Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1942)

34 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 3, 1942 -TWO I I G DAT S —STABTING TODAt — I I ONE US mem &n&^fiu*ctiutit~ ■■ miiESffiioil ^^E^E wtv AKt -B f N B€KNie i^'VfiSX Y£ CAB CALLOWAY — '^ jillfMue fA^.^T■ ISHAM JONES ^■FOllOW y>u IfADt".' MD NIC-HOLS _ 'MILLION J NoiesINA^PAY-HUTTpN OAUDE -HOPKINS „ -er «.( au t S T JOHNNY eaEEN ^ -MflOOV M-AGlC" LEON BELASCO «.*CIUB CONTlNtNTAl FltEDDY MAPJIN Of MUSIC* ANSON WECKS *• 'MUSICAL COCKrAlf PHIL SPITALNEY ''WOULD B^nDS Cparamounf Today , . . Only! SAME PBIOEB . . . 8Dt WhotU Ihowl Iperfect 5 TIMES AS BIGI 50 TiMu AB rutmvt HE'S A ONE-UAN TEAHI "SPOOKY HOOKY" The Latest I OUR GANG Comedy ■ PANELES8 WINDOW WABHBE' -A EIOT! 'WANTED-4, JiASTEg (iDWIN C. HILL'S "NEWS OP THE DAY" The Ads Are Old, But the Ideas Are Still Practical From Interstate's Short Subject Story, an exploitation manual for managers of the Interstate Circuit, the above ads have been culled. They're old in content and appearance perhaps, but the idea embraced in each one of them is still new for the theatreman who isn't utilizing it. Layout on the left advertises a Carnival of Short Subjects in which the program consists entirely of one and two-reelers. In the center is a suggested layout for the presentation of a Maestros on Parade show featuring a selection of band and musical reels. Ad at right plugs the Perfect Program, emphasizes shorts just as strongly as the feature. If you need something different to hypo your grosses, why not duplicate these ideas? Famous Band in Feature, So Harris Adds Band Shorts, Exploits Laff, Music Show Astuteness and enterprise of Manager Ed Harris of the Glendale Theatre, Glendale, Calif., come to the fore again with the report of his campaign on a Band Cavalcade he featured recently. (Incidentally, he's a Marine now.) Knowing that Gene Krupa and His Orchestra were included in the cast of "Ball of Fire," Harris took the tip from there. He added two band shorts to the program : one from Paramount featuring Phil Spitalny's All-Girl Orchestra ; the other from Warner Bros, featuring Freddie Martin and Orchestra. Fortunately, Martin and his musical organization were appearing at a Los Angeles hotel, so that the publicity in the newspapers and on the radio helped Harris' cause. In return for a lobby card, "Hear Your Favorite Bands on Hit Parade Programs, KIEV Daily," the station gave the theatre spot announcements following the playing of electrical transcriptions of the three bands urging people to see them on the Glendale screen. With the feature essentially a comedy, the program was sold as a Laff and Musical Movie Parade in an effort to get the people into the theatre so they could relax from war headlines. At the Civic Auditorium, where name bands appear, plugs urging jitterbugs to see the Band Cavalcade program were made from the band stand. Through the cooperation of principals and music theaters, announcements were made over the high school p. a. system to students during all assemblies. In return for this cooperation, Harris furnished admission tickets for teachers to hand out to high-ranking music scholars. The campaign was linked with the sale of Bonds and Stamps through a stunt by which a local music dealer, in return for the publicity, furnished records gratis to be given to patrons purchasing a hundred-dollar Bond at the theatre's Victory Booth. You don't have to be playing "Ball of Fire" to put over a program of this type. There are plenty of band shorts available to make it worth your while. On the other hand, with the major producers signing famous orchestra leaders to contracts for appearances in forthcoming features, Harris' productive stunt can well serve as the forerunner of other Band Cavalcade shows by showmen alert to their business-building possibilities. SHORTS SHOPPING (Continued from Page 31) versions of the Rex Beach novel. Even then, we fear, the argument would still be unsettled, although we're inclined to think the William Farnum-Tom Santschi encounter in the early silent version would get the most votes. Even so, the suggested idea might make an interesting short subject experiment at that. The United States isn't the only spot on the map where serials are popular. In Port of Spain, Trinidad, the Republic serial, "Jungle Girl," broke all existing box-office records for any type of feature ever to play the firstrun Royal Theatre when it opened there recently. Grosses topped the previous high, also held by another Republic serial, "Adventures of Captain Marvel." Like Latin-America, unlike the majority of situations in the U. S., serials are divided into sections of three and four chapters each in Trinidad, and played as feature pictures Production Activity On The Short Subject Front MGM Beehive of Activity Pete Smith has produced "First Aid" with the cooperation of the American Red Cross, with Will Jason directing. James A. FitzPatrick and his Technicolor crew have returned from a tour in the Northwest where they shot material for another of his Traveltalks. In the schedule end of MGM's shorts, John Nesbitt will produce "Trifles That Win Wars" with Basil Wrangell directing, Bert Glazer will direct another Our Gang, "One for All and All for One," and Carey Wilson will produce "You've Heard It Before" with Sammy Lee megging. Schwartz' Transportation Short Myron Schwartz has assembled a short for Warner Bros., "Stars on Horseback," showing what means people in Hollywood are using for transportation. George Tobias, Joel McCrea, Jerry Colonna, Robert Handy, Muriel McDonald, Andy Devine and Guinn Williams take part. Repubhc to Produce Super-Serial Republic has announced that it will produce a super-serial for immediate release titled "Rogers of the U. S. Rangers," based on the current stories of the American invasion troops on the various battlefields of the world. Young, Abel in Farm Project Short Loretta Young and Walter Abel will make a special trailer at Columbia for the Manpower Commission to encourage enlistment of workers on farming projects. Richard Wallace, director of "The Frightened Stiff," will direct the short. Pal Completes 'Haunted House' George Pal, producer of the Puppetoon series of shorts for Paramount, announces the completion of the first of the new Puppetoon series, "Jasper and the Haunted House." This will be Pal's first picture made completely with his new cross-section animation. Prinz to Direct Vaudeville Film "Vaudeville Days," which Jean Negulesco was scheduled to direct for Warners, has been put under the directorial eye of LeRoy Prinz. The short will feature many nationally known footlight headliners, plus Harriette Haddon portraying Eva Tanguay, the famous "I Don't Care" vaudeville queen. Aeronautical Cartoon Films MGM's cartoon studio has been commissioned to make a series of aeronautical films for the Army Air Corps, and Executive Producer Fred Quimby has assigned a special unit of animators to start production. This program will be in addition to the 16 cartoons now being released on the regular short subject schedule. Summerville Cast for Chapter-Play "Slim" Summerville has been' signed to an important comedy role in support of Bill Elliott, star of Columbia's "Valley of Vanishing Men," a western-mystery-comedy serial. Keep Buying War Bonds and Stamps