Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1954)

Brotherhood SHOWMEN IN ACTION Ms Handled Bifferen tly This year, when 18,000 campaign books and promotion kits for “Brotherhood Week” were released, we were surprised to fund the principal exhibit labeled “This is NOT a pressbook !” Nor is it, and that may or may not be an advantage. The difficulty in previous years has been to get enough evidence of showmanship in enough places, and we have continuously tried to boost the pressure behind it by trying for special mention in the Round Table and special Quigley Award citations. Last year, Harry Mandel told us “there would be campaigns from RKO Theatres” — and there were, so we managed to save a handful of pictures to make the page opposite, but generally, this lacked something that we’d like to see accented more strongly, rather than less. The pressbook that is NOT a pressbook contains well written and good advice, and suggests a new selling approach, without quite giving a formula in detail. There is no trailer, but theatres will find material in the newsreels. There are no posters, but there is a small display card for the boxoffice window. There are a few advertising mats, in various sizes, which are not meant for theatre purposes. The authors say “The industry knows that nobody away from a desk in YOUR office knows better than YOU how to reach the public in YOUR community” — so go to it, as you would sell any attraction. Some will ; some won’t and we have hopes, as usual. Sell Your Quota of Membership Cards Again, the distribution of membership cards, at $1.00 each, is a primary factor, and if 15,000 theatres would each sell their quota, it would finance the National Conference for political and other purposes. We have always thought that every theatre’s free list should be asked to join up in this evidence of good faith. Brotherhood Week is a Main Street enterprise, with every merchant joining with the theatre manager in a matter of community interest. Some Round Table members have done by far the best things that have been done, in previous years. They will do it again, but we still think that you need materials to work with, and suggestions that are explicit and on the firing-line, for direct application, without depending on merely the theory or policy involved. We are already sold on the idea; and theatre managers only need the stuff that showmanship is made of to prove it. Stars by Telephone Jack Sanson, manager of the Strand theatre, Hartford, reaches out for nearby personalities, as when he created a Boston-toHartford telephone interview on “The Glenn Miller Story” with Jimmy Stewart and Allen Widem, local by-liner, on the wire. William K. Hatkoff, manager of the new Norwalk theatre, ran ads of appreciation in his Connecticut newspapers, thanking folks for their indulgence during crowded moments in the opening of “The Robe.” ▼ Joe Borenson, manager of the Strand theatre, New Britain, Conn., landed a fine half-page co-operative ad for “Kiss Me Kate” — with a big picture of Ann Miller, and the headline “This Lady Is Faithful in Her Fashion.” T Lester Pollock sends the minutes of his staff meeting with roving Knights from Camelot, to plan the tournament to follow in the presentation of “Knights of the Round Table” at Loew’s theatre in Rochester. T Harry Wiener, manager of Schine's theatre, Oswego, N. Y. had a fine display of flowers in the lobby for the opening of “The Robe” and a neatly printed card of acknowledgment to his good friends of the Businessmen’s Association, who sent them. T Boh Anthony, manager of the State theatre, Cortland, N. Y., arranged a benefit showing of “The Sea Around Us” for fifty units of the Friendship Encampment of the I. O. O. F. ▼ Seymour Morris shows a reproduction in the Schine “Flash” of a fine full-page cooperative ad placed by Harold Lee, manager of the Babcock theatre, Bath, N. Y., and credits John Snyder with having worked on it, too. ▼ Louis Lutz, city manager for the Park, Pix and Avon theatres, Waukesha, Wise., shows very fine news pictures in the Daily Freeman (one layout is four columns wide, and another on the picture page) to prove that CinemaScope is in the news. T Tony Masella, manager of Loew’s PoliPalace theatre, Meriden, Conn., had an interesting co-op ad with the Connecticut Light and Power Company, in which the company told their formula of “How to Marry a Millionaire.” Ben Tureman, manager of Schine’s Russell theatre, Maysville, Ky., is the first on record to announce his annual “Miss Valentine” contest— a front page story in his local paper, every February 14th. ▼ Leo A. Lajoie, manager of the Capitol theatre, Worcester, Mass., had some fine newspaper response with the personal appearance of Joan Fontaine and Collier Young, for “The Bigimist.” T Sperie Perakos, general manager of Perakos Theatres, in Bridgeport, Conn., got allout art lay-outs for “Miss Sadie Thompson” with large illustrations, headed “Some Dance,” to show what we mean. T Lou Cohen and Norm Levinson using that realistic cut-out of Marilyn Monroe (you can hold hands with it) as a come-on for a Marilyn Monroe contest (match her measurements or take that stance) at Loew’s Poli, Hartford. Local gals will also marry millionaires. T Bill Burke, manager of the Capitol theatre, Brantford, Ontario, really rolled up the record for free space with his publicity for “The Robe” totaling over 1200 lines, in quite a departure from the usual policy of the Brantford Expositor. T Daniel A. Cohn, manager of Loew’s Boro Park theatre, in Brooklyn, files his complete campaign on “The Robe” as an entry for the Quigley Awards, a good exhibit from a neighborhood theatre. T Cinerama is advertsiing that “Sunday Is Family Day” at the Boyd theatre in Philadelphia, and Lynn Farnol is especially proud of the special train that brought 200 citizens of Canton, Ohio, into Pittsburgh to see Cinerama at the Warner theatre. ▼ Paramount is distributing a special press sheet on “Boo-Moon” — the first three-dimension Technicolor short featuring Caspar, the Friendly Ghost. We thought ghosts were one-dimension. More in oar gallery of prize-winners in MGM's "Lucky 7" contest: Above, Wayne Sweeney, manager of the State theatre. Omaha, who gets S500 for the best proposed campaign on "Kiss Me Kate" in the big cities, James A. Wren, manager of the Strand theatre, Waterloo, Iowa, receives $250 for the best entry from towns in the middle category, and Mrs. Elaine S. George, one of our favorite Round Table members, is paid $100 for the fine job she does at the Star theatre, Heppner, Oregon, one of the best managed small town theatres in the country. ONAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY b, 1954