Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1939)

Page 30 SHOWMEN'S I'RADE REVIEW June 3, 1939 Selling Your Theatre's Name IF YOUR theatre has a name, it ought to have a reputation! Which is to say that while hitching the theatre to a star is good box office, there's also good reason tor selling the thing the theatreman owns and controls as well as the popular personalities loaned him by Hollywood. The one thing every theatre operator has that is his very own to control is his theatre The screen shows created in Hollywood, London, Paris or elsewhere are entirely in the hands of the studios. Stars are born in the studios— but they grow up to be box office at the motion picture theatres. Big ballyhoo emanating from the source of film production may create a flood tide of public curiosity and interest in a "name , but the public couldn't be so aroused by pictures and stories in the papers if at certain intervals the "name" could not be seen on the screen. Prestige Pays So merchandising the theatre itself seems one of the most natural business efforts any theatreman can put forth. Yet, in view_ of this fact there seems precious little consistent theatre-selling in a too large majority of cases. If the name of the theatre itself has gained real prestige, the showman operating it has something upon which he can bank for patronage come great films or poor ones. Naturally there is a vast difference between selling one type of theatre and another. The big downtown house is an entirely different proposition than theatres in towns and cities of from 5,000 to 25,000 population. The deluxe theatre in metropolitan centers practically sells itself as a result of its policy of added attractions, large-scale operation and a brand of showmanship that is too costly for the smaller situation. In the smaller towns the theatre must be regarded a community institution,^ and community patronage is the most difficult of all to cultivate and imbue with a spirit of loyalty and enthusiasm on the part of the public to which it caters. Nevertheless, the community theatre needs, more than does the big show house, the constant build-up of aggressive showmanship to sell the theatre itself as an attraction. Prestige, a loyal following of resident patronage is what keeps the successful community theatre operating profitably through the weeks or days when the screen attractions do not afford star and story power sufficient to bring in a "pay load" of ticket buyers. Merchandising the community theatre realizes its greatest business building efficiency when it is tied up intimately to the community through constant cultivation of the neighbor-to-neighbor spirit in its publicity, advertising, public relations — or call what you will the efforts directed toward keeping the public interested and acquainted with the activities of the theatre. The Community Spirit In spirit the merchandising of the theatre as a community institution should be directed toward building confidence in the theatre and pride therein as an essential service to the well-being and wholesome social activity of the people. That means taking the public into the confidence of the theatre and the people who operate it, by publicity that keeps the public acquainted with phases of a business they do not understand and about which distorted viewpoints are encouraged by exaggerated coloring of the glamor angle on the part of reporters covering the Hollywood scene in both newspapers and radio. An aggressive policy of continuing and continuous building up and stressing the quality which the management of the theatre constantly strives to achieve, both in the selection of pictures and the method of presentation, is what counts in developing and maintaining prestige for the theatre itself. Yet in most of the exploitation work by theatres there is expansive praise for the star, the director, perhaps, the th.rills and drama of the production — but very little about the part that the theatre plays in bringing his great work to the public of the community it serves. The big-gun exploitation for the current or coming attraction must go on. But, also, there must be a consistent effort in a variety of mediums directed toward the end that the theatre also be dramatized, glorified and firmly established in the minds of people who constitute its potential patronage. Talk About the Theatre If your theatre has good projection and fine quality of sound reproduction, why not capitalize that as an essential to the full enjoyment of this or that great screen achievement being exploited as an attraction at your theatre. This dramatization of the theatre as well as the show can well be effective in selling tickets for the particular show and also carry a cumulative value that will make your theatre preferred as a place where good pictures may be seen. The advertising that tells how a certain actor tears at the heartstrings and thrills you by the sheer emotional power of his stirring lines in a certain scene, can also make allusion to the fact that this memorable example of fine acting and dialogue is brought to the patrons of this particular theatre with fidelity and life-like quality because this theatre's excellent sound system and expert projection is of the best. Dramatize Equipment There are few things in the theatre that cannot be dramatized to the advantage of the showman who operates the house. The chairs the people sit in as they view the screen show can and should be sold in publicity of the institutional variety. If you have modern, comfortable and beautiful chairs, tell the public so. Your program, your occasional throw-aways, even an occasional institutional newspaper advertisement can refer to them in terms of general interest. Copy along this line is available tc every theatre from a number of sources. To mention but one : American Seating Company has published a brochure titled "The Story of Theatre Seating." This is an interesting biography of chairs, tracing back to ancient times the story of how the modern theatre chair was evolved as a result of scientific advances in both design and manufacture. Fragments of this story can be made into brief, interesting readers for your program and for newspaper stories. Local Color Your ventilating or cooling system, or the heating plant, can also be treated in such references from time to time. The manufacturijr of the apparatus installed in your theatre probably has material that can be rewritten for your purposes. This also applies to your projectors, the projector lamps, the sound system, the very carpets on the floor. Material that makes interesting reading can be had from manufacturers of these products. By means of newspaper cooperation having a strictly local flavor, the showman can keep his theatre before his public. The fea "Wuthering Heights" Gets Large Window in London It ivas impossible to pass tliis big boost for Samuel Goldwyn's United Artists release, "Wuthering Heights," ivithout stopping to take a second look. The display was in the windoiv of George Doland, Ltd., Cheapside, the heart, of London. Note the entire zvindow is devoted to the display, and that there is a bold plug for the title and the Gamont Haymarkct Theatre on the streamer across the iivo glass panels.