The Independent Film Journal (1954)

Loew s Theatres Launches Golden Jubilee Marking 50th Anniversary With 50 years having passed since the late Marcus Loew opened his first penny arcade, Loew’s Theatres, Inc*., is now celebrating its Golden Jubilee with a two-month wide-scale promotion. Scheduled to run through No¬ vember, the campaign will involve all forms of motion picture theatre promotion, includ¬ ing the use of newspapers, radio, TV, screens and exploitation. The campaign has already been kicked off in Greater New York, where it was launched with a demonstration in Times Square. The anniversary programs in Loew’s out-of-town situations will be staggered to take advan¬ tage of the best booking line-ups, the com¬ pany notes, with most Golden Jubilee pro¬ motions getting under way toward the end of this month. In all cases, although all anniversary angles will be exploited to the fullest, great¬ est attention will be given to the films booked for the Jubilee period. The company ex¬ plains that while the Golden Jubilee has a certain sentimental meaning inside the trade, its prime purpose is to sell theatre tickets. Films booked by the theatre circuit for the Jubilee period include Paramount’s “Liv¬ ing It Up,” “Rear Window” and “Sabrina”; M-G-M’s “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” “Betrayed” and “Brigadoon,” and Colum¬ bia’s “The Caine Mutiny” and “On the Waterfront.” Under Same Management Among the theatre company’s major claims to historical fame is that along with the fact that it is one of the oldest theatre circuits, it is the only major company in the business to remain under the same management dur¬ ing its entire existence. The firm has been headed first by Loew, then Nicholas M. Sehenck, and now Joseph R. Vogel, who was named px-esident when divorcement was effected. While these facts are of interest to the trade, the public will be hit with the type of bally designed to lure them into the theati-es. The campaign has been prepared by Ernest Emerling, Loew’s ad-publicity head, and his staff, assisted by the managers of more than 50 Gotham theatres. Emerling pointed out that “we know that business is on the upgrade, that the pi’oduct we are getting now is the best in a long One of a trio of floats depicting some of the features that will be seen in Loew's theatres during the two month Jubilee celebration. Boro President Jack, aided by Anne Francis and Elaine Stewart, changes Times Square to Loew's Square to launch Golden Jubilee festivities. time.” He explained that “in the Golden Jubilee drive we’ll have an effective medium of telling the public all about it, and we are going to do this whenever and wherever we can.” The drive got under way with a motorcade of floats representing some of the attrac¬ tions to be seen at Loew nabes in the New York area. Special newspaper ad campaigns, TV and radio announcements and augmented lobbies and screeix trailers are telling the story of the 50th anniversary shows. The Times Square demonstration launched the Loew’s Golden Jubilee Motorcade, com¬ posed of the floats and a Motion Pictui-e Museum, created by the George Eastman House of Rochester. The museum traces the development of the motion picture during the last 50 years and has been installed in a 33-foot tx-ailer truck. Carries Projector Along with the historical material, such as early motion picture apparatus, the mu¬ seum carries a modern automatic slide pro¬ jector that shows scenes from current Jubilee attractions. The museum will also visit New York City grammar and high schools. The motorcade is visiting all Loew’s thea¬ tres in the metropolitan area. It will then be broken down into separate units to bally the individual pictures as they play off. The theatres will continue to feature the special Jubilee birthday cakes and decorations throughout the campaign. For its customers, Loew’s has also pre¬ pared a photo quiz contest in a two-page flyer format. Cash px-izes totaling $1,000 are offered to moviegoers who complete the con¬ test correctly. In order to win, contestants will have to see a number of the Jubilee attractions. All stunts performed at the individual the¬ atres will be designed in accord with the primary goal of the campaign, that of act¬ ing as a stimulus to increased business. Thea¬ tres will use the anniversary motif as a springboard for promotions, aided by the support coming from the company’s home office via increased advertising and publicity. Independent TradeReviem _ ( Continued from page 20) _ this information, Maureen shoots Carey to get the key, but he doesn ’t die because he has on a bulletproof vest. Back in Tangier, Maureen is captured and almost killed, but Harry Lane defies the syndicate boss Binnie and refuses to kill Maureen killing Binnie instead. The smugglers decide to make a run for it but Carey and his men stop them and Maureen learns that Carey like herself is a Treasury agent. ____ “The Unholy Four” (Lippert) 80 Min. Cast: Paulette Goddard, William Sylvester, Patrick Holt, Paul Carpenter, Aivys Maban, Russeli Napier. Credits: A Hammer Production; Produced by Michael Carreras; Directed by Terence Fisher; Screen play by Carreras; Based on the novel, "Stranger at Home," by George Sanders. “The Unholy Four” is an average pro¬ grammer which will have its top selling appeal in the marquee name of Paulette Goddard, who delivers a slick performance in this Englishmade feature for Lippert release. Miss God¬ dard is aided by some good acting by William Sylvester, one of England’s top actors. There is some suspense in this feature dealing with a man who returns to his home and wife after a three year absence to try and find out who tried to murder him. Title of the feature has strong exploitation possibilities. The characters all speak clearly and in very good English, there are no cockney dialect characters and this should aid it in the U.S. William Sylvester returns home after a three year absence during which he has suffered from amnesia. He wants to find out who left him for dead after slugging him during a fishing trip in Portugal. He suspects that his wife, Paulette Goddard, had something to do with it, and the mystery goes deeper when one of their friends is murdered and Paulette and Sylvester are suspected. Sylvester then lays a trap for Paulette ’s social secretary, Alvis Maban, whom he suspects, but she, too, is murdered. Sylvester follows a trial to Paul Carpenter’s house, where he forces Carpenter to confess all the crimes. “The Sleeping Tiger” (Astor Pictures) 89 Min. Cast: Alexis Smith, Alexander Knox, Dirk Bogarde, Hugh Griffith, Patricia McCarron, Maxine Audley, Glyn Houston. Credits: An Insignia Films Production; Produced and directed by Victor Hanbury; Screen play by Derek Frye; Based on a novel by Maurice Moiseiwitsch. A British psychological drama with overtones of crime and a triangular romance, “The Sleeping Tiger” should serve to provide pro¬ gram fare over here. Film stars Alexis Smith, Alexander Knox and Dirk Bogarde as the illmet trio who become entangled in the plot. The feature’s possibilities have been somewhat hampered by a seeming indecision on the part of the producer-director whether to turn out a serious ‘ ‘ art ’ ’ film or a very obvious melo¬ drama. “Tiger” contains elements of each, and they often jar each other. The script does de¬ liver some highly suspenseful moments and an interesting presentation of a villain who steals, cheats and hits defenseless girls. The feature starts out on an unusual note, with psychologist Knox taking criminal Bo¬ garde into his home for a six-month period to see why he behaves as he does. This sets the scene for the ensuing affair between Bogarde and Miss Smith, Knox’s wife. Bogarde is given some juicy scenes to demonstrate that he is a complete bounder, and he throws convincing temper tantrums. The film takes a sudden turn when Bogarde reforms because of an act of kindness from Knox. The younger man decides to stop seeing Miss Smith, and then she be¬ comes the psychopath, who lies and throws fits, finally meeting a violent death. The film is smoothly played with some interesting sets. 22 THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— October 16, 1954