Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1954)

M-G-M'S FIRST CINEMASCOPE /PRODUCTION INAUGURATES THZ g WORLD S LARGEST SCREEN! n the wonu i largest screen ... in the world's largest theatre In all the glory of CinemaScope , . . M-G-M presents the rtory of King Arthur t The world's most beloved romance achieves new magnificence in the miracle of the new medium ...and in the splendor of color. You'll see the ultimate in pageantry, adventure and grandeur of spectacle. Vou'U thrill to the perfect picture for which CinemaScope seems to have been bom and destined. M-G-M has added kit scope to CinemaScope I M-O-M-a nMT PRODUCTION IN CinemaScopE I&iitlhtsOfThe Round Tabic ROBERfXAYLOR S AVA GARDNER * MEL FERRER -ANNE CRAWFORD • STANLEY BAKER fc-.-wTALRCr JENS'INCS JAS LUSTIC NOEL t ivctrv. . . ir .nn, .[, i — RICHARD THORPE. ^.PANDRO S. BERMAN...^_ RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL'S FIRST Kniigltts of the Hoxittd Table ROBERT TAYLOR AVaTaRDNER ,t MEL FERRER _ -ANNE CR.WFORDSTANLEY BAKER ■^•.RKHARO THORPE•HMwPANDI^ aSEKKAN COLOR ; It Is fittint indf«d th«t th* fint cm* CinemASniM production from M-G-M iB»uEint« Radio City Muac HkU'i Dp* CinemaScop* sctwb. th« world's Urt««t . . -in the world'i Itrjeat the»tre! In CmemiScop« ind in color m»|iufic*iice, the eiploiu of King Arthur"* knifbu fill the vut sctmh uith the aciteraent. piaion. mtririe. eonfiet ajid iplendor o( the Ap of Chii-aby. Id its MlectioB of "Knichta Of Tt» Round T»ble". M-G-M bhiifs t» m»tion picture »udieBC« the perfect rtory for ica wonden, the ultimate perfectioa of the new minele medium. trul>' % k/v •cope (or CnemkScopel Knights Of The Round Tabic WBERT TAYLOR S AVA GARDNER x MEL FERRER -ANNE CRAWFORD • STANLEY BAKER — -..TALBOT JES'NINCS, JAS Ll'STlG NOEL ■ '^'^1 FY ■ ■ i -—.RICHARD THORPE. ~_.PANDRO S. BERMAN...»«_ TMi aRUT CTA«s--N*w Mofiio*", v.iqut ipKtect* all rh* Magic af ttia -afU'i larfaH Mat*. WATCH rOK OPtWNC DATI Three of the advance ads used for the debut of CinemaScope at Radio City Music Hall with M-G-M' s "Knights of the Round Table". Note the stress on the inaugural of the process at the world's largest theatre, rather than on film and stars. Music Hall Ad Campaign Clinches C Scope Arrival If there's any question in anyone's mind that CinemaScope has arrived, it is dissipated by the spectacular newspaper campaign given its introduction at the world's largest theatre — Radio City Music Hall. Starting almost two weeks in advance of the opening of Metro's first C'Scope production, "Knights of the Round Table," a series of display teasers inundated the New York newspapers. The title and the stars, no mean draw on their own, were almost eclipsed by the news that "CinemaScope Is Coming to Radio City Music Hall!" Taking only a brief breath before New Year's Day to concentrate on the Holiday show, "Easy to Love," the advertising was blown up to huge proportions, agaiti with the word that C'Scope was to be inaugurated in the biggest movie i-.f.use in t'.e woild. The Music Hall, of course, draws audiences from every corner of the countr\-. Those who don't know about C'Scope and the millions who haven't seen it will hear about it from their neighbors who visited New York, where going to the great theatre is a must. The prestige lent to CinemaScope by the ads pointing to the Music Hall's adoption of the anamorphic wide-screen process is a gilt-edged bond for its universal acceptance. Entire Fox Force To Aid Theatremen Showing C'Scope The 20th-Fox sales and exploitation forces, in toto, have been mobilized to insure proper presentation of CinemaScope pictures. Under 1 the plan, division and branch managers, I salesmen, field exploitation men and the home office executives will make periodic visits to CinemaScoped theatres to huddle with managers on methods of maintaining top level CS performance. Latest developments in various aspects of anamorphic presentation, including stereosound, will be discussed, as well as the presentation of the medium to new audiences via the company's Progress Reports and special introductory messages. The magnificent technical and selling job done by 20th-Fox on its baby goes on apace. 3D Martin & Lewis Pics To Sell "Money from Home" One of the better gimmicks in Paramount's promotion for the Martin & Lewis 3Der, "Money from Home", is the company's arrangements with Life Like Pictures, Inc. for theatres to distribute 3D photos of the stars in a scene from the Technicolor comedy. Samples of the photos and accompanying "magic viewers" to give the depth effect are being sent to exhibitor customers by the Paramount branches. Set is packaged in an envelope suitable for imprint of theatre's sales message. Hollywood world premiere of ^'Knights of the Round Table" required special guards as well as police to prevent surging crowds from mobbing the host of celebrities attending. Amusement Page Mish-Mosh Decried By Newspaperman The "elaborate confusion" of the average newspaper amusement pages is taken to task by Dallas Wood of the Burlingame Advance and, we believe, in utter justification. "Glance at the massed ads on the amusement page, and you find a confused merger of heavy rules and black type arranged in artistic violence. There is obvious effort to make every typographical detail stand out above all others. It is remindful of the line from a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta that 'when everybody is somebody, nobody is anybody". Thus, each of those competitive efforts is canceled by the overshadowing effect of the total of the others." A reader, he notes, can't even determine quickly where one theatre's ad ends and the adjoining one begins, and often has to search for the name of the theatre in the melange ot type and art. Crux of the trouble is the method of copy preparation. When the ad writer designs his copy on a blank sheet of paper, of course it stands out against the expanse of white. In a welter of other type and pictorial matter, it is lost. The answer. Wood feels, is simple type and more white space to draw the read'-^r's focus. Goldman "Wicked Woman" Bow To Get The Works W illiam Goldman's knack for taking something less than an epic and making it pay off in fantastic proportions via showmanship — the Philly exhibitor did a land-office business with "Vice Squad", far surpassing the house average in a tlieatre that plays top product (Continued on Page 28) FILM BULLETIN January II, 1954 Pago V