Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1951)

4 Motion Picture Daily National Pre-Selling ARRANGEMENTS for what is described as one of the top promotional campaigns of the year have been completed by Paramount Pictures with the Lusk Candy Co. in behalf of Bob Hope's latest comedy, "The Lemon Drop Kid," which is set for national release in April. More than 18,000 retail outlets will be alerted in a tieup that will make the public "lemon-drop conscious." Every case of lemon drops shipped to the confectionary trade will contain a three-color display piece, while a larger poster is designed to tiein with playdates at a local theatre More than 1,000 special two-pound boxes of lemon drops will be sent to the nation's top newspaper, radio and television commentators, while hundreds of regular-sized cartons will serve as giveaways, obtainable through Paramount's field exploitation staff. • In full color, the RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, will adorn the front cover of the March 16 issue of Collier's magazine, as a tiein with the coming Motion Picture Academy Award presentations which will take place at the Pantages later in the month. Collier's, on a previous occasion, carried a front-cover of a typical theatre in the midst ot a Saturday morning children's show, which was equally interesting and amusing to theatre managers and their patrons. • One of the most extensive promotion campaigns ever set up in support of a short subject will get rohing shortly for Paramount's Grantland Rice Sportlight, "Big Little Leaguers," the story of the organized baseball movement for children from eight to 12 years of age. Oscar A. Morgan, short subject sales manager for Paramount, has sent a special letter to all branch managers acquainting them with the national movement, and ' encouraging them to contact the league and local teams in every area. These "little league" teams are publicly supported and there will be a ready-made audience for the picture. • More than 50 chain stores in Chicago's Loop will participate in the promotion campaign set up for Paramount's "The Lemon Drop Kid" according to E. J. Fitzgibbon, the company's field man in the Chicago area. Each store will devote an entire window to a "lemon drop guessing contest" with passers-by asked to guess the number of lemon drops on display in a large container. Ten winners will be named from each store, and all 500 will be invited to a special screening of the picture, at which lemon drops will be served. The promotion will get under way 10 days before the Chicago opening of the picture. • The New York Daily Mirror, sec ond largest circulation of any Met ropolitan newspaper, carried a cen ter double spread on 20th Century Fox's "Bird of Paradise" in its rotogravure magazine section last Sunday, the first time that this Technicolor feature, scheduled for Easter release, has broken in the color supplements. The campaign of pre-selling is now approaching its height and will reach a climax within the next two or three weeks, in a majority of media breaks. Coast Producers, Screen Writers Start Signing Eight-Year Pacts Hollywood, Feb. 26— Major motion picture studios, which conclude all labor contracts individually, today began affixing signatures to new eight-year pacts with the Screen Writers Guild, on which an agreement was reached a fortnight ago and which was formally ratified by the Guild membership over the weekend. The contract, a product of long negotiations which promised for awhile to eventuate in a screen writers' strike, gives writers an increase in wage minimums, the separation-of-rights in original story sales, and other benefits. A complete 15-minute radio program devoted to 20th CenturyFox's "The 13th Letter" will launch the first "Movie Mystery Month" in radio history on Sunday, March 4, over the Mutual Broadcasting's 450 stations from Coast-to-Coast. An interview with Otto Preminger, producer-director of "The 13th Letter," and excerpts from the sound track of the film will be heard over the "Mr. Mystery" program, as conducted by John Shuttleworth, editor of True Detective magazine. Plugs for "The 13th Letter" will also be heard over other top Mutual shows. Promotion plans for the opening in New York of 20th Century-Fox's "I Can Get It for You Wholesale" have been set in motion with plans for mass tieins with the garment trades, which have reason to be interested in the picture. The story, based on Jerome Weidman's novel, deals with the operation of the ladies ready-to-wear garment industry, and points wp a number of promotions at the local level which should be amusing and interesting to the retail trades. • National Silver is the latest manufacturer to participate in 20th Century-Fox's promotion for "Bird of Paradise." The company has created a special dinnerware pattern to be marketed aggressively through 3,500 stores, and a full scale dealer program is underway, with the mailing of a broadside on the picture to all dealers. The "Bird of Paradise" dinner set will be on display in early March, timed with the Easter playdates of the Technocolor film. • Among the more important TV shows on which "Bird of Paradise" fashions have been or will be exhibited a number of times are: The Margaret Arlen Show (CBS-TV), Vanity Fair Program (CBS-TV), Bride and Groom Program (CBSTV), Buddy Rogers Show (WORTV), Barbara Welles Show (WORTV), and the Ilka Chase Show (CBS-TV). In addition, "Bird of Paradise" merchandise is being given away to contestants and guests on a number of radio quiz programs, including "Shoot the Moon" (ABC) and "What Makes You Tick" (ABC). • Phillips Wymcm, vice-president of the McCall Corp. and publisher of McCall's Magazine, has appointed Francis N. McGehee as advertising director of Redbook effective March 5. For many years, McGehee was associated with Scripts-Howard Newspapers, and since 1943 has operated his own business as a professional advertising sales counsellor. Simultaneously, Wyman reported that William E. Terry would be advertising manager of Redbook magazine. — Walter Brooks Windsor Product Wrangle Continues Washington, Feb. 26. — Lawyers for opposing parties in a local breach of contract film case got orders from a Federal judge here today to attempt to work out an out-of-court settlement and did attempt to but failed. They will go back to the judge tomorrow to try the case, part of the three-year old fight between the Walbrook and Windsor theatres in Baltimore. The Windsor originally brought a treble damage anti-trust suit against film distributors seeking some of the product going to the Walbrook. When 20thFox settled out of court with the Windsor, agreeing to split the product between the two houses, the Walbrook sued 20th-Fox for breach of contract. This was the case which Judge Curran ordered the lawyers to try to settle. . One of the highlights of the trial will be a difference of opinion between the 20th-Fox and Windsor lawyers as to how long the agreement to split product was to last. The Windsor lawyers say it runs indefinitely; 20th-Fox attorneys say it was a one-year-agreement, and since the one year is long past, it can now use competitive bidding. New Coast Pay Talks Starting Tomorrow Hollywood, Feb. 26.— Ralph Clare, representing studio transportation drivers and four other basic-agreement unions, is slated to meet tomorrow' with Charles Boren, Association of Motion Picture Producers vice-president in charge of labor relations. . The meeting will open discussions similar to the "money addition" talks initiated between IATSE international representative Roy Brewer and the studios. Other unions represented by Clare will be the Building Service Employees, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Operative Plasterers and Cement Finishers, International'Hod Carriers and Building and Common Laborers. New England Allied Group Hits 20th's 'Montezuma' Terms ] Boston, Feb. 26. — New England In I dependent Exhibitors, Inc., an Allied I States affiliate, has attacked in its latest bulletin 20th Century-Fox's sales ! policy on "Halls of Montezuma." The j organization alleges that "This new policy demands a 40 to 66-2/3 per cent J split or it imposes higher percentage | terms by raising the floor on sliding scales from 20 to 30 per cent" and tends to put smaller situations into higher flat rentals "by arbitrarily raising the established buy off." The picture, the association bulletin pointed out, "is being sold as a top picture and with this allocation we have no quarrel yet — but we do not think that Fox is being fair or even intelligent in expecting more for this than they have gotten for other top pictures." At the recent Allied board meeting in Washington, Abram F. Myers, general counsel and board chairman, said that the national organization's film rental committee would take up the increased rental question "more especially" with 20th-Fox than with any other company. Discussions with 20thFox would be based on "general complaints," Myers said, whereas with other companies complaints would deal with prices of specific pictures. A New York source has indicated that the Allied rentals committee is in process of "gathering data" preparatory to meeting with representatives of the companies. ASCAP Nominates New Directors Boost for Trade From Film Salesmen Pittsburgh, Feb. 26— A two-fold plan to help increase theatre grosses was disclosed here by Robert H. Ruskin, president of the Pittsburgh Lodge of the Colosseum of Motion Picture Salesmen. The plan calls upon salesmen to ad dress all key civic groups, such as th< Lions and Kiwanis, to boost the industry, and to form clinics to aid theatre owners. "Each and every salesman is aware of the fact that the continued survival of the small theatre is as important to him as an individual, as to the company he represents," Ruskin declared. The writers' and publishers' nominating committees of ASCAP have announced candidates for election to the Society's board of directors, in addition to the incumbents. They are : Writer candidates in the popular production field, Arthur Altman, Maxwell Anderson, Bennie Benjamin, Mann Curtis, Sylvia Dee, Jimmy Eaton, Sammy Gallop, Alex Gerber, Morton Gould, Moe Jaffe, J. C. Johnson, Sidney Lippman, George Marion, Jr., John Redmond, Harold J. Rome, Louis C. (Lou) Singer, Harry Tierney and Jack Yellen. Standard writers nominated are: Otto Cesana, Walter Golde, J. Rosamond Johnson, Frank La Forge, Robert MacGimsey and Harry R. Wilson. Candidates for publisher directors in the popular production filed are : Ben Barton, Ben Bloom, Sam Fox, Charles H. Hansen, George Joy, Charles Lang, George Paxton, Abner Silver and Charles Trotta. _ Standard publishers nominated are : Herman Coleman, Edwin C. Gunther and Carl T. Fischer. Ed Solomon in New Exploitation Post Eddie Solomon has been appointed assistant exploitation manager at 20th Century-Fox. Solomon will work with Rodney Bush, exploitation manager. Solomon has been with the company for the past 10 years as field exploitedin the Central division. Most recently he has been a member of the special services unit at 20th's studio.