The Film Daily (1936)

12 Thursday, Sept. 3, 1936 » » EXPLOITING THE CURRENT FILMS « « Syracuse Exploitation for 'The Last of the Mohicans" pRANK MURPHY, pinch-hitting for Ed McBride of Loew's State, Syracuse, N. Y., gave "The Last of the Mohicans" a grand send-off with a campaign full of smart showmanship. A 25-piece band led a parade of the Onondaga Indians in full regalia followed by 500 enthusiastic boys, three bannered trucks, six bannered cars and police escort, through the main business section. Two real Indian tepees were set up in the lobby surrounded by green boughs. Between them an outdoor fire was built with red light for fire in back of which was a giant compo-board book with copy and stills. A special neon sign was hung from the marquee. Two hundred sidewalk rubberoid mats with appropriate billing were distributed in prominent corners in the city. Through a tie-up with Liberty, 400 newsboys wore Indian hats for a week in advance and gave away more than 10,000 heralds. Murphy sold the press the picture in a big way getting several unusual breaks of both publicity and art. Outstanding were a full-page cooperative ad and interviews with Chief Tantaquidgeon who was met on his arrival by two carloads of Onondagas in full regalia. Supplementing the press breaks, Murphy grabbed a lot of radio time, with the picture getting prominent billing in each case. He arranged a 15-minute broadcast for Tantaquidgeon on folklore and had the transcription played several days in advance. — Loew's State, Syracuse. Ed McBride's Campaign On "San Francisco" CD McBRIDE, manager of Loew's State, Syracuse, ran a four day Thrilling Experience contest in the Herald for M-GM's "San Francisco. The contest was for most thrilling experience letter of 250 words; paper used stills showing earthquake scene and still of Gable and MacDonald in action scene. Cooperative advertisement was obtained in the Herald with a tie-up with the Pendell Dairy, using mat of Gable drinking milk. Electrical transcriptions were used by Stations WSYR and WFBL. Orchestrations of "San Francisco" and "Would You" were used by bands at Syracuse and Onondaga hotels, Mauro's night club, Moonglow night club, Meyer's and Ginsberg's restaurants two weeks in advance. Five thousand fliers were passed out at RinglingBarnum and Bailey Circus grounds on the opening day; 3,000 "San Francisco" heralds distributed door-to-door in residential sections; 2,000 menus were distributed at restaurants and soda founts; 3,000 4x5 Clark Gable photos, imprinted with playdate and theater were passed out on streets and in office buildings. One hundred arrows reading "All roads lead to Loew's State Theater, where 'San Francisco' is now playing," were posted on telegraph poles and light poles; 156 11x14 neon window signs were distributed all over the city; 50 24-sheet cards in frames were placed in store windows. Window displays with stills and sheet music were obtained at Clark Music Co. G. C. Murphy's and S. S. Kresges. — Loeiv's, Syracuse. J. V. Minton's "Suzy" Campaign T. V. MINTON, manager of J Shea's Theater, Erie, Pa., assisted by an M-G-M exploiteer, extended his advertising budget on "Suzy" to 40 inches over its regular amount. The society editor of the Dispatch-Herald carried a story in her column on blondes and brownettes, playing up Jean Harlow. Miss Sherman of the Dispatch-Herald edits a column called "Sally Shopper"; she visited beauty parlors to get their reaction on how women are changing from blonde to brownette and in the Sunday issue devoted her entire column to Jean Harlow and a tie-in with the theater and picture. The Times ran the "Can You Fill In" contest with 20 pairs of tickets as prizes. The Boston Store carried a 2x8 in. cooperative ad with a cut of Harlow and gave a display of fashion stills from "Suzy." The Dispatch-Herald carried a classified booster contest in the want ad section. Kresge Store had full window display on music with theater and picture copy. A special card made locally, was placed on street cars and busses. One hundred and fifty window cards were placed in windows in all parts of the town; 3,000 heralds distributed in residential section; 25 frames with stills and theater copy were placed on store fronts in the business section. Electrical transcription and announcements made over Station WLEU. — Shea's Eric, Pa. Harry Burkhardt's Plugs For "Last of the Mohicans" r)ESPITE a terrific heat wave and the opening of the Narragansett race track, Howard Burkhardt of Loew's State, Providence, sent "The Last of the Mohicans" oft" to a flying start. Besides getting several swell advance breaks in the press, he made some very effective tie-ups with local merchants to sponsor contests over the air with guest tickets as prizes, and arranged to have the radio transcription played two days before the opening. Burkharcit blanketed the city with window cards, placing 2t> special standees at strategic locations. Gladdings, the leading clothing store, devoted an entire window to a special display. Several other merchants cooperated effectively. All Yellow cabs carried bumper strips. Liggett's and Newberry's stores used counter cards. The three leading restaurants distributed imprinted menus. The first 500 boys attending the theater were given Indian hats. — Loew's State, Providence. Scrappy Ties, Mufflers Latest Promotion Deal A NEW line of boy's ties and mufflers featuring the likeness of "Scrappy," Columbia Pictures' animated cartoon character, will be brought out by the Ready Made Neckwear Corp. of Bogota, N. J., under an agreement recently signed. As part of the promotion campaign planned for the introduction of the new line, cardboard display pieces, impressively colored, are being enclosed with all shipments, and special Christmas boxes are being designed for the holiday season. The new line will be distributed in chain and department stores, in which field the firm already enjoys a wide following. — Columbia Pictures. Says Screen Comedy Must Be Individual to the Player TVTO two comedians can do a bit of comedy in the same manner because individuality and natural mannerisms cut so much figure. Every successful comedian has imitators, but they never get far. Any actor who attempts to duplicate Charlie Chaplin's comedy is foolish. He must carve out his own style. It is also fatal to permit your audience to suspect that you are trying to be funny. It will sour on you right off the bat. In my own work I try to be natural, attempting to act just _ as the character I'm playing might act under similar circumstances. — Roscoe Karris. "Swing Time Waltz" Folder Goes to 10,000 Teachers A DANCE promotion circulararranged by Lucile Mai\,h of the National Dance League, and which features the Swing Time Waltz as the dance of the new season, is being sent to 10,000 representative dancing teachers in the United States. This pamphlet goes into technical details of the waltz performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their RKO Radio picture, "Swing Time," supplemented by a series of photographs showing the different positions of the routine. An elaborate analysis of a ball room adaptation is then presented in such form that the teachers can use the circular as a text book in training their own pupils. In each case the Jerome Kern music, "Waltz in Swing Time" is used as a basis, and the records issued by Brunswick and other companies on the waltz are noted. The circular has a side effect of making it possible for the teachers to obtain local newspaper stories, and thus aid in the exploitation of both themselves and the picture. The circular is official for the teachers, since both of the large organizations have accepted the waltz as this year's big number. Exhibitors will receive copies of these circulars which are inserted in the "Swing Time" press book so that they may contact local dance teachers for mutual exploitation. —RKO Radio. V Chamber Sponsors Mohicans" Outing HE Chamber of Commerce sponsored an outing for 10,000 children and Manager Sam Oilman of Loew's Regent, Harrisburg, Pa., made sure that they all knew about the opening of "The Last of the Mohicans." Each member of the Board of Education recommended the picture to the audience. Dr. F. H. Wilson, chairman of the board, inclosed a special plug with the study guide which was distributed throughout all the schools at the opening of the fall session. Gilman reached his adult patrons through a number of effective commercial tie-ups. The leading shops went for "Mohican Red" in a big way. Sporting goods stores, men's departments and specialty shops devoted considerable space to cooperative ads which supplemented a generous amount of publicity given by the press to the picture. Hawkeye, Uncas and Magua lived again in a street ballyhoo that attracted plenty of wampum. Gilman clinched the campaign by hanging 50 pennants from wires at the chief intersections in a tie-up with "Better Business Week." — Loew's Regent, Harrisburg, Pa.