Motion Picture Herald (1954)

Prcfact ^hcrtage Relieved bif booking Jh/npwU EDWARD L. HYMAN, vice-president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, offered the suggestion to his theatre partners and circuit heads at the recent meeting at Shawnee-on-Delaware, that they give more consideration to the booking of “art” films and foreign films, especially in showcase theatres in areas where this policy has not yet been established, as a means of relieving the product shortage and for greater opportunity against new forms of competition. With 669 theatres listed in the current Motion Picture Almanac, for this circuit and its affiliates, there could be immediate steps towards something similar to the plan proposed by J. Arthur Rank, who has earmarked funds to build or acquire theatres in America for this same policy. Leonard H. Goldenson, president of AB-PT, has just returned from Europe, where he surveyed the production sources and possibilities of 147 new attractions from foreign studios. Mr. Rank insists there is an ever-present opportunity here that is not being properly met, at the point of sale, with suitable showmanship skills. Certainly, there are areas where foreign films are now getting a big play— and similar areas where the public has yet to find the right opportunity to display their appreciation for films from abroad. Neither Mr. Rank, nor Mr. Goldenson, can change the movie-going habits of fixed audiences, but they can change the policy of some existing theatres and discover new audiences with tastes and preferences which will neither conflict with nor diminish any present or potential patronage that may now be considered regular movie-goers. Mr. Hyman believes in the gradual approach, on a trial basis, to feel out and find new audiences of this nature. Some houses will be found ideal for the purpose, and many will find that they can use “art” films or foreign films in mid-week, for selected audiences. The Walter Reade Theatres eased into this sort of new business by the establishment of what they called “Tonight at 8:30” — a special one Tune in on "CHANNEL ONE" Ra\j H anson $ FOX THEATRE FERTILE. MINN. Quite a number of Round Table managers have picked up the idea of referring to their local theatres as "Channel One" — an idea we printed in this space on August 14th — but the one we like best is this interesting example from a small town with a descriptive name, out in Minnesota. Ray Hanson had a simple rubber stamp made, and used it to put over the idea with his patronage. He also had newspaper reference to the fact that "Channel One" — "your neighborhood theatre — has Scope, and Color, and Sound — that TV won't catch up with, for years to come." The new Fall season has started for television, and it gets plenty of publicity in paid newspaper advertising and free space. At the moment, the most accurate estimate of the number of color-TV sets in use is 7,600 — as compared with close to thirtytwo million standard sets in American homes. It will be a while before color sets become really numerous, but you can depend upon it, they will, when they get the bugs out of the processes involved, and mass production brings the price down. In the meantime, you have your opportunity to boast of what motion pictures have today — and TV will never equal our dimensions in sight and sound. shot showing of a foreign film, sold out in advance to interested patrons. “The reluctance of the mass-type of theatre in the U.S. to play foreign films has been a bone of contention for a long time, and periodically, our industry is the target for bitter criticism,” Mr. Hyman says, on that side of the question. <J BOB O’DONNELL’S program for the Interstate Theatres participation in the Texas State Fair, featuring the Women of Motion Picture Industry — which is covered elsewhere in the Round Table as a news story — had a special interest that can be utilized elsewhere, and in all sorts of situations. He devoted the back page of the program folder to “Your Entertainment Bonus” — a contest in which movie patrons were asked to complete the following sentence in 25 words or less — “I am a movie fan because. . . .” The public has been well educated in the ways of such promotional contests, which appear regularly in the national magazines to advertise various products, and the ladies who read these pages of interest to women, know exactly what is expected of them, to enter such a contest. They write their sample sentences and send them in by the thousands. Each one indicates keen interest in the idea and the objective, and the accumulative effect builds public relations on a broad scale. The variety of replies contains more than a few good ideas. q CHARLIE JONES has done, in Northwood, Iowa, exactly what we’ve hoped some theatre manager would do, in partnership with his home town newspaper. The Northwood Anchor , important county weekly, has mailed out 6,000 solicitations in a subscription drive, and the bonus that goes with each paid-up order is a guest pass for two persons, at Charlie Jones’ Northwood Theatre, for new subscribers. There’s a deal on which can’t help but benefit all parties concerned, and both public relations and press relations should prosper with this special handling. We see the fine hand of the theatre manager throughout the transaction, for the editor of the local paper will be on the lookout for further examples of showmanship as it makes the news. We know this subscription deal is good, and something that many other small town theatres can do cooperatively with country weeklies. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, OCTOBER 23, 1954 55