Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1940)

PRACTICAL IDEAS BY PRACTICAL SHOWMEN A Six-Weeks' Run in the Lobby — Six weeks in advance of showing, Ed Miller, Hippodrome, Cleveland, manager, designed and set up this huge set piece on “The Sea Hawk” in lobby. C< - ■ Baby Carriage Park An Attraction Albany, N. Y. — Providing parking space lor baby carriages has brought additional business to the Albany, managed by Eddie Selette. Recently Selette has expanded the service by providing a nursery room, with a nurse in attendance, so that parents could see their movies with greater ease, VS ■ — ■ J Quotes Prominent Citizens In Ads on "Ramparts" Keene, N. H. — Advertising the comments of newspaper editors and prominent persons of the town, whom he invited to a special screening of “The Ramparts We Watch” helped make Manager Fred Sharby’s campaign at the Scenic outstandingly successful. Several thousand special heralds were used and numerous tieups made with patriotic organizations and merchants. Sharby personally signed his advertising which quoted the comments of the civic leaders. Ad as Blow-Up New York — Metro is preparing a 20x60 blow-up of its "Lion’s Roar” column that appears as an ad in several magazines. The blow-up is recommended for lobby hangers or for easels in the theatre. Space in Classiiied Spokane, Wash. — Manager A1 Baker of the State Theatre spotted an illustration from “Lucky Partners” at the top of a half-page in the local newspaper’s classified section. The photo was of Ginger Rogers and Ronald Colman holding a key, and the page was headed, “The Key to the Apartment or Home You Want.” Treasure Hunt Promotes "Sea Hawk" in Detroit Detroit — A treasure hunt, put on by United Detroit Theatres’ Michigan in cooperation with the Detroit Times, promoted “The Sea Hawk.” Forty orders for five dollars each were hidden in spots over the downtown district, divided over the three days before opening. A daily treasure map was published in the paper, showing where each order was located, with a general identification of the spot. Finders took the orders to the boxoffice for conversion into cash. SHORT SUBJECT REVIEWS Cavalcade of San Francisco M-G-M (FitzPatrick Traveltalk) 9 Mins. A few scenes of the city, then this subject goes to the San Francisco Fair and shows a spectacle in which are re-enacted highlights from the history of the state with wagon trains, old-time locomotives, automobiles, cowboys and the like. Those who didn’t get to the fair will be interested. Otherwise it is third rate Fitzpatrick. Papa Gets the Bird M-G-M (Technicolor Cartoon) 8 Mins. Run-of-the-mill cartoon fare in which Papa Bear is prevailed upon by Mama Bear to wash Daisy Mae, the canary. He has a high old time trying to catch the bird, aided and abetted by Sonny Bear. Eventually he falls into a well and stays there. It’s for children. The Baron and the Rose (Passing Parade) M-G-M (K126) 11 Mins. An interesting story is well told here. It concerns Baron Steigler who made fine glassware in Colonial Pennsylvania, became rich, lost his money, but is still remembered. It seems in an expansive moment he donated a large piece of property to a church, never asking rental. Before he died he made the rental arrangement — a red rose paid a year’s rent. Very good. Soak the Old (Crime Does Not Pay) M-G-M (P-6) 20 Mins. Racketeers preying on old age pension schemes is the dramatic motivation for this short. It shows how gangsters work their way into the good graces of pension advocates and proceed to pocket donations— until they are found out and cops arrive to break up their racket. It’s done in the usual, mildly exciting manner. Football Thrills of 1939 (Pete Smith) M-G-M (S-113) 10 Mins. Here is a collection of news reel shorts of outstanding moments and plays of last year’s bigtime games, tinted to look like rotogravure, which is not to its advantage, and reviewed by Pete Smith with funny stop-action effects and screwball business on the soimdtrack. The concluding clip shows a player making a long rim while on the soundtrack a steam locomotive gets under way. It’s an excellent subject at the moment to tie in with the opening football season. Scares the Ladies Fredonia, Kas. — Bob Morley of the Whiteway created some eerie atmosphere for his matinee crowd before his run of “Ghost Breakers” by arranging some small portions of gimpowder on the stage, wired to go off when a switch was turned. At the end of the program all the lights in the house went off; the gimpowder went up in flames, and from the wings appeared two wire-strung ghosts, doing a dance, accompanied by the wail of a siren. ft \\ Pitch Coins for "Boom Town" Adrian, Mich. — A unique stunt for “Boom Town" was to place a container on an important intersection with a sign attached stating that Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr wanted local residents to help the Red Cross War Relief Fund. The public was invited to pitch coins, and anyone who succeeded in pitching two consecutive coins into the container was awarded a ducat to the show. The stunt was arranged by H. J. Daley of the Croswell Theatre, aided by Metro exploiteer Bill Bishop. VI— --i/ 66 BOXOFFICE : : September 28, 1940