Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

zAn international association of showmen meeting weekly in MOTION PICTURE HERALD for mutual aid and progress CHESTER FRIEDMAN, Editor €Ted Baldwin, promotion manager for Selznick Releasing Corporation, was one of 16 publicists from all fields of endeavor to receive an Award for meritorious public relations performances at the second annual luncheon of the American Public Relations Association in New York last week. Mr. Baldwin was cited for his promotional activities on "Duel in the Sun." Last Spring, while we were entertaining the 1945 Quigley Awards winners in New York, Mr. Baldwin invited us to be his guests at a major league baseball game. Before game time, the enterprising exploiteer had us pasting "Duel in the Sun" stickers all over the grandstand. Of such stuff are top-notch publicists made. Through the good offices of F. Rey^1 renns, manager for 20th Century-Fox in Geneva, Switzerland, we have received the first campaign to reach the Quigley awards from that country since before the war. Entered in behalf of J. Ragazzi, manager of the Scala theatre, Biel, the campaign denotes a high degree of skill and ingenuity comparable with our showmen here at home. Mr. Ragazzi's promotion will be reported in a later issue. Gene Hudgens, manager of the Home ^1 theatre in Oklahoma City, Okla., this week became the custodian of a hen, age one year, in connection with his engagement of "The Egg and I." The hen is called Betty MacDonald for press agent reasons, the name being the same as the authoress of the best-selling book. Betty, the property of Ruby Bell, an employee of the UniversalInternational Oklahoma City exchange, was given the run of the theatre for the playdate of the picture, with an usher assigned to THE SAFE ROAD G RALPH BRANTON, general man. ager of the Tri-States theatres, from company headquarters in Des Moines, la., recently announced an outstanding postwar public relations undertaking which should net his organization benefits in publicity and good-will. The circuit is offering $ 1 ,000 cash to the town where its theatres are located which does the best safety job. Aimed directly at helping to reduce accident fatalities, the safety campaign is proving productive in gaining support from the press and public officials, with the Iowa State Junior Chamber of Commerce taking a leading part in fostering the campaign. In addition to publicizing the drive in and around the theatres, in many towns courteous drivers are being presented with theatre guest tickets. Violators receive courtesy letters calling attention to their misdemeanors. Public reaction as well as statements from the state safety council and local authorities have been extremely favorable. The device has the added purpose of letting the public know that the theatres are an important and contributing influence in the community welfare. Tri-States is to be congratulated for taking the initiative in helping to vitalize theatre relations with the public. —CHESTER FRIEDMAN her as personal maid, and with a bed in Hudgens' office. The hen will travel all over the country in the interests of "The Egg and I." gT* P. E. McCoy, The Georgia crack showman in Augusta, has a penchant for doing the unusual. Just let yo-yos come into fad, a cartoon character gain unprecedented publicity, and he is generally the first to organize a competition among his juvenile patrons. While theatre managers were sweating it out during Holy Week and hoping for a break to keep grosses at average level, Mr. McCoy was entertaining capacity audiences at the Modjeska theatre. The attraction was merely a bubble-gum blowing contest sponsored by radio station WRDW with cooperation from the city recreation department, the mayor and the Augusta Chronicle. On the screen, the audience welcomed back an old favorite, Gene Autry. At evening performances, the grownups vied for the title of "Local Gene Autry Guitar Player Champion" — in costume. CFor the second time since Christmas, Warner theatre managers in Erie, Pa., were able to promote a 1947 Chevrolet as a giveaway during the lax Lenten season. Ken Grimes, manager of the Warner theatre ; Milford Parke, manager of the Strand, and Henry Rastetter of the Columbia were the energetic showmen who each came up with two sponsors to carry the cost of the promotion. €Over in England, manager A. H. Stobie of the Gaumont Cinema, Chadwell Heath, includes a Safety First song each week in his community singing. This is another method added to those which other Gamount British Junior Club leaders have instituted to impress Safety First into the minds of children. In this connection, manager Stobie pointed out that many popular tunes have parodies on road safety. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 19, 1947 47