Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1940)

PRACTICAL IDEAS BY PRACTICAL SHOWMEN Sclli ma Tieup and Stunt for "Lucky Partners" Columbus, Ohio — A tieup with Bond’s Clothing on baseball games and the distribution of numbered tickets, which if matched, entitled their holders to a free admission, were two unique features of the exploitation for “Lucky Partners,” launched by RKO publicist Johnnie Barcroft at the Palace. In the tieup with Bond’s, 1,000 heralds were distributed, one side advertising the picture and playdates and the other listing the baseball schedule of the National, the American and the American Ass’n leagues on the day the film opened. Handbill recipients were invited to pick the winning teams, indicating their choice by a mark in a square opposite the team’s name; sign the handbill, and mail it to Bond’s sports commentator at a local radio station, or to the store. The 15 contestants having the most correct predictions received guest tickets to the show. Plugs on Bond’s spwrts broadcast were part of the tieup. On the numbered ticket stunt, two sets of tickets were printed, each numbered from 1 to 500. These were distributed around town by members of the staff. Copy on the ticket instructed the holder to bring the ticket to the theatre at 8:00 p. m. on the Friday evening on which the picture opened and match tickets. Two holding the same ticket were “Lucky Partners” and would be admitted free. Of the potential 500 couples, only four were able to match tickets, and pictures taken of one such couple entering the theatre landed in the daily. Plane Ballys “Boom Town" Wildwood, N. J. — An airplane towed a large “Boom Town” trailer as part of W. C. Hunt jr.’s campaign at the Casino. Glass-Brick Billboard — A glass brick railing in the foyer of the Blatt Bros’ Liberty at Mercer, Pa., was utilized by Manager Paul Mulheirn with marked effect to ayinounce his coming attraction, “The Fighting 69th.’’ The colored neon tubing behind the glass very sharply brought out the lettering, painted thereon with regular sho-card colors. Alert to Season North Platte, Neb. — Assistant Manager Skinner of the Fox Theatre cashed in on the theme and background of “Tom Brown’s School Days” by tying in with merchants for window displays in which school supplies were exhibited. The windows carried a liberal sprinkling of accessories. Autographed Novels Available New York — Two hundred copies of the novel “Escape,” autographed by Norma Shearer, who stars in the film version, are available to exhibitors for exploitation purposes. SATURDAY’S CONTEST SCHEDULE NATIONAL Q Chicago at Cinti. O □ St. Louis at Pitsbg □ Q Phila. at Boston □ Q N. Y. at Brooklyn □ AUGUST 31, 1940 AMERICAN □ Wash, at N. Y. □ Q Boston at Phila. Q Q Cleve. at Chicago □ Q Detroit at St. L. Q AMERICAN ASS'N □ Toledo at Cols. □ □ St. Paul at Minn. □ □ K. C. at Milw'kee □ □ Louisville at Ind. □ Spells Radio Time for Passes — A stunt frequently used by Johnnie Barcroft, RKO publicist in Columbus, Ohio, to tie in with the sponsor of sports broadcasts, for plugs on the air. This above-pictured schedule (kept current with playdate) is printed on the bottom of a herald which advertises the picture on one side and the cooperating firm (the one that sponsors the sports broadcast) on the other. Lines for the reader’s signature and address are provided just below the schedule. The reader is invited to mark the teams he thinks will be the winners. He mails his guesses to the cooperating store and the first 10 or 15 whose predictions prove most accurate get a pass to the show. The show gets plugs on the air, and the store pays for the handbills. NUGGETS ^ANDID camera pictures of women, enlarged and mounted in the lobby, and inviting their subjects to identify themselves for a free ticket, constituted an effective ballyhoo on “Four Wives” for A. E. Ableson’s Lake in Devils Lake, N. D. Letters inviting to meet the greatest “joiner” of them all — William Powell in “/ Love You Again,” — were mailed members of the Rotary Club, the Elks, etc., by Walter Norris of the Regent at Grand Rapids, Mich. • A radio stunt, with random telephone numbers being broadcast and their subscribers invited to call at the theatre for guest tickets, was one of the features of the “Pride and Prejudice” campaign put over by Tom Nanifin of the Strand, Binghamton, N. Y. • Manager Mickey Gross of the Orpheum, Deliver, Colo., tied in with the Merchants Biscuit Co. for his campaign on “Lucky Partners” and cashed in on the name of one of the co-stars. Ginger Rogers. Gross obtained 10,000 ginger snaps from the concern and distributed them in bags with catchlines hooked in with the picture. They were handed out on the streets by pretty girls. • Tying up with the city’s safety campaign, the Palace management at Columbus, Ohio, arranged for a wrecked truck, guarded by police, to be planted in front of the house. Banners plugged “They Drive by Night.” • Manager Chet Miller of the Fox Theatre, Sterling, Colo., distributed a large quantity of “Lucky Partners” cards to students, a certain number of them bearing duplicate numbers, and stating that if the student found his or her “Lucky Partner” both would be admitted free to the showing. • Gummed teaser strips, carrying heads of the picture’s four stars and reading, “Watch for ‘Boom Town’,” were used on back windows of 100 private automobiles in Sam Gilman’s advance campaign for the showing at Loew’s in Dayton. (< Free Admission Stunt Doubles Business Raton, N. M. — A stunt that, despite its free pass element, doubled business for Manager Tom Ward of the El Raton Theatre, was the inviting of all families with four sons to attend, free of charge, the showing of “Four Sons" at the theatre. The town, which has only a population of 6,000, turned up with 53 four-son families, and the stunt made the front page of the local daily (which was invited to be co-host) twice in succession. 124 BOXOFFICE : : September 14, 1940