Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1956)

*Wkat t&e Stuuwueu /tie uawyi / flifflWiHMlIt KIRK DOUGl AS csco« THE INDIAN 1 IHTER VZZ DISNEY'S MUS» .AND m OPEM AtL Two Los Angeles theatres propped standard Indian stunts with gimmicks to give them an extra fillip for their engagement of UA's "The Indian Fighter". Manager Boyd Lowe of the Hollywood Theatre unveiled a rolling tepee, staffed by a family of full-blooded Sioux, to beat the tom-toms for the Kirk Douglas starrer; at the Los Angeles Theatre. Manager Bill Roberts (right) stretches for a fond adieu to his "Indian" street bally as the be-stilted redskin takes off for a tour of the downtown area. A city-wide campaign featured heavy TV and newsstand support along with the promotion of special comic book. 'Alexander' Designed P.A. Tour Sparks Spring Co-Op Bally The coming of Spring and the irresistable lure of new fashions are providing a perfect background for costume designer David Ffolkes' personal appearance tour on behalf of United Artists' big spectacle, "Alexander The Great". Ffolkes will tour 34 department stores, 28 women's clubs and more than 50 television and radio shows covering key cities in the East and middle west. In addition, he will ballyhoo "Alexander" in press conferences with fashion and amusement editors, feature writers and columnists. Debbie & Eddie Plug Bundle1 With 25 million viewers tuned in to Ed Murrow's "Person to Person", Eddie Fisher and Debbi Reynolds plugged their first picture together, "Bundle of Joy", which they will make for RKO in early Spring. Special 'Saleslady' Hair-do RKO is promoting a new hair-do, the "Ginger Gibson", to exploit its forthcoming release, "The First Traveling Saleslady". Some 20,000 beauty parlors will receive instructions on how to fix milady's coiffure like the one worn by Ginger Rogers in the film. Para To Plug Cole Recording Capitol Records and Paramount will join forces to promote pop singer Nat "King" Cole's recording of "Never Let Me Go", Ray Evans-J. Livingston ballad which he sings in Paramount's "The Scarlet Hour". Capitol will release the record to coincide with release of picture and will send display material featuring film's star Carol Ohmart along with a special publicity kit of both record and picture to 3,000 disc jockies around the country. TV and Newspaper Plugs To Promote 'Conqueror' Debut Heralding the domestic openings of RKO's "The Conqueror" will be a unique tie-in between radio, TV stations and local newspapers. Trailers and tape recordings of the glamorous world-wide premieres featuring interviews with attending celebrities and star John Wayne are being circulated to stations throughout the country to use prior to the Feb. 22 opening. Local newspapers have agreed to cooperate with full-page layouts on the premieres. Special Shorts Blossom Out As Advance Selling Assists A resurgence of the short subject — or long trailer — indicated by the stress put by three major companies on "featurettes" ranging between 15 and 30 minutes to help promote important upcoming releases. Frank Sinatra has fashioned a television "featurette" scheduled to go out over 66 video stations across the country in connection with release of United Artists' "Johnny Concho!" After TV showings, film will also be booked into at least one thousand theatres during March as advance trailer. Paramount this month will put into circulation its first one-reel Vista Vision subject, "Bing Presents Oreste", featuring the Old Groaner introducing new singing discovery Oreste, as a buildup for his U.S. debut in "The Vagabond King". A pressbook is also available on this subject. Women's clubs and other groups will soon have Olivia de Haviland and Myrna Loy available on film modeling gowns designed by Christian Dior for UA's "The Ambassador's Daughter", in which they star. Films were shot by producer Norman Krasna in Paris after regular shooting was completed. A $15,000 wedding gown designed for the film will be displayed in dept. stores and on TV. Columbia's A. Montague revealed preparation of a special 30-minute short featuring key scenes from "The Harder They Fall" for showing to exhibitors only. According to the Columbia sales chief, tV.e two-reel synopsis film, an April release, was put together "to give exhibitors a feeling of the impact of this film as far in advance of release as possible . . . Exhibitors in key firstrun situations can reserve time now to show 'The Harder They Fall' immediately upon its release in April and take advantage of the large-scale promotion campaign we have planned for that time." BIG TEASER CAMPAIGN ON 'MAN WHO NEVER WAS' •^p 20th-Fox is spreading on the advertising mats for "The Man Who Never Was" with an offbeat series of teasers keying the campaign. The eye-catching, provocative ads are available in several variations of those pictured below. It is one of the most extensive teaser ca'ipaigns in recent years, such ads dominating the pressbook. This type of campaign stresses the intrigue and mystery in the CinemaScope espionage thriller. Film lends itself to just this type of mystery-suspense advertising. Film BULLETIN February 20, 1956 Page 33