Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

How They Do It In Small City Theatres Union City,N.J. Theatre Sells Music Short Everett Allan, general manager of Gibraltar’s affiliated Rialto and America theatres, in Caspar, Wyoming, supplies a comprehensive report of how a small city can cope with present conditions — and win. The two houses ran “Love Me Tender” and “Friendly Persuasion” — day and date, and in opposition to each other, with capacity audiences for both. We’ve heard bitter comments from competitive theatres in the same circumstances. The results of these two campaigns, conducted simultaneously, had excellent support from local newspapers, who contributed valuable publicity amounting to 136 column-inches of free space. In Casper, Wyoming, the home-town newspapers are on our side. For “Love Me Tender” — you’ll see the early line in the first picture, at left above, and at right, the supply of Elvis Presley photos, for the first 1000 in line, safely stored in a nearby bank, where they needed safe deposit to protect these portraits. Distribution of the free pictures had been advertised on the lobby doors for a week in advance. Both of these newspictures rated front page space. At the Rialto, the attraction was “Friendly Persuasion” — and for the first time in these records, they had “Samantha, the Goose” in person! She poses with Norman Bentz, city manager for the Casper theatres, in another front page newspicture, in which she is referred to as “a Hollywood starlet” — as she is, in the Allied Artists’ picture. The Casper Tribune-Herald. & Star remarked that a “Friendly Goose Does Bit for Movie Thanksgiving.” — in a three column head, with the press photograph. In the final picture, at right, the winner in the “Goose Gimmick” claims his prize, which is “Samantha” — he got the bird and a six-months pass to the Rialto, for his clever footwork. Contest, as well as cooperative advertising and the sponsorship of local groups, were all tied to the two attractions, so there was little cost to the theatres, beyond normal advertising. The Casper National Bank and others of similar weight, were among the sponsors — and Mr. Allan credits Norman Bentz with doing most of the leg-work. The “Goose Scramble” — in which “Samantha” was set loose for “finder’s keepers” — got special publicity as a newspaper tieup, and all music shops tied in with both attractions for their record sales. Information from Casper is that they will keep in close touch with the Round Table with more news of their good showmanship in a small city — “The Oil Capital of the Rockies” — it says here on the masthead of the home edition. We wish every theatre manager could do as well with his newspapers! Powerful promotion, for a potent picture. Paramount opened “The Rainmaker” on Broadway and it has rained every day — and night — since. Good for drought areas — and if rain is good for your box office, this will work, two ways. The picture is one of the top films of all time — for both stars, Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster, with nothing but complete joy in beholding, for all comers. Paul Reynaud, manager of the Capitol theatre, Union City, N. J., reports an unusual campaign in these days of trying against the tide, for better busin'ess. The house is in a highly competitive motion picture area where several theatres, a short distance apart, play day and date. Therefore, the usual promotions can’t accomplish anything but usual results — and it takes an off-beat sales approach to gain competitive advantage. The natural conclusion, he says, was to sell the short films, strong. As a result of a conversation with a local music store, he learned that the most popular band leader, Lawrence Welk, was to celebrate his “Champagne Music” on the air — and he dug around and booked a four-year-old Universal short film featuring Lawrence Welk and the Modernaires. It took some hunting to find it, but the tieups followed, quickly. The dealer who handles Lawrence Welk Choral Albums provided 100 of these, and a $400 Hi-Fi set, to create 101 prizes for patrons of the theatre. Canada Dry came through with 400 quarts of “The Champagne of Ginger Ales” to give away to movie customers, and supplied a stand and a pretty girl to dispense the drinks. A liquor dealer turned his display windows over to a display of real champagne to advertise the show. The local Dodge dealer joined the parade of sponsors with a tieup, as the company features Lawrence Welk and program on TV. All of these added together, and carried over ten days of radio and TV plugs, cooperative newspaper advertising, and the very generous lobby and window displays, resulted in a 40% increase in normal business, due to the promotion of a four-yearold short film, and the ingenuity of a manager in making something very good out of an idea of the moment, born from visiting with friendly folks in his business neighborhood. We compliment Paul Reynaud for one of the best stunts in this dying year — and will look for more. "Julie" Makes News As A Promotion Picture Lou Cohen, manager of Loew’s Poli theatre, Hartford, Conn, offered free Doris Day records to first 50 patrons in line on the morning he opened “Julie.” For “The Opposite Sex,” Lou arranged a full-page promotion in the Sunday Herald showing six bathing beauties and offering free tickets to the first ten people to name the girls and the title of the pictures from which the scenes are taken. 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 29, 1956