Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

Paramount Short Subject Gets Full-Scale Exploitation Help As part of its national program to promote special, high-budget short subjects, Paramount has inaugurated a large scale publicity and exploitation campaign for "Radio, Take It Away", a satire on radio audience participation shows. This weekend the March 3 issue of Life magazine devoted three pages to the subject— one of the few times a short subject has received such wide editorial attention — and simultaneously Paramount's short subject publicity department in New York began shipping to its exchanges a press book announcing the appearance of the subject in Life and was preparing one-sheets for lobby displays. Wires and letters had previously been sent to branch and district managers notifying them of the Life display and suggesting further exploitation for the subject. Upon completion of the picture several weeks ago a series of guest appearances were arranged for the writer and director of the short, Justin Herman, and radio columnists Universal Will Reissue Eight Universal Pictures will reissue during the next few months eight of its top productions of previous years in the form of four double feature programs, William A. Scully, Universal vice-president and general sales manager announced this week. The four double features will be : "Destry Rides Again," James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, and "When the Daltons Ride," Randolph Scott, Brian Donlevy ; "Magnificent Obsession," Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, and "100 Men and a Girl," Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou; "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man," W. C. Fields, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and "I Stole a Million," George Raft, Claire Trevor. Finally, a double feature bill will present "Frankenstein," with Boris Karloff, and "Dracula," with Bela Lugosi. Gilbert Acquires Franchise For West Coast Theatres Marc Gilbert, head of the Marc Gilbert Film Company of New York, has announced that his exchange in Los Angeles has acquired the booking franchise for four first run theatres in Los Angeles and San Francisco, playing foreign product. The theatres include the Mayan in Los Angeles ; the Las Palmas in Hollywood, and the Portola and the El Presidio in San Francisco. The company is also obtaining the booking franchise for five additional first run theatres in other Pacific states. of New York newspapers reviewed the film and devoted space to the 11 -minute subject. A tieup was then effected between WCBS' "County Fair" program on a national hookup covering 150-odd stations to publicize the opening of the subject at the New York Paramount. During the special broadcast Win Elliot, master of ceremonies of "County Fair," announced that "Radio, Take It Away!", playing at the Paramount, was unfair to radio quiz shows and dispatched a contestant to picket the theatre with a large sign. At the end of the broadcast Mr. Elliot and the entire cast of the radio program joined the picket line, displaying signs and distributing leaflets calling upon the public to boycott the subject. The results : hundreds filed into the Paramount to see the provocative short subject, while thousands of others tied up traffic in the Times Square area to watch the pickets. The subject, one of the Pacemaker series, was released nationally January 31. Court Allows 20 Days for Memphis Suit Answer M. A. Ligntman, his associates and eight major film distributing companies have been given 20 days by Federal Judge Marion S. Boyd in Memphis to file a formal answer to a $2,910,600 suit for damages brought against them by six independent theatres of Memphis. Judge Boyd set the date for an answer when he denied a motion by the defendants that the suit be divided into several separate damage suits. Judge Boyd held that the suit, charging violation of the Sherman AntiTrust law, be tried as a single case. Defendants in the suit are : Mr. Lightman, L. & L. Theatres, Inc., M. S. McCord, Ed Sapinsley, Herbert Kohn, Warner Bros., Universal, United Artists, 20th Century-Fox, RKO, Loew's, Inc., Columbia and Paramount. Suit was brought by the men and women who operate the Idlewild, Airways, Luciann, Rosemary, Hollywood and Bristol theatres, charging a conspiracy against them with respect to product. SMPE Holds Meeting In New York City The Society of Motion Picture Engineers held its Atlantic Coast section meeting in New York at the Hotel Pennsylvania, February 19. James Y. Dunbar, acoustical engineer of the Johns Manville Sales Corporation, was the principal speaker, discussing the basic principles of acoustics and their specific application to motion picture theatres, broadcasting, recording and television studios. Local Campaigns Key of 20th-Fox Plans: Schlaifer Intensive local advertising climaxed by planned openings of pictures in key situations will be the basis of all 20th CenturyFox publicity and exploitation campaigns in 1947, Charles Schlaifer, the company's advertising and publicity head, told the 20thFox national sales conference in New York last week. He said that the experience gained from the "Razor's Edge" campaign and premiere would be applied to every one of the 20 pictures to be released this year. Pointing out that 20th-Fox had laid the groundwork for this "point of sale" advertising policy with films like "State Fair" and "The Dolly Sisters," Mr. Schlaifer said the "Razor's Edge" campaign had seen the fulfillment of all that was learned from these openings with something added. For instance, a special unit was formed to «*<* ordinate the efforts of the advertising, publicity, exploitation and radio departments. This department now has become a permanent feature. Plans for every picture on this year's schedule have been completed, he disclosed. Finished advertising layouts are ready now on releases from March through October. "While our plans are complete now they are flexible enough so that we can add to them new ideas and new thoughts as we approach the release of each picture," he said. To acquaint the advertising and exploitation forces with all situations in order to make proper exploitation possible, 20th-Fox men in these departments will continue to make trips into the field for conferences with exhibitors and advertising men, Mr. Schlaifer declared. The first such trip will be made early in March and will cover the southern territory. Film Classics Takes Over Exchange in St. Louis Film Classics' acquisition of the St. Louis franchise from Andy Dietz has been announced by Samuel N. Wheeler, Film Classics' sales manager. This marks the fourth acquired recently by the company, giving Film Classics, Inc., 13 wholly owned branches. Emerling Lectures Ernest Emerling, advertising manager of Loew's Theatres, was guest lecturer last Friday in the series of lectures on motion picture advertising and selling conducted by Henry A. Linet, Universal-International eastern advertising manager, at the New School for Social Research, New York. Mr. Emerling declared that "it is essential that theatre managers return to the fundamentals of showmanship and train their assistant in the art of picture selling.." 48 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH I, 1947