Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1929)

1214 Motion P i c t u r c X e w s gard to the motion picture habits of the American people throughout the country. AS already stated, twelve of fourteen merchants who measured their increase in percentage had an average improvement in volume of 22.6 per cent over the same week of the preceding year. One of these increased business 100 per cent, another 40 per cent. The weather had beef better then, but at that time there was no special motion picture with sound showing in Watertown. 1 Hit of the total of 37 only three declared that they saw no benefit from the motion picture theatre to their business. The contents of the ,54 who agreed that movies have a beneficial effect on their business, divide themselves as follows: II — Get direct benefit in form of sales. 9 — See benefit in business from farmers and small town people living outside of the city who are brought to town by the talkies. 6 — Could not trace business direct, but said their volume would suffer if all movies were shut down. 2 — Whose stores are closed weekday evenings, state their lighted windows work on movie crowds who come back later to purchase. 6 — Had a general idea that movies are a good thing for the trade. As the survey was made in December the larger stores were well patronized by Christmas shoppers, and most of the merchants could not tell whether their customers had any connection with the crowds from the Avon, because there were too many people in the store, though the majority, as already pointed out, did a bigger business on the week than during the same week of the previous year. Five attributed extra business to the large out A window stunt featuring a merchant-theatre tie-up frequently draws crowds like that shown above of-town crowds which the Avon attracted with the "Wings" showing, while twentytwo could not trace any business to that source. AN interesting feature of the merchants' survey are the suggestions regarding ways and means whereby the local theatres could help stores to get more business. Twenty-three out of twentyseven queried by the Curtis Company representatives had ideas on this matter, while the other four did not. Thirteen of these merchants made the statement that high-class feature pictures would do more to bring business to town than any other promotive schemes. Other suggestions were : Cover small towns more heavily with theatre advertising; stop showing major pictures in small towns first ; put a string of lights from city square to the Avon Theatre to draw people in that direction when driving to town; theatre The autfimohilc service station, one of the hcneficiurie through co-opcrution with movie of extra business hrou theatre ght should help sell Watertown as best place to buy for all people in the trading area. All those, showmen immediately will recognize, are accepted methods of good practice which have been employed by theatres for their own interests in any number of outstanding cases. Small towns now are being more heavily covered with advertising by larger theatres to capitalize on sound equipment : a theatre man in a small town in Texas interested the local bankers and merchants in financing a sound installation of his theatre for the purpose of "keeping the home folks home" ; one of the moves credited with accomplishing the greatest amount of good in the campaign which Herb Jennings staged in Indianapolis to bring the Palace Theatre out of the red was the relighting of the street on which the Palace fronted and his successful selling of the idea to merchants to light up their windows brightly. THE conclusion drawn from the report of the Curtis Survey is that what the talkies currently are doing for the movie theatres, the movie theatres for years have been doing for the business of local merchants. That is, attracting from the outling territory people who. before the popularity of picture shows and the facilities for transportation provided by autos and good roads lacked both the incentive ami the means of travel to go distances from their homes in isolated sections and on the farms. The necessity of the theatre of today, operating an increased overhead, due to sound equipment and rental costs, of reaching even further into distant territories for patrons is bound to have its effect in increased business at the local stores of the larger towns. And under such circumstances, it seems onlj reasonable that theatre operators will be accorded more support by local business men ami bankers than previously has 1 c 'ontinued on page 1 -'5,; 1