Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1922)

602 Motion Picture News SEING IT THROUGH” CONTEST CONCLUDED Children's Mats and Other Stunts “ Seeing It Through,” to stimulate patronage and cutting expenses is a very delicate problem confronting exhibitors. In a condensed description, I am describing how this theatre, with a capacity of 600 seats, with Fox, Loew and Keith as opposition, has in the past six months increased our patronage sixty per cent and reduced expenses twenty-five per cent. Acquiring the lease of this theatre, situated among aristocratic people, we found expenses to be very high and receipts poor. The program was very gruesome, consisting of old melodramas, cheap serials and comedies at a very high rental and fifth run of features. This program would cater to the rougher element, particularly children, and it was necessary to employ two ushers to maintain order. Obviously, the better class of people which predominates ninety per cent of this section would keep away and patronize the larger houses. Our first step was to revise our program, eliminating gruesome pictures and serials, and we acquired the best features and well-known comedies from leading exchanges at fifty per cent cheaper rental and a better run than heretofore. We advertised extensively and before very long we built up a lasting and loyal patronage. The summer soon struck us and yet we pulled through at a good profit, while seventy-five per cent of smaller theatres were forced to close. Two days each week we presented a kiddies’ picture like “ Jack and the Beanstalk,” “ Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp,” etc. In all about a dozen were presented. We invited Bible school children and orphans for free morning showings and big notice was given about these exhibitions. The result was marvelous. We would have two days of capacity business in the hottest days. It was surprising the large numbers of adults these kiddie pictures would bring, not considering the enormous amount of children who all brought their parents. Other theatres followed our scheme and it proved a success. We plan to show these pictures each summer, for, after all, they are fairy tales and never grow old. We employ efficient help who cooperate with us at weekly meetings, which we hold to devise new ideas, to stimulate patronage. These meetings will prove a success to any one. Courtesy is the keynote of the house. Every patron is greeted with a smile, a word of good cheer by our door-man and usher. Proper music presentation is given to all features. Personal attention is given to presentation of features. Before booking, all trade ITH the publication this week of the final suggestions received from exhibitors as to how to meet dull business conditions, the “ Seeing It Through ” contest inaugurated six weeks ago by Motion Picture News is closed. The judges who have consented to act in awarding the prices are: R. F. Woodhull, President of the Motion Picture Exhibitors’ League of New Jersey. William Brandt, President of the Theatre Owners Chamber of Commerce. Chas. L. O'Reilly, President of the New York State Exhibitors’ League. The judges are now considering the letters submitted in the contest. The prizes are: First, $100; second, $50; and $5 each for the next 14 letters considered most meritorious by the judges. The prize winners tvill be announced at an early date. reviews are gone over carefully, with a view of selecting appropriate days for their presentation. The larger houses change their programs on Mondays and Thursdays and people like to patronize these houses on these days. We found these days poor, so inaugurated them as Double Feature Days. Two features of merit are booked for Mondays and Thursdays, and we soon built these days wonderfully. On Tuesday and Wednesday of each week we present a super-production at regular prices and we see to it that an excellent short subject program is given with this production so as to warrant two days. On Friday we advertise as “ Family Night,” and our program is devised to appeal to and suit the family. Our Saturday and Sunday features are made up of well-known stars and stories, suitable to our patrons. We have an extensive mailing list which we revise regularly and keep it up to date. We are always for the welfare of our patrons and by always working for their interests, they will soon appreciate it and will help you “ Seeing It Through.” Barnet Zuckerman, Mgr. Nostrand Theatre, Brooklyn, N. Y. Runs Specials to Satisfactory Business I didn’t intend sending in an article in this contest until I came across a statement that running the high-priced specials was a thing to be avoided during the present slump made me decide to pass on my experience for whatever it is worth to others. This little town here was originally an oil town and some of the old oil people are still here and there is some business in that line in the neighborhood, but the princi pal business is the manufacture of glass. There are a few plants here and they have not been running on full time by a good deal. This makes our problem hard, just as it is for many other exhibitors in other places. The amount of advertising we can do is limited, just as the number of people we can reach is limited, so we did quite a lot of head scratching in trying to find the way to coax enough people into our house to pay to keep it running through the slump. I can say without hesitation that we have done better on the bigger pictures which we ran two days than we did on the ordinary program picture. There may be many solutions for this put forward, but the one that seems reasonable to me is the fact that we can spend a little more money in advertising a picture that we are going to show for two days than is possible on a picture which only runs one day. Then we can leave the advertising matter, especially the posters, up for a longer period. That means that the people have more time to get it into their heads, not only that we are showing the picture, but that it is something out of the ordinary. Then, what I consider is of the most importance, we get the value of the wordof-mouth advertising. We figure that the advertising and the usual run of movie patrons together with the fact that it is really a bigger picture than we usually have brings in our first night’s business. Then we figure that the people who saw the picture the first night go back home and tell the rest of the folks, as well as their friends, to be sure to go to see the picture the following night, and between the two we get more money out of it net than with an ordinary picture that comes and goes and no one talks very much about it. I am frank in saying that we are running a lot of big specials now for two days that a year or more ago we would have been afraid to tackle, and I also believe that to a certain extent they have been life savers for us just now. Our people seem to want the big pictures and we are glad to give them to them. William Hoffman, Mgr. Paramount Theatre, Sistersville, W. Va. Double Feature Day Helped It is universally known that Monday is the blue day of the show business and this town was no exception. It was our custom to run a good feature picture and four