Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1932)

56 MOTION PICTURE HERALD November 5, 1932 THANKSGIVING WILL SOON BE WITH US! Every year the Round Table Club has asked all members and showmen to make a decided effort to aid the needy and unemployed of their respective communities. This year is no exception. On the contrary, the need is greater and more imperative than ever before. There is no necessity for making such effort costly to the theatre. It can always be so arranged that whatever expense you are put to will be returned. The regular staff should, only naturally, donate their services. The newspaper should back up your efforts with plenty of good publicity and propaganda. The welfare and civic authorities should spread their organization work to match the campaign of the theatre and paper. Unlimited goodwill and prestige for the theatre can result from special performances to aid the needy. Admissions in the form of old clothes, canned goods, groceries, meat, etc., etc., will go a long ways towards reaching a goal of as many baskets of food -and clothing as there are needy in the community. Added to such admissions the donations of food, etc., from merchants should just about top off your work to perfection. Every line of publicity or word-of-mouth advertising in connection with these special matinees or performances is valuable advertising for you and your theatre. Take advantage of this worthwhile slant and lend a helping hand to further a much needed endeavor. UNIQUE BALLYHOOS FEATURED CAMPAIGN WAGED BY ED HALEY Heavy building, an advance newspaper campaign and a novel bally featured work done on "Horsefeathers" by Eddie B. Haley, manager of the Fitchburg Theatre, Fitchburg, Mass. In addition to the newspaper campaign, which was started ten days in advance, 2,000 roto heralds were distributed prior to opening date. The picture was also given a special plug through a mike set up on the stage. The accompanying photo, in addition to showing the wagon used to ballyhoo the Marx Brothers picture, also shows in the upper portion a truck bally used for "Love Me Tonight." For the former, two men were dressed as clowns and they drove the wagon all about town. The house on wheels was made to resemble a jail, with cutout heads of the Marx Brothers in the windows behind the bars. The heads were arranged so that when the wagon was under way the heads moved back and forth. The truck bally was made from compoboard and with its light colors presented a bright flash. The white pedestal, on which the cutouts of Chevalier were attached, was arranged so that it revolved in a complete circle when the truck was in motion. A girl to represent Jeanette McDonald was em ployed to sit in a garden truck on the rear of the specially build truck platform. Sound was installed and the latest Chevalier records played. Like the Marx picture, "Love Me Tonight" was given a big campaign and the opening was on a par or even greater than the former. The last time we heard from Haley we believe he was in charge of the Star Theatre in Concord, N. H. Now he is at the helm of the Fitchburg, a fine new 1,750-seater with vaude and picture policy. He likes the Round Table Club and we find his work very interesting, as do his fellow Club members. What could be better than that? We'll be on the lookout for further news from his neck of the country. CALGARY SOFT BALL TEAM CAME THROUGH FOR SHOWMAN EGAN Considerable has been written from time to time in this department concerning the trophy-gathering proclivities of the Paramount Ladies Softball Club of Calgary, Canada, an organization with which Pete Egan, manager of the Palace Theatre in that city, is, to our knowledge, closely associated. Pete, learned showman that he is, had a good hunch when he sponsored this aggregation of Canadian sportswomen, for they not only cleaned up everything in and around Calgary by winning the City Championship, but annexed the Provincial Championship as well ; to say nothing of taking home loving cups donated by the Palace Theatre and the Bon Ton Market. We don't know anything about ladies' soft ball games down in this neck of the country, but from a glance at the photograph of the entire team, which Pete sent along, they look anything but soft. In the lower right hand corner of the photo is a reproduction of the Palace Theatre Benefit Trophy supplied by Manager Egan, for which he received in return a lot of worthwhile publicity and good will. KOHEN ENGINEERED A STRONG CAMPAIGN ON ANIMAL PICTURE In line with the many interesting and attractive fronts made by Club members in connection with campaigns on "Bring 'Em Back," it would hardly be fair not to include some evidence of the fine work done on this picture by Spitzer ("P. T. Barnum") Kohen, manager of the Regent Theatre, Elizabeth, N. J. We have two photos at hand, one of the exterior and marquee and the other a shot of the interior atmospheric displays in the lobby. We're reproducing the former and would also like to show the latter, except that the mass of jungle foliage would only result in a big blur of nothing when made into a cut. However, the original shows that Spitz's promoted a lot of other things than a number of animals. Grass, weeds and other jungle props were gathered in nearby fields. Billboards, heralds, window cards, newspaper advertising and publicity were also extensively used. According to reports, Kohen's campaign on this picture was one of the most pretentious ever put on in the history of the Regent and box office receipts were entirely in keeping with it; in fact, three times greater than the regular week's gross. All of which is a feather in the cap of "Barnum" Kohen. Thanks to Al Zimbalist, of the WarnerJersey publicity department, for passing along the information. There are a lot of live-wire showmen over in the Warner-New Jersey division and it's a pleasure on our part to pass along word of their tctivities to fellow Round Tablers. BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO THESE MEMBERS! Ivan Ackery Ed Adler Tazwell L. Anderson Donald K. Ayres W. R. Bartholomew Floyd Bell Celas Camerlin Robert W. Chambers James W. Christian Wilbur N. Degenhart Irving Feinman E. R. Golden Russell M. Hogue Alec H. Hurwitz Laverne C. Ingersoll Guy Jozies Eddie G. Kane Frank La Bar, Jr. A. La Shelle Fred S. Meyer, Sr. Paul E. Michaud Nat Mutnick Ray O'Connell Albert O'Neill J. V. Pisapia Samuel Rose Ben Rosenberg Donald Seasholtz Allison Stanford Arnold Stoltz Oscar F. Swanson O. B. Wood. Jr. C. W. Woodall