Canadian Film Weekly (Apr 22, 1942)

April 22nd, 1942 Radio No Movie Bane Dr. Leo Handel, director of the Motion Picture Research Bureau, MD :oractea an audience analysis — with the purpose of determining whether or not there exists a correlation between movie attendance and radio listening and, if so, to find out the nature thereof. This was, probably, the first time that any attempt was made to investigate this matter which should be of interest to both the motion picture and radio industry. The results of this research study indicate clearly that there is a positive correlation between these two elements: That persons who do not listen, or listen rarely, to the radio are poor movie goers and persons who listen a great deal to the radio attend the movies frequently. The analysis was based on 508 interviews which were made in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and in the Bronx. An equal number of men and women were questioned and special care was taken to obtain a good age, income and occupational cross-section. It was determined first how many times the respondents went to the movies in the month preceding the questioning and then how many hours they listen to the radio on an average weekly evening after 6 o'clock. The respondents were divided into six groups according to the time they spent listening to the radio. Astaire—H ayworth Columbia’s forthcoming Fred Astaire-Rita Hayworth film musical, “Carnival in Rio,’ has been assigned to Producer Louis Edelman, who announced that the final script would call for seven Jerome Kern tunes with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. } HEATING AND VENTILATING CONTRACTORS AND ENGINEERS A\\\ MY Canadian FILM WEEKLY YPHE secret of good theatre busi ness is just one thing of creating a well worn path to your door. Did you ever see the cows follow OR a double horror show, Bill Cupples, Grand, Sudbury, had a wheelbarrow placed in front of} the theatre with a card offering free ambulance service to those suffering shock at the Horror Show, copy stating that the use of the wheelbarrow was to save gasoline and tires. Bill also distributed Claim Wavers which created quite a lot of talk and read as follows: “Claim Waiver, I hereby release the Grand Theatre of all responsibility for any shock suffered by me when I see the DOUBLE HORROR SHOW ..........' Signed a, Se be | ing a path to water? No one guides them. They go where they have been accustomed to going. This applies to your theatre. Did you ever see a patron come in for every show, or nearly every show, and with no fuss or bother, walk down the same aisle and sit in the same seat each time? You could not help but have noticed this, unless, of course, you are never on the floor to meet your patrons. The business of creating a path to your door is not always the simplest job in the world to do, but the manager who is on the floor to meet his patrons and to say hello at the end of the path * will soon find the path to his door well worn. of the card read “Please bring your own smelling salts, It’ll scare the yell out of you!!!” Roe BEREZIN of the Elgin, Ot tawa, tied up with a large departmental store running a contest on “Jungle Book”’ through the newspapers to which he received 2000 answers. For “Bedtime} Story’ Bob is arranging a tieup with a furniture store for a window display with bed and mannequins and a large cutout on “Bedtime Story.” ae Fs Be BROWN of the Vanity, Windsor, put out an advance campaign on the “Charlie Chaplin Festival.’ This consisted of a man dressed up as Santa Claus with all the trimmings, bearing copy reading “I know it’s only April, but I just had to come back to see the ‘Charlie Chaplin Festival’ at the Vanity Theatre, etc.” This young man toured the downtown streets. The follow up crowds were plentiful and the laughs came thick and fast. People inside stores rushed to the windows and some left the stores to see what is was all about. Another stunt used on the same feature had two men dressed in a clown horse outfit with a third leading the horse. A large sign read: ‘No tires for the flivver, but I had to bring Dobbin to town so that I could see ‘The Charlie Chaplin Festival’ etc.” <A great many laughs were tucked up in this gag. Bob is also having a boy dressed up as the Mad Russian, for the “Defence of Moscow.” = 2 [Bacar TIEDE of the Geneva, Orillia, on “Thin Man” placarded a number of fire hydrant with copy reading ‘Reserved for Asta in the “Shadow of The Thin Man.” This was done in the main parts of the city, and caused many a laugh. On “Shut My Big Mouth” special novelty envelopes were distributed to the householders. The copy on the outside of the envelope which was in the form of a prescription with copy reading “Have You Good Taste? (Look inside and see).” Inside the envelope was a peppermint and a card reading “Here are two things that will leave you with a good taste... This Delicious Candy—and the Grandest Laugh-Loaded Comedy of the Year. ‘Shut My Big Mouth’ with Joe E. Brown and also new thrills for action fans when ‘Wild Hickok Rides’.” ‘ Oshawa, there are arrow shaped signs reading “This Way to Texas, at the Marks Theatre” and for “Ride ’em Cowboy” Stew Gillespie has two window displays and a tieup with Pleasure Valley u : Ranch. ON the Spring Festival of Hits, Paul Frost of the Park, Sarnia, dressed up his lobby in a snappy colorful manner. A white trellis was arranged with artificial flowers and green trailing vine. Copy on a blue background with ACONS the road entering | (Buss SMITH of the Royal, } North Bay, made a personal | trip to the training camp to acquaint the officers and men with the playdate and outstanding|white lettering helped to bring scenes of “The Defence of Mos-|out the cheery spring atmosphere cow”. and caused considerable comment. eas" Page 5 UART SMART of the Capitol, Port Hope, printed cards on his own mimeograph machine ad vertising his novelty features for children’s matinee, also stating that the first 200 children bringing these cards in would receive a free comic book. TEVE McMANUS, the genial manager of the Bayview, Toronto, tells the story of how one night as he was plugging “Citizen Kane” from the stage, he noticed a young child hobble in on crutches. After the Kane announcement, he had the child hold her crutches up in the air and then presented her with a ‘‘Get-WellQuick” pass from the Bayview. The response from the audience was most gratifying. OE PAUL of the Park, Welland, had a lively campaign on ‘‘Keep ‘em Flying.’’ He ran a “Keep ’em Flying” contest, for which he offered 12 prizes consisting of a large model airplane and two passes to each winner. Large window cards were placed in Woolworth’s and other leading stores. Door hangers were distributed through the town and were also used to trim up the lobby and box office. The varied colors made an attractive display. Joe also had a strip between the comics on the comic page of the daily newspaper, advertising his “Keep ’em Flying’’ contest to the boys and girls, and had heralds distributed to the schools and high schools urging them to join the contest. CONTRACT SALES OFFICE PHONE TR.1257 GT’ FLOOR NY ss Cut