Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

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84 Motion Picture News October 25, 1930 MANACfRr KCLND TABLE CLUCK What Is It? No, this is NOT a "Lobby Laff." It found it's way into Club headquarters and we thought that you might get a giggle or a laugh out of it. so here it is. As you can see, it has something to do with theatres, cooling systems and conditioned air (whatever that may be), so, like a good student of showmanship, look it over and figure it all out for yourself. " In New York City there's a Showman Has His showman who has been in the " n ,. . game for a good many years. S ay; Do YOU Agree, At present he is handling a Can YOU Assist? local house, and, knowing his business as he does, he is more than making a go of it. In order to let you in on what he does to beat the terrific competition offered him by three houses of a major chain, right near him, get a load of his views, in which he starts off by saying: "By the way, it might interest you to know that we've installed the Theatrephone, that device that enables the hard-ofhearing to enjoy squawkies. This is the same device that the Warners installed in their houses, and I believe that ours is the only theatre at our admission scale in the world to install this device. We make no extra charge for the use of it, and. believe me, I never knew there were so many hard-of-hearing people in this neck of the woods. It is certainly a help, both to me and the patrons, as the majority of them haven't been to the theatre since the advent of sound. Now they are regular patrons here, and as they usually bring other patrons with them, the installation more than pays for itself." "Wish I could take a photo of a display I have here on "The Storm." Have two empty stores in the building and use one of them for ordinary lettered banners. In the other, the larger of the two, had a beaverboard proscenium built, with a stage, and room for an announcement card at the bottom of the proscenium, under the stage. Just now am using an animated display on "The Storm," made up of beaverboard cut-out of Wm. Boyd and Paul Cavanagh fighting, while on background we have Lupe Velez and another male character holding on to a tree watching the fight. Background also shows the snowstorm scene. Animated it by means of white confetti thrown into the window and three rotating fans blowing it about, giving us a good snowstorm effect. The attention it attracted more than makes up for the trouble we had rigging it, and the time we put in experimenting with the fans to get the confetti to fly about properly." "Have a few more ideas up my sleeve for displays of that sort, but it's still the same old story of not spending money up here, which gives me an idea. You often mention problems of various managers, but they usually apply to either small towns or first runs. Now let's see what you can do with this. I'm in a tough jam. located in the Bronx, playing third run since Fox bought out our opposition; which originally played day and date with us, giving us at that time second run. I'm not permitted to spend much money for advertising, which ties me down to programs, window cards and a six-sheet truck which is split up between three theatres, meaning that we use it about 10 days a month. Our sound is satisfactory to our patrons, although it could stand plenty of improvement; in fact, am experimenting on that end now. We are the only theatre in the section running double feature, our shows usually running about three hours in length." "The theatre itself is kept clean and neat at all times, and is the most modern of the smaller houses in the section, being only three years old. Of course, we have our regular patrons, who have been patronizing the house since it opened, but we can't depend on them. Since installing sound have no room for stage attractions, as the horns and tower take up all available stage space. Previous to sound we gave our patrons a stage attraction in the form of a high-class singer every week. I don't believe in give-away propositions or rebate tickets or price reductions, as I believe that all of those items tend to cheapen a theatre." "Have prospects of Saturday morning Kiddie Shows, through getting acquainted with the president of the Parents' Association of a large school nearby, something I've been trying to promote since we opened, but without success. Did him a favor by running program notices regarding school registration, and he promised to use his influence with the principal, so we shall see what we shall see." "By golly! When I started this letter I thought I had nothing to say, but it looks as though I'm wrong, so better stop now. Say, before I forget, here's a hint for houses that use the non-sync for opening and closing. If they want some good snappy fox-trot numbers with vocal choruses, tell them to try those ISc "Hit-of-the-week" records, issued once a week. They're made of fibre, are unbreakable, and can be run about a hundred times without impairing the sound quality. Recordings are just as good as on the expensive discs, and they employ some well-known orchestras. Have been using them here for the past few weeks, and they're more than satisfactory." " 'Snuf for now." Well, how about it? He wants to know what you'd do if you were in his shoes. Drop us a line giving us some dope on it and we'll pass it along. Remember it's "All for One and One for All." The economy idea instilled Ken Hoel Gives Us in s° m?n? oiJhet A™rican A T •**! w ft gentry during the term of ofA Lilltle 1 ip Un nce 0f Coolidge seems to have Novel Candy Tie-Up hit Ken Hoel pretty hard; but it happens to be an advantageous wallop. Ken, as you know, manages the Harris Theatre in Findlay, Ohio. It happened this way. When he played "Bright Lights" he decided to use a throwaway that would be looked at. To do this, he tied up with a local confectioner and the man donated a bunch of candy kisses which were placed, one apiece, in an envelope appropriately labeled: "A Kiss From Dorothy Mackaill, charming star of 'Bright Lights,' etc." A small box carried a credit for the dealer. To seal up the envelopes, Hoel printed a number of small stickers, which contained the program for the week. The stickers were placed on the flaps of the envelopes, holding them down, and insuring their being read. The angle proved to be a good one from the box-office standpoint and resulted in additional business. Which, as that is what Ken is always after, was oke with him. And by the way Ken, how about passing along some photos and dope on how you manage to turn out those marvelous art fronts that we have been hearing about from some folks who passed throueh your town recently? Not fair keeping those things a secret. We're waiting. So don't tell us that you are too busy. A L W A YS WE A R YO U R CLUB PIN