Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

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Military Parade Heralds Date of "Winged Victory" Four weeks ahead of "Winged Victory" at the Byrd and State theatres, Richmond, Va., S. B. Tucker, with the cooperation of the Chamber of Commerce, sent personal invitations to all leading industrialists, merchants, etc., to a private screening at which time there was also a presentation of an Air Medal and Oak Leaf Cluster to Mrs. Everett G. Walker, whose husband is prisoner of war in Germany. Presentation was made by Colonel E. E. Hildreth, commander of the Richmond Air Base. This secured a picture and special story for the papers. Special advance trailers were shown in all nine neighborhood theatres well in advance, 24 sheets were posted, Coca-Cola Company used cloth banners on delivery trucks, and special permission was secured from the city to place a banner across Broad Street, which was paid for by a local merchant. All radio stations donated a minimum of five spot announcements daily, in addition to using records and transcriptions. Commentators also gave the picture plugs. Music stores had special window displays using stills, banners, in connection with the Decca album. 750 street car cards were used in every car and bus in town. Cards were also displayed on bulletin boards of all large factories and in store windows, and hotel lobbies. Store Features Miranda Costume The costume worn by Carmen Miranda was reproduced and put in one of the nine full windows devoted to the picture by Miller and Rhoads Department Store. Thalheimer's Store also had a window of records and stills. Overseas caps were distributed to newsboys. Miller and Rhoads gave two whole page ads to the picture and Thalheimer's devoted one full page. Richmond Victory Committee also ran full page. A military parade on opening day was one of the highlights of the entire campaign, consisting of a band from Camp Lee, 150 WACs from the Air Base, John Marshall Cadet Band, Thomas Jefferson Band and cadets, Boy Scouts carrying banners, Red Cross vehicles and a number of motorized equipment from the Air base with appropriate banners. Radio Coverage Promoted By Pollock on "St. Louis" Contacting Station WSAY in advance of "Meet Me in St. Louis," Les Pollock at Loew's theatre, Rochester, got them to agree to play the songs from the picture on their "1240 Club," which is strictly a jitterbug program sponsored by Columbia Music Store. The station also ran a 50-word contest on "Why I Would Like to See St. Louis." WHAM plugged the picture on their regular MGM program Tuesdays and Fridays. For street ballyhoo, Les used the umbrella gag with an attractive girl. Teaser ads were used, and Railway Express trucks were appropriately bannered. Ahrens Uses Hitching Rack For "Belle of the Yukon" For his date on "Belle of the Yukon" at the RKO Orpheum, Des Moines, Walter Ahrens lended spot announcements on station KRNT in advance and during the run. Streamers War Showmanship Contenders i The showmen listed below have contributed and reported on their campaigns to aid the War ) effort. Their material is eligible for consideration by the Judges for the Quigley War Show-1 manship Award. JACK ALGER Majestic, LaSalle, III. LIGE BRIEN Enright, Pittsburgh, Pa. L. F. BUCK Scenic, Holingford, Minn. MARLOWE CONNER Capitol, Madison, Wis. J. D. HILLHOUSE State, Galveston, Tex. R. R. HOPE Fox State, Fresno, Calif. ABE LUDACER Park, Cleveland, Ohio P. E. McCOY Miller, Augusta, Ga. TOM MAINE Jefferson, Lafayette, La. ED PURCELL Strand, Staunton, Va. S. L. SORKIN Keith's, Washington, D. C. BOYD SPARROW Loew's, Indianapolis, Ind. CHARLES B. TAYLOR Shea's, Buffalo, N. Y. DEWEY UTTERBOCK Lyric, Wellington, Ont., Canada BURGESS WALTMON Princess, Columbus, Miss. , it plugging the song hits were had in 15 music store counters and 100 window cards planted about town. For his street ballyhoo, Walter used an old fashioned hitching post in front of the theatre, while a pony cart toured the city with copy "Headed for the RKO Orpheum to see" etc. On "Woman in the Window," Ahrens used special hand drawn ads plugging "no seating during the last five minutes of the picture" and "don't tell your friends the ending." A preview screening was held for police officials three days in advance. The picture was stopped five minutes before the ending and the police given an opportunity to guess the end. This was good for a news story break in the Register. Lands Newspaper Breaks on "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" On "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" at the Palace, Meriden, Conn., Mollie Stickles received excellent newspaper breaks on the fact that Bob Considine collaborated on the story with Capt. Ted Lawson. The Meriden Journal ran a photo of Considine along with mention of the picture's opening. The Meriden High School used 22 by 28 book posters on all tables in the school library along with posted notices on the bulletin board in the assembly hall that copies of the book were available to students. The YMCA, in their recreation rooms, featured drawings of old-type planes and new-type planes with a contest organized through the USO awarding guest tickets to visiting servicemen and their dates to those who most correctly named the type planes displayed. Sports writers and editors of the Journal and Record were guests at a special screening. Coffey Reserves Seats For "Meet Me in St. Louis" To attract attention to his date on "St. Louis" at the Carolina theatre, Hickory, N. C, Arnold J. Coffey used tack cards on park, hotel, lounge, powder room chairs, etc., with copy reading: "This seat is reserved, but you can 'Meet Me in St. Louis' Sunday and all week at the Carolina." In coffee shops, restaurants, etc., the same card was used at tables. Taxi fleet carried signs "Call a cab and 'Meet Me in St. Louis'," while filling stations had gas tanks placarded with "Don't let the gas shortage keep you away from." Teaser ads were run a full week in advance and a full page cooperative ad contest was landed, with guest tickets to winners. Posters in War Plants Aid Cornell on "Thought of You" A neat stunt engineered for "The Very Thought of You" at the Strand, Amsterdam, N. Y., was that arranged by Clay Cornell, who^= planted cards on the bulletin boards of local plants employing approximately 10,000 people. The cards read : "To those in the Armed Forces. 'The Very Thought of You' speeds! if] production. We'll stay on our job and do im] well." For the reissue of "Sky's the Limit," Clay^ made a tieup with a retail shoe store and with ten shoe-repair shops. Each of the stores had window displays consisting of a group of wornout shoes, the retail store plugging their product and suggesting to Fred Astaire that he wouldn't have worn out so many shoes had he purchased them there. In connection with "Atlantic City," a local resident, former member of Whitman's band, loaned photos of the original orchestra which made him the King of Jazz. A window was promoted at Kresge's devoted to same with cover sheets from tunes in the picture, mention of the local boy's name, etc. Shannon Uses Teaser Ads For "Under Age" Date As part of his teaser ad campaign on "Under Age," Chuck Shannon, at the Liberty theatre, Sharon, Pa., used four different ads as many days ahead of the opening. First ad read : "If it snows Saturday, Sharon is in for a treat." Next, "Will it snow Saturday ?" Third, "Will it snow Saturday? And what's going to happen if it does ? See tomorrow's paper for the details." The last ad read : "If it snows tomorrow, the first 10 persons reaching the Liberty theatre box office after it begins to snow will receive a guest ticket to see," etc., etc. Three thousand "summons" heralds were distributed around town and at mills and Chuck reports both stunts were successful. Call FILMACK 1327 S. WABASH AVE. Trailer Makers j rJ For America's / Leading Showmen! CHICAGO 5. ILL. 50 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 3. 1945 Ml