Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1948)

Above, one of the extraordinarily effective wall panel; used inside the lohby of Loew's Criterion in New York City for the opening of "Canon C'ty." The entire lohhy and front of the Oiterion were turned into replicas of the penitent'ary. One side of the l<»l)l)y was huilt up to he the exterirJr of a prison wall; the facing s'de, a row of prison c-lls. Above the boxoffice a powerfid guard tower spoti'ght flashed tn the acconipairmeiit of sirens, guns. In one of the most talked-about >tunt>. a ''convict" was placed and is now living in a repl'ca of a solitary confinement cell right in front of the theatre, with a "guard," garbed in autlientic uniform. He will remain there during the entire Criterion run, in exactly the same cir( uni--laiic. s as h s real-life counterparts. As an unusual advance dinplay, the lobby carried merchandise made by the Colorado Stale Penitentiary convicts as part of their reluibililution program. Following the opening of "(ianon City." the d splay was moved to the Museum of Science and Industry in Radio City. Another li»bb\ di^pla> which arou^ed interest showed the actual "home-made" guns, knives, brass knuckles, axes. etc.. made by the real convicts, and used in the bensatioiial escape. EXPLOITATION PICTURE THIS IS BALLYH E^tL Stalls '"('itntpn t'iitj'* This, l)oys, is what wr call SELLING! a motion picture. What yon see on this page arc a few sample of the kind of two-fislcd. intriguing advertising and ballyhoo that too few films get, and so many need, if their boxofliee potential is to he reached, or even approxima? 'mI. This picture, '"Canon City," is l)eing presented hv Eagle Lion, the same company which last season parlayed a little $400,0(J0 melodrama into a two million dollar grosser. The producer of "T-Men"' raised a fuss hecause he claimed that proper credit was not given him. h\i\ the truth is that the people who really deserved the Ciedit for the success of "T-Men" were the advertising, publicity and exploitation hoys and girls who made that little picture a piece of "hot " movie merchandise. The same crew has recently liren doing a standout job with E-L"s "Raw Dral" and now tliey give us a wallojting campaign on "Canon City." With punchy, exciting advance newspaper ads and crowd-gathering ballyhoo, they have pushed this prison melodrama up to the stature of a two million dollar epic. The New York premiere at Loew's Criterion was kicked oiT to a grand start by this campaign, which included the "solitary confinement" cell (picture above I on the street. This stunt drew large crowds and newspaper space. The Criterion lobbv display was one of the flashiest seen in the Broadway sector in years. It is attracting a steady flow of passersby and selling tickets. The publicity capitalized to the limit the film role played by the real-life warden (Roy Best) of Canon City prison, as well as the documentary realness of the story. Yes, this is what we call SELLING, and every exhibitor who plays "Canon City" will reap some share of the harvest sown by those aggressive Eagle Lion publiciteers operating under chief Max E. Youngstein. B. S. It's five o'clock/ Tuesday, December 30, 1947. Th« p«opi« of Cpnon City, Colorado, or* preparing for another quiet Winter ovenlng. Snow it jilst beginning to fall. Duck almost hide*' the grim silhoueA* of the Stat* Penitentiary on the edge of town. Suddenly it happens! A tiren tcreams — -then another-^ and another— thatterine Ifie air itaelf with their terrifying wall*. Twelve desperate convicts— murderer*, kidnappersarmed with crude shotguns, clubs and knives have battened their blood-mad 'way to freedom in the most spoctacular laHbraak of our timel Dragging as hostages four brutally beaten guards, they fore* iheir ^mzied way into homes at gun point. Thus began in Canon Ctty a three day rei^n of terror that startlod the nation with scr^ominA headlines from coast-to^oost ... a reign of terror broken only when the town fought back I • This Is Not Fiction . . .THIS IS THE NAKED FURY OF FACT! Filmed T1i« Way h'Hoppenedl An EAGLE LION FILMS Picture Intratudnj SCOTT BRADY with Jeff Corey Whii Bisstll Slanlty ClemMts Cliatlet «usstll DeForoiWin Rilifi 3yid Mibcl Ptige »i< Wurilw Roy Best. hnwIf-A Btyjn foy Production Pioducei) by Robert T Kine Written md Direcled by Crine WJbu WORLD PREMIERE Loew's Cool NEXT ATTRACTION *T iS'h STREET This striking iKlverliseinent appeared in Ne>v "iork dailes in advance of the opening at the Criterion. 24 FILM B I' L L E T I N