Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1939)

Page 36 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW June 3, 1939 Be Cay and Romantic n Selling Laugh Hit Creg. u. s. pat. off.) UNLESS the weather man stages one of his unseasonal pranks and turns this and the next couple of months into chilly, frosty days for most of us — unless, we warn, the weather man does this, you can bet your trip to the World's Fair it's going to be mighty warm. Right now you may have doffed your coat, or you may be all decked out in a new tropical suit. What, pray tell us, you may ask, has this to do with a Showmanalysis? Well, our answer is that the weather has a lot to do with it. At least that's our opinion, and let's see if you don't agree with us. Now suppose the weather was colder than the inside of an electric refrigerator. In that case, "Bridal Suite" would, of course, be an attraction you could sell, and undoubtedly you would do good business on it. But — suppose it is bright, clear, and warm outside. Your house is delightfully cool, this fact having been impressed on the public by means of strong summer selling. And suppose it is June (which it is, by the way) when thoughts of young folk turn to romance— the month of weddings. If you have a gay, laughter-filled romance entitled "Bridal Suite" and co-starring Annabella and Robert Young, it's our opinion you have the perfect exploitation picture for June, or for the other summer months, too. That's why we were so concerned with the weather. And now that that element has been surmounted, we'll get down to business about the selling angles on "Bridal Here Are Your Cast and Credits Luise Anzengrubcr ANNABELLA Neill McGUl ROBERT YOUNG Doctor Grauer Walter Connolly Sir Horace Bragdon ...Reginald Owen Cornelius McGill Gene Lockhart Lord Heifer Arthur Treacher Mrs. McGill Billie Burke Abbie Bragdon Virginia Field Maxl Felix Bressart A METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURE Produced bv EDGAR SELWYN. Directed by WILLIAM THIELE. Incidental Music by ARTHUR GUTMANN. Screenplay by SAMUEL HOFFENSTEIN. Story by GOTTFRIED REINHARDT and VIRGINIA FAULKNER. Suite." Annabella, of course, will be an excellent draw ing card because of the publicity attending" her recent marriage to a handsome star whose name you probably already know if you keep up on the news. And since she is teamed with Robert Young, who, himself is a favorite of millions everywhere, there's every indication that this film, with the benefit of a strong selling campaign, will bring extra patronage to your box office. On this page you'll see three examples of teaser advertising, the mats of which can be obtained at your nearest MGM exchange. If you have an artist who can make additional sketches, you might prepare more teasers. Again, you might pick up catchlines from the regular press book ads as well as from the suggested lines in the publicity section. To these add sketches, or cuts of Annabella and Robert Young, and you have just the right kind of teasers to get the public interested in "Bridal Suite." Because there is a large selection of stills available, and because many of the posters are well suited for cutout purposes, it should be easy for your artist or advertising man to prepare an attractive and intriguing advance lobby display. You might place it upstairs in the lounge about two weeks before the picture opens; then the week before bring it downstairs to the lobby or foyer, and during the film's engagement have it on display outside. Let's Concentrate on Tieups It's going to be fun arranging tieups, because they'll be plentiful. You'll be able to think up several good gags, too. But first, let's concentrate on tieups. Who would dare think of showing "Bridal Suite" without at least tieing up with a furniture store for a special window display and a cooperative newspaper ad? Not to take advantage of this salient selling angle would be like serving turkey on Thanksgiving without giblet gravy or cranberry sauce. Everything for the newlyweds' home in the line of furniture would more than fill the largest window your local furniture dealer has, and with added stills and copy plugging your showing — well, we venture to say more people would be window shopping than is ordinarily the case. But the tieup doesn't end there. You could extend it to other stores. Whereas furniture is exhibited by one, another might exhibit silverware, another clock's, another kitchen utensils, another curtains and draperies, etc. These could be added to the display, with cards giving proper credit to cooperating merchants. Or each merchant could arrange his own display. Perhaps some of the exploitation stills illustrated in this Showmanalysis (for additional stills see the press book exploitation section) could be used appropriately. Want to attract still more attention to it? All right. When you have lined up your merchants for the display on what furnishings newlyweds should have in their bridal suite, arrange for a single or double-truck cooperative ad in the newspaper. First, being sure that no prices are advertised, let the public guess just how much it would cost to furnish a bridal suite. It would be required that a contest entrant submit the cooperative page or pages, with his guess about the cost of each item marked in the ad which features that item. Incidentally, it might be well to mention here that each merchant either feature only one item, or combine several into one unit. Furthermore, as an aid to contestants, and of course to get people to visit the various stores, you might suggest that they drop in and inspect the merchandise before they venture a guess as to its cost. After guesses have been made on the individual items, the contestant must then place the total figures in a space provided for that purpose. Entries should then be submitted either to you, to the newspaper office, or to any one of the of the exploitation stills illustrated in this ^■9-^ than a Swiss fooAr/e ,n W^7^_.— #^rBRIDAL SUITE [as. h£ e ..u,p,ni /? WILLING! BKIUAL THE LAUGHS mKILLlHSl^ SUITt TOMOmVJ WtRl mUHS! Use Wacky Teaser Ads The screwball teaser ads illustrated above are based on the scenes in the film in which Annabella makes a Swiss confection known as Nusspusserl. You can work up silly teasers along the same lines on another angle. The title is perfect.