The Exhibitor (Jun-Oct 1939)

the exhibitor 15 "The Lost Squadron” — "Of Human Bondage” Syracuse, New York. Manager Pat McGee, RKO-Schine-Eckel, sold the stars and casts of the two pictures in his revival program. Every member of both casts appeared on panels placed at the ends of the marquee. A portable radio set was used on the streets and to gatherings in which the message "The RCA radio breaks another shackle 'Of Human Bondage,’ see it at the Eckel” was broadcast; 20,000 grocery and baker shop bags were over¬ printed with the theatre and picture names; 2,000 slips were placed on cafe menus. "Wages of Sin” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Manager Jerry Wollaston, Rio, combined his campaign on the picture with personal appearance of Ramus, II, crystal gazer. Items included the distribution of 10,000 circus heralds, 23 and 21 sheets, 200 screen process window cards, special lobby displays and large banners heralding Ramus engagement in advance, counter tie-ups, doubled newspaper budget and photos of Ramus in both The Evening News and Harrisburg Telegraph. Feature was also planted in The Telegraph in which Ramus offered to answer 20 questions daily for readers in the columns of the paper. "Second Fiddle” Syracuse, New York. Manager Harry Unterfort, RKO-Schine-Keith’s took advantage of international broadcast to have an announcement made immediately following that picture was in tie up with a bottling com¬ pany. A huge cake of ice in which was frozen several bottles of the product was placed daily in front of theatre together with still from the picture and advertising the fact that "Sonja Heine skating on 50,000 square feet of ice was as cool and refreshing as the drink shown.” "Only Angels Have Wings” Huntington Station, New York. As part of his exploitation on "Only Angels Have Wings,” manager T. G. Ehrsam, Huntington Station, sent 5 00 postcards to a list selected from the telephone directory. Cards, purchased through the Columbia exchange, plugged the World’s Fair and New York City’s Shelton Hotel as well as the picture. Ehrsam stamped the cards with the picture’s play dates and the theatre name. "On Borrowed Time” Boston, Massachusetts. A stunt worked to advantage by Joe DiPesa and cohorts, Loew’s State, Orpheum, was ap¬ propriation of 500 winesap apples, distributed by girls on bikes, bearing theatre tag. Highlights in National Tieups "Intermezzo” The David O. Selznick organization has re¬ cently completed one of the season’s most im¬ portant radio tie-ups. With George Fisher, who broadcasts every Saturday evening at 9.3 0, DST, over 150 stations of the Mutual Network, and every Wednesday at 2.30 P. M., there has been arranged a nation-wide forum on the use of "Intermezzo” as the title of the season’s first Selznick production. Taking "Intermezzo” as "the new word for an 'affair’,” Fisher will ask his coast-to-coast list¬ eners for their opinions of this word as the title of the new Selznick film, with prizes to be awarded for the most interesting ideas contributed by his vast radio audience. By this means, not only will the romantic implications of the title be conveyed, but, as the contest spreads and gains momentum, interest in the production itself will be carried to an ever-widening audience. "The Star Maker” Twenty-five little orphan girls in 2 5 American cities will discover soon that fairy Godmothers exist in real life as well as in story books. The orphans will be whisked from their respec¬ tive orphanages and given a joyous Hollywood holiday as guests of Linda Ware, the 14-year-old Detroit orphan who plays a top role with Bing Crosby in Paramount’s "The Star Maker.” Arrangements whereby Linda can play fairy Godmother for the 2 5 youngsters were completed by Paramount and Charles R. Rogers, producer. Required to be between 10 and 14 years of age, the girls will be selected from orphanages in Atlanta, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Buffalo, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Detroit, New York, Birmingham, Cin¬ cinnati, Denver, Des Moines, Houston, Little Rock, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The youngsters will be guests of honor at a special preview of "The Star Maker” August 18, as the climax of a four-day program of entertainment. "Daughters Courageous” A large and attractive window card is being distributed to more than 5,000 dealers through¬ out the country by the House of Westmore in a tieup arranged with Warners on "Daughters Courageous.” The card, which will be displayed in over 5,000 windows by retail distributors of the Westmore cosmetics, features the three Lane Sisters and Gale Page using different kinds of makeup to suit their particular coloring and hair styles. A wealth of stunts, stories, ads and acces¬ sories are contained in a large press book on Warners "Daughters Courageous.” Cover of the book illustrates the handling of the art, title and selling copy as related to the previous, "Four Daughters.” Inside may be found trade press quotes which point to the business potentialities of the picture above that of "Four Daughters.” Highlights of the New York Strand’s campaign are presented as well as direct-from-the-field exploitation. Because of the success of the "Four Daughters” serialization, it was decided to incorporate one on "Daughters Courageous” in the campaign. Following are seven pages of publicity stories and art, with special attention given to the woman’s angle. There is enough material for "ex¬ clusives” to all papers in a majority of situations. Easy working ideas are shown next in regard to reaching the family trade as well as many other diversified stunts. In this section are also in¬ cluded the national tie-ups with Chesterfield Cigarettes, Lux Soap, the Electric Auto-Lite, Philco and the House of Westmore. "Our Leading Citizen” Plans for Paramount’s elaborate "Governors’ Screenings in 48 States” in connection with the world premiere of Paramount’s "Our Leading Citizen” is rapidly nearing completion with de¬ finite commitments from 21 state chief execu¬ tives already set for the screenings, Robert M. Gillham, Paramount director of advertising and publicity, states. Among 20 governors who have made definite arrangements to see Paramount’s "Our Leading Citizen,” July 27 is Herbert H. Lehman, New York. Paramount is considering the purchase of a half-hour rado program August 5, a week be¬ fore the picture’s national release date, emanat¬ ing from Fort Smith with Bob Burns acting as master-of-ceremonies. A lecture tour by Irvin S. Cobb, author of the story, and a special tie-up with the Press Club in Washington, D. C., are additional ac¬ tivities. Highlights in Business Builders Movie Cash Stimulation A new business-builder, said to be flawless and entirely legal in its operation, has been brought out by the National Coupon Distributing Corpor¬ ation of New York. Working along the line of movie stamps, the merchant purchases the movie cash coupons — in denominations of one-quarter, one-half, and one cent, and two and five cents — and gives them free to customers on a "profit-sharing” basis. Under the terms of the contract, only one repre¬ sentative of a single type of business may be enrolled in the same area. The coupons, which are good for six months, are usable at any co-operating theatre immediately as part payment for an admission, or at a later date for full payment when the total coupons should equal that admission price. The theatre redeems the coupons from Na¬ tional Coupon at the rate of 75 cents on the dollar. MAN ABOUT TOWN. Among those to be seen in the Paramount production are star Jack Benny, Rochester, Binnic Barnes, Dorothy Lamour, Edward Arnold and plenty of others. July 26, 1939