Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1962)

• ADLINES & EXPLOITIPS • ALPHABETICAL INDEX • EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY • SHORTS RELEASE CHARI • FEATURE REVIEW DIGEST • FEATURE RELEASE CHART • SHORT SUBJECT REVIEWS • REVIEWS OF FEATURES • SHOWMANDISING IDEAS THE GUIDE TO Gets Proclamation PRESELLING THE PICTURE Taras Bulba' Being Given Intensive Buildup by UA for Christmas Start Fred Goldberg, United Artists vice-president, describes the long-range campaign being conducted for "Taras Bulba," the Harold Hecht epic. Goldberg, in front of a wall covered with major publicity breaks for the Christmas attraction, points to basic art employed in preselling feature starring Tony Curtis, Yul Brynner and Christine Kaufmann. On Sandusky 'Mink' Since Doris Day plays the part of a girl from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, in “That Touch of Mink,” P. W. Stagger of the Star Theatre in that city started his promotion early, about three weeks before opening, with a lobby display and word of mouth. He ordered extra one-sheets and put them in the windows of the town’s leading supermarkets, adding this copy in big red letters: “Is Doris Day Really From Upper Sandusky, Ohio? She Says She Is!” A puzzle contest, with passes to the first ten winners, was planted in the newspaper. Stagger called on the mayor and got him to proclaim the week of “That Touch of Mink” as Doris Day Week in Upper Sandusky. The mayor went along wholeheartedly, giving the film and Doris Day lavish plugs. The proclamation was printed in the local newspaper on the day before opening. All newspaper ads carried copy such as Stagger used on the one-sheets, varied sometimes to “Doris Day says she’s from Upper Sandusky. Is she?” Stagger ordered the free ad and puzzle mats from Universal, also the 8x10 stills. The latter were displayed on a 40x60 board out front. He reports that he saw an “awful lot of our patrons in the theatre for this picture whom I have not noticed in a long time.” French Heroine and Star Of 'Longest Day' on Tour A dramatic reunion took place in San Francisco when Mme. Leonard Gille, the former Jeannie Boitard, a heroine of the French Resistance in World War I, met an American flyer she rescued when he was shot down during the Normandy invasion. The flyer, former Staff Sgt. William D. Edwards, now a Sacramento businessman, was one of the 68 men she saved through her Underground escape route. Had she been caught she would have faced a firing squad immediately. The meeting took place at a luncheon honoring Madame Gille given by French consulate general Pierre Basdevant in the Mark Hopkins Hotel. His guests included leaders of the armed forces, representatives of the Allied consulates, heads of French groups and San Francisco social leaders. Also at the luncheon was Irina Demich, the young French star who portrays the role of Madame Gille in “The Longest Day,” which was to open at the Alexandria Theatre. Madame Gille and Miss Demich stopped at seven key cities on their tour. A major preselling campaign being conducted by United Artists for the Christmas release of “Taras Bulba” has moved into high gear. The setup in advance publicity was detailed at a tradepress conference in the UA home office in New York City at the first of the month by Fred Goldberg, UA vicepresident in charge of advertising, exploitation and publicity. The top-magnitude promotion started the first of the year. Goldberg displayed the national and international breaks which the picture had received in the global press and then showed a two-color two-sheet poster which was put up throughout the country starting with October. The catchline of the poster is: “Now — Add a Motion Picture to the Wonders of the World.” In New York alone, the posters will be seen in approximately 1,000 locations. Ten-second television spots will start on November 28 and, two weeks later, halfpage color ads will appear in the leading Sunday newspaper comic sections. Two trailers, running about four minutes each, will be available to theatres starting on October 15. Radio will be used extensively and an album of the sound track has been prepared. Goldberg explained that leading photographers had gone to the location shooting in Argentina and that their work had appeared in leading magazines. It is expected that Tony Curtis, Christine Kaufmann and Yul Brynner will make personal appearance tours on behalf of the picture, as well as J. Lee Thompson, the director. Jim Denton, one of the photographers, already has been touring the country to ballyhoo the production. Goldberg said that National Screen Service was providing some excellent accessories. “Taras Bulba” was produced at a cost of about $7,000,000 and will have a running time of two hours and 15 minutes. Radio time will be devoted to the music from the Franz Waxman score, beginning six weeks before the release and extending right up to the release dates. BOXOFFICE Showmandiser :: Oct. 15, 1962 — 165 — 1