Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1938)

16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD August 27, 1938 EXHIBITORS PLANNING LOCAL DRIVES (Continued fruin preceding page) relations in the industry and of the unity of interest behind the nationwide drive." The Screen Actors Guild previously adopted a resolution endorsing the campaign and offering the organization's cooperation. Max Cohen, president of Allied of New York, this week clarified the position of National Allied States Association with respect to the drive. "There appears to be an impression that National Allied policy does not permit its^ members to cooperate in this campaign," Mr. Cohen said. "The impression is entirely erroneous." P. J. Wood, secretary of the Indenepdent Theatre Owners of Ohio, forwarded a bulletin to newspaper editors this week, urging editorial support for the campaign and quoting an editorial published in the New York World-Telegram. The editorial explained the purpose of the drive and then continued : "Theatres have felt the hard times along with all other business. The campaign is an attempt to win the public back to the box office. It aims to plant in every consciousness the slogan 'Moving Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment.' It refuses to take discouragement lying down. "After all, the way to resume is to resume, and the moving pictures have stepped out in front to support precept with example. Other industries, we have no doubt, have been studying their hands, but the movies are the first to push out their dollars. And the film industry may well be setting the pattern and touching off the spark for other industries. "Bold aggressive action is a tradition of the film business. Perhaps it is because it never has got over thinking of itself as a young industry, or because of the necessity for keeping in close touch with the public. It has shown itself many times to be a leader. "The pattern being set here and the bold investment in this $1,000,000 campaign should not fail to prove contagious. . . . Full credit is due to the motion picture industry for this preview of the upswing." $25,000 Pledged to Fund At New York Meeting Following a meeting of approximately 200 exhibitors at the Hotel Astor, New York, the campaign committee this week announced that $25,000 was pledged, despite the fact that there was no solicitation at the session. George W. Schaefer, executive chairman of the campaign, outlined the aims of the drive and urged complete exhibitor cooperation for it. "It is important to stress," Mr. Schaefer said, "that this campaign was inspired from the very beginning by a group of exhibitors. Independent exhibitors participated from the very inception of the campaign and it was with their cooperation that the plan of procedure and the details of the $250,000 'Movie Quiz' contest were formulated." Max Cohen, president of Allied of New York, urged independents to support the drive, warning that while no plan could meet every condition in the industry, it would be unwise for any theatre to remain aloof. Mr. Cohen moved that the meeting go on record as indorsing the campaign but the chair ruled the motion was not in order. Harry Brandt, president of the Independent Theatre Owners Association, advocated additional time for members of his organization and other exhibitors to study the possible weaknesess in the "Alovie Quiz" contest. The ITOA met on Wednesday and adopted a resolution leaving the matter of cooperation to the discretion of individual members. A plan for organizing the entire New York area into community committees to direct advertising and exploitation in neighborhoods was outlined by Mr. Doob. Organization of 45 community committees got underway this week with meetings in the various neighborhoods Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. 200 on Coast Pledge Support to Campaign Two hundred circuit and unaffiliated exhibitors met at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, unanimously endorsed the "Motion Pictures' Greatest Year" campaign and signed pledges contributing their share toward the national drive. Albert Galston, president and R. H. Poole, general manager of the Independent Theatre Owners of Southern California, pledged their organization's unequivocal support. Speakers at the session were Herman Wobber, Twentieth Century-Fox sales manager ; William Rodgers, MGM sales chief, and Spyros and Charles Skouras of Fox West Coast. The industry has suffered from a letdown in showmanship, Mr. Wobber said, pointing out that exploitation of the drive would serve as a means of restimulating initiative among exhibitors. "We've seen the success of the steel industry, railways, ice and coal companies and auto dealers in getting together to boost their business," Mr. Wobber continued, "and with our much greater facilities for exploitation we can do a much better job than any of them." Mr. Galston lauded the movement and said plans for the campaign are more than fair to independent exhibitors. Producers, distributors and their affiliated circuits have put up threefourths of the expenses although their theatres number only 30 per cent of those in the country, he explained. Plans Are Drafted In St. Louis Area Owners of 275 theatres in the St. Louis territory met Monday to formulate plans for making a success of the industry advertising and exploitation campaign. The meeting was called by a committee of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners' Association and the distributors, composed of Fred H. Wehrenberg, president of the MPTO ; Harry Arthur, Jr., of Fanchon and Marco ; Clarence Kainann, of the MPTO ; Benny Reingold of Fox, and Clarence Hill of Columbia. Fanchon and Marco, it was announced, will subscribe 100 per cent to the campaign. The subscription will total approximately $4,000 for the 40,000 seats, although the management is confident that the second run houses will be the chief beneficiaries in the campaign due to the fact that several of the pictures figuring in the contest already have been shown in first runs. Loew-Poli Houses Plan Motor Cavalcade With proclamations by the Governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut and the mayors of various cities, the Loew-Poli New England circuit is planning its greatest campaign in conjunction with the industry's drive. Harry F. Shaw, division manager of the circuit, reported parades are being planned in all Loew-Poli towns, with a motor cavalcade covering all of them in a seven-day period. Headed by a large float, the procession will start in Waterbury, Saturday, stopping on succeeding days in Bridgeport, New Haven, Meriden, Hartford, Springfield and Worcester, where it will wind up on September 3rd. In cooperation with Chambers of Commerce throughout the territory, merchants have pledged to decorate their store fronts and buildings. Mr. Shaw hopes to make a hookup with MGM studios to get two or three stars to speak via the telephone on the opening night of the "New Show Season." New England exhibitors met at the Statler Hotel, Boston, Thursday to perfect campaign plans for their territory. Harold B. Franklin, business manager of the drive, addressed the meeting. Max Levenson was chairman. A New Haven local committee, composed of J. B. Fishman, Robert Russell, John Hesse and Lou Schaefer, met this week and will continue to meet frequently on plans for the campaign. Exhibitors Reported as Enthusiastic in Kansas City Following a Kansas City meeting at which the salient points of the industry's drive were outlined, E. C. Rhoden of Fox Midwest, and chairman of the drive's committee in the territory, announced that the program is being received enthusiastically by exhibitors. "We know a program of this kind will work because a very small edition of the idea, which we have used for several years, has produced business," said H. E. Jameyson, district manager of Fox Midwest at Wichita. "Last year the company didn't have its usual campaign, and business fell off." The Kansas-Missouri Theatres Association, through John Stapel, president, pledged its support. Harrisburg Exhibitors Pool Forces for Local Campaign Exhibitors in Harrisburg, Pa., affiliated and independent, have pooled forces for their community campaign which already is underway. Following an initial meeting at the office of C. Floyd Hopkins of the Wilmer and Vincent Circuit, a committee, comprising Sam Oilman of Loew's, who is chairman ; Mr. Hopkins, and John C. Rogers, of the State Theatre, contacted neighborhood exhibitors and lined them up behind the drive. The committee hoped to obtain a proclamation froni the mayor and the endorsement of various civic bodies. Delaware Theatremen Hold State-Wide Banquet The national $250,000 "Movie Quiz" contest was launched in Delaware this week when theatremen held a state-wide banquet in the Hotel DuPont, Wilmington. It was attended by Governor Richard C. McMullen, Mayor Walter W. Bacon and also other state and city officials. Carter Barron, Loew's district manager of Washington, was toastmaster and A. J. Belair, manager of the New Rialto, was chairman of the event. In Universal Publicity Posts Evan Hoskins and Ed Blake have resigned from Universal's studio publicity department and have been succeeded by Ed Olmstead and Belle Kantor.