Publix Opinion (Oct 4, 1929)

a TODAY FOR PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF OCTOBER 4rn, 1929 ‘SAFE HALLOWEEN’ BOXOFFICE TONIC HERE'S A TRIED-AND-PROVED CAMPAIGN TO START USING MANY BENEFITS Halloween is October 31. It’s a chance for profit, good will, and an annual Publix promotion wallop. So PUBLIX OPINION mother and father, public official, school-kid and school-official, in the city of Chicago, and made them flood Balaban & Katz theatre man agers with letters of gratitude and gobs of good will. It was done five years ago, and Your Editor was the person who did it. It was definitely tied up to specific attractions, too! At the time, William’ McAndrews was: Superintendent of Chicago schools. He’s the fellow. with whom William Hale Thompson had the intérnational text-book battle, and he’s probably the most noted and beloved educator in America. You’re told this, so you can use his name to bolster up school officials, in selling the idea Night of Horror Ordinarily, Halloween is a night of horror for everybody in town. Naughty little boys go around doing things on window-panes and door-steps, throwing hedge-balls and potatos at innocent old citizens, and swiping the tombstones and carrying them up on the courthouse dome. Usually fifteen policemen get killed in auto accidents, hurrying to answer frenzied calls from anguished citizenry; parents moan for many days, because little Willie fell in the hole when his gang tried to steal Old Lady Wilkins’ outhouse Do this every year. It’s a good 4th of July gag, too. —B. H. S. and he still needs four more les| sons on deodorants and the pulmotor. The newspapers print editorials pleading for a “safe and sane Halloween next year’ and cite the case of “this year’s $54,000 property damage, 16 killed and 54 injured from prankish hoodlum custom.”’ That’s what Halloween now is in every American community. Enter, you and your Publix Theatre—with a panacea! Signing the Pledge Every Publix Theatre in town stages two performances of a special kids show on Saturday morning, at which kids are admitted on special tickets issued: by their school teachers. Inciude public, private and parochial schools. To get the ticket, the kid has to sign a pledge card, which he turns over to his teacher. The card reads: “I, Willie Fencelifter, promise to help make a ‘Safe and Sane Halloween’ this year by abstaining from acts of mischief, hoodlumism, and misconduct. Also I promise to use my influence on my friends to get them to do the same.”’ Willie signs the pledge and gives it to his teacher, who gives him a special ticket. The tickets are printed free by the school board. Three weeks in advance, the superintendent of schools gives out piece-meal, bits of information about this campaign,:to the newspaper .reporters. He tells them that the campaign is made possible by local Publix Theatres and the Paramount movie stars, Clara Bow, Nancy Carroll, Harold Lloyd, Hal Skelly, Buddy Rogers, Jack Oakie, Elsie Ferguson, Walter Huston, Clive Brook, and any other Paramount stars you can think of. Have him tell what pictures these stars are coming to town in, soon. Make it easy for him by having it al] written out in advance, mimeographed presents you with a proved idea on the subject that joyously rocked every. | —— Send Star Wires Send a telegram every day to the superintendent of schools, signed by a movie star whom you play soon reading like this: “Am stopping work on my new funny picture, ‘Cat's Meow" which the Publix Paramount theatre plays soon, in order to send this telegram congratulating you and the kids of your town on the Pub,lix Theatre Safe And Sane Halloween campaign,” —Clara Bow Send a telegram like that every day, and accompany it.with a lot of star-stills for the school superintendent to give out to the newsPaper men. Before you start the campaign, sell the idea to the school superintendent. Get him to get up a committee made up of every parent-teacher club leader, noonday lunch club leader, chief of police, fire chief, health commissioner, etc. Let ’em each make a’ speech in the school auditoriums for a couple of weeks in advance. They love to talk. The kids will love to listen, as they don’t have to study during that ‘period. If you can’t promote this hire a smart newspaper reporter to do it for you. Public Benefactors {n two weeks, before Halloween, your whole town will be sold on “Safe And Sane Halloween” and your theatre and Paramount stars will be the great public benefactors that have saved the fenceposts, .outhouses, and garages from the depredations of mischievous Young America. The Saturday morning free show cost will return a millionfold in .goodwill, and the odd part of it is that your Saturday afternoon PAID business and night business for that day will be terrific. Be sure that on that morning the police and fire department members act as_ special traffic police and special guards and “bouncers” in your theatre. Have a dozen school teachers and principals act as “assistant managers” on that day too. Be sure they all get their pictures in the papers as “committee members,” in advance, and have a copious report. turned in on the following Monday telling how much property was saved, how many lives were spared, and demanding that Sam Katz and Adolph Zukor be thanked and compelled to make it an annual national event. It Has Been Done! That’s showmanship, of permanent and constructive value if you can doit. It has been done— in Chicago, where the problem of inoculating against the germs of hoodlumism is a serious one. One more IMPORTANT THING. This is your idea, and your promotion. Don’t let some local patriot get away with trying to lug your opposition theatres into it. The answer is that you don’t object IF they exclusively pull anything worth while, but you can’t go into this if your opposition is in. It’s a company rule. Bass voice ’em and the patriots will retire. They want the stunt because it’s a public benefaction, even if it is a complete promotion. Also it’s a publicity-rodeo for a lot of self-important local folks who seldom get a chance to break into the limelight they love. If you let this chance pass, you’re asleep at the switch! ; i : : i i $ $ D069 0-1 00-0 01-0 10+ 500-010 0108-01 0--O-+ ‘SIX OPENINGS! Six big picture openings, almost on consecutive dates, are flashing across Broadway Screens. Three of them have opened and three more are scheduled to follow immedi ately. They are: “Young Nowheres,” First National, Richard Barthelmess and Marian Nixon, Central Theatre on October 1. ‘Disracli,” Warners, George Arliss, Warners’ Theatre on October 2. “Smmnyside Up,” Fox, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, Gaiety Theatre on October 3. : “Why Bring That Up,” Paramount, Moran & Mack, Rialto Theatre on October 4. . “Rio Rita,” R. K. O., Bebe Daniels, Earl] Carroll Theatre on October 6. “Applause,” Paramount, Helen Morgan, Criterion Theatre on October 7. i t ‘ f t t $ t week. Frame them and raise your prestige with everyone who steps into your office. Edwards of the Home Office and he will forward them to you, NT AN TO THE, ENTERTAINME! OF ALL THE PEOPLE. PARAMO! LASKY CORPORATIO! AND EFFORT OF PA’ FUBLIX THEATRES BY THE CHOICEST THE ARTS FULFILLMENT OF BE! THE GREATEST PUBLIC THAT UNPARALLELED ACHI WEEK IN ADDITIO LIONS ALL OVER THE OR PARAMOUNT PICTURES IN COMMUNITIES. WAYS TO DESERVE AS A SACRED OBLIGATION ibe cob rasb pesr then THAT EDITORS W he same | We want them to bare : sees ne | pUBLIX that their readers APPLA' FAKES WIN NO re 4 Sam Katz. Proud ot run he truth a Ea eer pid nam tee ereves «he prom vad publar hace B HE pleder o jalness of Cvery TION has al dew cree Coen roe wo wutace the demons 1d though re of Publix — appt te ° — ee ee ed aw waren ies aseeresery fon vey witet i aoe Led ih aek etd ae Ts will er i ant sad met eeion)? can of saccenfal opera aria 9 revalted pees * PUBLIX #0040 010+ O+0+ 0 +0+-0-0+-0-19-0-+0010+ 0-0-0 o t t 2 t t i : i i t f t t : { ; ~ DEDICATORY * : AND RECREATION UNT FAMOUSIN AND PUBLIX THEATRES URCE EDICATE EVERY RESO CORPORATION D RAMOUNT PICTURES AND R THE HIGHEST STANDARD OF RECREATION FO! ENTRUSTED IN THEM BY THE PEOPLE. PARAMOUNT FAMOUSLASEY CORPORATION PUBLIX THEATRES CORPORATION ILL BEuieve! | confidence in ed to enjoy USE IN PUBLIX RES CORPORA offeully inspired | Tm porraedty THEATRES CORPORATION. Dr SAM KATZ Premio ‘Plan Ample Pre-views For Showmen As a first step to enable Publix showmen to plan and execute properly intelligent and vigorous advance ticket-selling campaigns for coming attractions, arrangements are being made whereby weekly advance screenings for each zone, will be available in the future for house and advertising managers of each theatre. At the weekly Executive Cabi-: net meeting, Sam Dembow,_ Jr., Vice President Executive, and Charles C. McCarthy set in motion the plan that will quickly result in the product of all companies as well as Paramount, being ‘available for previews at least four weeks in advance of playdates. FRAME THESE GOOD-WILL BUILDERS! These four placards, representing the credo of Paramount and Publix, have been mailed to post them prominently in your office. They are great good will builders and will If you haven’t received them, write to I. L. Their display value is permanent. We want to enads —=$=——| it Our public Ad to Public poticy y Neh Publiccontoncn nae he the com, OY provide a putin 1 EME for the we TEEN and bo tt thers is Ie frst wetcom, community me imson lingneax has ed, ed to om: 24d matariaity in the ease? Seu) Provide for tne? had. Pubiie Pte Progress of = = PARAMOUNT y, AM PUBLIX THEATALS Conran onPORAT On 7" The plan developed from explanation of its need, advaneg by A. M. Botsford, and it wag jy, mediately approved by Megsp, Dembow and McCarthy, who ar undertaking its consummatioy In many cases “‘scratch-prints” 0 studio work-prints will be showy instead of the finally-edited pj, ture. This however, is regarde as a minor objection, as it wil give the showmen sufficient g, vance knowledge and enthusiasy to enable them to transmit it ¢, their community of potentig ticket buyers. When the plan becomes opera tive, it is expected that all Pyp lix house and advertising map agers, as well as district manager, in each 100-mile zone, will meet a: a central designated theatre ong, a month, to attend the previews 9; six or seven pictures. Lynchburg Will Have Four Publix Theatre; Publix Theatres has purchased three theatres in Lynchburg, Va,; the Isis, Belvedere and Gatety, ajj formerly owned by C. M. Casey, besides contracting for the rental] of a new theatre, costing $65,000, with a seating capacity of 1600. you last Ani Unt and Poon” ©! Pars wah Precis | @ for the intagey athe public MCURtFamous ely t2 Bay our prin. ie Pledge Strive to earn leaders Provd,, ment fer ait tne pret Pictures ang oo . SYMBSthEtIC Under d Mave bean Pictures and tne pst "= forum for a1 the pe Denehit of ait the ae ee >ctethce abe