JOURNAl OF THE AMERICAN THEATRE ORGAN SOCIETY Orbil ID™e eclronic 1yn~e1izer pu1 ~ -~ohJre01pinel organ equo1... ~e newe;I woy lo mo <.emu1ic ~romWur i~zec Now with the Orbit III electronic synthesizer from slowly, just as the theatre organist did by opening and Wurlitzer you can create new synthesized sounds in­ closing the chamber louvers. stantly ... in performance. And with the built-in Orbit III synthesizer, this This new Wurlitzer instrument is also a theatre organ, instrument can play exciting combinations of synthe­ with a sectionalized vibrato/tremolo, toy counter, in­ sized, new sounds, along with traditional organ music. A dependent tibias on each keyboard and the penetrating built-in cassette player/recorder lets you play along with kinura voice that all combine to recreate the sounds of pre-recorded tapes for even more dimensions in souud. the twenty-ton Mighty Wurlitzers of silent screen days. But you've got to play the Orbit III to believe it. And it's a cathedral/classical organ, too, with its own in­ Stop in at your Wurlitzer dealer and see the Wurlitzer dividually voiced dip.pason, reed, string and flute voices. 4037 and 4373. Play the eerie, switched-on sounds New linear accent controls permit you to increase or of synthesized music. Ask for your free Orbit III decrease the volume of selected sections suddenly, or demonstration record. Or write: Dept. T0-872 WURLilzER® The Wurlitzer Company, DeKalb, Illinois 60115. hOHthe "·ay cover- Photo ... Top row, left to right - newly elected President Erwin Young; Man of the Year, "Stu" Green; Past President Stillman Rice. Bottom row - Richmond Mosque; Convention Chairman Woody Wise. Convention coverage begins on page 23. Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society (Cover Photos by Bill Lamb) Volume 14, No. 4 • August 1972 ATOS National Membership is $8.00 per in this issue ... calendar year, which includes a subscription ta THEATRE ORGAN, the official pub­ lication of the American Theatre Organ FEATURES Society. Single copies $1.25. Make check or money order payable to ATOS, and mail 5 Robinsons' Cipher Hill .... Lloyd Klos to P.O. Box 1314, Salinas, California 93901. 11 Harvey Bids His Wurlitzer "Good-by". Stu Green Editorial Address: 13 Sioux City Women Raise $25,000.00 . Lee McGinnis THEATRE ORGAN P.O. Box 1314 , 19 "All Things Considered" Salinas, California 93901 22 How to Behave While Practicing .. .....• John Muri Advertising Address 23 Convention Coverage ATOS Advertising 2231 North Burling Street 39 Hall of Fame Chicago, Illinois 60614 41 Visitors . • . Bette Peterson ATOS National Headquarters 43 Board of Directors Annual Meeting ATOS P.O. Box 1002 DEPARTMENTS Middleburg, Virginia 22117 47 Chapter Notes Phone(703) 554~321 8 Letters to the Editor 21 Snippets from England 14 Hollywood Cavalcade 42 Dinny's Colyum 55 Classified Ads ATOS National Officers 15 Vax Pops 42 Closing Chord Erwin Young, President 20 Nuggets from the Golden Days Duane Searle, Vice President 44 For the Records Mary Bowles, Secretary-Treasurer Nina Young, Executive Secretary ATOS National Board of Directors pr-esident~s messaae ... Mary Bowles Allen W. Rossiter SWAN SONG: Gaylord Carter Dick Schrum Al Mason Richard Simonton As defined in Websters Dictionary "THE LAST Allen Miller Judd Walton ACT." Stillman Rice, Past President As President of the ATOS, I wish to take this ATOS Past Presidents opportunity to thank the National Officers, Board Richard Simonton Feb. 1955 - Oct . 1958 of Directors, Editorial Staff, Publishers of the Judd Walton Oct. 1958 - July 1961 Tiny James July 1961 - July 1964 THEATRE ORGAN, Art Director, Advertising, Carl Norvell July 1964 - July 1966 Circulation Managers, Membership Secretary, Ex­ Richard Schrum July 1966 - July 1968 ecutive Secretary and Chapter Chairmen for their Al Mason July 1968 - July 1970 Stillman Rice July 1970 - July 1972 cooperation during my two year term of office ATOS Honorary Members and I am deeply greatful for having had the honor 1959-Jesse Crawford 1966-W. "Tiny" James and privilege to have served as President of ATOS. 1960-Farny Wurlitzer 1967-Erwin A. Young,Jr . My congratulations to Woody Wise, Chairman, 1961-Mel Doner 1968- Richard C. Simonton 1962-Leonard MacClain 1969-Judd Walton Marvin Lautzenheiser, co-Chairman, Jean Lautzen­ 1963-Eddie Ounstedter 1970-Bill Lamb heiser, Chairman of Potomac Valley Chapter and the Chapter Membership for 1964-Reginald Foort 1971-George and Vi Thompson another outstanding National Convention, "In Tune for You In 72." 1965-Oan Barton 1972-Stu Green During my term, three new chapters have been added, and at this writing, EDITORIAL STAFF our membership is over 4500. Editor-George Thompson Associate Editors - Ray Brubacher Many thanks to the retiring Board Members, Lee Erwin and Ron Willfong, for Lloyd E. Klos their assistance during my term. Peg Nielsen Congratulations to the newly elected officers and Board members, also to Editor-Emeritus - W. "Stu" Green Publisher-Al Mason Honorary Member W. "Stu" Green. - 1972 - 1973. Editorial Assistant - Don Lockwood A passing word in regards to National ATOS - I.R.S. Exemption; A member of Advertising Manager-Len Clarke Conn. Valley Chapter has made arrangements for a donation to Conn. Valley Circulation Manager-Vi Thompson Chapter and National ATOS - this I hope will be the start of a Fund which will THEATRE ORGAN (title registered U.S. Patent Office) is published bi-monthly by help in furthuring the purpose for which our Society was formed. the American Theatre Organ Society, Inc., This is the last time I will have use of this page of THEATRE ORGAN. a non-profit organization, Erwin A. Young, Mildred and I wish to say thanks to all who have helped to make this an interesting Jr., President. All rights reserved. Entire contents copyrighted 1972 by ATOS, Inc., and enjoyable two years. Let's keep the good work going and let's support our Office of publication is P.O. Box 2329. new officers. Livonia, Michigan 48150. See you in Portland, Oregon 1973. POSTMASTER: Second Class postage paid at Livonia, Michigan. IF UNDELIVERABLE, ATOS Very..,best wishes, ~- jJ send form 3579 to ATOS Circulation De­ ABCBIVES/ LIBRARX ~ /{. 'I~ partment, Box 1314, Salinas, California 93901. Stillman H. Rice, Past Pres. THEATRE ORGAN AUGUST, 1972 3 THE MAJESTIC 4/32 THEATRE ORGAN )··,,,, ) au1 J U • I I 8 dd : : ; : ,I " ; : COMPARE IT ONLY WITH A LARGE THEATRE PIPE ORGAN EXPORT PRICE $16,500. F.0.B. ST. LAMBERT, QUEBEC MAJESTIC ORGAN CORPORATION 141 rue de charente/st. lambert/quebec/514-671-2508 4 AUGUST, 1972 THEATRE ORGAN Robinsons'Cipher Hill by Lloyd E. Klos The late Ben Hall once said in Theatre in Fairport, N.Y. Rochester, Schine's Monroe, and the describing theatre organ enthusiasts: He specifically remembers ac­ Piccadilly, starring as one of the "con­ "There are many, including some of companying the Saturday afternoon sole twins" with Hugh Dodge. the hobbyists themselves, who think kid shows which starred cowboys, Ken "When the sound came to the the whole bunch are just plain nuts!" Maynard and Hoot Gibson. After gain­ theatres," Dean says, "it eventually Perhaps, but you could never label ing more experience, he filled in as put me out of business." He changed Dean Robinson and his attractive wife relief organist for the silent print of occupations and went to work for Merle, who live in Himrod, near Seneca the Colleen Moore picture Lilac Time. Eastman Kodak. Lake in Upstate New York, "nuts". At about that time, Schine's 886- Then, the war came, and Dean They are as normal as any dyed-in-the­ seat Temple Theatre opened in the served in the South Pacific with an wool theatre organ lovers. same town, boasting a 2/4 Wurlitzer. anti-aircraft unit. When he returned You see, the Robinsons are the Dean worked as relief organist there home in December 1944, the urge to proud owners of an excellent installa­ until the advent of the talkies, and play a theatre pipe organ manifested tion called "Cipher Hill", and it has stayed on to play exit music between itself. "I took the telephone directory been a gathering place for lovers of shows for another three years. one evening, and literally called about the big sound for a long time. But, As for othe1 movies which he ac­ a dozen theatre managers in Rochester let's go back a bit. companied, his memory is dim. "Titles whose houses I knew had organs, Dean was hopelessly hooked on the escape me, but I can still see Dolores asking permission to practice. I pur­ theatre organ at an early age. He was del Rio's face in many, as well as posely left Loew's Rochester (5/24 born in Sodus, N.Y. in the heart of Gilda Gray and Janet Gaynor." M & C) and the Palace (4/21 Wur­ the Lake Ontario orchard belt and His teacher was the late J. Gordon litzer) for the last. As expected, the at the age of 12, he had his first ex­ Baldwin, an excellent musician and answer from Loew's like all the others perience with a pipe organ; the 2/5 instructor who was featured in several was a resounding 'No!' This was the Marr & Colton in the 410-seat Rivoli theatres in Rochester, including Loew's season to be jolly, peace on earth to THEATRE ORGAN AUGUST, 1972 5 "When we first laid eyes on the organ, the console was in terrible condition. The manuals had been re­ moved and sent to Loew's Theatre in Richmond for that instrument's restoration. There were no console pneumatics, no stop tablet contacts, no swell shoes and no crescendo pedal. The cable had been cut with a hacksaw.