Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1962)

Edwards Appliances, Annex Building The Edwards department store in Syracuse, N.Y., made potent use of a "Bon Voyage" tieup, which played at the Eckel Theatre there during the peak of the vacation season. The title, with mention of the stars, theatre and playdate appeared in several ads, merchandising women's dresses. Bon Voyage perfumes and as above, television sets. The above illustration is a part of a three-quarter page od. Note how effective the TV screen insert is. Try These Two Ideas HOLIDAY APPRISES FOLLOWERS OF FINE MUSIC LOVERS OF THE LYRIC DRAMA DEVOTEES OF OPERETTA and ENERGETIC ENTHUSIASTS of ENJOYABLE ENTERTAINMENT EVERYWHERE THAT A WONDERFUL TREAT AWAITS YOU! 6 WORLD FAMED OPERETTAS ESPECIALLY SELECTED from MOM’S TREASURY of FABULOUS FILMS! Nov. 14 MERRY WIDOW Dec. S CHOCOLATE Nov. 11 GREAT WALTZ Nov II SWEETHEARTS GOLDEN WEST _ Dec. 14 ROSE MARIE STARTING THIS WEEK, EACH WED. ONE NIGHT ONLY at 7 & 9 PM VERY EASY TO REACH HOLIDAY THEATRE at 3400 SW 9fh Bev Mahon, owner of the Holiday Theatre at Des Moines, put originality and showmanship into a twocolumn newspaper ad announcing the opening of the MGM Golden Operetta series at his theatre. Mahon's ads have a quality of reaching out and "talking" to potential patrons. The above was no exception. In addition, the scheduled dates for the entire series were included. Blind Service Aid Warms 'Miracle' Campaign (Continued from preceding page) some vision, and he invited all who wished to come to the opening of “The Miracle Worker.” Twenty of them did. When he learned that Patty Duke was scheduled to appear at the Plaza, Stokes determined to do it in real Hollywood manner. He called the local radio station, which agreed to do a remote control broadcast: the Long Island Press and the Advance scheduled coverage; the local chief of police agreed to supply 12 special policemen for the welcoming escort, and the firehouse agreed to set up its large rescue wagon with eight searchlights on the sidewalk in front of the theatre. The front area was cordoned off with rope and gaily colored streamers. The special police formed a guard of honor. 'The township supervisor acted as host, while Bettiger of the Brooklyn Deaf-Blind Service brought Bob Smithdas to the theatre to meet Miss Duke. On the big night, there were searchlights piercing the sky, flashlights popping and policemen saluting. In the lobby Miss Duke was presented a bouquet: she was photographed talking (by hand) with Smithdas, and then to the stage, where she was interviewed about the making of “The Miracle Worker” by Bob Kennedy, radio-television emcee. Routine promotion included an “Identify the Child Star” contest in a “Miracle Worker” leaflet printed with a sponsor. Five thousand were inserted in the regular theatre program, and the local Advance also ran the contest. Representatives from women’s organizations were invited to attend the opening night as guests for word-of-mouth promotion. During the second week, the Lions Club was conducting its annual White Cane Week solicitation. Stokes got them to set up a booth in the Plaza lobby, which was good for a photo and story in the local paper. “The Miracle Worker” played three weeks at the Plaza. Columnist Explains Movie Party Benefits E. B. Radcliffe, Morning Enquirer movie reviewer at Cincinnati, devoted his column one day recently to “movie party fund raising.” A woman, telling him of the problems of raising money for charitable organizations, was not aware of the possibilities of a “movie party.” Radcliffe, thinking there might be others lacking the information, wrote an explicit article on the procedure and the advantages gained by charitable organizations through the “theatre party fund raising plan.” The latest to take advantage of this plan was a veterans organization which took over the Grand Theatre for a showing of “The Longest Day,” on Pearl Harbor Day. 'Gigot' Discount at Stores Sperie P. Perakos made a tieup with several dozen First National supermarkets in Hartford, Conn., for “Gigot,” offering a 25 per cent discount on Elm 'Theatre tickets to persons presenting coupons distributed at all First National checkout counters. Charles Johnson of the Majestic 'Theatre in Brownsville, Tex., had his ushers dressed in prison stripes to create attention for “Bird Man of Alcatraz.” Special UA Radio-TV Kit Put Out on Taras Bulba' A special radio and television publicity kit prepared at a cost of more than $55,000 has been sent to all United Artists fieldmen for local distribution in behalf of the nationwide Christmas week opening of “Taras Bulba.” The kit is the result of a ninemonth survey taken by producer Harold Hecht in which he discovered a “shocking lack of motion picture material being given newscasters, disc jockeys, program directors and featured personalities” on local level radio and television. The kit contains: For television, specially mounted 11x14 matte finish stills with lively captions describing the action of the movie. For radio, a series of tight, well-written features ranging from ten-second blurbs to anecdotes, to longer stories on the history behind the making of “Taras Bulba.” An exclusive feature of the kit, also a result of the survey, is a four-minute, black and white 16mm featurette showing the behind-the-scenes details of how “Taras Bulba” was made with intimate pictures of the stars at work and at ease behind the camera. The reel is the distillation of the 15minute color featurette shown by Hecht on a recent ABC-TV Sunday night movie, which was received with much critical and public approbation. Ad in 1911 Stresses Clean Theatre, Clean Equipment DREAMLAND Story City, Iowa Since coming to Story City, thousands of visitors have honored us with their presence, and we invite other thousands to come and be entertained. Our machines and equipment are the best money can buy, and our reputation stands behind our promise for good, clean entertainment. Our music is surpassed by no house (big or little) in the country. "We cool your brains in summer and warm your heart in winter." Open every evening except Sunday. Two shows each night— Saturday, three will be given — the first commencing at 8 o'clock. Spend a pleasant hour with us. No rowdyism tolerated. The above theatre ad ran June 20, 1911 in a brochure advertising the Randall orchestra which was appearing in Story City on that date. “My, how this business has changed!” commented Richard K. Peterson, present theatre manager at Story City, la., who submitted the old ad which “might bring chuckles to Boxoffice readers.” The long-gone Dreamland was owned by Iver A. Egenes, who in 1913 moved across the street to the present Story Theatre where he remained imtil 1917 when he went into the insurance business. Egenes, who still is active in the insurance agency, found the old Dreamland ad while cleaning out his attic recently. Dress Suit Ballyhoo A tall young man in full dress suit passed out card-sized slips to the females in the lobby of Loew’s State in Houston. The copy: “Write your congressman today! There must be a law passed now guaranteeing every married man in America — A Boys’ Night Out — every week in the year! . . . Unto we get the law passed, you can have loads of fun with MGM’s new hit, ‘Boys’ Night Out,’ starring, etc.” 2 — 206 — BOXOFFICE Showmandiser ; : Dec. 24, 1962 ike r a oi ?ed