Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 8, 1949 13 Teachers Invited As Theatre Guests Activity in the right direction to win school cooperation and goodwill was undertaken recently by Manager Richard E. Eason, resident manager of Colonial Theatres' Carolina and Rivoli theatres in Hickory, N. C. To all the teachers in two counties. Showman Eason sent this letter : "The Management of the Carolina and Rivoli theatres extends its_ greetings and wishes to convey a most cordial welcome to you as a teacher. "We recognize the outstanding work being done by you; and in appreciation thereof, we offer our fullest cooperation at any time we may be of service to you. "To acquaint you with our service and the quality of entertainment available in our theatres, we would like for you to be our guest at the Carolina. You may present this letter at the box-office in exchange for an admission ticket." With the industry embarking on an institutional selling campaign, and with the school year now under way across the nation, theatremen would be making a wise move to insure educational cooperation and goodwill by following Eason's example. Paramount People Meet 1,200,000 During Tours (Continued from Page 11) in his tour for Cecil B. DeMille's "Samson and Delilah," and DeMille himself made a threeweek tour with the Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey circus during which he received a wide press on "Samson and Delilah," although his prime objective was to gather material for his next production, "The Greatest Show on Earth." John Payne, who toured the southwest for "El Paso," is scheduled to repeat in key cities for "Captain China," with William Pine and William Thomas, producers of the picture. Others who have been on tour include : Nancy Olson, publicizing "Sunset Boulevard" and "Top O' the Morning" ; Lizabeth Scott, for "Bitter Victory" ; June Havoc, "Chicago Deadline" and "Red, Hot and Blue" ; Macdonald Carey, "Song of Surrender" and "Copper Canyon"; John Lund, "My Friend Irma" and "The Lie"; Angela Lansbury, "Samson and Delilah"; Burt Lancaster, "Rope of Sand"; William Demarest, "Red, Hot and Blue," and Dan Duryea, "Manhandled." Manager Didn't Give Up; Milk Firm Gave In Manager Bud Somers of Schine's Madison, Richmond, Ky., is a manager disinclined to take "No" for an answer when it comes to getting a sponsor for a kiddie show. A local milk distributor turned him down flat, but a short time later he returned to the attack with new persuasive arguments and closed for a special morning show at which the milk company admitted all kids free who brought the can top from a new chocolate milk it was introducing. 'McCoy' Coloring Contest For "Roseanna McCoy" at the Hipp, Corbin, N. Y., Manager Lou Merenbloom had 2,000 coloring contest heralds made up on "The Adventures of Roseanna and Johnse," using black on brilliant pink stock. These were paid for by the 7-Up Bottling Company. Firearms were borrowed from a local museum for a window display and 10 merchants paid for a full-page co-op ad. 50,000 See Display More than 50,000 persons participated in a "Stars of Yesterday" contest conducted recently by Francis Deverter, manager of the Rio Theatre, Harrisburg, Pa. Deverter had 128 photos of old-time stars displayed in front of his theatre, and persons or passersby were asked to submit correct names for four prizes. In the first week more than 17,000 persons viewed the photos, he said, and he based his estimate of the total on that one weekly figure. The display was on view for more than a month. Skouras Theatres Aid Salute to Levitt own Marking the second anniversary of Levittown, World War H veteran community on Long Island, 30 Levittown community organizations, under the leadership of the "Salute to Levittown Committee," are staging a two-week Salute to Levittown exhibition in the lobbies of the Skouras Rivoli and Calderone theatres in Hempstead. Formal dedication took place Wednesday afternoon with Hempstead Mayor Ernest Ashdown officiating. The exhibition was arranged with the cooperation of the committee, headed by Joseph J. Corriston; Nick John Matsoukas and Miss Thana Skouras of the Skouras Theatres community service department ; Hank Lowery, manager of the Rivoli, and Ed Enke, manager of the Calderone. Horseshoe Co-Op ^Dan Patch^ Boost A novelty in cooperative advertising put "The Great Dan Patch" across to 160 per cent of normal business at the Pix Theatre, Alva, Okla., according to a report from W. F. Deaton and J. L. Kelley of that house. First step was to promote 10 horseshoes from W. R. Frank Productions, Hollywood, which made the film. The horseshoes were gold plated and were imprinted with the picture's title. Hide the Horseshoes Second step was to arrange with 10 merchants to hide one of the horseshoes in their merchandise and to take a co-op ad in the Review-Courier. Each merchant's ad was very brief, and was enclosed in a pictured horseshoe, taken from one of the pressbook ad mats. Centre of the co-op page was a large ad for the film, while across the top was a large-type line : "Find the lucky horseshoe." Every shopper who found one of the shoes was entitled to guest tickets for two to see "The Great Dan Patch." Shoppers appeared to take delight in pawing over the merchandise in each store to locate the hidden shoes, and the merchants were delighted to have so many persons enter their stores, knowing that many would make purchases while there. Without other exploitation undertakings by the theatre management, and against the opening of a new $300,000 theatre as opposition, business leaped to the 160 of normal noted above. ^Dodgers^ Magic Word for Promotion PRIZE WINNERS. Lou Levy (left), Fabian Theatres' Brooklyn city manager, is shown above on the Fox Theatre stage vnth Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges and Peewee Reese, Dodger team members who won prizes in connection with a popularity contest staged during August by Advertising Director Johnny Burke in connection with Fabian's 35th Anniversary jubilee. When it comes to promotion in Brooklyn, it's a cinch if it has anything to do with the Brooklyn Dodgers. For everyone is a Dodgers fan. As one of his stunts in connection with Fabian's 3Sth Anniversary Jubilee, which was celebrated by all Fabian-iWilmer & Vincent theatres during August, Johnny Burke, advertising director for Fabian's two iBrooklyn theatres (Fox and Strand), tied-in with the Bro7)ldyn Eagle to print a ballot daily throughout August during which the public could vote for the most popular and the most valuable Dodger baseball team member. While the public was voting, Johnny was promoting prizes to be awarded the winners. It was a cinch. Dealers came through with television sets, gold wristwatches, portable radios, complete men's wardrobes, electric shavers, etc. Incidentally, the prizes had to be in duplicate because of the two categories, tnost popular and most valuable. It was so easy Johnny decided to go out and promote more. He came back with men's jewelry sets for the Dodger team members and simulated pearl necklaces for their wives. Well, the team appeared at the Fox, and Branch Rickey was there to take a bow. The Dodger Sym-Phony Band opened the ceremonies by parading down the aisles. And then the prizes were awarded to Jackie Robinson, most valuable Dodger team member, Peewee Reese, most popular, and Gil Hodges, runnerup in both most valuable and most popular divisions. It was the last night of the show at the Fo.x, but that made no difTerence to the 3,000 fans — they were on hand to cheer their favorite Dodgers. Some promotion — some evening.