The Exhibitor (1966)

EX-812 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 14, 1966 Dallas Youth Film New Appreciation DALLAS — The Dallas Youth Film Forum screened their third movie last Saturday at Interstate’s Lakewood Theatre. The group of young people, composed of a boy and a girl from each of the 50 high schools in the Dallas metropolitan area, in addition to students from several parochial schools, junior colleges, and Southern Methodist University, are selected by principals of the schools. The screening review program is sponsored by the Texas Motion Picture Board of Review. The program was started last month with 100 youths attending a screening of “The Fortune Cookie” with Jack Lemmon, and in early November they saw Universal’s produc¬ tion of “Gambit.” The screening project is actually a reorgani¬ zation of a project carried on for several years under the Texas Motion Picture Board’s sponsorship to “develop a discriminating audience among young people.” Mrs. Roderic B. Thomas, chairman of the Texas Motion Picture Board of Review, said that “during the year at these meetings, teens will see meaningful motion pictures which will be meaty enough for their thoughtful consider¬ ation. She told young people in attendance at one of the early screenings that “we want you to freely judge the films artistically, esthetically and morally because only in this way can you develop habits of perception, analysis, judg¬ ment and selectivity necessary for intelligent living and ultimate enjoyment of filmed programs.” G. William Jones, minister of education at Casa View Methodist Church and a member of the SMU School of Arts faculty, where he teaches courses in film criticism, serves as moderator for the sessions following the screen¬ ing of the film. Young people are divided into groups with a spokesman delegated to express the opinions of each group. Jones and members of his staff summarize the thoughts of the different groups and answer any questions by group members. A total of eight films are scheduled monthly through the school term. Dallas distributors and exhibitors are cooperating with the Texas Motion Picture Board of Review by furnishing the films and theatres, thereby making it pos¬ sible to conduct the screening and reviewing sessions. In some cases, this has meant rescheduling of current films at a specific theatre, including canceling of some Saturday matinee produc¬ tions. Theatre officials have also invited forum members to stay over to view the regularly scheduled movie, free of charge. According to Mrs. Thomas, due to the response to the program, it will be accelerated even more next year. Students have been asked to suggest films they would like to view as well as some they would not care to view. It was emphasized by Mrs. Thomas that the Dallas Youth Film Forum is not a film censor¬ ship board. The program has been organized to help young people express their opinions about current screen fare. This, she feels, will lead to better and more productive movies and help young people enjoy themselves more at the theatre. Forum Fosters Of Movies' Best Window display for UA's "Hawaii" in the New York Fifth Avenue office of United Airlines, officially designated airline for the Mirisch Corp. presenta¬ tion. Display includes stills and posters from the film as well as Bantam's special movie edition of the James Michener novel. Sears Sets "Hawaii" Tieup; Travel Promotion Launched NEW YORK — Sears, Roebuck and Co. will underwrite one of the biggest promotional merchandising tie-ups in its history on behalf of the motion picture “Hawaii.” The campaign will be spearheaded by more than 600 Sears retail outlets after the first of the year. The trans-continental promotion was inspired by the authentic 19th century wardrobe created by Dorothy Jeakins for star Julie Andrews, who portrays the pivotal character of Jerush’a Hale in the Mirisch Corporation film version of James A. Michener’s best-seller. The picture is now being released by United Artists as a roadshow presentation throughout the U.S. and Canada. On Dec. 15, Sears will mail to one large group of stores a merchandise list consisting largely of “Hawaii” styles manufactured in Hawaii. Additionally, the stores will receive a complete broadside including recommended, merchandise coverage and in-store displays, advertising mats for item ads and line ads for Kai of Hawaii merchandise and other Islandinspired styles. Suggestions for tie-up promotions with local theatres along with a UA schedule of release dates are also being distributed. Moreover, on Dec. 15, Kai will ship to 200 Sears stores a. sampling of six styles as well as posters from the motion picture. Retail stores in Sears’ Chicago area will have displays of Hawaii-inspired styles backed by theatre lobby posters during December. Sears’ national product publicity department will release a series of photos of various Hawaii fashions with copy emphasizing the theme of Llawaii. “Hawaii” also is the focus of a major adver¬ tising and publicity campaign by the Hawaii Visitors Bureau. The promotional drive for the film version of the James A. Michener classic is being tied up with Hawaii’s booming tourist trade. Elizabeth Logue, who appears as Noelani in “Hawaii,” has been selected to represent the Islands and will be seen in a special preview “Slaygirls” On Tour | CHICAGO — As a major segment of an extensive national promotional campaign by Columbia Pictures for the Chicago premiere and early playdates of Irving Allen’s “Murder¬ ers’ Row,” nine beautiful Slaygirls, Dean Martin’s “spy-companions” in the Matt Helm adventure film, are making personal appear¬ ances across the country. The Slaygirls, Jann Watson, Mary Jane Mangier, Marilyn Tindall, Karen Joy, Lucy Anne Cook, Dee Duffy, Lynn Hartoch, Dale Brown, and Dee Gardner, were selected by producer Irving Allen and nationally syndi¬ cated columnist Earl Wilson to be in “Murder¬ ers’ Row.” Their tour will cover Dallas, Detroit, Boston, New York, Washington, and Chicago. Col.’s Mobile Boxoffice NEW YORK — In order to supplement its group sales campaign with a direct selling pro¬ gram aimed at individual ticket purchasers on all major college and university campuses throughout the metropolitan New York-New Jersey area, Columbia Pictures is using a mo¬ bile boxoffice for the world premiere reservedseat engagement of Fred Zinnemann’s “A Man For All Seasons,” which will also double as a street bally for the film. Staffed with a union boxoffice treasurer, the mobile boxoffice began its visits to the campuses on Dec. 5. film, newspapers and magazine ads, multi-color travel brochures, posters and flyers throughout the United States and Europe. The Hawaii Visitors Bureau has scheduled a series of national ads beginning January, 1967, which will appear in such prime-reader¬ ship publications as The New Yorker, Na¬ tional Geographic, Holiday, Sunset, Reader’s Digest, Esquire, Clipper, Mainliner, Saturday Review, and Venture. The ads will be geared to spring and fall, Hawaii’s big tourist seasons. The ads, as well as the 15,000 posters and 300,000 brochures to be distributed during the coming year, will include credits for “Hawaii” and photos of Miss Logue from the motion picture and the state of Hawaii. Special kits designed “to turn the motion picture spectacular into sales” for continental U.S. travel agents will be sent to more than 2,500 agents “to introduce the campaign to the travel industry.” Featured in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which NBC televised, was Noah's Ark, similar to the Ark used in Dino De Laurentiis' production of "The Bible." Here it is seen beneath what is reputed to be the world's largest billboard, used by 20th Cen¬ tury-Fox to advertise the attraction.