Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1931)

April 11, 1931 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 71 Snowed In, Maoris Lays Off Ballyhoos For A Little While Our showman representative from Wellsville, N. Y., sends us in a photo of himself, so we are going to take this means of introducing you to Orestes Maoris, assistant man==^^^=^^^^^^^ ager and exploitation man for Temple Theatre. The Temple Theatre is managed by Maoris' dad, who also ;Owns the house. To Orestes falls the job of selling the shows at the Temple. Macris, Sr., buys and books them, and his son tries to sell them. We have shown a few examples of his work so you know that he is right there when it comes to displaying showmanship. He has taken quite a bit of interest in his local community and he knows that street ballyhoos and marquee cut-outs are a ver\eft'ective medium for him. But of late he has not been able to use either. The wijads have been too high and the snow too deep. Which accounts for an absence of his work on our pages. He has been an active member ever since joining the Club and we are of the opinion that he will continue his activity as soon as conditions permit him to get his campaigns out in the open. Oke, Orestes, keep up the good work and remember we like to see what you are doing from time to time. Georgas Promotes A Full Page Co-Op Ad From Dealers W'kly Promoting free space in his local newspaper has always been more or less a habit with Chris Georgas, manager of the Classic Theatre in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. Just recently Chris promoted another load of free space for his theatre by arranging a plan with the local editor whereby a full page was to be devoted weekly to co-operative ads. The first week of the stunt went over very well and there is no reason to doubt but that the succeeding weeks will do likewise. In order to stimulate interest in the page, Chris weekly offers 10 guest tickets to the persons who can pick out from the ads assembled the name of the picture playing locally. In order to ascertain the name of the picture, it is first necessary to consult the theatre's ad. And you may be sure that it is consulted often, which is another way of making sure that the ad is read. The plan is going over very well for Georgas and it is interesting to learn that both the paper and the merchants are well pleased at the results obtained. We don't have to say that Chris is satisfied. Do we, Chris? McDowell and Flowers! Walter McDowell, quick to take advantage of the tieup with florists that Easter offers, featured a special flower show in the lobby of the house he manages, Loew's State Theatre, Louisville, Ky. Many beautiful specimens were on view during the show, and the immense banks of flowers were plentifully commented upon. Fifteen local florists took part in the exhibit, the purpose of which was to show the public what the Louisville Retail Florists' Association was offering in the way of horticultural specimens. • In an effort to boost busi Rouda Featured A "«ss at his house recently, H. ^ ^ M. Rouda, manager of the Co-OperatlVe Gag Lane Court Theatre in Chi At The Lane Court ^^^o, in., tried a co-operative stunt with his local merchants. " We are passing along this stunt so that you can look it over and see what it did for Rouda. Forty merchants, all members of the Liberty Park Community Merchants' Association were tied-up on the stunt. They purchased rolls of tickets at five dollars a thousand. These tickets had space left on the back for name and address of holders. Whenever a patron entered any of the stores in on the stunt and purchased any of the dealers' products for 25 cents or over, the patron received one of these tickets. The tickets were supposed to be deposited in a box at the theatre. Every Friday night, Rouda had drawn from the box — which was placed on the stage — 25 of these tickets. Persons whose names were drawn were then given gift certificates entitling them to a dollar's worth of merchandise at any of the stores participating in the plan and whose names and addresses were listed on the back of the certificate. The certificates, after they had been cashed in at the dealers, were redeemable at the local bank by the merchants, they receiving a dollar for every one turned in. The theatre paid the dollar to the bank, leaving weekly a sum of money to cover presentation of the certificates. The way the theatre benefitted, we are informed, is that the house was permitted to sell the tickets at a quarter apiece. There's the plan, and we understand that while it did not click so well for the theatre, it at least helped the merchants, thereby gaining their good-will for the house. If you'd like any dope on the stunt you can drop a line to Rouda and we are sure that he'll supply the desired information. Thanks, "H. M.," for passing this one along. Let's hear some more about your work, too. Halmi Turning Out Ace Art Work! Under the supervision of T. Z. Halmi, the RKO houses in Fort Wayne, Ind., are getting a brand of art work which ranks with the finest in the country. We recently told you something about this poster artist's fine creations and we now take particular pleasure in passing along three more. The front on "Fifty Million Frenchmen" was finished completely in green, silver and black. While a little difficult to visualize from a photo, close inspection will quickly reveal many outstanding points. The special display on "Laugh and Get Rich" is one of the finest ever reproduced on these pages and must have been a magnet to the eye of the patrons passing it in the lobby of the theatre. The black velvet background was composed of triple thickness ; cutout letters, shaded with shades of yellow and red ; treasure chest, gold and brown with the money made up of beaver board circles in gold and gold tinsel ; figure, natural flesh color, dollar mark with gold tinsel, sides shades of yellow, 6 inches thick. The Fairbanks front consisted of Turquoise blues for the heads with magenta shading, while letters were all cutout stufif in black. Regardless of how large or small a scale you handle your own art displays, these reproductions should prove helpful and suggest new ideas to pep up your lobby and front.