Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1959)

Friday, September 25, 1959 Motion Picture Daily MOTION PICTURE HERALD MERCHANDISING CONFERENCES. 'But Not for Me' Campaign Stresses Romance and Fun 'Honesty' of 'Enemy' Stressed In Big Campaign by Columbia By JAMES D. IVERS Paramount's campaign for the Clark Gable-Carroll Baker comedy "But Not for Me" has successfully overcome the twin difficulties of pinpointing comedy In magazine and newspaper ads and of by-passing the problem of youth-age fomance, exhibitors at the Motion ficture Herald Merchandising Condrences agreed. The picture was creened Wednesday afternoon and elicited enthusiastic response from the lonference guests. jerome Pickman, Paramount vice|3resident, outlined the campaign to he circuit advertising executives. In Itddition to the heavy national and an magazine schedule and extensive )lans for radio promotion, he said he lad high hopes for good results from tieup with Jack Paar. The deal at 5resent calls for three successive spots in the network television show, jought after Paar had seen the comidy and agreed to give it his perlonal endorsement. The deal may be jxtended Pickman said. Gets Laughs, Not Girl The advertising campaign features /ariety in both art and copy but the general theme, Pickman explained, 'takes the curse off" the romance Dctween the elder Clark Gable and (^oung Carroll "Babv Doll" Baker. The ids feature star value with Gable, Mliss Baker Lilli Palmer and Barry be but the copy includes such lines js "Gable acts his age and becomes :he rage," "He's 51, pretending to be tl, trying to act 31, because she's nly 21," "He doesn't get the girl Dut he gets those laughs," and "The 5reat lover becomes a great comedy itar." The conference guests were unaninous in their agreement on the effectiveness of the copy but were pariicularly enthusiastic about the "He's 51, pretending to be 41 . . ." line uid it was suggested that a separate ;easer trailer featuring the line be nade. The regular trailer, shown to |he guests, is an "editorial" type, fea turing Miss Baker relating briefly what happens to her and stressing the romance and fun. Pickman also explained in detail a secretary contest, featuring letters of endorsement to their friends with prizes for the girl responsible for the most paid admissions which he said was one result of a Paramount circuit exploitation meeting. The contest is to be tried in Houston and Dallas for opening dates there. The Paramount executive strongly recommended previews of the picture in order to start word of mouth on the picture and agreed to help exhibitors get authorization from the sales department to run them. The national ad campaign schedules include "Life," "Look," "Pictorial Review," "Seventeen" and the full fan list, Pickman said. Supplementing the national ad campaign and the Jack Paar show buildup, heavy radio exploitation featuring Ella Fitzgerald singing the title song will be used, carrying out the title identification theme. Past Results Cited The discussion concluded with an analysis of the effectiveness of radio plugs. Pickman stressed the remarkable results achieved by Paramount and other companies not only for "gimmick" pictures but for others as well by using both television and radio. Television use, he pointed out, obviously is limited because of the costs involved but extensive radio coverage is easily gotten, particularly with the sliding scale device now being widely used. Assisting Pickman in the presentation were Joseph Friedman, exploitation director, and Dave Judson. By VINCENT CANBY "If ever there is a more meaningful war film, they'll have to fire live bullets from the screen." This line, spoken by famous newspaperman Bob Considine in radio spots and in the special theatrical trailer, is the key to the selling campaign on Columbia Pictures' forthcoming "Yesterday's Enemy." The campaign was outlined yesterday morning for more than 75 exhibitors attending the second day of the third series of Merchandising Conferences sponsored by Motion Picture Herald. Robert L. Ferguson, national director of advertising, publicity and exploitation for Columbia; Jonas Rosenfield, Jr., executive in charge of advertising and publicity, and Richard Kahn, exploitation manager, headed the list of Columbia officials who were hosts at the screening of the film and the presentation of the merchandising campaign in the home office, followed by luncheon at the Hotel Gotham. Points to Large Attendance Introduced by Martin Quigley, Jr., editor of The Herald, Ferguson welcomed the conference delegates by taking note of the sizeable increase in attendance over the last conferences held in May. "It is a sign that both exhibitors and distributors now realize how much we both have at stake and the more we cooperate, the better it is for both of us." "Yesterday's Enemy," a Britishmade Hammer Film set in Burma during World War II, was picked over other product to represent Columbia at the conference, said Ferguson, because it was felt to offer "showmen a greater opportunity to capitalize on their showmanship abilities. He admitted that it has no stars well known to U.S. audiences, but said that the story, which shows courage and cowardice in both the British and Japanese, dramatizes a strong universal truth about the corrosive effect of war on all participants. The perhaps unprecedented honesty of the film, said Ferguson, is being stressed in all phases of the selling campaign. Considine's quote is, in addition to being used in the trailer and radio spots, being extensively utilized in the display ads. The film has been screened for, and strongly recommended by, such groups and individuals as the Overseas Press Club, the China-Burma-India Veterans Association, General Devers, and a number of the country's most widely read syndicated columnists. Columbia's biggest coup, he reported, has been in getting the backing of General Sir Robert Mansergh, military aide to Queen Elizabeth. The general feels so strongly about the film that he has agreed to tour major cities in this country to talk about it. The general, according to Richard Kahn, is because of his colorful personality, a natural to receive all sorts of publicity. He will be interviewed on national radio and TV shows. Will Be Sold as War Film' One exhibitor, who praised the hard-hitting campaign on the picture, but asked the Columbia executives, "How do we get women in the theatre?" was answered by another exhibitor who said that while it was always desirable to have a "woman's angle" in the advertising, it's not always necessary. "Look at 'Al Capone,' " he said. He was backed by an exhibitor who advised against "selling away from the film. It's a war film. Let's sell it as such." Other suggestions for promotion on the local level included cooperation with local veterans groups, and special screenings for civic educational and student groups. The advertising approach on "But Not for Me" is discussed by Jerome Pick Robert S. Ferguson, Columbia national director of advertising, publicity and nan, Paramount vice-president, at a Motion Picture Herald Merchandising exploitation, describes the campaign for "Yesterday's Enemy" at the Herald .Conference session. Conference.