Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1943)

58 MOTION PICTURE HERALD Bond Drive and SPAR Week Tied to "Mr. Lucky" Date The Coast Guard orchestra entertained during a 15 -minute War Bond Rally in connection with the opening of "Mr. Lucky" at the RKO Albee, Providence. A series of teaser ads launched Rita Morton's campaign on "Mr. Lucky" at the RKO Albee in Providence, R. I., two weeks in advance of the opening. One week ahead the ads carried an underline with the following copy: "Are you lucky? Maybe. Win passes to see Cary Grant in 'Mr. Lucky' starting, Thursday. Send us a letter telling of your luckiest experience." The Saturday previous to the opening 1,000 "lucky" postcards with shiny pennies pasted thereto were distributed. The cards bore copy reading: Here is your Lucky Penny. It will help you on the way to fame and fortune. Guard it well and it will attract others. See, etc., etc." Autographed photos of Cary Grant with gummed stickers on the reverse side carrying appropriate tiein copy were distributed; one of the leading florists devoted an effective window display tied directly to the picture and the Postal Telegraph company also came through with a window display tied to the picture. A few days in advance of the opening 20 "Lucky Rabbit's Foot" charms were dropped at strategic spots throughout the city, these being good for one free admission upon presentation at the boxoffice opening day. Another stunt was to feature a small box in the theatre's newspaper ads offering free admissions to those bringing Lucky horseshoes to the theatre on a certain day; these were later turned over to the Scrap Drive. A tiein with the July War Bond drive and the Coast Guard SPAR week brought a War Bond Rally on the stage. Two platoons of SPARS circulated through the audience taking pledges for Bonds. Music for the occasion was furnished by the 15-piece Coast Guard orchestra. In addition, the newlyorganized Junior Police Corps were the guests of the management at the first Saturday show. Newspaper coverage was generous, as was radio cooperation. Local Columnists Impressed by Soles' "Harvest" Campaign Robert Soles' campaign on "Random Harvest" was so thorough when the picture played at the Virginia, in Fairmont, W. Va., that all local newspaper commentators made mention of it in their daily columns. Bob used an indirect lighting scheme to illuminate a huge display which was erected on the mezzanine foyer. In the lobby he built a miniature cottage which drew comment from everyone who saw it. Every book store in town used window and counter displays and one of the large stores advertised sale of the book on the radio and gave the theatre and playdates a plug. Almost every type of window and counter display was promoted and Bob augmented this by using window cards. Libraries used onesheet posters ami the Fairmont State Col lege Library had several displays posted including one on the bulletin board. The upright sign on the theatre was covered both sides with oil cloth banners carrying the feature's title. Theatre Represented at Award Ceremonies Orville Rennie had no attraction at the Paramount, Cedar Rapids, that could be tied into the Army and Navy "E" Award which was presented to the local Century Engineering Co. Undaunted, he arranged with the officials to have six of his usherettes hand out programs during the ceremonies. The girls also grouped around the platform and were generally useful. Orville thus cashed in on goodwill by indicating the theatres' co-operativeness in public functions. August 7 , 1943 FROM READER EXHIBITOR REACTION TO VANDALISM I believe that we have all heard during the past six months many different ideas advanced by various people, to curb the recent outbreaks of vandalism. Some of these have met with some degree of success, others have not. Here is possibly something new in way of presentation, if not in idea. The belief has always been with me, that if the children, no matter their race, color or creed, are shown the proper way of building themselves into stalwart young Americans, by responsible and capable individuals, at least a great proportion of our younger element can be brought around from their present mischievous wrong-doings and direct their activities to more useful ends. With this in mind, during the past week, I contacted various youth organizations in Newark, the newspapers, Y.M.C.A., Robert Treat Boys Club, Newark Boys Club, Boy Scouts of America, the Public Relations Office, U. S. Army, Newark Airport, and various other groups, with the idea of building membership in the different groups under the name of "The Law and Order League of Newark." The youngsters would, as members of the various clubs, really help our war effort along on the home front by actively participating in stamp and bond drives, scrap, book and record collections, all under the proper supervision. We had the opening rally at the Broad Theatre, on Saturday, July 24th, after three successive days that both Newark daily papers carried announcements of the rally. Capt. Arthur J. Lonergan, Public Relations Officer at Newark Airport, had promised his full cooperation, and had assigned Lieut. Edgar Kreutzman, Judge Advocate of Newark Airport, as guest speaker. Lieut. Kreutzman made a stirring appeal to the youngsters that were assembled in the auditorium to really get together and do a good job here at home to make their brothers who are doing a good job on the other side, proud of their efforts to help along the war effort on the home front. The program on the stage was opened by using a copy of Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, playing the "Star Spangled Banner," a film made last year by Fox. Then, color guards from the Robert Treat Boys Club, the Ironbound Boys Club and the Boy Scouts marched on the stage, where the speakers addressed the youngsters. Speakers for the occasion included Lieut. Kreutzman, John Kershaw of the American Legion, Post 10; Martin Schwartz of the Junior O.U.A.M. of Essex County, and William Pearson of the Sons of Union Veterans. The proceedings were covered by reporters from the Newark newspapers, and I hope that the resultant publicity will mark the beginning of many other rallies in other theatres in the future.— HENRY F. LAKE, Broad Theatre, Newark, N. J. Scott's Window Display To help sell "Cabin in the Sky" at the Rivoli theatre, in Muncie, Ind., Carl W. Scott promoted a local furniture store dealer for an effective window display. The center featured blowups of Ethel Waters, Rochester and Lena Horn, with tie-in copy reading : "Your home can be a Cabin in the Sky," etc.