Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1948)

iAn international association of showmen meeting weekly in MOTION PICTURE HERALD for mutual aid and progress WALTER BROOKS, Director QP PURVEYORS of pressbooks have been trying to persuade us that the shinypaper pressbooks are all right after all, on the grounds that theatres use these pages as engraver's proofs to make their own newspaper ads, by photo-engraving processes, on the ground. Very frankly, we don't believe that one in one hundred theatres employs the services of an engraver to devise their newspaper copy. Such extravagance is possible only to that top-bracket fringe who also employs advertising agencies. We think that the average, run-of-themine theatre manager uses mats, and that he appreciates the opportunity to see pressbook advertising on news-stock, as it will be used — and that pressbooks printed on both sides of super-calendered paper are a costly nuisance, if you don't happen to be among the fortunate few who can send your copy to an engraver. In fact, there are few engraving houses except in key cities and the^ average theatre man seldom makes cuts. Pressbooks are often incomplete until after the key runs ; the rank and file of theatre managers wait until these test runs are over to acquire the benefit of this advertising experience with the picture. We still believe that splendor in pressbooks is intended for a very limited circulation and that we aim for a wider use of pressbooks on a basis that will reach Jim Mason, of Cherry Valley. ft Arnold Gates, manager of Loew's ^1 Stillman theatre, Cleveland, Ohio, uses double-edged blades when he serves up favorable reviews, as blow-ups in his lobby. Arnold is aware of a fundamental, i.e., that movie critics like to be known, and so, when Ward Marsh, critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote an enthusiastic review on "Golden Earrings," he posted it, life size and twice as natural, with a big picture of ILLINOIS MEETING This week we salute the United Theatre Owners of Illinois, holding their two-day convention at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel, Springfield, January 8th and 9th. We've been out there, as a guest, and recall many names and faces. We meet President Edward G. Zorn here and there around the country and greatly admire the forthrightness and integrity he pu+s into his leadership of Illinois exhibitors. We imagine that our good friends, Homer Strowig of Abilene, "Doc" Cook of Marysville, Mo., and Fred Wehrenberg of St. Louis, will be flying in to attend the Springfield meeting. Springfield, in the heart of the Lincoln country, is as typically American as the cornbelt. We remember one lady "exhibitrix" who owned two hundred acres of standing corn, the best theatre and the liquor store in her town. There's good showmanship in Springfield and surrounding towns, represented by such as the Kerasotes Brothers, E. E. Alger with his circuit, Ralph Lawler of Great States theatres, Fred Souttar of Fox Midwest, and many others we would like to hear from, since we cannot make the trip to Springfield this year. the critic, pointing the way to the boxoffice. We can't all afford photographic blowups, even if the facilities were available to make them, but managers can always gratify the vanity of a friendly critic by displaying his kind words where the public can follow an urge to see the picture. It's possible that movie critics would like to be liked, if they display a tendency to like the movies. You can have a movie critic in your town, witli the cooperation of your newspaper man, and for good, long-range results. f% Advertising and exploitation of the Louis-Walcott fight pictures arriving at this desk indicate wide interest in the fight and substantial business at the boxoffice. The newspaper ads were necessarily limited to all-type displays, but Pierce McCoy sold the show at the Miller theatre, Augusta, Ga., with a home-made ad, created from a news photograph, turned into a line-cut by his art department. Best quip was Duke Stalcup's billing of "The Great Walcott Robbery" at the Martin theatre, Opelika, Alabama. c-"si, c^v, c^?n, Q Reverberations of Drew Pearson's "Friendship Train" still felt with the influx of shows given to obtain food and food packages for local and international charities. Latest is Pierce McCoy's "Canned Food Matinee," where in the Miller theatre, Augusta, Ga., the Augusta Chronicle and station WRDW cooperated with the sponsorship of a local fraternity house to collect more than 1,000 cans of food for the needy. Elsewhere, throughout the country, the effect of the "Friendship Train" is still felt in the promoting of food matinees. ^2V, c^3l, c^V, €From far away Japan, via the Motion Picture Export Association, comes an idea developed at the Roxy theatre, Asakusa, which shouldn't have happened so far from home. May not be new, but it's the first time we've seen it. All they've done is fix up a twenty-four sheet board as a stage drop, so that at the end of the performance, it comes down in front of the screen and just back of the proscenium. Open the curtains, and you have a well lighted, neatly framed, 24-sheet poster that remains visible during intermission, or at whatever times may be desired. — Walter Brooks MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 10, 1948 41