Exhibitors Herald World (Jan-Mar 1929)

January 12, 1929 EXHIBITORS H EFALD-WORLD 57 And hotc those youngsters did enjoy gathering about Mae Murray tchen she appeared at the Rochester theatre, at Rochester, iV. Y. The success of Thomas D. Soriero in putting over the shott in the face of Christmas shopping and the opening of a new theatre U told in the accompanying story. Christmas and Opening of Rival Theatre — but He Wins Through! " Twos the wee\ before Christmas, and All Through the House j^lot a creature u,as stirring " No, attendance wasn't that bad. but another exhibitor than Thomas D. Soriero. manager of the Rochester theatre at Rochester. N. Y., might have had visions of something approaching that. It was not only a question of Christmas shopping, but there was the fact that the new Keith-Albee Palace theatre was to open on Christmas Day. What to do? Gift Candy and Tickets Help This Chain at Christmas Several ideas to store away — in writing —in your file for next Christmas are these hat were put into practice by Sidney Lust, •resident of Super Film Attractions, with chain of theatres in Washington, D. C. nd Charlestown, W. Va. In fact, the ideas an be of serv ice — particularly two of them — ■ t other times besides Christmas. All four houses in Washington gave half ound boxes of candy to the children, each special Christmas box with a sticker eading, "Compliments of Sidney Lust lieatres." This brought good space in the ewspapers. Then there was a deal with the Goldenerg Department Store. "In return for the tickets that I gave iem," Lust writes, "they advertised this ery extensively in their ads as follows: "Goldenberg's Department Store have urchased from Sidney Lust and A. Lichtlan (operator of a chain of Negro theatres) ve thousand (5,000) tickets to be given way in the boys department to any child ccompanied by his parent or parents. No urchase is necessary." A third instance of effective management the cooperative ad used in the Washing>n Times. Of this Lust writes: "By grouping our ads together, especially le smaller theatres, we get a special rate "om the newspaper which of course in rests the small theatre owner." theatre Assists Paper and Civic Body in Contests A_ splendid tieup with the Tribuneapital and the Junior Chamber of Comerce brought plenty of patronage to the apitol theatre all last week. The Junior C. of C. put on a ' Know Des oines Products" campaign in which it aged two contests. One was for the best iginal song boosting home products and e other was to find the beautiful young oman who would be "Miss Des Moines roducts." The theatre gave time each night in the eek for the appearance of a group of girls presenting certain products. One was losen each night as a winner. On the st night the final winner was picked. Jay Mills, master of ceremonies, and cques Blumberg, pit orchestra leader, dged the songs. The winner was sung ch night by Mills. *read Wrappers Tell of this Film Every loaf of bread delivered by the Dttage Bakery of Springfield, Ohio, cared_ a wrapper sticker copy on Marion avies's production, "The Cardboard over," in a tieup of Manager Willard sborne of the State theatre there. This ea had started with "The Cossacks." In addition to the usual advance pub:ity, the theatre used a large cut-out fige of a man in the foyer. This was arnged to have the arm move from the cture of Marion Davies to a card giving le and date. On this production there was mailed to large mailing list a card with institutional py Soriero knew what to do, because he had been figuring on just such an eventuality for several months. In the first place, he booked the alluring Mae Murray to appear at the theatre. And the result? The Keith-Albee threw open its doors on Christmas Day, and did a good business, too. Did the Rochester play to empty seats? Why, there wasn"t room for all the throng. All week Soriero played four entire showings a day and there was a capacity crowd at each. Given Great Reception Miss Murray was accorded one of the greatest receptions any star ever received in Rochester. At the train, the station was packed. Her special car, with footman and chauffeur, took her to the hotel, where again the crowds received her. On leaving the theatre or on arrival, the sidewalks were lined with onlookers, and inside was capacity business. The newspapers in Rochester, too, recognized the situation. Special double page advertisements rapidly were subscribed to by the meichants, an unheard of thing at Christmas tin«°. These tieups continued all during Miss Murray's stay in Rochester. Newspaper Stories Every Day Besides, every cay, photographs and news stories appeared in all the papers. Special feature stories about Miss Murray were played up, as, for example, how on Christmas day she made a special visit to the Children's Home and provided Christ mas cheer for the youngsters. Soriero's foresight netted the theatre a ten thousand dollar increase in receipts over last year. Soriero says it's the show that counts, and it doesn't make any difference whether there is a new theatre opening, whether it is Christmas Week or whatnot — provided the show is good — and the exploitation. Fortune Teller and Bear Help to Put Over "Revenge" A fortune teller and a trained bear cub added a realistic touch to Dolores del Rio's latest picture, "Revenge," a recent attraction at the State theatre, Minneapolis. The fortune teller was on duty from 1 p. m. until 10 p. m. and did a rushing business. The crowds were so great that each session had to be limited to three minutes. The black bear cub was led about the city several times a day, much to be amusement of most of the children of Minneapolis. In between strolls, the cub was caged in front of the theatre. Needless to say, many mothers brought their youngsters downtown to see the bear and then went in to the show. Huge Sign Added The Circle theatre at Portland. Ore., will augment its famous spinning globe of light with another huge additional sign having radial rays of seven feet beyond the circumference of the present ball.