The Exhibitor (1955)

10 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 1955-56 SERIES Finalists In Contest No. 8 WINNING ENTRY It" Campaign Nets Phila. Theatreman First $600 Prize Philadelphia — A1 Plough, manager, SW Stanton, Philadelphia, in this issue has knocked off not only Motion Picture Exhibitor’s weekly $100 Showmanship Sweepstakes prize, but by a wide margin of the judging, also wins the $500 that Columbia Pictures had posted for the best campaign on “It Came From Beneath The Sea.” This marks the first time a SHOW¬ MANSHIP SWEEPSTAKES contestant has copped any of the money posted by the film companies in recognition of the value of the weekly contest. To win any of this money the entry has to ALSO come in first in MPE’s SWEEPSTAKES on the specific picture involved. Paramount has $500 posted on “We’re No Angels,” and to win this you have to have your entry judged, as was Plough’s, on or before Oct. 12; and Universal-Inter¬ national has a similar amount posted on “The Private War Of Major Benson.” The added bonuses from the film companies have just been added to by Republic, on “The Last Command,” with Nov. 16 set as the “stop” date, and RKO, on “The Treasure Of Pancho Villa,” to start in October. In addition, Columbia has signified its intention to post another $500 on a picture to be announced soon. Consequently, as interest in the SWEEPSTAICES grows and grows, and as one of the 56 judges has remarked, “The entries are all good and the judging is really tough,” the weekly pay-offs con¬ tinue to grow and grow. This proves only one thing and that is that Motion Picture Exhibitor’s SHOWMANSHIP SWEEPSTAKES is truly the most sensational and original exploitation idea in the recent history of trade paper publication. "It Came From Beneath The Sea" Submitted by Alfred Plough SW Stanton, Philadelphia, Pa. 1305 seats * 99 cents top admission General patronage. Here is the first entry by any enterpris¬ ing manager, who is out to knock down Columbia’s $500 posted for the campaign adjudged worthy by SHOWMANSHIP SWEEPSTAKES judges and which also cops Motion Picture Exhibitor’s first prize $100 for the best out of the five entries this week. Coupled with Columbia’s other current horror picture, “The Creature With The Atom Brain,” this first-run did so well as a result of the campaign as to warrant a hold-over week. Trailers were run two weeks in ad¬ vance, instead of the usual one; and were preceded by a record made at WIP intro¬ ducing Plough, asking for strict attention from the audience and then going into a spiel about the nature of the two films. This, Plough says, gave added importance to the trailers that followed. Twenty-seven house employes pledged to make 20 telephone calls each from their homes. Their message was: “It is coming to the Stanton on (date).” An aquarium was obtained from a pet shop and mounted on a stand. Muddy water was put into it along with some greens. Copy above the stand read: “STOP! THIS IS ’IT.’ The only invisible TT’ in captivity. See ‘IT’ come alive in ‘IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA’ plus ‘THE CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN.’ Starts, Stanton, (date).” These were used in three store windows for two weeks at nominal cost. Five thousand of the tabloid heralds the company has available on the film were distributed. The same 27 employes who made the telephone calls also dis¬ tributed 100 tabloids each. This was better than paid distribution and much cheaper. The balance of the heralds were distrib¬ uted from the theatre. A 16mm. projector with sound was bor¬ rowed from the U. S. Navy and with film clips borrowed from the local Co¬ lumbia exchange and the regular trailer, the machine, with appropriate copy, was set up in an eight-foot alleyway adjoin¬ ing the theatre and was used for 10 nights in advance of opening. This stopped traffic and on occasions we stopped run¬ ning so as to clear the street. The pro¬ jector and home-made trailer was also used during the run of the show. Copy on the equipment read: “This is the only theatre in the world that gives a FREE SAMPLE of its show. Watch for a few minutes and then see on our screen NOW “It Came From Beneath The Sea” and “The Creature With The Atom Brain” — NOW! Eight beautiful models attired in bath¬ ing suits and carrying appropriately let¬ tered parasols paraded in pairs through the central city streets for five hours on the day prior to opening. They distributed envelopes containing two mints and im¬ printed: “Here are two nerve stabilizers! Have them with you when you see ‘IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA’ and ‘CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN.’ Take both stabilizers when you are seated, and you will be strengthened to with¬ stand the shock and suspense of these two shockers — Now at Stanton Theatre, 1620 Market Street.” The stunt proved “sensational” and got a nice mention in Jerry Gaghan’s column in The Daily News. As a front two barricades, eight feet by 12 feet, one on each side of the building, and one six -sheet with stills and art work, were used. The marquee was colorfully decorated with pennants and large bal¬ loons. The aquarium stunt was continued as a front attraction. One bathing girl was always in evidence around the the¬ atre to lend atmosphere. A loud speaker was used to ballyhoo the show, using a stock record as mentioned in the press book. The carnival effect of the front, coupled with the various stunts attracted good crowds at the theatre’s central city location and SOLD tickets. Newspaper advertising was upped a bit, with free publicity space garnered in appropriate proportion. In a four-day period 86 spot announce¬ ments were made on WFIL-TV; while on radio 35 one-minute spots were used on WIP in a 10-day period; and 12 oneminute spots on WPEN. As a result of all, or part, of the cam¬ paign the telephone started ringing on the third day of the engagement and rang so steadily that it was necessary to assign a girl to answer the calls. This continued through the two weeks. One of the inter¬ esting developments of the unexpected telephone inquiries was that a great many {Continued on page 15) August 24, 1955