Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1938)

PRACTICAL IDEAS BY PRACTICAL SHOWMEN JfeUlnj \at5 Shorts Find Place ”in the Sun ” In a Cleveland Library Exhibit NUGGETS . — — — BOOST for the reissue of RKO’s “Little Women” was given by Alfred A. Knopf & Co., publishers of the book by Louisa Alcott, who have notified their dealers of the summer playing time of the picture and provided tieup literature. • The medical school of the Western Reserve University cooperated handsomely in an exhibit for M-G-M's ‘‘Yellow Jack.” Actual instruments used in the study of the disease were placed on exhibit in the Cleveland Public Library. Stunt was arranged by C. C. Deardourff, M-G-M exploiteer, and the publicity director of the library. • For “Three Comrades,” H. Ferguson, manager of the Liberty, Malden, Mo., arranged a tieup with the local gas stations who each day posted three license numbers. Lucky drivers received five gallons of gas free with every five gallons purchased. • A special section of the seats in the Palace, Calgary, Canada, were remodeled in order that a crippled boy might see “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” At the request of the Red Cross, Manager Peter Egan constructed a special reclining platform for the paralyzed 12-yearold lad who could not get off his back, so he could see the film. • Credit W. S. Caldwell, manager of Loew’s Valentine, Toledo, O., with a fine campaign on M-G-M’s “Three Comrades.” Every angle was utilized. Some 3,000 Screen Romances memo books distributed by the cashier with theatre and playdate copy on back cover made a big hit with the ladies. • Capitalizing the craze for the Shag and Big Apple, the Loew’s theatres are having lots of fun staging dance contests between students of local high schools. Championship silver loving cups go to the winner. • RKO’s sales promotion department under the guidance of Leon J. Bamberger has another interesting mailing piece on “Mother Carey’s Chickens” which, in a teaser envelope, was mailed to some 9,500 exhibitors, circuit officials and house managers throughout the United States, Canada, England and Australia. • Patrons of the Iris and Oliver theatres in Detroit keep their product announcements, because Operator Al Ruttenberg prints them on back of pictures of popular film stars. Cleveland — Fred Meyer, head of the publicity department of the Cleveland Public Library, has inaugurated a new kind of tieup with the motion picture industry, designed to arouse more critical interest and consciousness of short subjects on the screen and to boost the circulation of books relating to subject material used in making short subjects. “Short Subjects, What They Are and How They Are Made” is the title of the exhibit now being shown on two corridors of the Main Public Library to encourage advance reading about the type of material that will form the subjects for next season’s crop of short films. Several major companies have sent representative material for this display. Among things shown are camera crews, writers, producers and directors prominent in the short subject field. The display will run four weeks. From Walt Disney have come 20 photographs explaining, in detail, how “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was produced. The complete story even shows how girls mix paint in the chemical laboratory. “March of Time” is represented with a spiral-bound leaflet showing the photography, cutting, editing and final print of a current issue. Shown, also, is how ma Quick Arrow Tieup lor Michigan Cooperative Detroit — A tieup with Quick Arrow Washing Powder Co. has been arranged by Cooperative Theatres of Michigan. Tops of the powder boxes are accepted for five cents in value at the boxoffices of cooperating theatres. The idea is proving especially attractive to younger patrons, with the youngsters influencing their mothers to use the Quick Arrow product, which is backed by poster displays in the participating theatres’ lobbies. Dublin, Ga„ Cleans Up For " Chicago " Playdate Dublin, Ga. — A “Clean Up” week invaded this city when 20th-Fox’s “In Old Chicago” played at Rose Theatre. The civic drive followed a brainchild of R. H. “Bob” Hightower, who promptly sold the mayor on the idea. Newspapers cooperated and a parade was arranged, including the police chief, fire trucks, school band and cars of the city’s sanitation system. terial for the “March of Time” on the air is assembled and presented to the radio audience. From “March of Time,” too, is a bound volume entitled, “Four Hours a Year,” a picture book story of Time Inc.’s third major publishing venture of “March of Time.” Features in this book are news shots, including candid camera clips of world personalities. Of special interest are photographs “From Time’s Waste Basket”— photographs never used. Films from Mentone, released through Universal, show “off the set shots” on how a short subject is made. Universal has supplied pictures showing how a cartoon is assembled, featuring Miss Laverne Harding, reputedly the only feminine cartoon animator in the world. Columbia sent photographs featuring short subject stars, directors, producers and writers. Almost every division of the library is represented in the suggested reading matter in connection with short subjects. Every phase of shorts has been covered, with headlines calling attention to particular types such as biography, marriage, education, sports, science, etc. Looking ahead to the 1938-39 season, three new cartoon personalities are introduced to the public in the display. They are “Pinocchio,” “Bambu” and “Ferdinand the Bull.” Toy Canaries Plug Attractions New Haven — Two thousand toy canaries perched on a short handle proclaimed “Poli Theatre, Hit After Hit, Week After Week.” CUT CITY WATER BILLS 98% Cool and Re-circulate Air Conditioning or Refrigeration System Water with this All-Steel Marley Water Cooling Unit. Permits repeated reuse of city water with minimum evaporation loss. Operates quietly; keeps all moisture within the unit. Designs for indoor and outdoor service. Easy to install; inexpensive to operate. Prompt delivery. Write for full details. 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