Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 15, 1949 15 Showmanship Parade Ever try to get editorial mention in your local newspaper? Maybe you were successful and maybe you weren't. Well, in Long Branch, N. J., the local Walter Reade theatres were recently accorded editorial comment on the high entertainment value of their motion picture programs. The editorial ran in the Monmouth American, ane of the oldest and most respected weeklies in the Monmouth County New Jersey Shore Area. Most unusual thing about the editorial, which appeared under the heading, "Best and Cheapest Entertainment," was that it came as a complete and very pleasant surprise to the theatre organization. It's an achievement to promote an editorial, but what a grand and glorious feeling it is when you are surprised with one. Up in Syracuse, N. Y., Sol Sorkin must have felt like the top o' the morning when he staged his campaign for "Top O' the Morning" at RKO Keith's. Sorkin, who is an I.M.P.S. member, tied-in with all the record shops in town — naturally. And he also tied-in with the five local radio stations — naturally. But his most important tieup was with a local dairy which placed "collars" on the 5,000 bottles of milk it delivered to customers. Copy on the "collars": "Top o' the morning from the company that brings you the richest and purest milk." Below was the layout of a regular ad, with the theatre and playdate listed. Jumping across the continent to California, we come upon a group of theatremen who were undaunted by the fact that there was only one Friday the Thirteenth in 1949— last May. Ben Corbin, northern California district manager for George W. Mann's Redwood Circuit, had put on a midnight horror show on that date at the Eureka Theatre in Eureka. The house was completely sold out. His managers wanted to do another as soon as possible, but they discovered there were no more Friday the Thirteenths in 1949. Did that stop them? Not at all. They discovered a Friday the Twelfth in August, and after a little brain work, came up with a "Friday (the almost) Thirteenths" Midnight Show. Well, even bigger crowds were on hand. Now they are looking forward to November when they will do a "Friday (the nowhere near) Thirteenth" Midnight Show. ^AWiMUIlSSECitET BEAST IN BROOKLYN. The above picture display among the ivy is credited by Manager Vincent DiGennaro of the Graham Theatre in Brooklyn, N. Y., for exceedingly good patronage during his presentation of RKO's "Mighty Joe Young." Hatfield Descendants Used to Boost 'McCoy' A stunt pulled by Manager Vic Wintle of the Manring at Middlesboro, Ky., obtained much newspaper, radio and word-of-mouth publicity for "Roseanna McCoy." He ran personal notices in a local newspaper for 10 days in advance in an efifort to locate and bring out descendants of the feudin' Hatfields and McCoys. Five Hatfields responded. They were photographed and press and radio interviews arranged. The interviewing took place in front of the theatre on opening night, the five Hatfields being brought to the theatre by an auto dealer in a brand-new 1949 car. A thousand heralds announcing the mass interview, paid for by the auto dealer, had previously been distributed and a great throng turned out to see them. Kisses by the thousand were handed out by Usher Thomas Rook of the Warner Theatre, Memphis, Tenn., as a front-of-the theatre ballyhoo for "The Black Book." The kisses, naturally, were of the candy variety and attached to a card reading: "Here's a kiss from lovely Arlene Dahl ..." etc. Manager James McCarthy, in a photo of the stunt, stood beside the usher — perhaps to be sure that only candy kisses were handed out to members of the fair sex. Richard E. Eason, city manager for the Carolinia and Rivoli theatres. Hickory, N. C, promoted a swell half-page cooperative ad on "Task Force." Ad urged readers to "join the Naval Reserve?' and explained the importance of preparedness. Then, guest tickets were offered to persons who found the most misspelled words in the eight merchant ads comprising the balance of the layout. ^Kiss^ Campaign Is One Long Kiss ( Contimtcd frmn Page 12) on busy thoroughfares three days before opening. First person each day who identified her as "That Midnight Kiss" girl received a subscription to iBarton's "Sweets of the Month" Club. Runners-up received Capitol passes. Identification was made via new releases in papers and, radio announcements. Hold that kiss ! Three-hundred "Kisskerchiefs" (a man's white liandkerchief with a red center to hide tell-tale lipstick) were sent to newspaper and trade paper editors and disc jockeys. Also, they were presented to the first 100 couples leaving the Capitol on opening day. A letter-writing contest brought excellent response. The subject: "When is a kiss most romantic, in the morning, afternoon or midnight?" The 25 best letters received passes and "Kisskerchiefs." A special screening was held for music criticsSome kiss, eh? Hold on just a little longer. Disc jockeys played "kiss" records on special "kiss" programs. They also used recordings of a Kathryn Grayson interview. Photographs of Miss Grayson and Mario Lanza taken in the "Kiss Room" of El Borracho were planted in the newspapers ; also pictures of President of the City Council Vincent Impelliterri greeting Grayson and Lanza during their personal appearance at the Capitol. Okay, break it up! And wipe off that lipstick! Pulled in Ruralites With "Ma and Pa Kettle" booked, Charles Dulin, assistant to Manager Lou Marcks at the Strand, Delaware, O., postcarded all rural route mailbox holders, and got a merchant ad which paid the entire cost. Right Kind of Campaign Puts Across ^Quartet^ at the Downer in Milwaukee What is the best way to advertise and exploit a "class" offering such as J. Arthur Rank's "Quartet"? Street ballyhoo? Well, maybe. But suppose you rigged something up on that order. Do you think it would impress the type of patronage that would best appreciate this picture? Well, so you'd use posters and window cards. All right. Now don't misunderstand us — we have nothing against posters and window cards, and there's no reason why you can't use them here. But you can't make them the be-all and end-all of your campaign. You're not campaigning to get just the people who usually go to the movies. You're angling for that special group which attends only when it feels it will see a picture that will satisfy its discriminating taste. Well then, what to do? There could be no better guide than the procedure followed in Milwaukee at the Downer Theatre by Manager Stanley Constantine and Publicity ^vlanager H. Brunner. First, they held advance screenings for newspaper and radio critics and writers, city officials, school and college heads, department store executives, bookstore and library executives, and members of leading clubs and organizations. Thus important people in various walks of like saw the picture, would cooperate in putting it over, and — best of all — tell others about it. That good old word-of-mouth comment working overtime. Every public and lending library in the city and all bookstores were tied-up for elaborate displays of copies of "Quartet" and other works by W. Somerset Maugham. Of course still cards and full theatre and playdate credits were used. To reach people interested in "class" films, postcards were sent to a special maiHng list. Cross-plugs included special teaser trailers in several leading suburban theatres, and special 30 X 40 signs in the lobbies of the Strand, Sherman, Shorewood, Paradise and Uptown theatres, all plugging "Quartet" and the Downer playdate. Every radio station in tow"n cooperated with liberal plugs and featured special programs written by Milt Overman, Eagle Lion exploiteer. and all local newspapers devoted special feature space to the film, as well as art and stories on the amusement pages. This campaign, as you can well see, reached the general public. But at the same time, through the advance screenings for special groups, the displays in libraries and bookstores, and the postcards sent to a special mailing list, it also reached that discriminating body of moviegoers. All well and good, but what about business? It was excellent, and lias been since the picture opened.