Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

94 Motion Picture News October 25 , 1 930 MANAGE!?!' KCLND TACLt CLUB Wright at Toledo! The front page of the Akron (Ohio) BeaconJournal carried a notice of Dick Wright's departure from the management of the Strand Theatre, so he must have been popular. Dick is going to handle a duo of R.K.O. houses in Toledo, and with a background such as he has, he should make an excellent job of it. We want to wish him a lot of luck and we are sure that he will continue the excellent work and activities which have characterized his past performances in the field and on the Club pages. Good luck, Dick! Through a tie-up with a loDiving Outfit in cal telegraph company Ed r.i" i7i j j ward Beck, manager of the LObby Helped tO Georgia Theatre. Atlanta, Ga., Plug Beck's Show turned in a very creditable :^=^^^-^^^___^-^^^^_=. week, from a box-office as well as publicity standpoint, when he played "The Sea God" recently. Postal installed a receiving set in the lobby. On opening day of picture telegrams were being received from stars and executives in Hollywood and New York complimenting the theatre upon having secured "The Sea God" for the first appearance in Atlanta. From Tuesday on, however, Beck had telegrams come in over the Postal from the newspaper critics and various prominent citizens — commenting upon the show. As the telegrams came in, they were posted on a display board, which was captioned, "What Atlanta Is Saying About THE SEA GOD and the Only Vaudeville Show in Atlanta via Postal Telegraph." Beck also rigged up a telegraph operator's key which was concealed in an unused box office. This key was connected to a spark intensifier over the box office and for four hours a day a school boy was kept busy sending in Morse code — the same messages being received in the lobby. The noise of the spark intensifier attracted lots of attention. In addition to posting telegrams on the board, Beck also got out a message of about 30 words addressed to "Mr. or Mrs. Atlanta Theatregoer." These were distributed on the sidewalk in front of the theatre very carefully to the extent of about SO a day. A complete diving suit was placed on display in the lobby with a card attached reading, "This suit worn by Richard Arlen in THE SEA GOD." The suit was stuffed with newspapers so that it was filled out — and then it was suspended from a beam in the lobby. This display attracted a tremendous amount of interest from passersby and proved even more interesting to patrons after they had viewed the picture. We understand that Mr. Beck has been turning out some good work around his district and we hope that he is going to be represented on our pages often, particularly so since his fellow showmen in the South are rated among the active. In order to introduce his patrons to something novel in the form of an exploitation stunt, J. L. Mitchell, manager of the Genessee Theatre in Waukegan, 111., tied up with the local newspaper and arranged to run a photo identification contest on "The Big House" in which free tickets were given to the contestants guessing correctly the identities of the pictured players. Photographs showing a portion of the faces of each member of the cast were published in the paper on consecutive days, and in connection with them, Mitchell also ran a description given in the manner of those found on reward notices for escaped convicts. The stunt proved to be a very successful one and Mitchell will probably use it again, as its simplicity insures its clicking. Thanks, "J. L.," for letting us in on what you are doing, and incidentally, we haven't a photo of you. How about one? Identification Idea Helped Mitchell to Put His Show Across J. Real Neth Is An Active Showman Says Jean La Roe It is Miss Jean LaRoe herself, the well known feminine press agent for the J. Real Neth houses in Columbus, O., who passes the palm to her boss, Mr. Neth, and the staff artists, M. F. Bragdon, who arranged the ad we are showing in the cut. Knowing that a certain shot in the film "Dancing Sweeties" would afford him a tie-up with the makers of a well known drink, Neth decided to tie up the film when it played at the Grand Theatre. The bottling company paid for the entire ad, which ran a half of a page, and we think you'll agree with us that its copy is effectively worded. Here's a situation where the owner of the circuit proves he is right there when it comes to displaying showmanship. Miss La Roe tells us that she ought to feel a bit jealous, but then, she explains that Mr. Neth is one of the most capable showmen the city has ever seen, and in this manner she manages to excuse herself, and at the same time she pays her boss a tribute that he deserves, and the reason we know that he does is because we have been in touch with things theatrical long enough to know what is going on in Columbus and every other city in the country. We have a hunch that Miss La Roe is going to follow this up with some other angles, that will more than make up for the march that was stolen on her. However, since every one in the Neth organization is working for the theatre and not for personal glory, it makes things all right. Are we right on that point, Miss La Roe? The midget cuts and studio mats blend in well with the artist's drawing and this helps keep the eye focused on the ad to the extent on seeing every point. We were glad to pass this along to our other members and readers for two reasons. First : it shows how good the Beth ad artist is, and second : it proves again how angle for free space can be engineered. Notice to Members PLEASE be sure to notify the Chairman of any change of address. —THANK YOU.