Exhibitors Herald World (Jan-Mar 1929)

28 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD January 26, 1929 SOUND PICTURES Hostler Is Such a Hustler He Has to Run Midnight Show Every Night r INHERE are as many ways of putJ. ting over an audien as there are exhibitors. This is evidenced in the success of various theatre owners in exploiting the same picture. Last week we showed how Don Hoobler, publicity man for the Bloomington theatre at Bloomington, 111., made a successful showing of "The Singing Fool." We promised then to give this week the plan evolved by Alvin Hostler, manager of the Strand theatre at Altoona, Pa. Here it is : Three outstanding angles to Hostler's campaign were a special dressing up of the theatre, which is shown in part in the cut on this page. Then there was a contest for children, redrawing a black and white reproduction of Al Jolson at twice its size. Finally, Hostler did heavy billing on each road leading to Altoona. But let Hostler tell it in his own words: "In the following I am giving you an outline of the campaign that I promoted on the Warner Brothers picture, 'The Singing Fool.' " 'The Singing Fool' proved a sensation. Cutout Retouched "The enclosed photograph (reproduced herewhith) is the lobby display that I had in conjunction with the showing. The entire display was in brilliant colors. In the photo you will notice that across the front I had a large banner which measured 28 feet long and 4 feet high. The banner was very attractive. In the center of the banner I had a six-sheet cutout of dancing girls with Jolson in the center. This made Ocean Liners Plan Sound Equipment (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, Jan. 22.— The North German Lloyd trans-Atlantic steamship line has booked Universal pictures for showing at sea. "Give and Take" and "Home, James" have already been shown on board the S. S. Columbus and the Dresden. The ships can show only silent pictures, but plans have been completed for the installation of sound equipment on the Bremen and Europa. a nice layout. The cutout was retouched with color and airbrush. "At either side of the lobby you will notice panels on the picture, two measuring 44 in. by 84 in. and two 28 in. by 84 in. 150 Inches of Free Space "Had a very effective newspaper campaign. A tieup with our local paper got me about 150 in. of free space. The contest was as follows: "A black and white reproduction of Al Jolson was used and this the kiddies were to redraw at twice the -size. Each kiddie that turned in a drawing received an Al Jolson dancing toy. About 450 drawings were received. This was very inexpensive and created talk. "Had ten window tieups with various merchants on the song and the record, 'Sonny Boy.' "Ran the serial story in the newspaper starting about four weeks previous to the opening of the picture. This got front page publicity. Advertised in 16 Papers "Had every highway leading to Altoona billed heavy with advertising, billed as far as 50 miles from Altoona. Advertised in 16 country newspapers. "Owing to the tremendous success of the 'Singing Fool' we were forced to run a midnight show every night of the showing. A Sunday night midnight show was held and proved very satisfactory. "The entire campaign was promoted by myself and proved worth while. The lobby display was painted by myself." Note the large banner, 28 feet long by 4 ft. deep which Alvin Hostler, manager of the Strand al Altoona, Pa., used across the front of the theatre for Warner Brothers' "The Singing Fool." Note the six-sheet cutout dancing girls and Al Jolson in the center. 18 Houses Totaling 229854 Seats Wired By W.E An One Week (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, Jan. 22.— Eighteen theatres were equipped with film and disc Western Electric sound devices in the week ending January 5, the theatres having a total seating capacity of 22,854 seats. The names of the theatres with their seating capacities follow: Theatres in which Western Electric Sound Projector Equipment was installed during the week ending with Saturday, Jan. 5, 1029. Seats Colonial theatre, Akron, 0 1,710 Harvard, No. Cambridge, Mass 1,056 Capitol, Macon, Ga 933 Strand, Binghamton, N. Y 1,200 Codman Sq., Dorchester, Mass 1,935 Senator, Oakland, Calif 1,642 Strand, Des Moines, la 1,084 Granada, Norfolk, Neb 1,093 Princess, Sioux City, la _ 1.193 Swan, Columbus, Neb 628 Sunbeam, Los Angeles, Cal 1,295 Shawnee, Plymouth, Pa 1,961 West Adams, Los Angeles, Cal 1,325 Imperial, Augusta, Ga 1,200 State, Flint. Mich 1.041 Rialto, Providence, R. 1 1.444 Desmond, Port Huron, Mich 1,302 Starland, Los Angeles, Cal 812 Theatres in which Non-Synchronous Western Electric Equipment was installed during the week ending with Saturday, Jan. 5, 1920. Seats Dyckman theatre, New York City 1,650 Imperial, Pawtucket, R. 1 1,004 Temple, Houlton, Me _ _ 768 National, Greensboro, N. C 1,380 Deluxe Master Phone Demonstrated in Seattle (Special to the Herald-Wotld) SEATTLE, Jan. 22.— Deluxe Master Phone was recently demonstrated here with Paramount and Tiffany-Stahl film and discs. It proved its interchangeability. It has two turntables; one for synchronous records, and the other for commercial records.