Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1929)

40 EXHIBITORS HERALD and MOVING PICTURE WORLD April 28, 1928 ¥5^ THE THEATRE Incorporated in this department of practical showmanship of Exhibitors Herald are the Moving Picture World departments, "Selling the picture to the Public," and "Better Business Builders." Wherein We Beg to Differ, and Do! By Will Whitmore "The line of least resistance is the last hope of the small-town moving picture houses," according to M. M. Press, head of 21 houses in Mississippi and Louisiana, with headquarters in Minden. This is copied word for word from a despatch from Shreveport, being an interview with Mr. Press, in which he is quoted as saying that he has abolished all forms of advertising and cut his staffs to a minimum. This gentleman has adopted the easy system of being thankful for those who stumble into his theatres and unmindful of those who don't. "Big-city showmanship in the small towns is futile," says Press. "In the large cities, where films are given a week's run and sometimes longer, the manager needs only 52 exploitation ideas a year. In fact, if he gets up 25 good ideas, it will put him through very nicely. But in the small places where the pictures change almost daily, it is necessary to have from 200 to 300 ideas a year, and it's impossible for a man to strike even half that many good ones." Does anyone agree with Mr. Press? Our answer is an emphatic "no," and the many letters received by this department from exhibitors bear us out in our opinion. A theatre is Hke a shoe store or any other commercial enterprise. A shoe dealer has shoes to sell, and an exhibitor has seats to sell. Neither one is going to do much business if he sits back and waits for people to come in and take his merchandise away from him. But people demand more of a theatre than they demand of a shoe store or a drug store. Of a theatre they demand color, life, gaiety, imagination, activity. If the theatre doesn't afford these things, it's bound to flop. It matters not if it is in a small town or large one. Motion pictures are a national topic of conversation. Theatre ads are news, just as much so as a story on the first page of a paper. Cut out the theatre advertising and strangle your box office. Mr. Press says exploitation may be all right for the city theatres, but that it won't do for the small town theatre. We just can't seem to agree with him at all. A small exploitation in a small town makes more excitement than a big one in a city. The small town exploitation has more chance of being noticed. Just try and keep a bit of news from every inhabitant in a small town ; it can't be done. You've got to explode a bomb in a city before your next door neighbor will know you exist. Every day of the week, we have concrete evidence of the paying power of good exploitations in small-town theatres. Letters constantly reach this department from small-town exhibitors telhng how they packed their theatre with some extra bit of effort that cost but a few dollars. It is a significant fact that the exhibitors who never complain and grumble about busi ness are those who are ahve from head to foot and are constantly putting over exploita'tions in their theatres. Mr. Press bemoans the impossibility of giving birth to ideas. We can't help but wonder what press sheets are for. We don't mean to say that every idea in a press book is adaptable for the small theatre, but we do say that we have yet to see a press book that hasn't at least one good idea that can be used. And to toot our own horn for a moment, our desk this moment is cluttered with letters from exhibitors who say they find in "The Theatre" department many ideas which they put into practical use. We strongly advise Mr. Press to look over his press sheets and trade journals occasionally, if he has difficulty in creating his own exploitations. The deadest thing on earth is a dead theatre, and the easiest way on earth to kill a theatre is to cut out advertising, exploitation and the constant effort to create good-will. If there is a business that can operate without ideas, we haven't heard of it yet. Even an undertaker goes after business. 3196 Teachers Get "Hunchhack^^ Passes When "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" played in revival at the Cameo theatre, Pittsburgh, Pa., Manager Theo. P. Davis sent a letter and complimentary ticket to every school teacher in the city, 3,196 in all. The acting of Lon Chaney and the opportunity to see the picture again were stressed in the letter. The teachers were urged to encourage their pupils to see the film, and as an inducement, cut rates were given all children who came to the Cameo with a note from their teachers simply stating the bearers attended school. As a result, teachers brought their whole classes in many instances ; children came in droves together; and many teachers attended the theatre with friends. What a fine play "The Circus," Charlie Chaplin's United Artists' picture, was given when it played the Albemarle theatre, Brooklyn! Manager S. Gauber dressed the doorman as a ring master, the porter as a Hindoo, the ushers as clowns and the lobby in the atmosphere of the circus with cutouts and an animated elephant. Good work. New Fathers Get Passes to Theatre The "birth" list furnished Bert Levy, manager of the Columbia theatre, Portland, Ore., with a lively exploitation idea on Universal's comedy, "That's My Daddy." Each morning Mr. Levy sent the new fathers a pass to the show. The word of mouth publicity on this stunt made it well worth while.