Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1961)

• ADLINES * EXPLOITIPS • ALPHABETICAL INDEX • EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY • FEATURE RELEASE CHART • FEATURE REVIEW DIGEST • SHORTS RELEASE CHART • SHORT SUBJECT REVIEWS • REVIEWS OF FEATURES • SHOWMANDISING IDEAS THE GUIDE TO How Theatres in Small Towns Realize Boxoffice Benefits From Television C. V. Mitchell, who manages the State Theatre in Fostoria, Ohio, for the Jack Armstrong circuit, had been trying one gimmick after another to stimulate his juvenile attendance with only fair results and was beginning to wonder if the lack of any special success was entirely his fault. Then he was relaxing at home one evening around 5 while his sons were watching television in the living room. He was aroused to attention when he heard the name of Fostoria mentioned several times during the juvenile TV program. Afterward he asked his sons if they watched this pi-ogram very often, and their reply was “yes.” He found out that most of the kids in Fostoria did likewise. Thus a show-filling idea was born. Later in the evening he telephoned TV station WSPD (at Toledo) and asked the proper officials if the characters of the TV show would consider coming to Fostoria and putting on a show at the State Theatre. They agreed. Mitchell called on the merchants to round up some help, pointing out that the appearance of Captain Cotton and Salty would attract people to town and serve as a stimulant. Most of the merchants agreed to put in lines in their ads, “Don’t Miss Captain Cotton and Salty in Person at the State Theatre Wednesday (which happened to be a school holiday) .” The merchants also footed the bill for the stars from WSPD. In Mitchell’s words, the results were terrific. He filled the State — 700 young Coptain Cotton and Salty, characters on a program for the young folk broadcast over television station WSPD at Toledo, greet some of the 1,000 youngsters who attended a stage show they put on at the State and Civic theatres (p us ten cartoons and gifts) in Fostoria, Ohio. sters — then opened the Armstrong weekend house, the Civic, for another 300. The ten cartoons and the TV stars were rotated between the two theatres. After each show, photos, candy and bubble gum were passed out to the kids. Mitchell is looking forward to another big show. Television Personality Appears at Theatres Adam Goelz, who won Boxoffice Showmandiser Citations while advertising manager for Long Theatres of Freeport, Tex., then as manager of the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore and finally at Frankfort, Ind., for the Alliance circuit, now is general manager and film buyer for Wilson Theatres, which has ten theatres in the towns of Gettysburg, Ebensburg, Cresson, South Fork, Tyrone, Waynesboro, Altoona, State College and Hollidaysburg, Pa. He moved to the Wilson post from General Drive-In Corp. at the first of the year. His job generally is to cut operation costs and set up patronage via promotions. Among the managers he mentions for effective promotions are James Glass of the Rivoli in Ebensburg; Ronald Ashcroft, Wilson at Tyrone, and Robert Hambright of the Blair in Hollidaysburg. A television tieup — with station WFBG in Altoona — has been particularly effective in most of the Wilson small-town situations. Sy Seaweed, who portrays an Old Salt type of character on WFBK, was persuaded of the benefits of personal appearances on the theatre stages at kiddy shows. Naturally, he plugs his theatre trips on his TV program, with mention of accompanying cartoons on the screen and giveaways. Goelz and his staffers also have worked out a deal with the Hagg Dairy Co. of Tyrone for sponsoring five cartoon shows with a bike giveaway, promoted from the Western Auto Store. Proof for Merchants To provide ammunition with which to sell merchants in Boulder, Colo., Les Newkirk prepared a three-page brochure titled “Proof ! What Merchants Can Derive From Sponsored Kiddy Shows.” Letters from local industries and ad agencies, lauding Newkirk’s activities, and photos of block long lines, make his point splendidly. Small town theatres in the surrounding area have benefitted from the personal appearances of Sy Seaweed, who has a show on television station WFBG at Altoona, Pa. Nebraska Theatre Tries Family Bonus Night With midweek grosses down at the Silver Hill Theatre in Oshkosh, Neb., Howard and Doreen Jensen did some figuring, a good habit anytime. They concluded the thing to do was to offer some sort of inducement to their rural patronage, and they came up with Family Bonus Night to get Mom and Dad and all the kids going to the theatre. All during March the Silver Hall featured the Family Bonus Night on the midweek change. The entire family, regardless of size, was admitted for the price of two adult tickets. The Jensens booked special family type pictures for these showings, and used newspapers and special throwaway cards to advertise the promotion. The Jensens, veterans in the field of exhibition, feel that moviegoing as a family unit has been forgotten with a resulting decline in grosses. The teenage son and daughter attend regularly but Dad and Mother stay at home. A Mink Show for 'Mink' At West Springfield, Mass., Murray Lipson, Majestic Theatre, staged a fashion show, with local models wearing minks from a Springfield furrier, on the first two nights of “Make Mine Mink.” Local personality Ruth Mason Barger provided commentary. BOXOFFICE Showmandiser : : May 15, 1961 — 77 — 1