Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Jan-Mar 1928)

February 25, 1928 EXHIBITORS HERALD and MOVING PICTURE WORLD 43 W THE THEATRE Gentlemen Prefer Blondes* STARTING SULiub MARY ANDERSON. Incorporated in this department of practical showmanship of Exhibitors Herald are the Moving Picture World departments, "Selling the Picture to the Public," which was established September 23, 1911, by Epes Winthrop Sargent, and "Better Business Builders." Have You Tried Home Talent Prologues? By Will Whitmore Henry Reeve, director of the Mission theatre, Menard, Texas, in contributing his "My Best Idea"' to "The Theatre's" M. B. 1. club this week hits upon one of the most vital phases of motion picture theatre entertainment today. Mr. Reeve says the best idea he ever had as an exhibitor was when he began the use of home talent in short prologues for his pictures. "This is not a go-getter exploitation stunt, perhaps, but it builds better business in a better way than trick stunts," says Mr. Reeve. Presentations have swept across the country, and today hundreds of deluxe houses are featuring the presentation policy. This policy is prohibitive for the small town theatre, but Mr. Reeve's policy of prologues made up of home talent has solved the problem. The reason for the extreme popularity of presentations today is the personal nature of them. The band leader or master of ceremonies builds up a following, and in many cases, so do the members of the band as well. The audience and performers on the stage are thrown into closer and more intimate contact. Reeve's plan of using home talent is even more personal. There is probably nothing more interesting than seeing your own friends upon the stage of a theatre, and in a small town everybody knows each other. There is nothing new in Reeve's plan. Probably every exhibitor has used home talent entertainment in his theatre at some time or another, but the unusual point in Reeve's plan is that he employs this policy regularly. Small town theatres, especially those nearby to large cities, are suffering from loss of trade to the city theatres offering presentations. I know of a number of small town theatres that have lost a large bulk of their trade to the city theatres offering presentations, in many cases the theatres being at least 50 miles distant from the city theatres. And I also know of several theatres that have met this competition by the use of Rome town talent. Of course the entertainment is not as good as seen in deluxe houses, but the added interest of the home talent draws the business. One of the chief problems of the small theatre is affording its patrons good music, yet there is in every town some musical organization that could be used from time to time at the theatre. The Juneau theatre, a neighborhood house in Milwaukee, has a presentation policy using nothing but local talent, the cost averaging around $30 a week, and the receipts of the theatre have been doubled thereby. The complete story of the Juneau policy was contained in the presentation department of this book last week. "The Theatre" would be interested in hearing from other exhibitors who are using similar means of building business. YVe believe there is much that can be done along these lines that will prove effective at the box office and yet stay within the bounds of expenditure that the small theatre can afford. Opposite is Mr. Reeve's "My Best Idea." We believe it is worthy of a great deal of attention from the small town theatreman. My Best Idea" No. 7 By Henry Reeve I HAVE rather a guilty feeling in sending in a "My Best Idea," as the best one I think I ever had has not been utilized so far this year since we went into our new theatre. We are resuming shortly and the "idea" itself still remains the best for me. It is nothing more or less than the local talent stage presentations that received considerable favorable comment from you the past two years. We wrote and produced short atmospheric prologues on one or two pictures a month, using mostly high school students, the acts never running over; 15 minutes, based always on some outstanding bit in the picture. Sometimes the prologues ran in numbers, a bit of action or dialogue as the case might be, chorus of six girls usually, with two or four boys. These acts can be made just as unpretentious or as elaborate as your needs or your purse strings warrant. If you have available talent of any promise at all they soon get to working smoothly and the rough edges are quickly ironed out. Without a doubt they proved the best boxoffice attraction we have ever utilized. We never raised prices, and the acts made us the extra money purely on their own drawing power. Another result is that we are now in a sort of advisory capacity with the high school dramatic club here, no plays are used at the school auditorium, all that sort of thing being done in the theatre with, I think, better results all round, financially and histrionically, cally. This is not a go-getter exploitation stunt, perhaps, but it builds better business in a better way than trick stunts in my opinion. Forty feet of attention is this scenery truck used by the Mary Anderson theatre, Louisville, Ky., to advertise Paramount's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," starring Ruth Taylor. Almost every theatre has some sort of truck and u-hat better way could be used to advertise every attraction? "Shield of Honor" Policeman Contest A policemen's popularity contest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, brought the patrons flocking in to see Unversal's police picture, "The Shield of Honor" at the Isis theatre. The manager of the theatre arranged with a jewelry shop to present a watch to the policeman or traffic officer who won the greatest number of votes. The playdates of the picture were printed on the reverse side of the voting coupon. The Grand Rapids Herald published the results of the contest from day to day. Both the Isis theatre and the jeweler were enthusiastic at the increased business the contest brought in. "Give-Away Nights" "Give-away" nights again have sprung into popularity among Kansas City suburban theatres in an effort to combat the radio and bridge party opposition. Many Kansas City suburban houses are offering groceries as prizes. At the Prospect theatre, operated by Jay Means, live poultry was given away the other night with the result that the attendance showed a marked increase over previous nights.