Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

<iAn international association of showmen meeting weekly in MOTION PICTURE HERALD for mutual aid and progress CHESTER FRIEDMAN, Editor €In England, the Gaumont-British Challenge Shield, awarded annually by that circuit to the outstanding GaumontBritish showman, has been acquired by Roy Raistrick, manager of the Empire, Glossop, Derbyshire. The winner also receives £100 for his accomplishments during 1946. The competitions had special significance last year because they had been discontinued since the outbreak of war in 1939. A second award of £75 went to S. Hodnett of the Gaumont Middlesbrough, Yorkhsire. Third prize money, £50, was split between two familiar Quigley Awards contenders — A. J. Brown, Empire, Cardiff in South Wales, and A. M. Carpenter, Gaumont Palace, Barnstaple, Devonshire. To the victors, the spoils — and congratulations. Q That's a most unusual contest sponsored by Fox Wisconsin theaters. The sales girls in charge of the confection stands compete each month for the title of Vending Queen. The circuit issues weekly bulletins on current standings. Names of the last ten in the weekly rating list are printed in red, undoubtedly to match their complexions. €Long range showmanship was the target of Robert Case, city manager for Walter Reade theatres in Kingston, N. Y., recently when he set out to promote a full page cooperative ad for the Broadway theatre to run in the local Sunday News. Mr. Case signed his nine cooperating merchants to a 52-week contract, which means the Broadway will be represented in a dominating position on the page for the entire year without cost. The enterprising showman sold his clients on the attention-getting value of his attractions, which make the page more in BLAZING ENTHUSIASM TWO weeks ago we received newspaper tearsheets from a manager which reported that his theatre ushers were being trained in fire-fighting techniques by the local fire department under the personal supervision of the chief. We considered this a fine piece of promotion, since his patrons obviously received assurance from the writeups that the theatre staff was pretty well equipped to safeguard them. Later we received other issues of the same papers with reports that a fire of undetermined origin had started in this theatre during the last performance. An usher discovered the blaze and, while the audience was quietly removed from the premises, other members of the staff put out the fire. Offhand, we would agree that the incident, as the newspaper editorials stated, was a forceful testimony to the conscientious application of both the manager and the fire chief to their duties. We recall, however, an occurrence similar to this which took place in a capital city a few years ago. Instead of one fire, as in the above incident, after the chief had begun his training course, a series of minor fires broke out in the theatre. Eventually it developed that one of the staff, impressed and curious about firefighting methods under practical conditions, had been starting the fires himself. — CHESTER FRIEDMAN teresting to readers and potential customers, therefore more valuable as preferred position for the advertiser. Ted R. Conklin, manager of the Ash^1 land theatre, Ashland, Ohio, reminds us that when the circulation department of the local newspaper has difficulty with delivery boys, and complaints from subscribers, the theatre manager has a ready-made opportunity to improve relations with the pres's. In this instance, Mr. Conklin has not only tied up to award a theatre ticket to each newsboy against whom no complaint is registered each week, but also arranged for the newspaper to reimburse the theatre in full for each free ticket presented for admission. Mf% Capitalizing on the fact that Larry Parks, star of "The Jolson Story,'' is a graduate of the University of Illinois, theatremen of the Great Lakes circuit have been doing an outstanding promotion job on. that picture, with cooperation from local newspapers. In connection with the film's opening at the Rialto theatre, the Joliet Herald-News published a special 28-page section containing art, publicity stories and cooperative advertising exclusively on "The Jolson Story." Credit for this remarkable feat goes to city manager George Mahoney and manager Marvin Stockwell of the Rialto theatre. Similar sections are being promoted in every Illinois city where the city is represented. C Coincidental booking of successive attractions gave Harold Lancaster, manager of the Strand theatre, Pawtucket, R. I., the idea for a special advertisement adjoining the daily weather reports in local newspapers recently. Copy read: Strand Forecast— Today, "The Clouds Roll By"— Tomorrow. "Blue Skies."