Harrison's Reports (1949)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: 1270 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS Published Weekly by United States $15.00 (Formerly Sixth Avenue) Harrison s Reports, Inc., U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 „ v I, 9n W V Publisher Canada 16.50 Wew 1 ork *u» 1N* *• P. S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Great Britain 17.50 Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Established July 1, 1919 Austral ia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 m Editorial p0iicy: No problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4622 35c a Copy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXXI SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1949 No. 43 A GREAT JOB OF PUBLIC RELATIONS What may very well be termed a new era in motion picture publicity and public relations has been instituted by Cecil B. DeMille and Paramount Pictures in conjunction with the promotion of Mr. DeMille's epic production, "Samson and Delilah." The promotion plan, to say the least, is ingenious, for, in addition to garnering much dignified publicity for the picture, it is winning a new respect and ap' preciation of the motion picture industry as a whole by illustrating in positive terms just how valuable the industry can be in the field of public service. Briefly, the promotion plan is this: In making "Samson and Delilah,''' Mr. DeMille and his staff spent fourteen years researching the Minoan Civilization, with the result that, today, DeMille and Paramount have collected as much data on this little known civilization as any institution in the United States. Rather than store this data away to collect dust, the idea was conceived to make it avail' able to schools, colleges, churches and other organizations, if they wanted it. Accordingly, an arrangement was made with Mr. Henry Wilcoxon, one of the picture's stars, to make a tour of some 4 1 cities throughout the United States and Canada to present the plan, together with other revelations of the picture, to the following groups, whose members represent the true leaders of public opinion: (1) Women's clubs and organizations; (2) churches and church organizations; (3) private, parOchial and public schools; (4) motion picture exhibitors; (5) press, radio and television; and (6) manufacturers and designers of the fashion groups and retail outlets. Thus far Mr. Wilcoxon has appeared in 14 cities. He spends two days in each city and lectures at three meetings each day. He makes what he calls a "basic talk" to each group, after which he discusses the picture, using scenes blown up into slides. He points out the painstaking efforts that went into the production to assure an authentic reproduction of the period, as well as the care taken to make sure that, as a Biblical drama, it is given no false interpretations. His talk is presented in so interesting a fashion that it leaves the audience with a new slant on the great contribution made by the industry, not only as a medium of entertainment, but also as an educational force. To the women's clubs, Mr. Wilcoxon offers a series of six or more recorded lectures on different topics, such as "The Minoan Civilization," "Drama and The Holy Bible," and "Where Fashions Come From," all to be recorded by famous lecturers and distributed by Good House\eejping. He offers to provide also a group discussion guide and visual exhibits. To the schools in each city he visits, Mr. Wilcoxon puts forth a plan to adapt the research material col' lected on the Minoan civilization into modern teach' ing systems by the use of film strips, study guides, study charts, miniature stills for essay illustrations, art competition and other audio-visual aids. To the churches and church organizations, he out' lines a method whereby, through the use of the same modern teaching aids offered to the schools, Sunday School classes, Bible Study Groups, and young peo' pies organizations of all faiths could generate and sustain interest in the Bible as living literature. In his presentation to the press, radio and television people, Mr. Wilcoxon, after outlining the overall campaign, does not leave them with any publicity material, such as stills or prepared publicity releases. Instead, he asks them to help the motion picture in' dustry avoid stereotyped promotions and solicits their ideas as to the kind of stories, art work and other forms of cooperation that they can best use to improve their feature sections, amusement pages, and tele' vision and radio shows in general. The unusual approach to this group has resulted in some of the most favorable publicity the industry has ever received. To the fashion groups, Mr. Wilcoxon, through the use of slides, presents sketches by Edith Head, Paramount's studio designer, showing how adaptations of the picture's period costumes and accessories in modern dress can influence style trends. The tour thus far has been an overwhelming success. Mr. Wilcoxon is a fine, intelligent speaker, and his sincerity and friendly approach have made a deep impression on every one of the hundreds of groups he has so far addressed. Every person who has heard him has left the meeting, not only with the feeling of having been offered research material that will be invaluable to his or her group, but also with a genuine feeling of new respect for the motion picture industry as a whole. In every one of the cities visited, the exhibitors, to a man, have greeted the promotional activity with rare enthusiasm, hailing it as the best public relations job ever done, with all noting that it was done in extremely good taste. Paramount and Mr. DeMille are to be congratulated for a great forward step in bringing about a new order of promotion, one that creates a fine advance interest for a picture by illustrating how valuable a service the industry can perform in the public's behalf. It is to be hoped that the other film companies will make a close study of this highly successful campaign, and that they will use it as a model to guide them in their future promotion of pictures.