Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1917 - Jun 1918)

C/IN^DI^NWTILM NEWS Enterprising Manager Works Many Ad. Angles One of the largest advertising campaigns ever carried out in Toronto has been put over by the Rialto Theater on the "Price of a Good Time." Space was taken in the two weekly newspapers of Toronto, with good-sized readers and extra cuts inserted. On Tuesday 50,000 Heralds were given out and Mr. Stewart, the manager, is to be congratulated upon the splendid manner in which he directed the distribution tof these Heralds. There is a long aisle along which the employees of the T. Eaton Co., Limited, Mail Order Department have to pass and in this aisle no waste paper must be thrown. The employee has to take any odd pieces of paper to the door. Mr. Stewart secured permission to have a man stand at the beginning of this aisle and hand out the Heralds. In this way every employee was forced to carry the Herald out to the door and curiosity would make the majority look at same. On Tuesday night the theater was packed with shop girls. Oh Wednesday and , Thursday large ads were carried in the small suburban papers and small ads in the larger daily papers, in the Help Wanted Departfor four girls for ushers and a ticket seller for "Price of a Good Time." The advertising campaign included a special lobby display and resulted in long line-ups everv evening. This is interesting in face of the fact that Low's vaudeville and moving picture house is just a few doors down the street and a good five-reel feature, along with vaudeville, tcan be seen for the same price. Imperial Theatre Gives Special Children's Shows Alderman Advocates License Fee Reduction Exhibitors catering to children and young people are finding the Judge , Brown Stories, distributed by General (Film Company, a profitable and wellIworth-while series, to judge by the experience of Proprietor Conover of the Imperial Theater of Montreal. As the result of a request from the Iwomen of the city. Manager Conover has arranged to give a series of Saturday picture entertainments for children, the stories written and produced by Judge (Willis Brown being' given a place of Iprominence on these weekly programs. Lachine Theater Burns A fire which started in the earlv hours of the morning comnletely destroved the iRoyal Alexandra Theater at Lachine, One. The fire gained so much headway (before the alarm was sent in that it was impossible to get it under control. The damage was about $46,000. Insurance was carried for $35,000 on the building |and $5,000 on the eauipment. The house has been leased and ooerated by M. B. and B. S. Slesinger under the corooration name of Montreal Theaters. Limited. Alderman J. K. Sparling, chairman of the civic license and relief department of Winnipeg, Man., has proven himself a friend to the moving picture exhibitors of that city. License fees for Winnipeg moving picture theaters will be reduced and adjusted. He suggested that a theater seating less than 500 people and only open in the evenings should be reduced from $200 to $150 per year. This new plan will affect thirteen of the twenty-eight theaters in Winnipeg. According to his plans this will not really decrease the city's revenue from the theaters, as he plans to increase the taxes for the vaudeville houses which would make up for the reduction on the small picture houses. Another splendid suggestion was made by Alderman Sparling, which would relieve the exhibitor, is that the exhibitor be permitted to pay the annual tax in four quarterly installments. The existing licenses expire on April 30 and the sub-committee hopes to have all plans completed so that the new fee schedule can be put into effect when the new licenses become due. The new sub-committee consists of Alderman Sparling, Controller A. W. Puttee and Alderman J. J. Yopni. A screening of the special feature, "Lest We Forget," was given in the Regent Theater at 11 o'clock on Wednesday, March 20, with full orchestral accompaniment. A large audience of exhibitors and friends who had been invited by special invitation attended this screening. The orchestra was led by Jack Arthur. The Canadian Universal Film CoLimited, has leased the Holman Theater, Montreal, Que., and placed Harry Pomeroy in charge. Mr. Pomeroy is formerly of the Globe Theater, Toronto, and a very successful theater manager. Archie Laurie will have a rival for lobby displays. This is Mr. Pomeroy's specialty. A special screening of "The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin," featuring Rupert Julian, the well known Universal director, was held in Shea's Hippodrome, Toronto, Monday, March 18,. at 11 o'clock, to a large audience. The consensus of opinion was that this feature will make a big hit in Canada. Salesmen report that now when they call on exhibitors in Ontario before the exhibitors will sign contracts they take out their little pencils and go over every word to see about the cancellation clause. By the time the exhibitors get through playing all the features they have contracted for, they will watch this matter closer than ever. Some Ontario theaters are tied up with contracts until next fall. Syd. Taube of Famous Players, Limited, has his hands full these days. He is looking after several exhibitors to straighten out their contracts and book the features to them when the exchange has the open dates, for features which the exhibitor cancelled and now has to live up to. Various moving picture theaters of Montreal are vieing so keenly for public patronage that a number of them have gone to the expedient of offering double feature bills as regular shows. Theaters concerned include the St. Denis, Moulin Rouge and Tivoli. Wisconsin Officials In Endorsement of "Eagle's Eye" Film When "The Eagle's Eye," the serial story of the Imperial German Government's spies and plots in America, by William J. Flynn, recently retired chief of the United States Secret Service, opens at the Bijou Theatre in LaCrosse, Wis., it will be with the endorsement of local and national government officials. Manager Harry H. Burford, of the Bijou, sacrificed a matinee of a well-known feature to give an invitation showing of the first three episodes of Chief Flynn's serial to representative LaCrosse citizens. Among those who gave public endorsement of the picture to Mr. Burford are Captain W. A. Thompson, chief engineer of government construction on the upper Mississippi river; James E. Kinsloe, secretary of the LaCrosse Chamber of Commerce; B. E. McCormack, principal of the LaCrosse High School, and J. B. Webber, the chief of the LaCrosse police. Film Man Now Police Chief Ludlow F. Petty, formerly manager of the General Film Company branch at Cincinnati and well known in film circles, is acting chief of police under the Republican administration in the city of Louisville. He is demonstrating, it is said, that he can make as good a police official as a film salesman. Knapp Rejoins General General Film Company announces the appointment of C. C. Knapp as manager of its Minneapolis branch. He is a former General Film employe, having acted as manager at Minneapolis. Since that time Mr. Knapp has been engaged in exploitation of state rights features, and more recently was handling "Cleopatra" in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 33