Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1939)

October II, 1939 SHOWMEN'S T R A D E REVIEW Page 17 DREAMS ON ICE Protl. !\o. 1504 (Tech.) Cute Col. Color Rhapsody No. 4 7 mins. Comment: A little boy decides to go ice skating in his home and floods his room expecting the cold air to freeze the water (luring the night. He falls asleep and dreams that all tlie toy animals and dolls are skating and invite him to join them. He skates with them and while performing fancy tricks, trips and wakes up to find his mother looking with disapproval at the mess. This is a rather amusing little novelty. The little boy and his dog are cute little characters and should please your patrons. The Technicolor is well done. Exploitation: Play up the subject in your lobby and in your program and newspaper advertising. SCREEN SNAPSHOTS, NO. 1 Prod. No. 1851 Very Good Col. Screen Snapshots 10 mins. Comment: The mj'steries of makeup are explained and several stars are seen being made up by such experts as the Westmore Brothers. Among the stars whose makeup problems are portrayed are Penny Singleton, Gloria Dickson, Rosemary Lane, Janet Beecher, Jean Arthur, Fay Bainter, Melvyn Douglas, Akim TamirofT, and Charles Laughton. Of particular interest is Perc Westmore's makeup of Charles Laughton for his role as the "Hunchback of Notre Dame," and that of Akim Tamirofif for his role in "Disputed Passage." Exploitation: Tieup with your local beauty establishments. Arrange a display of the various articles which are a part of a makeup man's kit. Play up the various stars which appear in the film. THE ORPHAN DUCK Prod. No. 553 (Tech.) Divertinz 20th-Fox Color Terry-Toon No. 3 7 mins. Comment: The little black duckling gets into the domicile of mother hen. When the old rooster arrives to admire his brood, the sight of the webfoot immediately ires him, with the result that our little black friend is lonely and desolate. But he wins the admiration of the rooster when he rescues a wandering chick from a raging torrent. There have been other cartoons with a similar plot, so that this one loses some of its freshness. But, nevertheless, it is diverting entertainment. Paul Terry produced. Exploitation: Tie up with duck and chicken hatcheries by placing announcement cards of your showing in their windows. Perhaps you can get them to use a cooperative ad in the newspaper. WRONG ROOM Prod. No. 3701 A Howl RKO Leon Errol No. 1 19 mins. Comment: Leon Errol, drunk as usual, lands in the bedroom of a bride whose htisband was called away on business. He thinks that he has married again and later asks the bridegroom to extricate him from his difficulty. When his wife arrives, Leon is in a real dilemma and the bridegroom makes matters worse by thinking that Mrs. Errol is the one whom Leon wants to get rid of. This comedy is really very funny and should get plenty of laughs in any situation. Tlie story by Stanley Rauh and Lou Brock is very good and Bert Gilroy did a capital job on the production with Brock handling the direction. Exploitation: Sell it as an extra added attraction. There is a full color 22 by 28 available at your RKO exchange. Put Leon Errol's name up in lights. For a gag you might offer a prize to the man who does the best job of imitating Errol in his walk from the bo.x office to the doorman with other patrons as the judges. CAPTAIN SPANKY'S SHOWBOAT Prod. No. €-131 Funny MGM Our Gang No. 1 10 mins. Comment: Spanky and his gang are putting on an old-fashioned review in an abandoned flatboat at the water's edge. The show is coming along swimmingly (no pun intended!) until the tough guy demands a share in the show. He is not pacified by an offer of free tickets but goes off swearingvengeance. An old-fashioned melodrama is offered and there is a dancing act. It is when Alfalfa gets up to sing that the villain gets in his dirty work. But he gets his just desserts and all ends happily and musically. The picture was directed by Edward Cahn. Exploitation: Arrange to put on a kiddie revue. You will find the local dancing school more than eager to work with you. Try to find a local ship captain, retired or otherwise and arrange to have him discuss his experiences before a group of children. The lecture could be presented as part of the kiddie show. CLOCKING THE JOCKEYS Prod. No. 302 Interesting 20th-Fox Sports Review No. 2 11 mins. Comment: Those who haven't seen a short reel recently released by another company dealing with the same subject as this new sports reel embraces will find "Clocking the Jockeys" interesting entertainment. Coming as a second, e.xcept where playdates or booking arrangements make it a first, it seems repetitious. But judged on its own merits, the pictorial record of the life of a jockey is sometiiing everyone should enjoy. Ed Thorgersen handles the narration well. Truman Talley produced. Exploitation: If your town is isolated from the various racing tracks, why not hold a contest for the selection of the young man who most closely fits the requirements for a jockey. Hold the tryouts on your stage, and present the winner with a suitable award. UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS NO. 1 Prod. No. L9-1 Good Para. Unusual Occupations 11 mins. Comment: Two of the items in this subject certainly live up to the title. One shows a woman who creates pictures from corn cobs, cigar stubs and other odds and ends. The other concerns a New Jerseyite who collects relics of the World War, and operates them. Olj^mpe Bradna makes miniature furniture. There are other items equally unusual. Narrated by Ken Carpenter, this reel should please generally. Exploitation: Tie up with cutlery stores featuring steel knives and forks. In view of the armed conflict in Europe, it would be wise to publicize the item about the New Jerseyite's collection of World War relics. MOUNTAIN EARS Prod. No. 1503 Cute Col. Color Rhapsody No. 3 7 mins. Comment: The figures in this one will remind you of those in Esquire's Hillbilly cartoons. To see them come to life is a big kick. The antics of a kid are particularly funny. The cartoon has a new twist in that the kid argues with the audience and as a final blow he hits at the audience with his sling shot. Altogether this is one of the best of Charles Mintz's recent cartoons. Exploitation: Tie up with newsstands on the Esquire cartoons. Tear a few out of recent issues and mount them underneath together with copy indicating that the hillbillies are on the screen now. THEAGHILEEN PINNACLES Prod. No. 102 Excellent 20th-Fox Magic Carpet No. 2 11 mins. Comment: "The Aghileen Pinnacles" is just as intense and exciting as its predecessor, "Birthplace of Icebergs," and exhibitors who are not playing and publicizing these subjects are depriving their patrons oi some of the most thrilling adventures ever seen in short reels. This time. Father Hubbard, the glacier priest, and his associates, brave Alaskan squalls and ascend treacherous, perpendicular mountainsides to learn the mysterj' of the pinnacles. This will hold any spectator's interest in a vise-like grip during its unreeling. Lowell Thomas and Father Hubbard collaborated on the narration, and Truman Talley produced. Exploitation: Give this subject e.xtra space in your regular ads. Perhaps explorers living in your community could be induced to display some of their paraphernalia in your lobby. Advertise it on your marquee and by means of a special display in the lobby, made up for the entire series. SHEEP IN THE MEADOW Prod. No. 502 Satisfactory 20th-Fox Terry-Toon No. 2 7 mins. Comment: The big bad wolf, or is it a bear, uses all sorts of disguises to lure the shy little lamb into his lair, and eventually succeeds. But Little Boy Blue, arrives in the nick of time, battles the villain, subdues him, and triumphantly carries the lamb back to the meadow. This is a pleasant little cartoon suitable for that extra seven minutes needed to fill out the program. Paul Terry produced. Exploitation: Regular mention in your newspaper ads and in your house programs. CROP CHASERS Prod. No. 1502 (Tech.) Good Col. Color Rhapsody No. 2 7^ mins. Comment: A gang of black crows are damaging a farmer's crop who calls upon scarecrows to protect his property. The iDlack crows disregard the scarecrows and keep on with their mischief until the scarecrows rescue one of the black crows who has fallen into the lake. The crows show their gratefulness by putting back all the crops they had taken. This is a clever little short which should prove to be amusing to your audiences. It might prove to be a good subject for your Hallowe'en show._ Exploitation: Dress up a scarecrow in your lobby. Give the cartoon a plug in your lobby, programs and newspaper ads.