The Exhibitor (1959)

EX150 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR August 12, 1959 mi MASS MEDIA NUMBER 12 Eight Page Co-op Newspaper Supplement THEATRE: Schine’s Olympic, ADDRESS: Watertown, N. Y. MANAGER: Carl Dickerson We recently accomplished what we con¬ sider a really big sales promotion job, being able to get the Watertown Times to print up an eight page motion picture supplement which went a long way toward making the summer business at the theatre the best in history. . . . . On my own, I sold all the ads in this sup¬ plement and laid out the entire eight pages. Forty per cent was advertising and sixty per cent was devoted to publicity stories on practically every picture played at the Schine theatres in Watertown during the summer. In addition, a contest was run in connec¬ tion with the supplement with 150 tickets given free by merchants. This was along the following lines: each merchant whose ad appeared in the section awarded 10 sets of tickets to those guessing who the stars are and the pictures in which they will be seen. In each merchant’s ad there appeared a photo of a Hollywood star. Each star had a number. All one had to do was insert the name of the star and the forthcoming at¬ traction from the list given in which the star will appear. First 10 correct entries in each merchant coupon box received a set of guest tickets to see any of the new movies. Winners could select the attraction they wished to see. The contest, a relatively simple one, attracted more than the expected or desired attention. The merchants knew at once that their ads in the special supplement were being read when the entries began coming in. THE NEW 1959 “Showman-of-the-Year" CONTEST Each individual achievement, selected by the Editorial Board and published in this cvery-second-week EXPLOITATION Sec¬ tion of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBI¬ TOR, will receive an Achievement Cita¬ tion. Five by the same showman published in any one year will receive a SILVER Achievement Citation. And, should any showman ever accomplish ten in the same year, a GOLD Achievement Citation will be awarded. No weekly or monthly prizes will accompany such citations. At each year’s end, all such published achievements will be submitted to the “COMMITTEE OF 100” theatre circuit executives for their individual study and their personal choice of the BEST FIVE. A minimum of $100000 IN PRIZES will be awarded to the five “SHOWMENOF-THE-YEAR so selected. Alert show¬ men, interested in the international dis¬ tinction to be gained from such awards, will recognize that an advantage lies in winning repeated individual published achievements. Address all submissions and photographs to: GEORGE F. NONAMAKER, Feature Editor, MOTION PIC¬ TURE EXHIBITOR, 246-48 N. Clarion Street, Philadelphia 7, Penna. "Screen Time" Publication Issued For Exhibs By NSS NEW YORK — National Screen Service has issued a new promotional publica¬ tion entitled “Screen Time.” Cy Eichman, NSS director of advertis¬ ing and publicity, states that this repre¬ sents something new for the organization and has been in the planning for many months. It is designed as a colorful, highly attractive, highly-powered sales booster, designed with the exhibitor in mind. It will be made available six times a year and will include all the promotional material which has heretofore been sent out in various special flyers and promo¬ tional brochures. D MERCHANTS NUMBER 61 Summer Festival Contest THEATRE: Trans-Lux Krim, ADDRESS: Detroit, Mich. MANAGER: Eric H. Rose In cooperation with a travel bureau, a radio company, a dance studio, an appliance and sales company, the Elmwood Casino supper club, Warner Brothers Records, and a local newspaper, The Highland Parker, we are running a contest at the theatre for the three summer months. Fifty prizes were offered all of which were promoted at no cost to the theatre. First prize was a trip to New York City by air and a stay at a renowned hotel. The other prizes were a stereo outfit, dance lessons, a diamond ring, evenings of dinner dancing and entertainment, hi-fi records, etc. The contest, for which heralds, including entry blanks, were printed bearing ads of all those participating, is really very simple. It is an identify the stars contest. All one has to do is write the names of the eight stars displayed in the lobby of the theatre in the appropriate space on the contest form and deposit same in the box in the lobby or mail to the theatre. Every personality displayed in the photos is a foremost star of films and/or television and radio. Thev are shown as they looked in their early careers, before they had reached their prom¬ inent positions of today. It was also required that contestants write in 25 words or less on the entry blank “Why I go to the Trans-Lux Krim Theatre.” The pictures of the contest are from the collection of William K. Everson, New York City. Coverage of the contest was given by many of the Detroit and suburban papers and, of course, the local weekly in on the stunt. This paper released a story each week on the contest for the entire 12 weeks and also bore the cost of printing and supplied the contest blanks. The photos were attractively displayed on a 40x60 frame in our lobby; and the entire stunt cost us little or nothing. We were over¬ whelmed with entries and the contest is sure to be an enormous success. G STUNTS-BALLY NUMBER 63 Horses, Horses, Horses for “Horse Soldiers” THEATRE: Loew’s State, ADDRESS: Providence, R. I. MANAGER: Bill Trambukis Our campaign on United Artists’ “The Horse Soldiers” recently has been termed the biggest and most successful exploitation put across in all New England in the past 25 years. It has been conservatively estimated that over a million residents of the territory were ‘exposed’ to the many-pronged cam paign. _ . We timed our program to coincide with one of the biggest celebrations ever witnessed in this State. W JAR-TV, the pioneer station in Providence, staged this in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of their first telecast and lined up a gala three-day ‘Mardi-Gras’ including a free circus, carnival, block-dance, fireworks and personal appearance of TV celebrities on a huge stage which was set up completely across the main thorough¬ fare. However, the capping climax was a monsterous street parade which took over two hours to pass a given spot. This parade drew over 75,000, to watch the floats, scores of bands, marching organizations, etc. Loew’s State and “The Horse Soldiers” -3 received terrific publicity when it was ar¬ ranged for a group of 10 riders to carry \ ‘Horse Soldiers’ cavalry guidons along the route of march. The horsemen were strate 5 gically spotted near the center of the spectacle. ' Some farther back, the American Legion’s I ‘Iron Horse’ was bannered with six-sheets mounted on either side heralding the film. * A special film depicting the parade was 4 later telecast over W JAR-TV, and, based | on trendex reports, over 800,000 TV -viewers saw the parade and Loew’s State publicity 1 yf via delayed telecast. The rival station, ■: WPRO-TV, recognizing the 10th birthday J of WJAR-TV, carried highlights of the pa ) rade on their “Eleventh Hour News” tele ] cast and this added another estimated 100,000 | to 200,000 viewers. An outstanding feature was the distribution of hundreds of ballons imprinted with “The Horse Soldiers” and Loew’s State. These were distributed to parade watchers by marching costumed theatre aides, and also 1 Bill Trambukis, left, manager, Loew's State, Providence, R. I., is seen presenting a plaque to jockey Ronald Vincifora, who rode Sengalese to victory recently in “The Horse Soldiers" purse, featured stake race at Narragansett Park, as trainer O. Clelland looks on. The $2,500 race was dedicated to the United Artists film due to Trambukis' promotional efforts. On the right are seen some of Trambukis' “Horse Soldiers," who participated in the mammoth parade celebrat¬ ing the 10th anniversary of WJAR-TV.