Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1929)

f~> c t ob e r 5 , I 9 :"' 1273 MANACtKf HOUND TACLf CLUB Solve This Problem! PRIZE OFFERED FOR THE BEST SUGGESTION Some men are such r> . • ni natural born showmen, that hxecutive-Showman we just sort of take [t for Is An Appropriate granted that everything Title For Williims they put their shoulders to i me ror winiams will turn out successfullv Of just such stuff is a fellow named Williams out in the American Theatre, of Colorado Springs, Colo., made of Let us tell you just this much about this man: He was sent to the American Theatre from Florida some ten weeks ago to take hold of a theatre that has been losing all kinds of money, and he had been in Colorado Springs only a short time when he had the whole town and the surrounding neighborhood talking about him and the theatre. Inst how he created this remarkable interest in a theatre which was none too popular with the theatre going public w as the result of proper management, creating and working out an organization with his staff and. chiefly, pulling •something new with every show that came into the theatre. Just one example of this man's remarkable showmanship is shown with this article in the way he set up an envelope which he uses on his mailing list. Incidentally this envelope went out to 9.000 addresses and you can figure out the interest he created. In addition to his regular exploitation work, he has created and executed fronts for the theatre and marquee that compare to Broadway or the Loop. Realizing the terrific task he has before him, he is constantly on the job and trying to get the house in just the condition where he can relax a little bit. He has a reputation in Colorado Springs for being at the bank, newspaper offices and the theatre all at once, and the janitor gets many surprises when he sees his boss walk in and open up the house. He possesses one particular qualification which perhaps stands out above evervthing else that any man can do. and that is: HE NEVER ASKS ANY ONE TO DO A SINGLE THING THAT HE WOULDN'T DO HIMSELF. We shall be glad to tell you a lot more about Manager Williams, of the American Theatre in Colorado Springs, as soon as we are able to learn a little bit more about him. The population of Colorado Spring::, la 38,000. The America Theatre seota 800, una by running 5 shows u day con accommodate 4,000 people u day and in 7 days can only seat 28,000 people. Acmrding lo these figures there will be 10.000 people in Colorado Springs that air gomg to be disappointed in not being able to sec THE COCKEYED WOULD" At the AMERICA THEATRE for One Week It seems that when we anWally Baker Is nounced the formal intro r^> tv/Tj tt t> duction of Wally Baker on Gen. Mgr. t Or 1 WO the CLUB pages, we did not Houses In England have the correct information on hand as to his position in England. In order that we may set you straight regarding this livewire ROUND TABLE CLUB member, we want you to know that he is the general manager of two picture theatres in one of the most important industrial counties in England, namely, Lancashire, where he operates the Palladium, in Oldham, and the Palladium, in Stockport. There is a great expression heard throughout Great "Sound Motion Pictures" By Harold B. Franklin The "Blue Book" of sound and containing a wealth of material for every live-wire showman who wants to "know what it is all about" in the world of sound. YOU should not be without a copy of this marvelous book. "Shoot" your order in NOW and we will ship it promptly. Manngers'' Round Table Club ($3.20 covers cost of book and mailing) Britain, which says, "What Lancashire thinks today, England does tomorrow." And it is Wally's intention to live up to it in everything he does in the show business. Mr. Baker has promised us in his letter that he will send particulars on everything that is going on at both his theatres, and we thank him for the good wishes for the success of the ROUND TABLE CLUB members and extend to him our best wishes for all the success he so well deserves. We will certainly look forward with interest to the contributions from this English manager. Just because your theatre Non-Sync. Organ may not carry an orchestra o • y. • t t j or organist is no reason why specialities USed your patrons cannot con A.t B'klyn Avalon tinue to enjoy the illustrated ------------—-------------——————_--;—--_ song specialties, which for a while were so popular in any theatre throughout the country. Harold Garfinkle, Manager of the Avalon Theatre, in Brooklyn, N. Y., successfully met this situation by securing a phonograph record, a set of slides and with a few rehearsals had them both synchronized perfectly. We witnessed one of these specialties and the audience* reaction was tremendous. They applauded for several minutes after the specialty was over, with the result that the Avalon is going to continue using this fine specialty. There are many other theatres throughout the country, who would welcome a suggestion of this kind because they had to drop singing specialties from their programs when they let the orchestra and organists out for "sound," and we suggest they give this a little consideration, and if necessary drop us a line and we will gladly furnish fuller details regarding same. Canadian Members! You have probably noticed that we have not grouped your material on a special page during the past few weeks. The reason for running it as we do, (several items distributed throughout each issue) is to give our Canadian members representation in every issue, if possible, and not place their material aside until a page or two accumulates. We believe our members in Canada will approve of this method of handling their contributions to the Club pages. M. R. T. C.