Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1918)

2188 M otion Picture X e w Paramount t'.eatre, Lewiston, Idaho, and the tiL'o girl ushers and attendant Small City Theatres Prove Necessity of Ushers and Orderly Conduct of the House T AST week there appeared in these ' pages an article about the use of girl ushers, with particular reference to the plan that is followed by Shea's Hippodrome, Buffalo, and the experiences of Harold B. Franklin, the manager, in the employment of young women. But that this attractive feature need not be confined to the larger houses, and that attention to details counts just as much in the smaller cities is proven by the success of A. H. Hilton, manager of the Paramount Theatre, Lewiston, Idaho. We have already told you that Mr. Hilton is one of the biggest and one of the best advertisers in the country. He uses three and four full columns, which occupy the left-hand space on the first page of the second section of the local paper ; and this is " going some " for a city with a census population of 6043. But he has proven that big advertising pays him when it is well done, and there is not a man in the country today who is a firmer believer in the most liberal use of the newspapers. But he goes further than this, and surrounds his theatre with just as much atmosphere as the biggest theatre in the country. In that way he keeps everything just right. Courtesy and cleanliness go hand in hand at the Paramount, which is one of the best examples in the country of the truth of the statement that a theatre does not have to have size and be a million-dollar product to make it an "institution," for the Paramount is just is much an institution in its section of the country as the Circle or the Rialto or the California in theirs. If the labor problem is acute in the larger cities, and the younger men that are usually employed by theatres are called to the army, there is likely to be all the more shortage in the smaller communities, and, therefore, all the more need for girls. It is unfortunate that with many managers, simply because they are located in smaller cities, the policy seems to be simply to let the people find their way to their seats in any way they can, and with the most of the houses very dark during the showing of the pictures, this causes great confusion, to say nothing of the discomfort. Two years ago the writer visited a theatre in a town of about 10,000, a manufacturing centre, with two or three big plants that employed hundreds of people. In addition, there was a wide, surrounding country, though sparsely populated, in which there was no motion picture house, and the manager was absolutely in command of the situation. Now, in that town there were enough people outside of laborers themselves to support a theatre well. The officials of the companies, down to the clerks, were there in large numbers and the women element of the community had little amusement, and it was logical that they would form the greatest element of the audience. Good pictures were being shown, the outside of the theatre appeared neat, and when we went inside we expected to find the house filled with women and children. Instead, we found a handful of men and a few children. We were surprised at first, but not for long. In the first place at the door was a young boy who was paying more attention to talking to others than he was in taking the tickets. We entered and found seats as best we could, and then things started to happen. One child climbed up on the seat in front of us and stood there. We moved and in front of us there was a woman with a young baby that cried continually, and no effort was made to suggest that she might take it outside to quiet it. Two men were seated on the aisle throwing peanuts on the floor, and children were running up and down the aisles having a great time. This, of course, was a rather radical case, but it was an actuality. A little conversation with the manager revealed that he knew that things were bad. " But," he explained, "you cannot do things here as you do in a large city. If we told the woman that her baby was disturbing the others she would get mad and not come back any more. The only thing that we could do with the children would be to keep them out. It was suggested to him that a child was always impressed by order mid that if he had a couple of ushers who would iuke them to seats as they entered and they felt the air of dignity about the house, it would take few reproofs to tame the recalcitrant ones. This summer we visited the same theatre again. There were two boys of about sixteen acting as ushers. The house was orderly, and it was crowded with people, and it was very evident that the theatre was getting the patronage of a much better element than at the time of our first visit. Curiosity led us to ask for the manager to learn how he had carried out the reforms. But it was a new manager. He had taken charge about six months before simply because the former manager had not been able to pay the rent. What he had done every exhibitor can do. He got new employes and impressed them with the desire for order and neatness. He was troubled at first with the same annoyances there had been under the former management, but he stuck on the job and kept after his patrons. Some of them were driven away, but in their places came two or three for one, and the house had been showing a splendid profit. He declared that he had so drilled his employes that his presence was not needed, and that it was rare that there was any disorder. Mr. Hilton believes in the same thing. He keeps the front of his house attractive, as the picture of it when " The Unbeliever " was shown proves. The two girl ushers and the doorman are clean looking and intelligent. Certainly all these things give atmosphere to a house that is "going to be distinctly forbidding to rowdyism. Take a look at the two pictures at the top and then think if doing the same sort of things in your theatre isn't going to make the box office swell. "Teaser" Campaign Is Used on "For Husbands Only" Manager James Jackson relied largely on the title in putting over " For Husbands Only" at the Rialto theatre, Atlanta. Ga., and did big business as the result. He inserted a number of personal advertisements in the " want " columns of the newspapers, in addition to his regular display advertising, and tagged all of the automobiles he could reach with the name of the picture.