Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1948)

■ . I CHESTER FRIEDMAN EDITdR HUGH E. Associate Editor FRAZE PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR SELLING SEATS BY PR ACTICAL SHOWMEN ) A1 Hatoff Oral Ledbetter Arthur Turner J. A. Davidson Two Awards Won by Pierce McCoy In Bonus Selections for July A double Bonus, $20 and a Citation of Honor were awarded to Pierce McCoy, city manager for the Augusta Amusement Co., Augusta, Ga., for outstanding promotion during July. McCoy developed a Lucky Bucks auction. The promotion reached such gigantic proportions that McCoy was cited in the Ballyhoo and General Tieup classifications. A1 Hatoff, manager of the Ritz, Brooklyn, received a Bonus of $10 and a Citation of Honor for an Original Idea in which he used old trailers he found in the theatre as the basis of a unique contest to build business one day each week. The Institutional Bonus went to Lou Marcks, manager of the Strand, Delaware, Ohio. Marcks accomplished a double coupe by arousing a citywide demonstration in honor of the army and air force recruiting drive, which also was of direct boxoffice benefit in the exploitation of “Thunderbolt.” Arthur Turner, manager of the Heilig The atre, Eugene, Ore., received a $10 Bonus and Citation for the excellency of his theatre fronts. Two Canadians shared the Bonus money. J. A. Davidson, manager of the Hume Theatre, Burlington, Ont., took first honors in the Window Display category and Ernie Warren, manager of the Elgin, Ottawa, submitted the most original and attractive Display Ad. Fred Perry, hard-hitting showman with the Schine circuit, who manages the Liberty at Cumberland, Md., reached the ranks of Bonus recipients by virtue of his outstanding tieups for Co-op newspaper ads. Rudy Koutnik, manager of the Palace, Milwaukee, scored top honors with several outstanding Lobby Displays, submitted during July. The Bonus for the best program submitted during the month was awarded to Oral Ledbetter, manager of the Howard Theatre, Monon, Ind. McCoy won Bonuses previously in August and November 1947. Fred Perry Ernie Warren Pierce McCoy Rudy Koutnik Lou Marcks ) owmen Ed Kidwell’s letter from Roswell, N. M., where he is city manager for TEI, breaks a long interlude. Because we used to hear from Kidwell regularly and are familiar with his promotional and executive capabilities, we are pleased and happy to learn that his theatres will again be represented in this section. Because of his long-established reputation in the southwest, as a showman, and especially because we know him to be a person of sincerity and integrity, we are proud and flattered by the comments in his letter, excerpts of which follow: “I am very conscious of the excellent results obtained by having the managers study the Showmandiser section of BOX OFFICE religiously. These fellows are fairly new to the business and the reading of this particular section of the magazine is a ‘must’ for them. “I know the fine results because I have watched with interest the progress of Bob Hynes while he was manager for me in Oklahoma City. As you probably know, changes have taken place since that time. Hynes was able to make a good connection with the Durwood interests in St. Joseph, Mo., primarily because of his activities that were published in the Showmandiser. “That is not necessarily my purpose in seeing that these reports will come in to you from Roswell hereafter, but it will give a sense of added importance to their own work, when our men here are able to see their campaigns reprinted in such a magazine as BOXOFFICE.” QUedie^ ^>Ue<Lmatt BOXOFFICE Showmandiser t : August 7, 1948 —605— 31