The Exhibitor (1960)

ABOVE, an Olympic Games on a small style on theatre stage or in the lobby area is a different kind of exploitation stunt quite applicable to the picture. New showmanship ideas are valuable. RIGHT, ad 206 from the pressbook, loaded with the right action appeal. star of HERCULES and GOLIATH as HIS LATEST and GREATEST! A GIANT AMONG MEN IN A [ANTIC SPECTACLE! In a land of sinful pleasures he rallies his Gallant ^Hundred to defy the brute invaders! THE GIANT OF MARATHON , -BRUNO VAJtATI DANIELA ROCCA HO C»fiSs*f« ■ mm HiRMl SflWHWfOl# ' #.8p8 , ,r c Tnt iDWt I ID • l*SW aiJALQUtS luuKNtUR **!»<« a blackboard is not available, you could use a composition board mounted on a light wooden frame and painted with a special blackboard paint available for this purpose. Have a local artist make several large sketches of the color contest mat described in the pressbook on this blackboard. Use this for your stage game by calling children to the stage and telling them to use their imaginations in coloring the sketches. Give each of them several different kinds of colored chalk and set a time limit of five, 10, or 15 minutes for com¬ pletion. Judging can be done by the artist who provided the sketches, with prizes going to the winners. Local art shops will be happy to cooperate and provide the awards. The stunt should command excellent newspaper and/or radio coverage in advance of your opening, particularly in small town situations. And it can even be handled as an outside sidewalk effort, a-la-Halloween windows, if facilities permit. To capture the interest of the teens and young adults, capitalize on Steve Reeves’ publicity as MR. PACIFIC, MR. AMERICA. MR. WORLD, MR. UNIVERSE, and WORLD’S MOST HANDSOME ATHLETE. You could do this by run¬ ning a MR. (NAME OF YOUR TOWN) REST-BUILT MAN contest. No doubt, the contest would be best received if held within the bounds of local high-school and college age athletes. Judging could be held on your theatre stage opening night of “THE GIANT OF MARATHON,” and natural tie ins could be arranged with sporting good stores, clothing stores, and other merchants catering to youth trade for prizes and cross¬ plug advertising. This should command a great deal of good newspaper and/or local radio station publicity. Naturally, Montana theatres should publicize the fact that Steve Reeves is a Montana ranch boy and comes by his ex¬ cellent horsemanship, which is prominent in the film, quite naturally. This should provide a good publicity gimmick for Montana theatres and situations in other ranching areas where publicity stories on this topic will be welcomed by newspaper feature departments. In addition to the natural tie ins with body-building con¬ tests and promotions, “GIANT” also provides an opportunity to tie in with the fact that this is an Olympic Games year. Prominent in the film is the first Olympic Games. Invite to a preview screening or opening night the most prominent high school and college athletes in the area. It is also quite possible that you can contact athletes who have participated in Olympic Games in the past. Introduce them from the stage, and publicize them via radio, TV, and newspaper inter¬ views. There is considerable interest in the Olympics right now, and that interest can result in considerable incidental publicity for “GIANT OF MARATHON” if you handle it right. The Olympics committee is currently seeking funds to enable the United States to send as powerful a team as possible to the 1960 games. Perhaps you could arrange for your theatre to be local fund raising headquarters during the run of “GIANT OF MARATHON.” Displays of gvmnastic and other athletic equipment could be set up in the lobby, and perhaps area gymnasts and track stars could demonstrate their specialties in regular lobby shows. This certainly would be a powerful attraction for the kids. The Olympic tie in could even extend to a small Olympic Games on stage or in the lobby on opening night, with local athletes competing in weight-lifting events, push-ups, hori¬ zontal and parallel bar gymnastics, anything that could be done in the limited stage space available. The newspapers woud be more than happy to publicize an event of such area interest, and the radio stations might be induced to 16 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR June I, I960