Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

November 15, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 53 Meyer Uses Tie up s With Miniature Golf And Miniature Cars Building his exploitation around the fact that Reginald Denny, star of "Those Three French Girls," drives an Austin car, Fred S. Meyer, manager of the Alhambra theatre, Milwaukee, obtained a profitable tieup with a local Austin dealer. Four of the miniature cars were used in a parade. Each machine carried a banner approximately six feet long announcing that Denny drove such a car in the film. These automobiles were dispatched through the streets for three days prior to the picture's opening and then every day during its run. Shortly before the film started its run at the Alhambra, two indoor miniature golf courses opened in the vicinity. Meyer, quick to see the exploitation angle, tied up with them for distribution of 5,000 score cards. On the back of each was copy on "Those Three French Girls." At the same time, Fifi Dorsay, star of the film, was appearing in person at the Wisconsin house in Milwaukee, and Meyer obtained a letter from her which he had enlarged and placed in the lobby several days in advance, giving the playing date of the film. Through a tieup, mimeographed copies of this letter were placed in all rooms of a large Milwaukee hotel. Danziger Prepares Film of Local Club For Cincinnati RKO Bill Danziger, head of the RKO publicity and advertising department in Cincinnati, has undertaken the production of a local motion picture which promises to have a healthy effect upon the box offices of R K O theatres in that city during the next few weeks. He has arranged with a local film producing concern to make a multi-reel picture of the "Seckatary Hawkins Club," a boys' aviation organization which boasts several thousand members in Cincinnati and surrounding territory. The Cincinnati Enquirer has also entered the tieup and devotes a half column story daily to progress in the making of the picture. It has also carried several cuts on the subject. Those who know their way around in Cincinnati predict that the RKO theatres will enjoy patronage of gigantic proportions when the home talent film is finally released. Many Film Stars in Detroit Theatre patrons in Detroit have been treated to an unusually large number of personal appearances by screen stars during the past few weeks. Among those who have performed on the stage in that city are Mitzi Green, Fifi D'Orsay, Lillian Roth, John Wayne and Fred Lightner. $You are reading this little ad because the dollar sign caught your eye. It always works. By the same token "Building Theatre Patronage", Barry and Sargent's great book for showmen will catch business for you because it contains the patronage building ideas that always work 460 pages of money-making facts. {Only $5.20 mailed to your door) CHALMERS PUBLISHING CO. 516 Fifth Avenue, New York City View of the marquee lighting effects at the opening of the new RKO Mayfair in New York City. The RKO Radio film "Check and Double Check" was the first picture shown in the new deluxe house. High School Holds Football Pep Meetings in Cincinnati Strand E. D. Yarbrough, who was recently transferred from an RKO house at Fort Wayne, Ind., to the RKO Strand, Cincinnati, Ohio, has kept the theatre's turnstiles from becoming rusty through some clever and profitable tieups. He recently arranged with the local Woodward high school, one of the largest in the city, to stage a "pep night" for its football team. Students were given tickets to sell among their friends. More than 1,000 were sold. A small commission was given on each sale. This alone brought many new people into the house. The football team, accompanied by the school band and hundreds of students paraded the downtown streets on their way to the theatre, and many banners were displayed in the crowd mentioning that they were on their way to the Strand. Before the picture was shown, a concert was given by the school band which occupied boxes. Short addresses were made by different members of the faculty. The walls of the theatre reverberated with the class yells. Show Rockne Short A regular program picture was shown, and a Pathe short, one of the Knute Rockne series, was added to give color to the occasion. Similar tieups are now being arranged with other high schools. Another effective stunt put over by Yarbrough was in connection with the first installment of the serial, "The Indians Are Coming." It brought not only a lot of business, but a great deal of exceptional publicity. This tieup was with one of the biggest department stores in the city, which fosters an organization known as "The Schoolmates' Club," having a membership of 35,000 boys in the city and surrounding territory. The store advertised the picture in big display spaces in the daily papers, and also played it up strong in its house organ, which is edited solely for the youthful members. The first installment of the picture opened on Saturday, and on that morning a special showing was given for the boys, 800 of whom, dressed in Indian suits furnished by the store, marched through the downtown streets enroute to the theatre. The parade was headed by a band, and a large sign that "The Indians Are Coming," at the same time displaying the name of the theatre prominently. Manager Yarbrough provided passes for the 800 boys in return for which he received several hundred dollars worth of free advertising, besides bringing into the house countless relatives and friends of the 800 boys, who, of course, paid regular admissions, and who are now potential patrons of the theatre. Speed ♦ ♦ . Accuracy • ♦ Reliability Tostal Telegraph Commercial Cables QUQmerica Cables ffiackay Radio