Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1956)

MERCHANDISING & EXPLOITATION DEPARTMENT f WW! Exhibition Leadership Providing Spark To Showmanship Drive in Various Sectors With 1956 still in its swaddling clothes, there is a great stirring in the fold of exhibition that bodes a new, aggressive showmanship in the industry. It's not the rahrah "Let's go sell 'em, gang!" approach that bubbles up in froth and soon simmers down to flat lethargy. There is a determined, methodical, analytical aspect to this new movement, sometimes even a little angry, that indicates the exhibitor leadership means business. Words like Leonard Goldenson's, presenting American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres' program for recognizing the greatest potential from this year's product, are a key to this approach: "Let us be honest with ourselves. There has been a deterioration in showmanship in the last few years. What we need now is its rebirth. We need to light a fire under this industry without another week's delay." Highly inflammable kindling for the spark has been supplied by AB-PT, by National Theatres and by Texas COMPO in the last few weeks alone. Other major circuits and independent exhibitors have given signs of a similar jaw-jutting exploitation militancy. And not all of the showmanship upheavals are coming from exhibition. Film companies are showing signs of more serious attention to the promotion of new movies. 20th Century-Fox, for instance, while it anticipates no increase in the number of releases, has announced a step-up of production so that more time can be devoted to proper promotion of new films farther in advance of release. RKO, now that it has done its business with television, is turning its attention to the theatre product it has on hand with a vigor that bespeaks its slogan, "The Showmanship Company". Columbia has a vast program afoot for its "Picnic". And so it goes with other distributors. Let's look at some of the ideas advanced by exhibitors: The AB-PT program, as presented by Mr. Goldenson and Edward L. Hyman, Paramount Theatres vice-president, names nine points to be tackled by showmen: 1. The increase in TV advertising makes it imperative to check the TV ad rates in various areas compared with theatre lineage rate, and to make certain movie advertising is not overshadowed by video space. 2. Streamline and effectuate trailers — "some trailers are too long — some reveal too much — some do not reveal the proper ingredients". An innovation by United Artists, a "featurette" showing scenes being filmed for forthcoming pictures, available both for TV and theatres, was commended for other companies. 3. A plan to recapture the women audience through specialized public relations is in the hands of a committee and is due to be submitted shortly for use by all segments of the industry. 4. Intensifying efforts to get the young (Conlinued on Page 27) 20TH-FOX TAPS CBS RADIO NETWORK SHOWS TO PLUG FILMS In keeping with the intensive showmanship activities leading off 1956, 20th Century-Fox became the first motion picture company to sponsor full network radio programs to sell its film product. The precedential pact was signed with 4 20th-Fox vice president Charles Einfeld (left) and CBS president Arthur Hull Hayes sign advertising contract that marked 20thFox sponsorship of established network radio programs. Witnessing: CBS network v.p. Irving Fein, CBS network sales manager William Shaw; 20th-Fox ad manager Abe Goodman; exploitation manager Rodney Bush; Martin Michel, TV and radio director. the Columbia Broadcasting System on January 17 in New York to become part of 20th's big-scale preselling campaign on its first CinemaScope 55 production, "Carousel". Initial programming calls for the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical to be huckstered on the Bing Crosby show, Amos and Andy, Edgar Bergen, and five other national personality-powered programs covering the big network, during the first three weeks of February. The 20th-CBS pact indicates the stronger emphasis being placed on radio to draw on both home and auto listeners for movie selling. Film BULLETIN January 23, 1956 Page 1?