Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

November 15, 19 3 0 Motion Picture N ezv s 69 IV4ANACEIU' ROUND TABLE CLUB /. H. Phillips of Eagle Theatre in N. Y. City Is Active Scoring birdies at the Eagle Theatre in New York City is enabling J. H. Phillips, manager of the house, to turn in some cards showing recordbreaking weeks. His activities about the Eagle have been numerous. Known to all the merchants, he is able to effect tie-ups that help him immeasurably in the selling of his shows. In the time he has been located at the theatre, Phillips has turned out some excellent work, his years in the show 1 business fitting him capably for that « achievement. Now that he has joined the Club, he promises us that he is going to try and be very active. That's a large order, "J. H.," because when a New York City snowman gets active, he certainly has to step on it. We have so many showmen of the Big City on our rolls that competition is very keen to see who is going to lead the pack. Proof of this may be seen weekly in our — — pages, where a number of New York City showmen display their wares. Welcome into the Club, "J H.," and let's hear from you very soon because we've an idea your stuff is good. Tom Di Lorenzo Did Some Fine Work On Popularity S t unt The popularity contest in Sam Rinzler's Brooklyn and Long Island division of Fox Theatres has closed. We haven't as yet put all of the material on it in a compact form for presentation on the Club pages. But we will. Right at this time though, we want to tell you what Thomas DiLorenzo, manager of the Cove Theatre in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, did to put his part of the campaign across. He tied-up with one of the local weeklies, and the paper agreed to run front page stories weekly, taking advantage of the popularity contest by offering votes to new subscribers of the paper. This tie-up, we believe, was engineered by DiLorenzo. The paper, for the first time in its history, published a special supplement of six pages which had the town talking. The section contained news stories on the contest, as well as pictures of the entrants. In addition a number of ads were secured from local merchants, in one instance a full-page co-operative page being run. Everything that the Cove theatre was selling, from film and sound to "Screen Mirror," the Wesco screen mag, was given a plug. The stories were written up by the newspapermen and DiLorenzo. A feature writer turned out a story on popularity which was placed in the special section. The Mayor of the city made the announcements of the winners, from the stage of the theatre, before a capacity audience. We hope to hear some more from this showman on the work he is turning out, and we'd like it to be soon. What do you say, Tom? Can you accommodate us? Wally J. Butler says: "Why Say It's Good" when we all know there is nothing in Show Business that will touch it. "Believe It or Not"— "Rain or Shine"— Anytime and All the Time — It is the Ten Commandments of Showmanship — that's what I think of the Managers' Round Table Club. Manager, Warner Bros. Ritz Theatre. San Bernardino, Cal. The Holiday Spirit! We've been plugging the idea now for several weeks that every theatre, in conjunction with their local Salvation Army and other welfare organizations, ought to promote various kinds of special morning performances with a view of helping the unfortunates in their communities. One suggestion would be a series of Saturday morning shows during the month of December with the admission charge being vegetables, old clothes, toys, groceries, etc., and all of the items so obtained to be used for distribution among the poor. Aside from the humane angle you will chalk up a wealth of good-will for sponsoring or helping a cause of this kind. Pessimists tell us that there will be plenty of grief this Christmas among the poor. Let's do our bit to give them a helping hand. It would also be a good idea to run a free show on Christmas morning for the poor kiddies. Stage shows could be promoted from local organizations, dancing schools, etc. At this show you could distribute toys and candy to the youngsters. The cost for a performance of this kind will be very small and we are sure that every member of your theatre's staff would gladly donate their services. Other suggestions for "Good-Will" shows of this kind are solicited from our members and readers. Let's all get behind the move to spread a little sunshine this vear. Title Of Picture Was Placed On Doors Of Paramount, Waterloo Those members fortunate enough to possess doors similar to the ones that may be found adorning the front of the Paramount Theatre, Waterloo, la., may, if they wish, make use of the stunt that Harry Herman pulled when he played "The Spoilers." As the photo shows, special art pieces spelling out the name of the picture were placed on each door. In the center of each art piece, was painted one letter of the title. Atop of these letters were pasted stills plugging either the star or a scene in the picture. Study the photo closely and you'll be able to pick out the different angles. PEACH'S "WWP O SIGN A 4j ii*M« i y '"•'■'-■ AYlr»G ■ » «. Wii jti, se« *"' 'Sr sr „« ■«. ** S P 0 iM R i There are many ways in which you can turn out an attractive front. Why not look about the spaces — if you have any — around the front of the house and devise some scheme to put it to good use. Fronts command a lot of attention and it is a certainty that if your art work shows signs of care you are going to sell whatever show you happen to be plugging. Listen, Harry, let's have some more like this, so that we can pass them along.