Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

58 Motion Picture News November 2 9 , 19 3 0 MANAGE!?!' POUND TADLE CLUB Rosenthal At Wilkes-Barre Taking a jump from Duluth, Minn, to WilkesBarre, Pa., we find Morris Rosenthal now selling shows at the Capitol Theatre in the Pennsylvania city. Since he has been located with the Publix outfit, Morris has turned out some excellent work that has appeared on our pages from time to time. His work at the Lyceum and the Garrick Theatres in Duluth has no doubt contained some slants of value upon which members have pounced and used in their own campaigns. With a house to handle that takes showmanship to put across, Morris will have to step even faster than in the past. However, since he knows his stuff, we have an idea that some corking angles will be cropping up. Keep your eye on Morris! Kligler Gives Us A Photo of The Service Staff At His House The work that is being turned out at the Daly Theatre, the Bronx, New York City, by Joseph W. Kligler, manager of the house, has made the theatre one of the favorite ^=^ recreation places of the neighborhood. Kligler does not go out and sell his picture by means of exploitation and then just let it go at that. He does more. One of the biggest assets that the theatre has is its fine service staff. The house being small, the staff must also be small; but you can be sure that the ushers and doorman, cashier, etc., endeavor to work by a de luxe standard. We are showing a picture of the uniformed staff of the theatre. We have on hand a couple of photos of the corking atmospheric front display that was turned out by Kligler for the selling of "Swing High," but the photos were so poor that we could not reproduce them. The front was excellent. Striped awnings conveyed the circus tone, with banners and pennants being flown from and under the marquee. The front did a lot to help put the picture across. We want to thank Kligler for passing these accounts along to us, and we hope to hear from him again very soon. Merchants Assembled At Binstock's House To Hear Proposition A large number of showmen have found it profitable to hold get-together meetings at their theatres where the merchants could meet and discuss local business conditions. As =^=;^=^^^^^^^^==^= a result of this move, business, in many cases, has jumped considerably. When the merchants were tied-in on a theatre project, each merchant knew what was expected of him, and what he was going to receive in return for his co-operation. This eliminated any friction. "Prosperity Week" Was Engineered By Edward J. Hiehle In Astoria, Long Island, New York, Paul Binstock, manager of the Astoria-Grand Theatre, engineered a very successful merchants' meeting recently. The merchants in the neighborhood all assembled at the local theatre after the final performance. In order to insure their being on hand, Binstock sent out a letter which was to be used as a pass, permitting the merchant and his wife to see the last show. The move proved a good one. A large number of merchants were on hand. Binstock discussed his plans for the coming season, stressing the importance of the theatre to the community. He next went on and told the merchants the value of advertising, etc. The merchants listened enthusiastically to his plans. A number of merchants presented their viewpoints. At the close of the first session it looked as though the plan was going to take tangible form. We hope that Paul will keep us posted on the future meetings so that we can see how they are progressing. What do you say, Paul? Just to show us that he still has his fingers in the showman's pie and is pulling out box-office plums, Ed. Hiehle, manager of the Midland Theatre in Newark, Ohio, — — ;^==^^=^=iii= passes along a full page that he helped make up for the merchants of his town as a "Prosperity Week" plug. Ed's house appears on the side of the layout. He made no attempt to land center space on the page. This was one of those times when a showman had to use diplomacy. It was not only his house that he was trying to get business for, but the town as well. We would also like to point out the little slug that is used in some of the ads. If you should like to use a slug like this, get in touch with Ed and he'll let you know how it can be obtained. We note that Ed has run another of his Fashion Revues. He always puts these across in great style and they never fail to click for the house. Another angle that he used — this at Election time — was the dupe ballot for the picture he was trying to sell. The head stated : "Vote the Straight Entertainment Ticket." When the ballots were distributed a day or so before election, they created a lot of talk that resulted in good business at the theatre on the opening night of the new film. These activities are all typical of the work that is turned out at the Midland Theatre. The followers of the Club pages will all recall the special stunts, etc., that Hiehle has engineered since he has been at the theatre, and we are sure that they'll seemore. Are we right, Ed? Especially in view of the fact that when Ed is active there is plenty of live-wire showmanship on display. And it's the kind of showmanship that means money at the box-office for everyone making use of, or participating in, the gag. Do you agree, Ed? OCTOBER Slh TO 1 1 1 k -ff^XE WA K K IS £g m 'Mm aw &^ Notice to Members PLEASE be sure to notify the Chairman of any change of address. —THANK YOU.