Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1960)

GLOBAL SELL PAYS DLL 'tteaeh' and *SA S* Repaying MJA's Scope i ampaigns Roger H. Lewis (left). L A vice president, discusses artwork for global Solomon and Sheba" campaign with Fred Goldberg, national advertisingpublicity-exploitation director, and Joseph Gould, advertising manager. (Continued from Page 16) to create original posters heralding the film. Local newspapers, magazines and opinion makers saw special screenings, and their comments added to "On the Beach's" snowballing reputation. On the night of the premieres, not only did some of the world's most famous personalities see "On the Beach,'' but millions of others shared the excitement of all of the premieres bv means of newsreels and newspaper stories around the world scant hours afterwards. Undoubtedly, "On the Beach" has fulfilled UA's promise — and probably even more effectively than was envisaged — of carrying "our message through to every potential audience of the world." But even now. United Artists is not ready to call it quits. Underway is a special 12-language campaign to spread the word around the world about the enthusiasm that the film (and, strictly entre nous, UA's imaginative admen) has inspired. 'Beach' in All Languages "The response to the film in newspaper reviews and from leaders of world opinion," Lewis recently announced, "has been uniformly excellent. Through our campaign we intend to convert this enthusiasm into a selling tool that will reach and penetrate the broadest possible global market. The word about 'On the Beach' is definitely out. Spreading that word, in all languages, to all parts of the world, is consistent with the international character of the film's promotion and constitutes an important means for maintaining this same level of global penetration." With this kind of no-effort-spared ballyhoo behind it, is it any wonder As elsewhere, "On the Beach's" premiere in Melbourne, Australia, drew huge crowds. that "On the Beach" is breaking boxoffice records in practically every city in which it plays? Although exact grosses are still not available, the word from Rome is that "On the Beach's" first three days shattered the house record. In Zurich, the first three days resulted in another alltime high. In Stockholm, Toronto, Melbourne, Berlin, London, Paris — in fact, all over the world — UA's hard-hitting global promotion campaign is paying off in hard cash. And, mark this, there can be no doubt that the cumulative effect of the ballyhoo abroad is having a notable impact on the domestic market. The headlines from all over the world has made the U.S. keenly alert to the film's importance. Nor should anyone be surprised, then, that "Solomon and Sheba,"' backed by similar international drumbeating, is making cash registers dance in such widely scattered cities as Paris and Tokyo, London and Sydney. Here again, United Artists, realizing that the foreign market, like the domestic, will respond to effective showmanship, has lavished over a million dollars in making this old planet of ours "Solomon and Sheba"-conscious. Guided by such talented publiciteers as Jonas Arnold and Lois Weber, under the supervision of Fred Goldberg, national director of advertising, publicity and exploitation, the campaign is utilizing twenty-five expert promotion men, in addition to the regular UA ad-pub force, to saturate every world market with the exotic excitement of Edw ard Small's S6.000.000 biblical spectacle. Again keynoting the campaign, Lewis declared: "Our campaign for 'Solomon and Sheba' is the most extensive, thorough-going pre-selling effort we've ever undertaken. In terms of money, manpower and activity, we are going allout to develop and exploit the film's enormous boxoffice potential ... A picture of this obvious business potential," he continued, "warrants the finest pre-selling campaign we can bring it. We intend to carry our program through to the world's exhibitors and moviegoers with an impact and an awareness that has never been equalled." Manpower and Money Promoted in this vigorous manner, it seems very probable that "Solomon and Sheba" will duplicate its initial overseas successes in all of the forty-one foreign situations in which it's scheduled to run by the end of next month. At last summer's intercontinental conference. Max E. Youngstein, UA's blunt-speaking vice president, threw down this gauntlet to the industry: "We are determined to service our producers so that there is no doubt in the rest of the world that we are the best advertising-publicity company in the business. In eight years," he pointed out, "we've more than tripled our manpower . . . and we've backed it up with money." With the vast sums so boldly invested in the vast "Beach" and "Sheba" campaigns L'nited Artists has proved once again the profitable importance of spending big to earn big. And in doing so, has blazed a promotion trail around the world that other industryites might well follow. Film BULLETIN January 4, I960 Page 19