Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1941)

Page IS SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 11, 1941 FEMININE TOUCH A HUSBAND and wife, one believing that jealousy is stupid and unnecessary, the other that it is complicated and that two people in love cannot escape it, are the hero and heroine of "The Feminine Touch." Jealousy is one of the best known words in any language and therefore any picture dealing with it should have wide appeal. In the case of "The Feminine Touch," however, it is wisely treated in a humorous vein, thus making the three-star film (Rosalind Russell-Don Ameche-Kay Francis) especially attractive to moviegoers. So, if you're going to play it at your theatre, you'd better study that title for a few moments, for it is indeed "the feminine touch" that should dominate your campaign. Go after the women, and watch them bring their husbands and sweethearts. CONTEST OPPORTUNITIES Tie in with the editor of the lovelorn column for a letter-writing contest for both men and women. Prizes would be offered for the best letters on this question : "Is Jealousy a Sign of Love or Selfishness? Explain." Letters should be limited to 100 words or so, and should be judged on aptness of thought, whether the opinion agrees or doesn't agree with that of the judge. Wives might be asked, in another contest, to write letters stating what "feminine touches" they employed to make their husbands propose. These letters should provide humorous reading for the general public. There are probably enough stills available showing humorous situations in "The Feminine Touch." Get a few of them, have your artist paint "balloons" to serve as space for what the characters would say, then run a one-a-day contest in which readers supply the conversation. MERCHANT TIEUPS Using the title for a foundation, try to promote special windows and cooperative displays from local department stores. Per Study This Ad, Then — If it's star-appeal you want, you'll find it highlighted in the ad reproduced above. While comedy is also suggested, the ad's principal pulling power is in its stars. Now look across the page, please — Employ That Showmanship Touch In Your Campaign On This Comedy/ Ideas? Here! Original screenplay by George Oppenheimer, Edmund L. Hartmann and Ogden Nash. Directed by Major W. S. Van Dyke II. Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. fumes, lipstick, wearing apparel, etc., could b3 advertised as having that "feminine touch" to win the admiration of others (but men, especially!). As for men's stores, displays might be created along this tie-in line: "We wouldn't know anything about 'The Feminine Touch," but when it comes to that good old masculine touch, we have the suits that put men at their ease, make them look their best, no matter what the occasion." FALL FASHION ANGLES A number of Rosalind Russell fashion photos are available at your MGM exchange. If you fail to order them, you're overlooking a swell bet for your campaign. After all, Miss Russell was named by the Fashion Academy as America's best-dressed woman of the screen for 1941. Capitalize on this designation by ordering the stills and using them in connection with a Fall Fashion Style Show at your theatre, as material for special window displays in the windows of the community's leading style centers, as reproductions for the women's page of your local newspaper, as special displays for your lobby. In any case, no endorsements are permitted, so bear this in mind when preparing your copy. Two stills featuring Kay Francis in current fashions are also available. A suggested headline when using these stills, either in windows or as newspaper reproductions, is : "Design for a Siren — With 'The Feminine Touch'." GOOD PUBLICITY SERVICE Many publicity sections of press books have become standardized, offering the same material time after time. Yet a study of this particular section in MGM's press book on "The Feminine Touch" reveals many features that can be worked into your campaign. For instance, there's a "Know Yourself Quiz," a series of questions to determine whether or not a person is the jealous type. An effort should be made to plant this feature in the newspaper, with the ratings appearing on another page. If you issue a tabloid program, the "quiz" is a "natural" for it. Then there's a three-column mat showing Rosalind yawning. It's headlined : "Doesn't This Make You Sleepy?" Now while this would be good as a newspaper plant, it also suggests a tieup with the "sleep shop" of a local department store. When you get your press book, take a look at the picture, read the caption, and you'll get what we mean. A collection of nine stills, also available in mat form for a newspaper feature, shows scenes of "The Funniest Fight of the Year." Use the stills for an out-of-the-ordinary lobby display. Use the layout for a special herald or, if possible, get your editor to use it. It contains a lot of reader appeal, so there shouldn't be much difficulty on that score. A Hollywood column, a Don Ameche feature, a pictorial synopsis of the picture, an "It's True" cartoon, biographies, etc., are other important features worth investigating. TIE UP WITH SONG Remember when Jealous was a popular song hit? Well, it has been reissued, and is destined to be in even more demand now than before. And since it ties in so well with the theme of the picture, get music stores to feature it in connection with "Feminine Touch" stills and advertising copy. Hotel ballrooms, night clubs, dance halls might also feature it. RADIO SUGGESTIONS Whether or not "the green-eyed monster" is justifiable can be debated by a group of married men and women on a radio program plugging "The Feminine Touch." Several questions and answers about things that please or irritate husbands or wives should also furnish interesting material for a similar broadcast. The radio station (or the newspaper) might sponsor a contest for the best list of comedy rules on "How to Be Happy Though Married." A prize might be awarded for the best proposal in which the usual "I love you" phrase is not used. REAL ESTATE TIEUP Either an ad or window display could be promoted from real estate dealers along the lines that "our apartments (or homes) have those 'feminine touches' that make them so popular with housewives . . . and men like them, too!" — Study This Ad, Too And here we are over here, after looking at the ad on the other side. In this layout, the picture's chief entertainment assets are pointed up in the copy. There's appeal for both men and women. We suggest you vary your ads, because in the case of "The Feminine Touch," star-appeal and story-appeal are both important factors at your box office.