free parking beginning
in 1957.
In 1956 "Rock Around the Clock" was
shown. It took three policemen and all the
ushers to keep peace inside. Outside a jukebox
blared rock music and dancers blocked
the street in front.
Paramount tried to live with television
as it came along, just as it had done with
vaudeville. Still later, dinner theatres and
live performers tried to keep the old theatre
alive, but her run was over.
The theatre will be torn down this month
but many many memories will be left standing.
The Paramount went dark as a movie
theatre in February 1973. Her last show was
"The Innocent Bystander."