Exhibitors Herald (1927)

October 8, 1927 EXHIBITORS HERALD 45 [THE THEATRE] [ Q^LjDepartment of Practical Showmanship ^ HALLOWEEN EXPLOITATION PROVES GOODWILL BUILDER FOR THEATRE When Halloween conies, every town in the country is confronted with the problem of keeping the young boys of the town in check. The problem is a serious one and usually goes unsolved. Theatre exhibitors may say that this is no problem of the theatre, and perhaps it isn’t. But any theatre that can advance a scheme that will keep the town’s youths in order over the holiday will win the undying gratitude and good will of the community. So The Theatre is offering a plan here that has proven a thorough success. It was successfully used last year by the Des Moines theatre of Des Moines, la., and proved to be one of the most successful exploitation stunts ever attempted in the city. That it worked to perfection for this theatre, should prove that it can be as successfully used this year by other theatres. The exploitation was a three way tieup sponsored by the theatre and the Des Moines Daily Capital newspaper and approved by the public school authorities. Briefly the exploitation was a free theatre party for all students of the public schools who wanted to assist in making the celebration law abiding. Thousands of much pleased children, hundreds of willing parents and that somewhat rare “school backing,” worked together to make the affair unusually valuable. Favorable commendation of the police department and the city council furnished further impetus to the project and helped give the free picture show wide publicity. For many years Des Moines youngsters in the seventh grade and above have assisted local police on Halloween when they have been sworn in as special deputies to watch over their own neighborhoods in an effort to prevent destruction of property and insure a sane celebration. Much work has been done in the schools to create civic pride and respect for the law. Obtain School Backing The school editor of the Des Moines Capital suggested to Herbert Grove, manager of the Des Moines theatre, that they sponsor a morning show to honor all youngsters who expected to assist in making the celebration decent. Mr. Grove agreed at once. The backing of the school authorities was much desired. This is not always easy to obtain because Parent Teacher associations are particularly skittish about endorsing anything which smacks of the “movies.” Too many parents believe that motion pictures are just another avenue downward! A conference between the superintendent of school and the school editor was most fruitful. The superintendent liked the idea of the public recognition of the children’s attempts to be good citizens. “Write me a letter,” he said, “so that I will have the facts before me in black and white.” Each week on Tuesday, a bulletin is sent to every school from the superin tendent’s office. The letter was incorporated into the bulletin with the comments of the superintendent as here quoted. This went out Tuesday before the Saturday morning show. On the same day the newspaper made the announcement with a front page story. The school people were shown that this was a most carefully chosen film and not just any old picture palmed off on the children. The superintendent’s comments preceding the copy of the letter were as follows: “The Des Moines Capital is sponsoring a Hallowe’en party next Saturday morning for school pupils in an attempt to assist us in promoting good citizenship and a spirit of real sportsmanship in the observance of Halloween. Bulletin Prints Letter “I have received the following letter from the school editor of the newspaper which I am reproducing here in full so that all principals and teachers will understand just wffiat the newspaper is hoping to do.” Here is the body of the letter: “The Des Moines Capital and the Des Moines theatre will be joint hosts to Des Moines school pupils who are supporting the movement to make the celebration of Halloween decent and sane. The party will take place on Saturday morning at the Des Moines theatre. The time and other details will be announced later. “After looking at numerous ‘Westerns’ we rejected all of them as not the sort OF FILM MATERIAL WE COULD SPONSOR for such a puropse. Then we remembered that there is a newcomer, Ken Maynard, working for First National pictures, who makes thrilling Westerns but of a different sort. Having seen a pre-view of one of his films, ‘Senor Dare Devil,’ (which may sound lurid, but which isn’t!, Herbert Grove, manager of the Des Moines theatre, got the film for us and that will be the main feature. There will be a short reel in addition. “We feel that it is rather up to the public to show appreciation of the work of the youngsters in this attempt to make their citizenship count tor something definite. We are inviting them as our guests because we think they will like the attention which we want to give. “If you can put an announcement in the bulletin we will appreciate it greatly. We are doing this out of a clear sky, as it were, with no strings attached. We expect to print some sort of coupon stating that the youngster who presents it at the door of the theatre Saturday morning, is one of the group upon which the community can depend to help put over the right sort of Halloween celebration.” Leaders Attend Show When the coupon, two columns wide with a cut of Maynard was printed, we also announced that all special deputies would be admitted upon showing their badges. This was a good move and brought to the theatre leaders in practically all the neighborhoods in town. We made one big mistake in not asking these boys to act as ushers for the show. The psychology of such a move is evident. When we asked the mayor what he thought of the plan he was so enthusiastic that we invited him to make a short, snappy talk before the picture. We had already asked the traffic chief of the police department to at least give a word of commendation to the assembly. There never was such a crowd! They were at the doors at seven in the morning! Such splendid behavior as those children exhibited is yet the talk of the town. You see, they were guests because they did know how to behave and they surely lived up to their ideals. It was a great triumph for the schools. The house was packed, two in a seat in many cases, and S. R. O. in the lobbiesboth upstairs and down. Of coursethey talked and laughed but the minute the mayor stepped on the stage, there was dead silence. He was followed by the traffic chief. It was a veritable love feast, with the adults praising the children for their fine attitude and the youngsters applauding the adults for their splendid judgement. First Mr. Grove put on a Felix film, the one with the ghosts cavorting about. It was a fine thing for Halloween. The children went wild over “Senor Dare Devil” and fairly shook the roof. No hero ever received more applause at such an affair. Paper megaphones advertising ing a coming show were given out at the door as the audience left. It might be noted that Des Moines enjoyed one of the most sane celebrations in its history. We feel sure that the attention of the public to the purpose of the picture party contributed greatly to this end.