Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

A? n ; in b e r 29, 19 3 0 M a t i o u P i c lure N 51 MANAGE!}*' KCLND TABLE CLUB Jones Is Trying to Chase Away Depression Bugaboo in Town In an attempt to chase away that product of Old Man Gloom called "Business Depression," J. A. Jones, manager of the Saenger Theatre in Pensacola, Fla., made plans for a huge merchant tie-up that, it is hoped, will boost business in the town and permit the merchants to wear smiles. The chairman of tin .Merchants' Protective Association and -Manager Jones conferred about an hour with the editor-inchief ami business manager of both local newspapers. Plans ucii made to visit the merchants during the coming week and laj before them the possibility of getting an extra two-weeks pre-Christmas shopping. Mimeographed letters telling how Macy's in New York City had advanced New York's Christmas shopping two weeks sooner were sent to the merchants by the secretary of the Merchants' Association, who also did the mimeographing and the furnishing of envelopes for mailing. Jones' sole purpose in putting this plan over is to reflect credit on the town and to be the means of bringing added business to the merchants which in turn will reflect itself at the theatre box-office as well. We hope that Mr. Jones will give us some more dope on this angle as we'd like to keep the rest of the Club posted on its progress. Jones is very active in his town and has secured lots of goodwill by the various stunts he uses. One that he successfully engineered recently was a flower show held in the lobby of the theatre. The show was sponsored by the Parents-Teachers' Association, which was open not only to schools, but to any one living within the county. There were some 12 different classes, consisting of ferns, geraniums, dahlias, roses, chrysanthemums, etc. All in all, the lobby presented a resplendent display and made it one of the show places of town. It was observed that persons who had entered the lobby just to look at the flowers, would, in more cases than one, purchase tickets tn see the screen attraction. The stunt proved profitable from many angles, which we need not discuss at the present time as they are more than obvious to showmen. If you can use a stunt of this sort, it is likely to he profitable to you, too, though of course its entire success depends upon the way in which you have analyzed the local situation. Let's hear from you again, "J. A." Fred Hinds Is Now Handling His Own House in Wisconsin It will interest his many friends on the Publix circuit to know that Fred Hinds, former City Manager of Watertown, South Dakota, who left the business almost a year ago, hag returned to the active fold and is now the owner and operator of the Strand Theatre in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where he intends to bust a couple of records. Hinds has had many years' experience in the show game, so we are of the opinion that he is going to do some good work at his present spot and make a winner out of the house. At one stage of the game he owned the Cresco Theatre in Cresco, la., operating it for nine years. He also served as advertising anil publicity manager for the Finkelstein and Ruben Northwest Theatres. Before entering show business. Hinds was a newspaperman in Minneapolis. Incidentally, Hinds is pretty well acquainted with Fred Meyer, general manager of the Alhambra Theatre in Milwaukee. They were both among the "early settlers" in Minneapolis, when the movies were struggling to gain a foothold in a world of opposition and doubt. We want to welcome Fred back into the active fold and we know that he is going to be represented often on our pages. Keep us posted on what is going on along the showman line in Whitewater, Fred, so that we can pass it along to the rest of the Club. DICK KIRSCHBAUM'S "LOBBY LAFF " When Is a Managers' Meeting a Circus? Here's the Answer! JcToAt OccLtetTTI