Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1943)

76 MOTION PICTURE HERALD July 24, I 943 OUTSTANDING SHOWMEN The 30 men and women listed below have submitted evidence of showmanship within the past fortnight, which justifies their names being placed in the list of outstanding showmen below. The Third Quarter of the Quigley Awards has just begun, so send along your campaigns. RUSSELL A. BOVIM Ohio, Columbus, Ohio JOSEPH BOYLE Broadway, Norwich, Conn. GERTRUDE BUNCHEZ Century, Baltimore, Md. D. M. DILLENBECK Rialto, Bushnell, III. RICHARD FELDMAN Paramount, Syracuse, N. Y. WILLIAM GALLIGAN Commercial, Chicago, III. SAM GILMAN Loew's, Harrisburg, Pa. FRED GREENWAY Palace, Hartford, Conn. ARTHUR GROOM Loew's State, Memphis, Tenn. J. D. HILLHOUSE State, Galveston, Tex. KEN HOEL Harris, Pittsburgh, Pa. ELLIOTT JOHNSON Malco, Memphis, Tenn. A. J. KALBERER Switow's Indiana Washington, Ind. ED. J. KEARNEY State, Syracuse, N. Y. JAMES KING Keith Memorial, Boston, Mass. GEORGE LABY Palace, Pittsfield, Mass. LOUIS E. MAYER Palace, Cleveland, Ohio RITA MORTON RKO Albee, Providence, R. I. B. E. MURGATROYD Rialto, Trail, B. C. GEORGE OLSEN Madera, Madera, Calif. LESTER POLLOCK Loew's, Rochester, N. Y. H. W, ReiSINGER Loew's, Dayton, Ohio CARL ROGERS Granada, Cleveland, Ohio J. G. SAMARTANO Palace, Meriden, Conn. H. N. SCOTT Broad, Columbus, Ohi. ELEANOR STANTON Bloomfield, Birmingham, Mich. MOLLIE STICKLES Strand, Waterbury, Conn. DALE THORNHILL Fox lola, lola, Kans. CLARENCE WASSERMAN Tulare, Tulare, Calif. OTTO WHITAKER Grandin, Roanoke, Va. Cohen Stages Leg Contest To Plug "Coney Island" Lou Cohen, Loew's Poli Theatre, Hartford, Conn., staged a perfect leg contest in conjunction with the playdate of "Coney Island." Betty Grable's well publicized legs served as the model for the local Venuses. Contest, which got generous news coverage in the local Times and in the Courant, drew a large amount of contestants. Stunt was used opening night of the pictre and the girls paraded across the stage very decorously exposing their limbs, as the curtain was raised only about three feet. Judging was via audience applause, and the winners were selected by impartial merits. The stunt was doubly successful as it got marvelous publicity breaks and pulled extra attendance for the local premiere. Canning Demonstration Held at Indiana Excellent goodwill was recently promoted by A. J. Kalberer at Switow's Indiana, in Washington, Ind., when he loaned the theatre for a morning session to the Purdue University Extension specialist for a canning school class. The local daily came through with stories. For "Wake Island," Kal ran a series of teaser ads ahead of the opening measuring two by two inches and building up to the opening day ad which was on three columns. Jolley's Newspaper Breaks Recently when Mel Jolley at the Marks theatre, in Oshawa, Ontario, played "The Powers Girl," the theatre practically dominated the page. A four-column ad was used on the picture, a three-column free scene mat was promoted, a free reader, a music store cooperative ad and a ladies wear co-op ad. Glase Holds Parade For "Crash Dive" Date A military parade was promoted for the opening of "Crash Dive" at the Embassy theatre, Reading, Pa., by Paul E. Glase, manager. With the co-operation of the local Navy recruiting office, Red Cross Motor Corps, Waves, Waacs, Marines, OCD Corps and a color guard from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Glase arranged for the parade for the opening night of the picture. The units marched to the theatre, arriving just before the beginning of the last evening show, marched down the aisle and up front. Recruiting speeches were given by Waac and Wave officers ; the military units, headed by the color guard, offered a salute to the flag, with the audience then joining in for the singing of the national anthem. Wilson's Revival Night Reported as being highly successful was the revival week program recently arranged by H. F. Wilson at the Regent theatre, in Brockville, Ont. From Sunday to Tuesday the show was "It Happened One Night" and "You Can't Take It With You"; Wednesday and Thursday "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" and "Waikiki Wedding" and for Friday and Saturday "Gaucho Serenade" and "Varsity Show." "Action" Tied to Enrollees The city of Buffalo was in the midst of a drive to recruit candidates for the Maritime Service when Shea's Buffalo theatre dated "Action in the North Atlantic." Charles B. Taylor, ad head, lost no time in securing a tie-up and during the showing of the picture 25 of the candidates were sworn in en masse on the stage of his theatre. The theatre garnered some fine stories in the local dailies as a result. Mayor's Proclamation Aids "In Which We Serve" To help sell "In Which We Serve" at tht Prince Edward theatre in Charlottetown, P. E. I., G. A. Walters, resident manager, secured a proclamation from the city Mayor's office declaring a "United Nations Naval" week during the run of the film. One of the local merchants loaned his large front window for a photo display of twenty of Charlottetown's men serving in the Royal Canadian Army. The opening night of the picture was made very effective with a Royal Canadian Naval Guard of Honor stationed at the theatre entrance awaiting the arrival of the Lieut. Governor and other military dignitaries. Walters also used a 24-sheet cutout over his marquee and this was spotlighted so that it could be seen four blocks away. Radio spots on the local stations a week previous to the opening day also aided. Harris Promotes Co-op Page for "Mr. Lucky" "Bucky" Harris, field exploitation representative for RKO in Cincinnati, recently promoted a full page of co-op ads for the date on "Mr. Lucky" at the Albee theatre there. The top of the page featured four by five-inch cuts of Cary Grant and Laraine Day in addition to a free admission offer to each person attending the show between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on presentation of a horseshoe. The aggregation was collected at the door and donated to the local Scrap Drive to make it "unlucky for the Axis." Each merchant's ad carried tiein copy. Feldman Ties Davies' Talk To "Mission to Moscow" Learning through his Chief of Service, Jack Crowe, that Joseph E. Davies would make a speech over the NBC Blue network one evening ahead of his opening of "Mission to Moscow," Dick Feldman at the Paramount theatre, in Syracuse, bought space at the station break at 10:30 at the finish of Davies talk. A plug for the picture was landed, and since "Information Please" followed the theatre's break, Feldman felt that he hit just the kind of a select group that would be interested in seeing the picture. In addition, Dick mailed out government postcards with picture copy to his mailing list. Capitalizes on Newsreel Shot When George Laby at the Palace theatre, in Pittsfield, Mass., recently played a newsreel which featured a shot showing a local boy demonstrating the new U. S. Army submachine gun, the fact was broadcast over station WBRK as part of their newscast all day. In addition stories were landed in the local dailies. Inexpensive Summer Uniforms Since clothing is so expensive now, Bert Detwiler at the Latrobe theatre, in Latrobe, Pa., dresses his usherette staff in regular boys' white shirts with large bow ties, and slacks. The girls at the Latrobe wear blue ties and those at the Manos wear red ones. Bert says the shirts only cost ninety-five cents each, are easily laundered, and look cool and attractive.