Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1962)

aiI5v scoiy ADLINES & EXPLOITIPS ALPHABETICAL INDEX EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY FEATURE RELEASE CHART FEATURE REVIEW DIGEST SHORTS RELEASE CHARI SHORT SUBJECT REVIEWS REVIEWS OF FEATURES SHOWMANDISING IDEAS THE GUIDE TO BETTER BOOKING AND BUSINESS-BUILDING Twitching Coffin Parlays a Slight Extra Expense Into Big Boxoffice Maximum promotion within bugetairy limits is a must at Florida State Theatres flagship Florida Theatre in downtown Jacksonville. Calmly, with master proficiency, giving each film the biggest possible buildup week after week at this huge indoor operation is Walt Meier. His talent for parlaying his exploitation money into big retm-ns at the boxoffice and concessions stand is illustrated by an out-fTOnt stunt for “The Premature Burial.” To shock the attention of the many thousands of pedestrians and motorists who pass the Florida each day, he used not one but two black caskets in sidewalk displays, in advance and during the run. The first one was mounted on a shoulderhigh platform draped with black velvet. jLa Concealed under the platform, the casket '88/ was mounted on springs geared to a hidden electric motor, causing the casket to writhe and twitch at intervals as though a frantic, living body were inside the sealed coffin. Large brass handles, supplied by the KeyMcCabe fimeral home, clinked forebodingly as the casket moved, and the voice of Ray Milland came from a taperecorder inside the casket predicting dire misfortunes in a hollow, sepulchral tone which captured much of Edgar Allan Poe’s eerie word magic. The second black casket was situated on a lower platform and equipped with a large peephole facing an inner mirror which reflected the image of a funeral sign stating: “It could happen to you, the horrible torments of being buried alive. Guard your life well by seeing ‘The Premature Burial’.” Needless to say, the caskets and their trappings and messages whetted the desires of all mystery lovers to see the pictiire. Meier supplemented his on-the-spot exploitation with 100 window cards in prominent downtown and suburban locations, two 24-sheets, a huge banner strung across Forsyth street, and newspaper, radio and TV campaigns. Patrons Try Black Box lin^ In Lobby for Size! ^ “The Premature Burial” was booked for 14 days at the Center Theatre in Corpus Christi, Tex., where A1 Marsden jr., is manager. Two weeks in advance he set up a lobby display consisting of a black coffin, two potted plants borrowed from a florist, with an usher dressed in funeral black standing close by. To intensify the weird effect, a variation of dark green and blue lights were concentrated on the display. The display was not for viewing only. Patrons were asked to take their measurements for coffin size. Anyone who fitted the lobby coffin perfectly was offered $10 . . . in pennies! People of all ages tried the coffin for size, since all who had the nerve to he for a second in the “box of black death” were given passes. Contributing substantially to a Friday the 13th midnight showing of “Burial” was a twoweek promotion by Jimmy Dell on his deejay program over KEYS, broadcast from 6 to 8 p. m. daily. The coffin was handmade by employes at the Center, giving everyone a chance to get into the act, so to speak, and hold down the cost. Groaning Corpse Adds Life to Front Display If Edgar Allan Poe were alive, Leon Doherty might qualify as his agent. Doherty is manager of the Paramount Theatre in Des Moines, where “Premature Burial” recently played. Poe would have loved Leon’s promotional gloom — and ah of the fuss it caused. For a week prior to the opening, the theatre manager had a most realistic “burial” in the lobby. Then, on opening day, “Digger” Doherty moved the grave with its “talking corpse” out to the sidewalk. The Paramount is located in the heart of Des Moines’ downtown loop, and the eerie scene and “voice from the grave” caused more than a few shivers and shocks to passersby. Doherty secured a life-like manikin, placed him in a coffin and laid him to rest in a grassy plot — and then gave him a voice. The voice actually was Ray Milland’s, moaning, “No! No! I am not dead!” Doherty taped the voice from the film soundtrack and then played the continuous tape from a recorder hidden inside the casket. Earlier, the theatre manager had two yoimg men, dressed as morticians carry a casket through the downtown area ballyhooing the coming movie. The actual planned promotion brought about a lot of unplanned, free radio advertising. The use of the grave as a gimmick was the main topic of conversation Corpus Christi, Tex., people attending the Center Theatre were invited to take their measurements for coffin size by getting into one displayed in the lobby. Anyone who fitted it perfectly was offered $10 ... in pennies! Weird dark green and blue lights played on the display, depicted above. Leon Doherty, manager of the Tri-States Paramount Theatre in Des Moines, stopped traffic with this realistic sidewalk promotion for "Premature Burial." A tape-recorder hidden inside the coffin gave the effect of a moaning voice from the grave. on Party Line, a late evening local soapbox radio show where listeners call in and spout off on the air. Scores of witnesses tJO the “sidewalk burial” aired their pro and con views. Thus, hundreds who had not seen the stimt were made aware of it. One thing was certain. The groaning corpse “livened” up things for a day — and part of a night — and there was not much doubt about what was playing at the Paramoimt. BOXOFFICE Showmcmdiser : : June 4, 1962 89 1