The Exhibitor (1960)

December 21, I960 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR EX-283 Programs Available For Art House Shows LOS ANGELES— Jerry Weiss, Art Film Publications, is now publishing programs suitable for distribution by art film theatres. At first, it wasn’t thought that theatres would buy programs, so the first two pro¬ grams on “La Dolce Vita,” by Giorgio Moscon, and “The Entertainer,” by Graham Martin, were designed for sale in the theatre. However, quite a few art theatres wrote in and asked that they be printed in large quan¬ tities in order that they may be bought in bulk and distributed free. The basic idea of the programs is very simple. Whereas no one art theatre can em¬ ploy a good writer to prepare quality pro¬ gram notes. The Art Film can pay an out¬ standing film writer and pro-rate the cost among many art theatres, and the art thea¬ tres are also getting the advantage of low cost programs through volume printing. Weiss is starting out by selling them at one cent each, based on a 35,000 press run. Orders coming in indicate that this price will be substantially reduced. He also plans publications for promotional pturposes, direct mail, etc., as several theatres have asked for this. Hi LOBBY DISPLAYS number H35 A Traffic Safety Lobby Display THEATRE: Regal, ADDRESS: Wakefield, England MANAGER: Reginald Helley The Chief Constable cooperated fully when I played “Hell Is A City” and personaUy opened my foyer exhibition on crime pre¬ vention and road safety. The road safety display concentrated on appealing to parents to look after the safety of their children. Articles of children s prop¬ erty, hats, scarves, gloves, etc., provided the theme. The caption was “Make Sure It s Only Lost Property and Not Lost Lives . . . Hell Is A City.” The lost articles were among those turned in to our Tiost and Fovmd department and were among those left be¬ hind by our youthful patrons over a lengthy • j ^ A secondary safety exhibition was staged in the circle lounge. This was gruesomely dominated by a very badly damaged chfid s cycle, the rider of which had been killed. The appeal was to parents: “Check That Cycle— Because 11611 Is A City. A dam¬ aged cycle inner-tube and a blood stained cap completed the setting which was backed with battery operated traffic signs and road safety posters. , As this coincided with the holiday season the Crime Prevention display, which was constructed and painted by members of the Wakefield City Fire Brigade, took a page from television. The theme was what and what not to do when you go away on holiday. A number of photos of crooks at work were Specially posed and taken by men and women of the Wakefield Constabulary. A special civic opening night was arranged. The Mayor attended by the Chief Constable, Chief Fire Officer, Town Clerk, and other civic heads inspected the displays before see¬ ing the film. All expressed their heartiest approval. Several took the trouble to write letters of appreciation. NUMBER H36 Co-Op Lobby Displays THEATRE: Rex, ADDRESS: Norbury, London, England MANAGER: P. J. Cordier When I first took over this theatre I was struck by the potential of the large circle Reginald Helley, Regal, Wakefield, England, re¬ cently arranged this traffic safety lobby display in connection with his showing of Columbia's "Hell Is A City." loimge for exhibitions and decided to con¬ tact leading national manufacturers with the idea of holding displays of their product in this fine area. The response was little short of fantastic and I soon foimd that I had offers from would-be exhibitors to cover me for many months. Next, I had to persuade my patrons to use the circle lounge as much as possible while awaiting program breaks, etc.; and I designed a poster inviting them to sit in comfort with the idea of creating a friendly atmosphere, showing off the displays to the best advantage and plugging my forthcoming programs, which are always prominently included in the exhibitions. The local papers hailed the effort and de¬ scribed the Rex as my own “Olympia” and I had an influx of local traders contacting me requesting tie-ups. This was a pleasant change from my having to work at them. The idea has promoted good relations with traders, an almost unlimited supply of prizes for com¬ petitions which are nm in connection with specific features, and an added interest in the theatre. For instance, when I knew I was to play “A Siunmer Place” I contacted the Middleton Tower Holiday Camp and they readily agreed to a tie-up. Unforhinately, the head office had arranged a similar tieup with an¬ other holiday camp so my arrangements were held back to help standard promotion. In return for the show space, the camp pro¬ vided display material and a free holiday which I used for a happy holiday snapshots contest. P. B. Cow, manufacturers of Li-Lo airbeds and beach equipment, also cooper¬ ated to put over the summer spirit. EXPLOITATION— an encyclopedia of useable exploitation stunts— is published every other week as a section of Mo¬ tion Picture Exhibitor. Santa Claus Stars In "Wizard" Ballyhoo DETROIT — A tremendous cooperative tieup on behalf of 20th Century-Fox’s “The Wizard of Baghdad” has been set here by the company’s regional advertising-publicity manager Tom McGuire, involving 50,000 of the special “Wizard” coloring books and 150,000 heralds to be displayed in 62 Kresge Stores in the area. In addition, Kresge “loaned” their Santa Clause to the Fox from 10: 00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. daily, following which, the 15-minute tele¬ vision show the variety chain sponsors six days a week presented the attraction to its large audience via posters and stories from the production, as told by Santa. At the Fox each day, Santa will give each child a “Wizard” coloring book and a gift certificate which may be exchanged for a toy in any of the 62 outlets. The coloring books carry a message that prizes will be given for the best coloring job, being Evcins bicycles for both boys and girls, scooters, giant stuffed toys, etc. In addition, Kresge built a “toyland” in the lobby of the theatre from which their Santa presided, handed out 100,000 posters to their customers, and placed four window cards in each of their front windows. The theatre held special morning showings for children only each day with Santa in person in the lobby. INSTITUTIONAL NUMBER 1—89 Extra Profits, Other Promotions THEATRE: Ayres, ADDRESS: Corpus Christ!, Texas MANAGER: Ed Farmer Several promotions in the last two or three months have paid off very well for the thea¬ tre. Briefly, we held our annual “Toys For Tots” show and it netted a truck load of toys for imder privileged children. This is the 10th year it has been sponsored by the Marine Reserves and this theatre. Newspaper, radio and television publicity was good, as ^ways. Our “Food For The Needy” show was likewise well publicized. This Saturday morn¬ ing show is also sponsored by the Marines, and admission is canned goods given to agen¬ cies for distribution to the needy. Both of these stimts are excellent good-will builders. A week before election we put two ballot boxes in the lobby with signs reading “If you would vote for Kennedy, drop your (Continued on page EX-284) The Forum, New York City, was jam-packed at a special "Christmas In November" party held there for Columbia's "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver." Three Santa Clauses (right aisle) distributed "Gulliver" merchandise to the children. Similar parties were held in Hollywood, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington and Pittsburgh.