Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Apr-Sep 1918)

Page Eighteen —— RA TE ER ED 4 I OA HRB t OCT LE PTE OS EN HEE EI POE ES ee Soe eS aN SS SI SPDR IN SA AE A 9 EE VAR: IIE YEN Ee A in LOBBY DISPLAY DEPARTMEN } dais aeerascton Make Your Lobby Work For You! A Little Talk With M. Kashin Who Has Demonstrated His Ability to “Cash In” With His “Show Window.” During a recent conversation with Mr. M. Kashin, who just lately assumed the direction of the Broadway theatre in New York, the writer absorbed considerable logic concerning the successful management of a modern motion picture theatre, but the one Kashin axiom sunk in deep was this: ‘‘No theatre manager can be‘a real suceess who does not consider the exhibition of motion pictures as a profession.’’ And the fact that Kashin started out ten years ago with that theory as a foundation is no doubt one of the reasons why he is rapidly gaining recognition as oue of the real constructive forces in the exhibition end of the industry to-day. Kashin became interested in motion pictures in the old one-reel, grind-’emout and get-the-monay days. When the other managers were content to use one sheets in their lobbies because there were no ‘‘threes’’ and ‘‘sixes,’’ Kashin went the opposition just one better by calling in an artist and proividing his own and when the other fellows followed suit he started something else. Although most exhibitors have just learned recently that people shop for their entertainment, Kashin has known this fact from the start and has turned his knowledge into dollars by always providing something to attract the shopper’s attention; to create a desire on their part to see the entertainment within. And knowing that permanent success depends on making good every advertising claim, Kashin has always been careful to have his entertainment equal to or better than the impression created in the lobby. As an exhibition specialist, Kashin has been called in at the crucial hour in the career of many a failing theatre, in widely different localities and under varied conditions, and to date he has never lost a case. His methods first came to the attention of the trade in general in Canada where he still has several successful theatres under his control. A short time ago he_ undertook to resuscitate a small six-hundredseat house in Brooklyn, despite the fact that the alleged ‘‘ wise ones’’ told him it couldn’t be done. When Kashin took the house over it was being operated on a daily change basis at five cents admission, and running at a loss. The same theatre, under Kashin’s direction, is now operating at fifteen cents, changing pictures twice a week and doing capacity a greater part of the time. Perhaps the best insight to the Kashin methods and how they work out in actual practice may be gleaned from a description of his general campaign on Metro’s ‘‘To Hell With the ee: they are inside; Kaiser,’’ which marks his introduction to New York’s theatre ‘‘shopping’’ district. Kashin’s experience has proved that a theatre cannot draw all the business possible unless the attraction is advertised from every angle possible. When Kashin speaks of lobby displays, he includes everything ‘‘from the sidewalk to the screen.’’ He delieves not ouly in getting the crowd in but in making good with his audience after that after all, the screen is the nucleus of picture theatre entertainment and that no advertising, it matters not. how effective, can be a permanent asset unless it is backed up in its fullest sense. The cost of Kashin’s lobby and interior decorations on the Metro production runs into figures that are almost staggering but—the outlay has been more than offset by the results obtained, the actual box office receipts for the first day of the engagement amounting to more than those of the entire previous week, at the same seale of admission prices. Exhibitors in smaller cities who think that Kashin’s ideas are out of the question in their comunity might be enlightened by the fact that he has also operated theatres in smaller cities where he has done the same _ proportionate business at an actual outlay of $15 and less on an _ attraction. It isn’t so much what you spend as how you spend it. The central display in the Broadway lobby is a dismantled throne; the throhe chair is overturned and the scepter and crown placed haphazardly at the base of the display. A small ecard in the centre of the display reads simply, ‘‘To Hell With the Kaiser.’’ The entire lobby interior is draped with old rose velour, the hanging folds serving as a rich background for thirty or forty inch gold frames containing colored enlargements of scenes from the production. The art glass doors which separate the lobby from the foyer have been heavy gold pillars hiding the casings. Between these pillars old rose curtains of velour are hung, being brought over to the pillars in folds and held by heavy gold cord. All during the performance and prior to the sale of tickets, four U. S. Marines, in dress uniform, tsand attention at each one of these portals. The entire display is dignified and impressive. Many men voluntarily remove’ their hats upon stepping inside the lobby to purshase their tickets. In the foyer the same general color scheme has been carried out, old rose and gold predominating. The young lady ushers are clad in the costumes of each of the allied nations the head gle paper publicite, placard stuck in the mound. THE CANADIAN MOVING PICTUBE DIGEST. a A AS ES ST oA EM SI HEE NEEM MOS OA EE He me I I DS remem Gi Conducted by | ARCHIE LAURIE i AD HEEB -6 CEB! rE HSER! CS GE CORI DS ED SSE SEED SEEDS ERIS ED DL GD A SN EA OREN YES CED PE RN NTI GED oS AG ANP AREA eS MIN ENS OSE MGS SEN PEN ME IY OE Ve res SE SS es CE usher or captain being attired as Miss Liberty. The stage and proscenium is decorated with the national colors and a cluster of the allied flags in the center, while at either side, the boxes nearest the stage are curtained, concealing an effect which is not revealed until the close of the picture. After the overture, the curtain rises cn a setting’ representing a scene behind the lines in France at dawn. A bugler sounds the reveille, and a detachment of U. 8. Marines march in and stand attention. Next come the color bearers with the flag and the bugle sounds ‘‘Salute,’’ after which the Marines step into ‘‘V’’ formation with -fixed bayonets. Next they start singing ‘‘Over There,’’ marching down the running boards at either side and through the audience to the front of the house, after which the theatre is darkened and the picture started. At the close of the picture the final scenes depicting the Kaiser entering the gates of Hell, the curtains in front of the boxes are parted, revealing a vivid effect matching the scene in the picture, the flames being reproduced by electric fans and red silk, with live steam representing smoke and _ red lights lighting the entire setting from below. Kashin’s method of co-operating with the marines is also interesting. As the government has taken over nearly all of the most desirable billboard locations in New York City for recruiting posters and various other war propaganda, Kashin made the Marines the proposition of shouldering the entire expense of billing the city with their posters if they would consent to his using a part of their space in exploiting his attraction. This they gladly consented to do with the result that Kashin las obtained billboard tocations that, since the war, have not been available to any other theatre manager. The cost of posting the Marine posters ran well into three tgures but Kashin, in turn has ‘‘To Hell With the Kaiser’? billed in the most desirable locations in New York City. an addition to billboards and newsKashivn is ust oa ‘aige float on an auto truck, which ‘travels over the entire busincas scce tion of New York each day. This represents the Kaiser's grave, with ‘“‘To Hell With the Kaiser’’ on the tombstone and ‘‘Gott Mit Uns’’ on a The name of the theatre and the attraction are carried on a panel overhead, about eight feet from the body of the truck. From Wid’s, New York. Victor Sutherland, a player in the company which staged ‘<The Liar,’’ is going around in a surgeon’s plaster as a result of a realistic fight before the eamera with Edward F. Roseman, another film actor. Three of Sutherland’s ribs were broken.