Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1963)

A Pianola, modern version of the old honky-tonk player piano, was the center of attention for four days in front of the Plaza Theatre in El Paso, Tex. Manager Bill Chambers got it on a loan from the Tristate Music Co. there to make a banking display for "McLintock!" Clyde Chappell, doorman, dressed up in oldtime dance hall garb — tight-fitting levis, red garters holding up his sleeves, a bright red jacket, hair parted in the middle and sporting a big, black cigar, was at the keyboard. A sign, ' Feed the Kitty," was conspicuously displayed, along with a lighted candle mounted in the neck of an empty beer bottle. Chambers reports he had the Pianola returned for ragtime and played rolls of oldtime music. The people loved it! Gory Gimmick for Gory Feature Includes Gushing (Red Salad Oil) Stream of Blood Do It Hollywood Style Even If No Big Stars What with new shopping centers blooming out at nearly every suburban crossroads and new filling stations and drive-in restaurants holding grand openings every day or so, people not only are used to gala premieres, they expect them. So when a film like “West Side Story” came up on the Plaza Theatre schedule at Patchogue, Long Island, N.Y., in a congested area of villages, shopping centers and new developments, one of the first things that came to the mind of Charles Stokes, manager, was a Hollywood premiere. True, there were no stars he knew of, whom he could persuade to come to Patchogue, but after all that didn’t matter very much. BIGWIGS INVITED Special invitations to the local bigwigs, radio announcers doing some interviews in the lobby; flowers, of course, with roses for the women, and maybe a guard of honor and a searchlight or two — all these were available with some scrounging. The flowers were donated by a local florist for the publicity, while the nearby fire station supplied the searchlight and the police promised a guard of honor. To add an uptown touch, a neighboring restaurant was prevailed on to serve coffee in the lobby. For the stage, there was the Jimmy Rocco School of Dance, which had just been on the Plaza stage for two nights. Moreover, a relative of the Roccos, Tony Mordente, had a part in “West Side Story,” so the Roccos were happy to put on a 15minute presentation on the Plaza stage on the grand gala opening night of the film. JETS AND SHARKS, TOO Showman Stokes had two ushers dressed like members of the Jets and Sharks, two gangs in the film, to pass out a sponsored show program announcing an “Extra Special Grand Gala Hollywood Style” opening night. The Jet and the Shark in a borrowed car toured the area passing out 6,000 of the programs. The public must have liked the combination— Hollywood style premiere and a film they liked — for they came in record numbers although the weather on opening night was the worst in months, with a pea soup fog, cool and damp. Shiver-Rama at Drive-In; Other Catchalls for Ads Drive-ins frequently go in for quantity, adverting their multiple bookings under catchlines, such as some gleaned from New Orleans ads recently. For example, a “Science-Fiction SHIVER-RAMA ... 4 Shockers from the World of Tomorrow! All in Color,” heading an ad by the Airline Drive-In on Battle in Outer Space, Angry Red Planet, Mysterians and Destination Moon.” Another; “The BACK TO NATURE Spectacular . . . Wild Native Women vs. Life Begins in Wild Rapture. Untamed! Unashamed! Untouched!” The features were Nature Girl and the Slaver, The Lost World, Revolt of the Slaves and Nature in the Raw, at the St. Bernard Drive-In. Again: “Are you ADULT ENOUGH to See 3 Features? . . . Made to Shock you!” Playgirl After Dark, Running Wild, etc.” Thousands of persons viewed a sidewalk display in front of the downtown Imperial Theatre in Jacksonville during a 15-day Florida premiere of “The Blood Feast,” a particularly gory horror film. Many viewers were struck with amazement and some with horror by the realistic display which was created by Walt Meier, manager of the Florida Theatre, with assists from Robert Cornwall, Imperial manager, and Art Clawson, owner of Art Displays at 111 East Bay St. The display consisted of tall black box, 6 feet high, 14 inches wide and 33 inches long. Atop the box was a blond-haired, former department store manikin dressed in bloody, disheveled clothing. Blood (consisting of colorless salad oil mixed with artificial food coloring) gushed continuously from a hole in the top of the manikin’s head and dripped down the hair into a specially-made sheet metal tank concealed in the box. Also concealed in the box was a centrifugal pump and motor from a discarded drink machine which kept pumping the blood from the tank’s bottom up through lengths of three-eightinch ticon tubing concealed in the manikin’s body and head. An electric switch to control the flow of blood was inside the Imperial’s boxoffice for operation by the cashier. When gusts of winds caused the blood to spatter on the sidewalk, the cashier would turn off the flow until the wind subsided. The display was so tall that it had to be disassembled each night when the boxoffice closed and moved inside for safekeeping and reassembled each morning. Meier and Cornwall both had bloody shirts to attest to the difficulty of moving the manikin twice daily. Also used at the Imperial for the run of “Blood Feast” was a second sidewalk set piece with stills and catchlines about the picture. A practical nurse and a uniformed police officer were on duty every day from the opening to the closing of the boxoffice, and a promoted ambulance was parked in front of the theatre with a one-sheet sign stating it was for the use of persons who viewed the movie. Gory newspaper ads and 10,000 bloodred heralds completed the exploitation campaign. Originally booked in the Imperial for a week, “Blood Feast” ran a total of 15 days, mostly on the strength of the advertising gimmicks. Dairy Tops Valuable In 43-Theatre Tieup Jack Clark, president of Allied Theatres of Illinois, and Glen E. Kelley of the Bowman Dairy Co., Chicago, have initiated a cooperative promotion which is producing unusually good results among 43 Chicago and suburban theatres which are participating. The offer involves one-half price theatre tickets with Bowman products tops. It will continue through next April 30. Movie goers are advised to save Bowman product tops — bottle caps, gable top carton tops and round cartons lids. Any four are worth half the price of an adult or child’s ticket Monday through Friday. The names and addresses of the 43 participating theatres are listed on all Bowman half-gallon milk cartons. A Lumber Company Rental The Woodbury Lumber Co. of Glens Falls, N.Y., has rented the Rialto Theatre, managed by Paul Perkins, for a Christmas kiddy show on December 24. BOXOFFICE Showmandiser :: Dec. 23, 1963 — 203 — 3