Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

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An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks , Director ANTICIPATION — Of Good Films Yet To Come THIS is the season of thanksgiving, and in spite of trial and travail, this industry has reason for gratitude, with increasing new products, in new dimensions and quality that holds our heads high above the standards of commercial television. There are both “big” and “little” films on the schedules coming up, sufficient for a majority of situations. It is no longer necessary to provide quantity when the family can see half a dozen films at home. And we have the quality in our new dimensions to keep them coming to the theatre. The time of year is in favor of good showmanship, for we have greater community opportunities, and better chances to deal with cooperative merchants and sponsors. Many towns start with the week of Thanksgiving and go straight through until after New Year’s with a planned program of events and attractions that hold together in the scheme of things for regular movie-goers, as well as reaching the elusive group who are seldom seen in your box-office line. The seasonal good spirit spreads into the individual’s plans for holiday observance and celebration. Make good use of it for yourself. Schine Theatres, operating out of Gloversville, with the guiding force of Seymour Morris in charge of advertising, publicity and exploitation, have long been noted for their outright “rental” of their theatres to local sponsors, for holiday shows. By the time you read this, many Schine houses will have sold their Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holiday playdates, several times over. By that we mean — they often sell a “rental” show to several sponsors in the same holiday week, so it repeats at the box office. If we keep harping on that theme, it’s because we feel that many managers fail to realize how important it is to keep and develop such contacts with their business neighbors. Local groups are looking for such opportunities at holiday time, and there are many who want the use of proper stage room and facilities. You have seating capacity, equipment and experience to help them make a real success of TICKET BOOK SALES With all the talk of credit and ticket sales at the local level, the thing that makes the most sense is a better use of ticket books, which are now sold the year around, and especially during the holiday season. The public responds to ticket books — there is a chance for stimulation and the benefit of advance sales in cash or credit. Famous Players-Canadian have always been leaders in this special handling of ticket books, which started with them as a year-round feature, after building up from seasonal beginnings. At their recent conventions in Canada, it was admitted that business had been "off" in various sectors, but the circuit was still selling "more than a million tickets a week" across the board, and this can well be attributed to the intensity of their campaigns for ticket books. The public has grown accustomed to the special service. Whatever the final outcome of credit as a factor in building business, it must be admitted that ticket books, sold on credit, do have the virtue of keeping a certain control over this use. If the charge account is not paid within reasonable time, the book can be taken up, when presented by a delinquent buyer. It would take nerve to continue to use a book, unpaid for— and there would be less inclination to merely stay away because a ticket bill was not paid. Your customers would be aware of it. their endeavors— and at the same time, make a sure profit for the theatre. Coming up in these Round Table pages is a discussion of the better use of stage facilities— for we have turned the complete cycle, and it’s time we made use of theatre equipment that has been idle for twenty years. We would appreciate — from all of you out there — material that will contribute to this discussion. JUDGE Joseph P. Uvick, whom we knew originally as president of the Allied Theatres of Michigan, speaks out for more and better first runs for neighborhood theatres, as against “downtown” showcases. He cites the trend that is taking business to the suburbs, and the 30-year old precept that governs booking practice in the industry. In these days, he believes “we should go to the public with a picture, rather than seek the public to come to us” in situations where the parking problem is only one of many to contend with. He notes that our industry practice is contrary to that of other businesses — who are decentralizing and have spent millions doing so. He says, “Our seeding grounds are not the big, first-run houses, but the neighborhood theatres.” And he is quite right. There is an economic angle that should be stated. When you operate a showcase theatre with 4000 seats, four shows a day, seven days a week, you have a total of more than 100,000 seats to fill. And when that same theatre grosses less than $30,000 on the week, it means that three out of four seats were not occupied during the entire run. ■ ■ B UNITED ARTISTS announce in the news pages of the Herald this week, a “King of Showmen” contest, with a top prize of $2500 in cash and an all-expense trip to Hollywood for the theatre manager staging the best campaign for Russ-Field’s Cinemascope production of “The King and Four Queens,” starring Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker. The prize is the biggest single cash award ever offered to showmen for a local campaign effort, and more of this will be printed in the Round Table, next week and hereafter, as the contest involves various showmen in action who will be contenders in the United States and Canada. The picture will be released in December and the contest will close next June, with a panel of industry trade-press representatives acting as judges, and both Robert Waterfield and Jane Russell sitting on the bench as producers of the new film. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, NOVEMBER 24, 1956 37