Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1956)

$5,000 IN PRIZES FOR Ford Contest 18 THEATRE MANAGERS For Drive-In The most exciting contest for theatre managers ever staged in film industry is now under way, for United Artists and various commercial sponsors, to find “Miss Exquisite Form of 1957.” This is the nation-wide contest which was conducted so successfully last year, under the direction of Lige Brien, UA’s special events manager, but is now fortified with additional prizes for managers who participate, and is bigger and better in every way. There will be nine prizes for theatre men in both large and small situations, duplicated to give all managers an even break. Top prize in each group will be a $1,000 savings bond; second prize, $500; third prize, $300; fourth prize, $200 and five additional $100 bonds for runners up in each class. We admire the policy of making the awards available to big cities and small towns, on an equal basis. The application blank, for managers who wish to take part in the contest, is printed in the “Trapeze” pressbook and no where else! The promotion is for the Hecht-Lancaster picture, now in its early runs. Local Prizes Promoted That, of course, is only the beginning of the story. There will be 2500 local contests, to find “Miss Exquisite Form” — a type of beauty contest that is always popular and successful in film theatres. And the company has arranged an inventory of 25,000 local prizes, an average of ten in each situation, to be given to these winners on your own grounds. There is no rule against the addition of further local prizes from cooperative sponsors along your own Main Street, as for instance, your newspaper and leading stores. But managers are not asked to do the whole job, alone — and you start with something attractive enough to get the contest rolling. We suggest that a local photographer be enlisted on a cooperative basis, to make pictures for your lobby display, and he will profit because the family and friends of contenders will buy additional prints for their own use. Copoerative advertising, from national sources, will support and stimulate a vast amount of newspaper space, window displays and other tieups, as suggested in the “Trapeze” pressbook. To eager beavers, this will only “prime the pump” and bring forth plenty of local sponsorship that will add to your chance to win. There is an advertising kit, for managers, in addition to the film pressbook, and another kit for merchants, sent direct to stores. The deal is to find 18 regional finalists, all of whom will be winners on their home grounds. These 18 girls will be flown to New York, under Lige Brien’s tender care, and will have a week at the Vanderbilt Hotel, all expenses paid. From the eighteen, a top winner and a number of runners-up will share in the grand prizes, which are magnificent. The top winner gets a trip to Hollywood, and a screen test. Runners-up will get free trips to Europe, Hawaii, South America, a Rambler station wagon, a motor boat, a mink coat and five other grand prizes. This is what you hold out as incentive to your prize winners, who take the honors in your town. It is something worth working for. Numerous Sponsors Not in history have so many sponsors, on both the national and local levels, been lined up to take part in a beauty contest. It makes “Miss America” and others of similar class, seem second-rate, in comparison. Nash, Hudson, Dairy Queen, United Airlines, Fedders Air Conditioners, Sunbeam appliances, swimsuits and specialty items, are all arranged for you — plus the biggest assortment of tieups at the lcoal level ever dreamed up as promotion for a picture. We compliment United Artists for a remarkable incentive campaign and contest for showmanship. In New Orleans — Rodney Toups, of Loew’s State theatre, has already placed his advance publicity, and the contest is under way in New York, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and elsewhere. What’s keeping you? Nothing stands in your way of winning— and UA wants to see the small towns well represented. We’ll be seeing the results of your efforts, as an observer and as one of the industry judges. Steve Allen, manager of the Odeon theatre, Haney, B. C., wired his namesake in New York to congratulate him on his part in “The Benny Goodman Story,” and when he received a telegram in reply wishing him luck with the pic'ture, he reproduced both wires in a newspaper ad. F. B. Schlax, district manager for Standand Theatres at Kenosha, Wisconsin, sends a full-page cooperative advertisement for the “Kiddy Koloring Kontest” at the Keno Family Drive-In under his direction, which has been sponsored by the local Ford dealers. There are 150 prizes, ranging from a juvenile Ford “Thunderbird” — which is a fancy job, powered by electricity, and apparently worth a considerable sum — down through an assortment of bicycles and toys. The merchants furnished all prizes, except for 100 pairs of passes provided by the theatre. The Ford dealers paid for $645 worth of newspaper advertising and for all necessary printing. The theatre pays for and runs a special trailer, and has the use of the Ford Thunderbird for display purposes during the period of the contest. The coloring subjects, for the most part, are borrowed from various pressbooks on pictures that are running, of juvenile interest. The promotion is “costless,” except for one special trailer. We’re Equipped For a "Safari" The East African Bush and Panga Association, upon due consideration of merit, have designated the Round Table as a duly appointed member of “Safari” — and sent us a nine-gallon sun helmet to wear on the occasion. Via Columbia Pictures, and signed by none other than Janet Leigh, herself, we are authorized to organize, equip and guide white ’Bwanas on lion hunts, to shout “Paci, paci” at gun bearers, to locate non-existent water holes and acquire a sun tan — (by not wearing the helmet!). The Warwick Production, which has a mark of merit from British studios, is playing at Loew’s State theatre on Broadway, and as soon as we can take a tuck in the headband, we’ll safari forth and see if it gets us in the theatre. Things are starting early for the world premiere of Warner Brothers' "Moby Dick scheduled at three theatres in New Bedford, Mass., this week, with a press party descending on the port as part of national promotion. Here, three cuties are plastered — with cut-outs to mark them witn the sign of the whale — and at right the waiters at the Jolly Whaler bar rehearse their roles. 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 30, 1956