Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1961)

Pleasure and Profit In Shopper Matinee There was pleasure, plus a nice profit, in a recent Tuesday matinee for Jim Wiley, manager of the Malveme Theatre in the community of that name on Long Island, New York. The pleasui’e came from seeing a near capacity audience at a theatre where matinees are not usually very strong; the nice profit was the $175 collected, less a few expenses. Manager Wiley rigged up a Shoppers Matinee, booking a film with appeal for the women, “All That Heaven Allows,” which features Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. He sold his idea to seven merchants at $25 each. The cost to the theatre included the printing of 700 tickets — 100 to each merchant for distribution to his customers, or to anyone coming into the store and asking for one — for a 40x60 lobby display plugging the matinee and listing the names of the sponsors, and for 3,000 heralds, which were distributed by each store, put into newspapers and sent out on the theatre’s mailing list. Wiley also sent letters and heralds to the heads of PTA groups, women’s clubs and church societies, telling them briefly about the Shoppers Matinee and asking them to pass along the information to their members. The Tri-Town Leader and South Shore Record also printed notices on the afternoon show. The matinee tickets were special, measuring about 51/2x21/2. Model T Club Parades For 'Professor' Opening Steve Smolak, manager of the Fox West Coast Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, arranged a tieup with the local Model T Ford Club to provide a parade of Model Ts down Hollywood boulevard for the opening of “The Absent-Minded Professor” on St. Patrick’s Day. The drivers wore Gay Nineties costumes and afterward were the guests of the theatre for the new comedy film, in which Fred MacMurray drives a 1912 Model T. Ford. Each auto was equipped with a poster reading, “We are going to the Chinese Theatre to see ‘The Absent-Minded Professor’.” Additionally, several of the oldtype cars were placed on display in the forecourt of the theatre. Grand Opera Film Festival Balaban & Katz booked a Grand Opera Film Festival for its Will Rogers and Valencia theatres in Chicago, with four film operatic presentations dated for onenight performances March 23, March 30, April 6 and April 13. Tickets for the onenighters were available at 90 cents for each performance, or $3 for the series of four, which included “Madame Butterfly,” “La Traviata,” “Tosca” and “Pagliacci.” Makes Do With Pressbook When regular paper didn’t arrive in time for “One Foot in Hell,” T. J. Steadman of the Colonial in Canton, N.C., made do with the pressbook, using all pictures possible. Pictures were outlined with a sign brush. Cashing in on Oscars via Return Runs Here are two of the ads laid out by Cai Bard, UA manager at Omaha, and Dick Barkes, ad firm head, for cashing in on the Oscar awards. They are 4 cols., 10 inches. WiEWmiiWE 4 Burt LANCASTER * no wna no ro* mi a croc 4 Jean SIMMONS ’ NOMINATID K>€ MST ACTUS l * Shirley JONES PICTURE. A cooperative venture between the Omaha office of United Artists and TOP Advertising Co. to cash in on nominations for Academy Awards and/or winners, proved successful beyond the hopes of the two men who promoted their idea. Cal Bard, manager of the Omaha UA office, and Dick Barkes, owner of TOP, worked up the idea and made several test runs with gratifying results. They polished up and expanded the promotion and as a result it will be used in the entire midwest. They laid out some eye-catching advertising displays. One, for example, showed a bowling strike, tenpins flying, and featured the picture titles and Academy nomination players. They gave their promotion a trial run at the Jewel Theatre at Valentine, Neb., owned by Mrs. Hazel Dunn, an alert exhibitor in northern Nebraska who has a well-run and finely-outfitted theatre. There was no question but that the tieup boomed receipts. Bard and Barkes are continuing to make improvements, which will be of continued benefit if the awards go the right way on the Academy potential winners. “We believe it’s a unique way of tieing the dating and advertising together so the exhibitor has the advantage of promoting and dating the picture at the same time,” said Bard. “It insures speedier service at the time the awards are made. The promotion is beamed specifically for the subruns and smaller towns. Similar type treatment has been given to “Inherit the Wind.” 1,000 Men at Kipling's Women' Screening Pick Starlet for Personal Appearances When Walter Morris, veteran Knoxville, Tenn., theatreman, booked in “Kipling’s Women,” he introduced a new angle to the special preview idea. He invited 1,000 men to be his guests at a Saturday morning screening to judge the beauties in the picture and to pick a winner, the latter to make personal appearances when the regular run got under way. Just about every one of the 1,000 “judges” turned up, and they chose Malia Olandag, Philippinesborn beauty. The stunt drew wide coverage in the press and over radio and TV, and the coverages were duplicated when Miss Olandag arrived in town for the personal appearances. In the larger cities, particularly, this is a promotion which can be undertaken at a cost which is not too prohibitive, percentagewise, according to Kroger Babb, veteran distribution and production executive, whose KBA Attractions is handling “Kipling’s Women.” Morris, who booked the picture after seeing the advertisement in Boxoffice, reported the preview stunt caused more word-of-mouth publicity than he had received in years. The picture was first booked for the 1,000-seat Tower Theatre but Morris added the Pike Theatre because of the unusual boost the preselling campaign had given ticket sales. Tieups were completed with the six radio stations, and two TV stations, the Rambler agency which provided a car for Miss Olandag for her seven-day stay in Knoxville, a beauty shop which did the star’s hair daily, and a supermarket. With Kroger Babb, Miss Olandag made 14 radio and seven TV appearances, in interviews running five to 12 minutes. More than 5,000 photographs of the starlet were distributed and more than 1,000 patrons had their pictures taken with her. Gunman and Moll Bally For 'Underworld U.S.A.' For promotion of “Underworld U.S.A.” at the Pilgrim Theatre in Boston, John Markle, Columbia, used two models, one a “gangster,” carrying a violin case, on which was lettered “We are on our way to see our ‘Underworld U.S.A. ’ at the Pilgrim Theatre,” and the other, his moll, in a tight raincoat on the back of which was lettered a blurb for the picture. The pair walked around Boston streets advertising the picture and made stops in front of the theatre. Free Candy to Women The Central, West Hartford, Conn., gave free candy boxes to first 100 female patrons attending a Valentine’s Day performance through arrangements with the Maxwell drug stores. BOXOFFICE Showmandiser :: April 17, 1961 — 63 — 3