Dickinson v. Eden Theatre Co.

231 S.W.2d 609, 360 Mo. 941, 1950 Mo. LEXIS 661
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJuly 10, 1950
Docket41535
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 231 S.W.2d 609 (Dickinson v. Eden Theatre Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dickinson v. Eden Theatre Co., 231 S.W.2d 609, 360 Mo. 941, 1950 Mo. LEXIS 661 (Mo. 1950).

Opinion

*943 LEEDY, J.

This is an action for damages for personal injuries brought by Alice Dickinson against Eden Theatre Company, the owner and operator of “Fox Theater,” a large moving picture show in the City of St. Louis. At the close of plaintiff’s ease, the court sustained defendant’s motion for a directed verdict in its favor-;' judgment went accordingly, and plaintiff appealed. The sum claimed in the petition, $20,000, constitutes the “amount in dispute” within the meaning of § 3, Art. V, Const. of Mo., 1945, and hence this court has jurisdiction of the appeal.

Plaintiff, a widow, 65 years of age, was injured on the night of October 10, 1947, as the result of a collision between herself and one Julius Dieekhorner, a newspaper vendor (whom she alleges to have been “an agent, servant, or concessioner” of defendant) in the outer lobby of the theater, while her daughter, Mrs. Carver, was engaged in purchasing tickets of admission.

Plaintiff’s petition charged negligence on the part of defendant in the following particulars:

“ (a) Although the defendant knew, or by the exercise of ordinary care should have known, that said Julius Dieekhorner was in the practice of running back and forth in said lobby, and mingled among and crossed in front of and behind patrons of said outer lobby of defendant’s said theatre and that such running and walking back *944 and forth and the mingling and crossing in front of and behind patrons created a dangerous and hazardous condition; the defendant was negligent in causing or permitting said dangerous condition aforesaid to be and exist.

“(b) It was the duty of the defendant to exercise reasonable care, to maintain said theater, and particularly said lobby, in a safe condition, and to make reasonably frequent inspection to determine as to whether or not said theater and lobby were maintained in a safe condition, but defendant was negligent in permitting the dangerous condition aforesaid to be and exist.

“(c) Although defendant knew, or by the exercise of ordinary care should have known of the dangerous condition in and of said lobby, and of the- danger to the plaintiff and other persons in said lobby by reason thereof, in time to have warned plaintiff and prevented her injuries, they negligently failed to do so.”

It is unquestioned that plaintiff was an invitee, and lawfully upon defendant’s premises at the time she was injured. Nor is there any dispute as to the applicable law. The proprietor of a place of public amusement is not an insurer of the safety of his patrons or invitees, the care required of him being “that which is reasonably adapted to the character of the exhibitions given, the amusements offered, the places to which patrons resort, and also, in some cases, the customary conduct of spectators of such exhibitions. It is a care commensurate with the particular conditions and circumstances involved in the given case.” Berberet v. Electric Park Amusement Co., 319 Mo. 275, 3 S. W. 2d 1025, 1029, 61 A. L. R. 1269; Hudson v. Kansas City Baseball Club, 349 Mo. 1215, 1220, 164 S. W. 2d 318, 320; Hughes v. St. Louis Nat. League Baseball Club, 359 Mo. 993, 999, 224 S. W. 2d 989, 993-994. In the last mentioned case (transferred here after an opinion by the St. Louis Court of Appeals, 218 S. W. 2d 632), this court (in banc) reaffirmed the doctrine of the cases last above cited, and the proposition that “a paying patron of such a place [of public amusement] is not required to make a critical examination of the premises to determine their safety, but may assume that proper precautions have been taken for his safety by those in charge.” Citing with approval Restatement of Torts, § 348, the Hughes case further declared that such proprietors “may not, without liability, permit activities of third persons, which are dangerous to patrons, to continue, after they know or by the exercise of reasonable care could have known of them, when by the exercise of reasonable care they could have been able to protect patrons therefrom by controlling or preventing such activities.”

Plaintiff relies on, and particularly stresses the latter doctrine as governing her case under the facts adduced, so the question presented is simply whether there was evidence from which the jury could reasonably find that the defendant had failed in such duty. In *945 determining that question plaintiff’s evidence is to be taken as true and considered in the light most favorable to her, including the benefit of favorable inferences arising therefrom.

Seven witnesses, including plaintiff, testified in her behalf. None of them (except plaintiff and her daughter, Mrs. Carver) were present at the time of the casualty, and Mrs. Carver did not witness it. Plaintiff’s own knowledge of the circumstances surrounding her injury was very meager and fragmentary, as will presently appear. She and her daughter arrived at the theater about 8 P. M. The daughter got in the line out on the sidewalk to buy tickets, and plaintiff entered the outer lobby. She walked a distance of about 8 feet into the lobby and faced the man who takes the tickets. She was facing north and her back was to the south. She testified that she had been in that position about 10 minutes when the “man that sells papers ran into me and knocked me down ánd fell on top of me. * * * I was hurt so bad I don’t know much about anything.” She fell to the lobby floor and Dieckhorner fell on top of her. When she fell, her hat fell off and Dieckhorner had it on his arm after the collision. On cross-examination, she further testified as follows:

“Q. You didn’t see the man before he struck you? A. Oh, no, sir.
“Q. You don’t know what he was doing, in connection with striking you? A. Well, I don’t. He just ran against me, knocked me down.
“Q. You never saw him before he struck jmu, did you? A. No.
“Q. Because you didn’t see him, did you? A. .1 didn’t see him from the back, no.
‘ ‘ Q. The first time that you saw him was after you had fallen down ? A. After I fell down he fell on top of me.
“Q. I believe you say he fell on top of you? A. That’s right.”

There is no question about the fact that for several years prior to the time plaintiff was injured, Dieckhorner customarily stationed himself, about 8 o ’clock each evening, in the outer lobby of the theater for the purpose of selling his papers — the night edition of the Globe-Democrat. During this time, and while so occupied, he was observed by several witnesses walking back and forth in various parts of the lobby “in and amongst patrons coming out of the theater.” One witness said that “most of the time he used to stand right back of the ticket window * * * unless somebody wanted a paper or called to him, ’ ’ but that sometimes he would move through the crowd, and have some papers in his hand. Another witness, one-who invariably bought a paper from him, was of the opinion that Dieckhorner was always at a different location. In fact, he did not remember of ever buying a paper from him from one certain location; sometimes he would be at the south end, other times at-the north end, and still other times up by the door near the ticket window; sometimes he would have to look for him.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
231 S.W.2d 609, 360 Mo. 941, 1950 Mo. LEXIS 661, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dickinson-v-eden-theatre-co-mo-1950.