Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1959)

jriday, October 16, 1959 Motion Picture Daily 3 adio, TV Promotion in onion tor 'Sheba' Bow From THE DAILY Bureau LONDON, Oct. 15.-United Artists utilizing an extensive radio and telesion campaign to focus attention on lie world premiere of Edward Small's 'jper Technirama-70 production of Solomon and Sheba" at the Astor Iheatre here on Oct. 27. In addition 2 merchandising tie-ins have been it with leading manufacturers and irvice companies, including women's \shions, cosmetics, jewelry and top jepartment stores. Posters Widely Distributed Posters, window and in-store dislays are blanketing major retail outers. More than 1500 "Solomon and heba" posters alone are prominently matured in open-air and underground ailway, subway, bus and tram stations Ji the Greater London area. : A full schedule of promotional actijjties for Gina Lollobrigida, starred in ,ie film with Yul Brynner, is generat,ig word-of-mouth publicity for the lm. Miss Lollobrigida is participating i an intensive series of radio, televiion and press interviews in conjunction with the charity premiere to benet England's Chest and Heart Association. Porgy' Heading for £2,000,000 Gross "Porgy and Bess," having grossed pore than $1,500,000 to date in its ix opening engagements, this week is leading for $2,000,000 figure with 'he additional engagements premiered n Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Detroit md Washington, Columbia Pictures e ports. Following the four new openings, he Samuel Goldwyn production will ncrease its engagements to 22 by the Christmas holidays, adding Baltimore, Cleveland, Buffalo, Syracuse, Miami, ndianapolis, Louisville, Salt Lake Hity, Dallas, San Diego and Denver. RKO Makes WB 'Place' ''Special Project' Film J RKO Theatres has made Warner Bros. "A Summer Place" its first "project picture" of the new season, and :he circuit publicity department has developed a special campaign to promote word-of-mouth far in advance }f playdates. A brochure has been prepared by RKO listing selling aids available from Warners and a variety of ideas for covering avenues of publicity and proemotion. RKO managers are also urged •|o submit other ideas to supplement the campaign. Pillow9 Bookings Set Universal's "Pillow Talk" has been booked to open in every exchange city in the country during the first four weeks of its release, it was announced by Henry H. Martin, general sales manager. Circuit Memo Lauds Trailers ( Continued comes as National Screen Service opens its 40th anniversary "Once in a Lifetime Tribute to Trailers," a feature of which is a six-week, cash prize contest for theatre men submiting the best illustration of the importance of trailers to theatre attendance. The Movie Memo tribute asserts that "showmen regard them ( trailers ) as just about the most important advertising medium they have." It goes on to discuss the origin of the name — an advertisement for a coming attraction which usually came at the end of the current program— and traced the trailer's history through the "slide" era and then the use of drawings in sequence, up to 1919. 'First Use' by Robbins "The first use of live action— actual scenes from the footage of a feature film," it continues, "was conceived by Herman Robbins, then general sales manager for Fox Films. So successful was his innovation that Robbins quit Fox to enter trailer production for himself, founding National Screen Service Corp. National Screen today dominates the trailer field, making feature trailers and distributing them for all of the major producers, save Warner Brothers, and for many of the independents. (Warners still produces and distributes its own screen trailers. ) Nation-Wide Service Cited "Backed by over 20 branches in strategic locations around the continent, National Screen today is in a position to supply not only a multitude of trailers on different attractions, current and past, but also stocks motion picture stills, pressbooks, posters, advertising mats, window cards and numerous other requisites to theatre publicity. In an average week, their personnel handle more than 100,000 from page 1 ) trailers, plus an astronomical quantity and variety of accessories. "The steps taken to produce a trailer on a typical feature like UA's 'The Wonderful Country' or M-G-M's 'Never So Few' follow a tried and true pattern. First, the picture is screened tor a writer and the National Screen trailer producer. They select key scenes and dialogue which will provide a fast impression of the story line, expose the stars in their most favorable aspects and arouse a wantto-see in the viewer. Procedure Described Artists are put to work creating the copy that will appear between scenes or perhaps superimposed upon them. Copy for live narration is evolved for the announcer who will record it on the trailer's sound track. A title treatment is decided upon, and a script prepared for submission to the movie's producer and his advertising and publicity people. "Finally, after full approval has been obtained from the client, National Screen welds the component parts into an 'answer' print for final approval before printing in quantity. Busy on TV Work Also "Since the advent of TV, most trailer companies have formed subsidiaries to make 'commercials' for the video trade— in both 35 mm and 16 mm sizes. From these wholly separate shops come the animated cartoon commercials, one-flash ads and the live action trailerettes depicting whitefrocked 'doctors' praising the virtues of divers pills, potions and unguents —all of which must be bought NOW, not tomorrow! Unlike trailers for motion pictures, few of these ever provide the viewer with any pleasure. Quite the opposite." Tk-ln on 'Havana' With Silverstone Will Fete Trove/ Agents Society PbmPPilie Da,lce t;oup Columbia Pictures has arranged a tie-in for Carol Reed's "Our Man in Havana" with the American Society of Travel Agents, which is holding its annual convention in Havana Oct. 17-25. A full-fledged member of ASTA and the only motion picture company ever to join the travel organization, Columbia is lending full support to the convention. Paul N. Lazarus, Jr., Columbia vicepresident, will deliver a major address on the topic, "The Screen Is a Travel Agent." This is the basis of the cooperative promotion, which has a "see the picture . . . see the country" theme. Maureen O'Hara, who co-stars in the film, will also attend the international confab and participate in a wide range of promotional activities. Also on hand will be publicity representatives from the Columbia branch in Havana and from the home office to help launch Murray Silverstone, president of 20th Century-Fox International Corp., will receive and entertain the Philippine Bayanihan dance troup, now appearing in this country under the auspices of Sol Hurok, on next Sunday. The affair, which will be hosted by Silverstone and his family, will be an afternoon cocktail party, on the grounds of his home at Scarsdale, N. Y. Attending the party will be impresario Hurok, along with members of the State Dept. Bureau of Asian Affairs. Movitonews will cover the event. the worldwide campaign on the film. More than 2,500 delegates from the 21 member countries are expected to attend the ASTA conclave. Lazarus' principal address will be delivered on Oct. 21 at the largest general session of the convention at the Havana Hilton. PEOPLE R. J. "Hap" Barnes and Charles Simpson, of Capitol Releasing Corp., Atlanta, have become partners with Hal Macon in theatre operation at Statesville, Ga. □ Charles and Dorothy Levy, who recently relinquished their lease of the Hut Theatre, Marrero, La., have acquired the lease of the Amite Theatre, Amite, La., from the owner V. M. Currier. They will take over Nov. 1. □ Mrs. Carol Moessner, formerly secretary to Gene Goodman, of the United Artists branch in Atlanta, has left that post to become secretary at the Rialto Theatre there. □ Samuel S. Whiteley, for 20 years with Mack Theatres, Chester, Pa., has resigned to take over management of the Lansdale Theatre, Lansdale, Pa. John Davis Due Here On World Tour Monday John Davis, deputy chairman and managing director of the Rank Organisation, is due there next Monday from London on the first leg of a sixweek world-wide tour. While in America, Davis will discuss the sale of unsold Rank films in the U.S. and expansion of the group's gramophone record activities. In Canada, he will review the general development of the theatre and distribution operations. While in Japan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, India and Pakistan he will discuss the distribution of British films and prospects for Rank Precision Industries and Bush Radio and Television products. The question of expanding local manufacture by Bush in India will also be investigated. Davis is due back in London on Nov. 26. Feldman Goes South on 'Hound Dog' Openings Edward Feldman, 20th CenturyFox publicity executive, flies to Jacksonville, Fla., today to coordinate merchandising and promotional plans for an eight state saturation of jerry Wald's "The Hound Dog Man," beginning Oct. 27. The Wald production will have its world bow in Monroe, La., on the 27th and then open in more than 200 situations throughout the South and Southwest. Feldman will meet with Jacksonville branch manager Tom Tidwell and New Orleans manager William Briant along with regional advertising-publicity managers Ed Hale and Frank |enkiiis. Feldman will also meet with Wometco and Florida State Theatres executives.