Motion Picture News (Jul - Sep 1930)

August 16 , 19 3 0 Motion Picture News 65 MANAGER!' ROUND TABLE CLUB When a showman promoted Tdl Thousand IrOIl ten thousand dollars from a »«■/-,. » t> bank and gave it away to pa MenLrlVenAwayoy trons of his theatre it was C* r\ Aa. \K Orllnm time for us to look into the \jeOrge *>« wQlUm matter; but when we started " to investigate and found that G. B. Odium, publicity director of the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling, W. Va., was behind the stunt we knew that there was a catch. The whole plan though was run right, according to advertisements. This is how it happened. Odium, working hard as usual, promoted the co-operation of one of the local banks and the bank agreed to furnish a check for one dollar to every patron purchasing a ticket, the check to be used for starting an account. The check was negotiable only when used as a deposit to open a new savings account, combined with one dollar and carried on deposit for six months. The stunt went over very well and, in the cut we are showing you, you can see how Odium cashed in on it by advertising, with cut-out letters atop the marque, that ten thousand dollars were to be given away. And if signs like that didn't have the same stopping effect as a danger sign then "G. B." doesn't know his business. And we can't say that, because he also pulled a good one for a theatre plug. He made up a number of heralds in coupon style, each containing a letter such as: "C is for Cool Comfort," "A is for Admiration expressed by each patron for Capitol shows," and so on. The idea was to secure a complete set making up the name Capitol. Upon presentation of the set, the bearer was admitted to the theatre. This idea, too, also went over and since these two accounts are all that we have on hand of "G. B." ' recent work we will have to sign off until he sends us in his next contribution. And we hope it will be soon. Austin P. Drohan Puts Personal Endorsement On Show One of the most effective forms of newspaper advertising which a showman can use is that of the "personal endorsement" in his ad. We have many times stressed the fact that if a showman has made a name for himself in his town, he will generally find, when he has a picture that he is sure will click with his patrons, one of his best moves is to run a personal endorsement of it. Knowing his town as he does, and feeling sure that they would take heed, Austin P. Drohan, manager of the Capitol Theatre in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, ran one in his local paper. In order that you may see the type of copy that went into the make-up we are reprinting it. The endorsement appeared in a box in the regular ad and under the heading "Mr. Drohan's Personal Endorsation," read: "In view of the insistent public demand from all parts of the country, I consider myself fortunate indeed, in securing for this theatre, the splendid picture "Ladies of Leisure." With so many exceptionally fine pictures being produced and shown it is a matter of difficult discrimination to recommend one as a really outstanding performance. However, despite this fact, I have no hesitation whatever in heartily recommending this picture, as one of the finest and most entertaining that it has been my privilege to show in Chatham. It is a picture you should not miss; one that I am confident you will really enjoy." and was signed by Drohan. The angle clicked and the house, as a result, came in for increased business during the run of the film. We would like to stress the fact that this can be overworked, too, and it would be well for you to use it only when you have a picture or message of special import. We want to thank Mr. Drohan for sending this in to us and we hope to hear from him again, very soon. TEN CENT "SPECIALS" Just the thing for a box office booster. A short time ago, Joe Murdock of the Rowland Theatre in Wilkinsburg, Pa., pulled one. He advertised that between 1:00 and 1:30 P.M. admission to everybody would be ten cents, a big price slash. For hours before the house was opened they were lined up. Business was more than tripled in that half hour and the best part of the stunt was the fact that it showed an increase and not a decrease as most of the persons who attended the special show would not ordinarily have paid the regular price. This stunt can be worked in many different ways. You ca.n feature a Scotch matinee and offer bargain prices, two tickets for one admission — or you can work it with the dime straight admission. At any rate, if your local conditions will permit, give it a try and we think that it will help business a lot as well as boosting your local good-will stock. Local Exposition Enabled Fulton To Secure Publicity When you can grab off a place in a street parade being sponsored by a Chamber of Commerce you can then say that you rate pretty high with the local moguls who run your town; and R. K. Fulton, manager of the Broadway Theatre in Council Bluffs, la., is entitled to say it. He got a great break recently when the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce planned to usher in their annual exposition with a street parade. The parade this year was devoted to showing the various stages of transportation right up to the present day. When Fulton heard this and realized that he was playing "Montana Moon" at the same time he hustled out and secured a covered wagon to enter in the parade. In one of the photos we are showing you can see the wagon, preceded by a twenty-four piece band and a motorcycle escort, going through the main street of the town; and from the crowds lining the sidewalk it was easy to deduce that nearly all of them would be present that night when the picture unreeled. It was no soft job to crash this parade as it was not engineered for any sort of advertising medium but in view of the fact that Fulton had helped the Chamber many times and taken an active interest in the affair he was permitted to enter the ballyhoo. The other photo shows the unusually attractive aeroplane display he arranged in his lobby as a plug for "Young Eagles." Two miniature planes that had recently been acclaimed first and second winners of a contest conducted by a local department store seemed to claim more interest than anything else due to their being made by local boys. Also included in the lobby display were artwork and cut-outs, and various types of aeroplane motors which had been loaned by the Omaha Airways Co. In addition to the array of aeroplane effects in the lobby, pennants were strung up and down the front of the building and then to the canopy. With these couple of accounts just part of the work he turns out, it is small wonder that he is talked about in all the towns around Council Bluffs.