Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

HELPFUL IDEAS ON NEW FILMS STATE FAIR Creative Showman Campaign Sells Elvis as Actor and Humor in Dream' Elvis Presley’s vocal proficiency is known wherever there’s a record player or radio — and that’s nearly everywhere in the land — even by millions who don’t like his style, and he’s a real actor, too. George Hunter, city manager for the Fox Midwest circuit at Springfield, Mo., went away from a tradescreening of “Follow That Dream” enthused by Elvis’ acting talent, and he determined he would try to put this feeling across to the general public in promoting this yet-to-be-released film. Hunter was one of the 11 master showmen who developed selling programs during a “Creative Showmanship” session at the recent Show-A-Rama convention of the United Theatre Owners of the Heart of America in Kansas City. He figured that if he could sell “Follow That Dream” to people who don’t go for Elvis as a gyrating vocalist broader patronage would result. To accomplish this. Hunter outlined the following promotion for the several hundred convention showmen: Select five women who have never seen an Elvis Presley picture, such as the president of the Springfield Council of Church Women, and screen the picture for them. Have newspapermen there to interview the five on their reactions. His “Creative Showmanship” campaign emphasized humorous aspects of the story: The part where one of the youngsters in the film divides his Butterfinger candy bar among his pals. The Chick Sale house references in the hillbilly drama. This, of course, in addition to emphasis on Presley the singer. THE HORIZONTAL LIEUTENANT Armed with only a few black-and-white stills, an appreciative memory and a world of enthusiasm, Shelby Bourne, Commonwealth city manager in Columbia, Mo., worked up a teaser campaign on the new service comedy, “The Horizontal Lieutenant.” Remembering the Jim HuttonPaula Prentiss popularity which has carried them to stardom in 14 months, Bourne concentrated on the catch phrase “Tall Tickle Team” as an eyecatcher and designed long, skinny ads with cute gag-lines. Learning that this film is to Pepsi — in a somewhat lesser degree — what “One, Two, Three” was to Coke, Bourne worked up a fleetwide tiein with the local Pepsi bottler to use large standards both for top and back of each delivery truck. He also tipped his exhibitor audience to a nationwide tieup with IGA stores, to all sorts of possible armed forces angles, and to the potential of the title song which, he predicts, has sufficient beat and catchlines to make it big on jukeboxes everywhere. MGM is making a recording of this tune available to every sorority and fraternity house in the country. PREMATURE BURIAL Eddie Forester, advertising manager for Frontier Theatres, Dallas. “This is a 6well spooker with a good cast, the kind to go out and have fun with. Promote it with cobwebs, coffins, graves, frozen blood — all the tingling, screamy stunts you can think of,” said this veteran showman as he outlined several stunts. The first was a stage skit to introduce the trailer, designed to vary the trailer routine and create a spooky atmosphere. With lights low, have two ushers in undertaker clothes carry a coffin across the stage, through a cloud of vapor like a ghostly mist in a graveyard. The vapor comes from dry ice. Let someone scream. It’ll startle the audience. Then start the trailer. Lobby display. Fix up a grave with arm and hand sticking up from the “earth.” The arm and hand can be borrowed from some merchant who has an old manikin. Put speaker underneath and play through it, “Help! Help! I’m buried alive,” from the AIP record. Have tree in grave, with cobwebs (angel’s hair like that used at Christmas time). Transfer grave out front during run with two staffers for crowd stopper. Also put a can of antifreeze on a stand with three hypodermic needles, and sign saying, “Get an injection of antifreeze to prevent frozen blood when you see, etc.” A small hypodermic needle would be, “For Guys and Gals Who’re Just a Little Bit Cowards”; the middle one, “Use This If You Scare Easy,” and the big one (horse size) “All Scaredy-Cats Take This.” The important thing is make the lines humorous. Vary the lone girl alone at midnight screening. Put the girl in a coffin. Have local deejay hide a mike in it, too. Fix it so the girl screams good for radio broadcast. When “Premature Burial” opens, have cashier wear death mask; dress up the boxoffice with cobwebs, ghost heads, etc. Willis Shaffer, Fox Midwest city manager in Hutchinson, Kas., told his exhibitor audience that 20thFox had flown him to New York City for a special screening of “State Fair.” He feared that he might feel some “subliminal” obligation to praise the picture, but his fears all melted away, Shaffer said, after about five minutes of viewing this new version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein entertainment. Up-todate in every department, the new color and Cinemascope picture has names — big, new and old — has sports car racing, has the bigness of Texas as a background and has several brand-new Richard Rodgers songs. “In every way,” Shaffer said, “this presents America’s best face to the world.” Too, it has plenty to offer all age groups, he added, making it not only family-type entertainment, but real entertainment for families. Shaffer asserted the film unrolled endless exploitation possibilities. The return of Alice Faye after a 15-year hiatus, the introduction of Ann-Margret as a stunning singing and dancing actress, the wide range of farm, livestock and homemaking tieups, contests and stunts — all these things should “be catnip to the sleeping tiger of showmanship in every theatreman.” Doris D-Day on Air Big Splurge for 'Lover' The Schine circuit’s publicity department’s Timely Tips tells of a “D-Day” promotion which Lou Hart of the Auburn (N.Y.) Theatre and Dewey Van Scoy of the Glove Theatre in Gloversville, N.Y., set up with their local radio stations. At Auburn, Hart relates the tieup was made with WAUB, whereby deejays started teaser announcements February 24 to the effect that D-Day (Doris Day) would come on March 2, the day of the opening of “Lover Come Back” at the Auburn Theatre. The teasers continued till the 2nd, when the entire broadcasting schedule was given over to Doris Day music. Hart backed the promotion with a couple of teaser ads in the newspaper reading, “Friday Is D-Day Over WAUB,” etc. Hart reports that this was the first time he has been able to get a radio station to devote its entire broadcasting schedule to a promotion. Stress His Baby-Sitting! Convinced that mothers bound for downtown shopping on Saturdays should be alerted to the availability of a theatre’s “built-in” baby-sitting service, John Scanlon jr., owner-manager of the Strand Theatre in Winsted, Conn., has stepped up his advertising about his matinee programs. The theatre screens a “Little Folks Show” on Saturday, consisting of a children’s feature plus ten or so cartoons. Admission is 25 cents. The Scanlon ads read, “Let Us Watch the Kiddies While You Shop Winsted Knowing They’re in Good Hands!” George Hunter Shelby Bourne Willis Shaffer K nd 4 — 52 — BOXOFFICE Showmcmdiser :: Mar. 26, 1962