Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Sep 1955)

Stanley , /I £• Schine Warner ItX ^.^WctlOlft Circuit Barney Cohen, manager of the S-W Logan theatre, in Philadelphia, used a new approach for selling “The Land of the Pharaohs” in his neighborhood house. He contacted the synagogues and churches, talked to rabbis and ministers, and told them how the captive people in the picture closely paralleled the great stories in the Bible. Result, his first day outgrossed the two highest films of the year ! T Jay King, manager of the Yorktown theatre, Elkins Park, Pa., made a nice public relations gesture with a local day nursery, and made friends for motion pictures with a “Movie Day” at Melrose Park. Newspaper pointed out that “Movies Are Your Best Entertainment” in editorial comment. ▼ Bill Hendley, manager of the Majestic theatre, Gettysburg, Pa., sends in his fine overall campaign on “Davy Crockett” — a good man in a good theatre, handling a small-town situation the way it should be handled. ▼ Howard Kuemmerle, manager of the Liberty theatre, Philadelphia, came up with a cutie for “Blackboard Jungle” which played right in the midst of the hot spell. He froze a film can in a huge cake of ice, and placarded the lobby exhibit with the sign : “This is the story they said was too hot to handle. \Ve are keeping it on ice until Sunday.” T Bob Kessler, manager of the Penn theatre, Philadelphia, tied in with a local merchant for the grand opening of his new store, and sold a special Kiddie Afatinee for $150. In addition, the merchant donated 25 door prizes, and Bob is still getting a lot of praise for the event in neighborhood shopping newspapers. T Joe Forte, manager of the Waverly theatre, Drexel Hill, Pa., had a special free pass deal with his local paper on “East of Eden” — and the following day discovered that the editor had been watching the action at the box office, and commented on the demand, and the interest of potential patrons in the picture. T Birk Binnard, editor of Stanley-Warner’s “Spotlight” says that Syd Poppay, manager of the Strand theatre, York, is getting on the rental bandwagon, and now has a $500 cooking school on the fire. These things pyramid into gross annual income beyond the ordinary limits of average theatres. T Iz Perli, manager of the Stanley theatre, Camden, N. J., is another with a $500 Cooking School deal under way, and in addition he has signed up RCA for a December 17th Christmas Show taking all tickets for a flat rental, and the house providing 12 cartoons and two operators. Dominick Lucenite, manager of the Broadway theatre, in Philadelphia, had a special cartoon show on August 19th, with a free Totem Head mask for each youngster attending, and he has a “Pencil Box Matinee” scheduled for September 10th. ▼ Our good friend, Everett Callow, who along with Harry Goldberg, is also a Quigley Grand Award winner, has a thought for showmen, worth repeating here : “The only place that can make money without advertising is the United States Mint.” ▼ Helen Bortz, manager of the Warner theatre, Reading, Pa., not only did her own art work for “Mister Roberts” and had a three-week holdover, but also sold $7,812 worth of tickets for “Cinerama Holiday” in a recent drive — the latter playing at the Boyd theatre, in Philadelphia ! T Jack Allen, manager of the Sedgewick theatre, Philadelphia, booked “Captain John Smith and Pocohontas” for a Saturday kiddie matinee, played to a house full of young Indians, and the concession business almost equalled the gross at the box office. T Birk Binnard’s “Closing Thoughts” in the Stanley-Warner “Spotlight” from Philadelphia are always good. For instance, a motto for our office wall : “Coming together is a beginning. Meeting together is progress. Working together is success.” T And we like this one, too. “A fellow would get ahead faster if he stopped staring up the steps and started stepping up the stairs.” Circuit management in this day is inspired with and by good showmanship, which produces results in trying times. ▼ John Langford, manager of the Strand, Ogdensburg, got some excellent newspaper breaks on the return of “Davy Crockett” to his theatre, not only front-page but in the Canadian news, as well. Local merchants gave coupons to Canadian visitors who crossed on the ferry, to trade in Ogdensburg stores. T Ray Leveque, manager of the Capitol theatre, Ilion, N. Y., is working hand-in-glove with the Ilion Playground Commission, for tieups that constitute the best of community relations in any town, large or small. This has been going on all summer and will be a regular part of procedure. T Jack Mitchell and Bill Lavery, in Watertown, N. Y., are both occupied with a campaign on “Davy Crockett” in their area, and it reads like a pressbook schedule of whatto-do, if you knew without looking at the book. Orphanages and chain stores were equally interested in cooperative tieups. Seymour Morris says, “Here’s the first campaign to come in on ‘Mister Roberts’ — from Schine’s Olympic theatre, Watertown, N. Y. — and then his “Flash” bulletin doesn’t tell us the name of the manager and we can’t guess. Anyhow, it was a complete campaign, with tieups and imagination — the first 25 people arriving by boat were admittee free — and this gag got laughs up and down the street ! ▼ Colonel Bob Cox, at the Kentucky theatre, Lexington, advertised for a tame goat, to be used in publicizing his current attraction— also “Mister Roberts” — and said “If your goat is clean, kind and friendly, we would like to borrow him all day Saturday.” About a dozen legitimate and some not so legitimate replies were received, but it all made good newspaper copy. . T Lots of cooperative ads turning up in Schine’s home office at Gloversville. Lee Willis, manager of the Piqua theatre, Piqua, Ohio, had a headline “Itching for some good stitchin’ ” as a big display for “Seven Year Itch” and Paul Pearson, manager of the Capitol theatre, Newark, N. Y., promoted puppies for “Lady and the Tramp” — with proper sponsorship and newspaper publicity. T Foster Liederbach, manager of Schine’s theatre in Cumberland, Maryland, went right into action when they picked a “Miss Cumberland” and had “Little Queens” up to eight years old, as contenders, with their sisters and their uncles and their aunts, all working in the sidelines for favorites. T Lou Hart, manager of Schine's Auburn theatre, Auburn, thought up a delightful stunt for “Lady and the Tramp.” He found a local store to sponsor the presentation of a good cocker spaniel, and then went out and got a little mongrel from the local pound, as another prize, equally awarded to contenders in his contest on stage. Newspaper copy was excellent for the contrasting idea, “How Would You Like To Own ‘The Lady or the Tramp’?” ▼ Michael Brett, manager of the Strand theatre, Carthage, worked out a deal with 37 merchants in his town to sponsor a series of vacation movies this past summer, and all are delighted with the results, and will be sponsors again, summer or winter, on similar terms. All were members of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce. ▼ Jack Mitchell, northern New York zone manager for the Schine circuit, has been selling “Back to School” shows to the local Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co., in various situations. Admission will be 12 I’epsi-Cola bottle caps, and the performance will be Saturday, .September 3rd, with all expenses paid by the sponsor. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, AUGUST 27, 1955 35