Motion Picture News (Apr - Jun 1928)

June 30 , 19 28 2187 Conducted by AnEMbitorJbrEXbibitorj' MANAGERS ROUND TABLE CLUB The Clearing House for Box Office Problems ^ Theatre Operation By Charles E. Ley/is Managing Director, Capitol Jheatre,Middletown, (Pom., and Palace lheatre,Norrrieh,CbM. Club Tie-Up Idea Successful Neighborhood Club. (Editor's Note. — Here is the second suggestion senl in by W. H. Whyte, of the l>ia lid Theatre, Hartford. This suggestion can be worked with Boy Scouts, Schools and many other organizations.) I want to tell you of a tie-up we have worked up for the past two years with our local South End This club is composed of residents in the south end of the city, people from whom we draw our patronage. Each Spring we run a benefit performance for this club. The monies accrued from this benefit are used to promote the athletic and general welfare of the south end school children. A baseball coach is engaged by the Club each year to look after the school baseball teams and this year our school is leading in its division and will play off the finals for the city championship. And then, two weeks before school is out for summer vacation, the Club stages a Field Day and all the school children, girls and boys, participate in the various events for prizes which are awarded by the Club. This red letter day in their lives ends up with free ice cream and some sort of confection. Can you imagine the publicity we get out of this with every kid in the neighborhood talking about the Club and the theatre? I forgot to state that I also have a camera man on the job to shoot a little of each race or game, the children in groups and the fathers and mothers who also are present. This film I run the following week, and, of course, they all want to see how they look on the screen. In putting on this benefit show each child is given a number of special tickets to sell and what an army we have selling tickets! Club members also receive an allotment which they are to dispose of at regular evening admission prices. Matinees belong to the house and the house gets a guarantee for the two nights the benefit is held. The program offered consists of our regular picture program and juvenile amateur acts selected from the volunteers from the school. So many children volunteer their services and in order not to disappoint the Let's Get Together IT has often been said that a man is judged by the company he keeps. If such is the case, then your membership application should have been sent in weeks ago. Don't stay on the outside looking in. If you could sit beside me at my desk and look over the letters I am receiving from all over the country, you would readily understand why you should be enrolled as a member of the club. So far, the applications are evenly divided between the small towns and the big cities. We are watching with interest which will take the lead. So — Come on you small towners. Come on you big towners. Get your application in as fast as you can nil it out and put it in a mail box. C. E. LEWIS. children and their parents, we select five acts for the first night and five for the second night. This satisfies both the children and the parents. The tie-up works out very well. It brings in the money and creates good will, both of which are essential to the theatre. Next year a new school will have been completed in this end of the town and the prospects are bright for "bigger and better tie-ups." Charles M. MaxVariation on field> resident man «r-U» iu-t ager cf the Palace Lrift [Site Theatre, in Norwich, Conn., staged a "Pay Night" a short time ago that gave us one of the greatest box-office surprises of the season. He had been running a "Gift Nite," which we mentioned some time ago, and for the sake of variety changed it tc "Pay Night" for just once. He advertised that every patron entering the theatre would receive a pay envelope. These envelopes contained from one cent up to S10.00, and he prepared for about 800 people, which for a Wednesday night would have been pretty fair business, but he played to exactly 1,455 patrons. Since Norwich is a manufacturing town, it did not require much plugging to sell them the idea and they came into the theatre in great spirits and the fun and laughing as the envelopes were opened was. in itself, a three-ring circus, and every time a dollar bill came to light the crowd inside howled. and applauded. The best part of the whole idea was the care exercised by Mr. Maxfield in seeing that everyone was orderly and handled nicely when they came. • {Continued on following page) .„ mum ii in i mi n i ""Illllll""""'"" '"'"HI I""" l Illllllltlllll" Amonsf the Members of Round Table Club Sydney Oshrin AUerton, New York City J. E. Besler Princess Theatre, Yorkton, Canada Fred Putnam. Strand Theatre. Port Arthur, Tex. O. Fred Glass. Star TempleWorld. McCook. Neb. W H. Whyte. BUI to. Hartford. Conn. .iiiiimiiiiiiiiimrnimmimii