Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

44 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD Drawing Characters of Comics Into Ads Is Good Sunday Idea What’s the most distinctive feature of the Sunday paper? A lot t»f people will say that it’s the comic section, that it is the most widely read. And there’s “gold in them thar hills” for the theatre’s advertising department, too. Several months ago Bob Harvey, director of publicity for Fox Theatres in Northern and Central California, began grouping the Sunday advertisements of the three San Francisco houses in a seven or eight-inch space, headed by a drawing depicting some of the wellknown characters of the comics. These advertisements, while small, attracted attention because they were clever and quite out of the ordinary. Just what they meant, however, was not realized until they were dropped for a couple of weeks. Immediately, inquiries began to come in as to why the funny faces and characters were no longer used in the theatre ads. Patrons advised that their youngsters took keen interest in what the comic characters did in the theatrical section and that they were disappointed when these no longer appeared. Needless to say, the idea again has been taken up and will be used indefinitely. With so many characters there is a world of material from which to choose and the same characters can be used time and time again. This is an idea that will give new life to Sunday advertising for theatres. Drops Illustrations In Newspaper Ads To Dra w A tten tion Exhibitors in Canada have been watching with great interest the advertising policy of Manager R. S. Roddick of the Capitol theatre, London, Ontario. He has abandoned the general use of illustrations in display advertising in local newspapers. Roddick aims at attractive typographical effects rather than the use of half-tone illustrations or line sketches to draw attention. One idea back in Roddick’s mind is that, with other theatres making use of illustrations, either portraits of stars or depictions of scenes in a film, his advertising will stand out in contrast because of the lack of a printed picture. Further, Manager Roddick believes in white space — and gets it when he doesn’t have to crowd his layout with both illustration and type matter. Roddick has made a special study of newspaper advertising displays and he admits that his scrapbook contains many samples of advertising effects, particularly those without illustrations, culled from the pages of metropolitan dailies. A perusal of these frequently gives him the inspiration for a new typographical arrangement. He makes sure that the newspaper receives a layout from him which leaves nothing to the imagination or does not permit of guesswork, so that the result is as he intends. He tries to make a few words tell the whole story and includes a tempting phrase to encourage attendance at the Capitol. Steam Pipe on Marquise Helps Baltimore Theatre Exploit i(Hot for Paris'’1 Steam rising in clouds out of the marquise over the main entrance of the New theatre, Baltimore, was used by Maurice A. Mechanic, proprietor, to advertise “Hot for Paris.” This idea was advanced recently in “The Theatre” as having been used successfully by another manager. A special pipe line connected with the steam feeding pipe of the theatre was run up and across the top of the marquise, with small holes to allow the steam to escape under a huge banner with the title. Electric lights atop the marquise played upon the steam at night. A special meter was attached to the extra steam pipe, as this steam is furnished the theatre by the Community Heating Plant, and the cost was estimated at about $4 or $5 a day. It caused many people to stop and some to think the marquise was on fire. Titles and Stars of JTncaptioned Scenes Give Zip to Contest Miss Cecile E. Rostant, formerly of London, England, was the winner of a contest staged by Manager George Rotsky of the Palace theatre, Montreal the prize being two return passages to Paris, France. Patrons were asked to state the titles of features and names of stars in a series of uncaptioned scenes presented on the Palace screen over a period of months and also to offer a typical Montreal slogan. Miss Rostant described Montreal as “The Living Testimony of Canada’s Greatness.” There were thousands of contestants. The Rialto theatre, burlesque house, recently opened with Western Electric equipment, played Paramount’s “Burning Up.” The house is doing big business with sound and burlesque. CAPITOL entertain ment Three Dribs Only — To-Day, Thursday. Iiiday Come lo the MaTmces if possible! Come Early! It’s Great! TALKING SINGING DANCING OPERA AND MUSICAL COMEDY I TRAVESTY AND FARCE ALL IN COLOR 100 SHOWS IN ONE 77 GREAT STARS APPROVED “U” THE SHOW OF SHOWS WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT IT AFTER YOU’LL BE SORRY THAT YOU MISSED IT A splendid ad, say we, and the interesting part of it is the fact that it is based upon a new policy of R. S. Roddick, manager of the Capitol at London, Ontario, to drop out the use of illustrations. This was for Warner Brothers’ “Show of Shows.” May 3, 1930 And now, folks, we beg to introduce Mr. Pedro Gelabert, Jr., managing director of the San Jose theatre, San Juan, Porto Rico. Gelabert signs himself as “one ivho is proud to be a member of The HOE Club,” and adds: “I think that The HOE Club has come to fulfill a necessity, not only because of the interest in ideas, but also in the cooperation which represents to a manager the others’ ideas.” Gelabert has a splendid slogan for the San Jose. It’s “The Theatre with the Golden Voice and the Silver Sound.” We’re going to tell you more later about him and the San Jose and their accomplishments. Baltimore Girl Ushers Get New Summer Costumes The young women ushers at the Embassy theatre, Baltimore, managed by Joseph Robbins, pioneer film man of Baltimore, are to have their costumes of white silk waists, short red trousers and gray silk stockings replaced by gray silk boyish blouses, with Eton jackets and navy blue or dark gray short skirts soon. These costumes will be used for summer and the Eton jackets will be laid aside and the girls will appear in the shirt waists and the skirts. Movable Clock Announces Next Performance of Film A neatly framed sign with a clock face with practicable hands that can be moved to indicate various hours, has been placed outside the box office of Keith’s theatre, Baltimore, by J. Lawrence Schanberger, manager. Over the clock face, words read: “Next performance starts.” The hands of the clock are pointed to the time by the announcer, who stands before the theatre throughout the day. London Gets All Set Tieups of many hues have been effected in London for the opening of Pathe’s “The Grand Parade.” Hookups are in operation with music publishers, Columbia Gramaphone Company, Broadcasting Company, and bands.