Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

November 29 , ]«.; Q Motion Picture News 59 MANAcercr kclnd table club James A. O'Kelly Handles Publicity In Parkersburg, W. Va. Here's James A. O'Kelly, exploitation chief for the Smoot and Lincoln Theatres in Parkersburg, West Va., the section where Bill Hendricks general manages the two -^-— ^ — — ^-^==— Warner houses. We have no dope on hand concerning Mr. O'Kelly's career in the show game, so we cannot shed any light on him. But as regards his work, we can say that he is a very active showman. In fact, they have to be active to work along with Bill Hendricks. We believe that some corking work should be forthcoming real soon from Parkersburg because there is a group of live showmen in the town. Incidentally, one of the recent stunts pulled at the Smoot Theatre was the signing up of the world's champion tree sitter — who squatted on a bough for 1,657 hours — for a personal appearance at the house. The stunt jammed the residents in that night, all being anxious to get a look at the new record holder. Listen, Mr. O'Kelly, when you send in your next contribution, how about giving us a little dope on yourself so that we can present it along with your work? Give our regards to the showmen of Parkersburg and let them know we'd like to hear from them. Whyte Held Them Out for First Time In a Year or Two For the first time since "Sunny Side Up" played the Capitol Theatre in Riverhead, N. Y., people were turned away from the theatre. Why? It was all due to the excellent ____^^^_^^_^^^^^_____ showmanship displayed by W. H. Whyte, manager of the house, whose effective campaign for "The Silent Enemy" caused the unusual occurrence. The picture was thoroughly sold to the local schools. The Board of Education in New York had endorsed the film when it first made an appearance on Broadway, and, knowing this, Whyte had a very convincing crowbar with which to enter the schools. He made personal visits, addressing the students on the merits of the show. The angle proved to be a corker. As Riverhead boasts a large enrollment of Boy Scouts, and in view of the fact that the Chief Boy Scout executive of the organization had personally endorsed the picture, Whyte had another effective sales argument. The Scout Master of Riverhead was notified of the playdate, and he immediately got in touch with the heads of troops in surrounding towns. It was arranged for all of the Scouts to appear at the theatre in full uniform. As an added treat, and one that helped his good-will stock tremendously, Whyte agreed to run a tworeeler showing the Scouts at camp the past summer. Additional business resulted from this move. We are showing a photo of one of the unique lobby displays used on the picture. The shot shows a collection of arrowheads, flanked by stills on the film, which was placed on display. The collection, promoted from a resident in a nearby town, contained some very fine specimen. The entire display was loaned, free of charge, to the theatre. It caused loads of talk and helped the picture considerably. With Whyte turning out work that is jamming the theatre and necessitating the non-selling of tickets, it seems to us that we are going to have some good slants on show selling to present to the rest of the Club. Keep us posted on your work, "W. H.," so that we can pass it along. Santa Claus Matinee We have already sent out upwards of thirty letters giving the details of this money-making gag. You may recall that we mentioned it some weeks back. Briefly, here is the idea: Announce and advertise for the 24th of December a special Santa Claus Matinee. Tell the youngsters that Santa will be at the theatre to distribute candy and toys to all of them attending this special performance. Purchase enough assorted toys, novelties and candy to insure each kid receiving a fair sized package. The stuff you give away should not cost you over five cents in all. The admission price for the special show should be fifteen or twenty cents, depending on the locality and type of house. Santa and his costume is another small item. And if you doubt whether the kids will turn out, just try it once and be convinced. Such special attractions as you can offer should also be publicized, such as extra pictures, specialties by neighborhood youngsters, etc. Make it a Gala event for the children and you will find them talking about it for many a month. If convenient you can arrange to start a new serial at that show, continuing with the succeeding episode the following Saturday or Sunday. Information as to where you can secure the toys, novelties and candy may be obtained by wiring Club headquarters, but if you can get this stuff locally by tie-ups with the merchants, all the better. If you get behind this in the right way you will find that 95 per cent of the receipts for the 24th of December will be from your kids Santa Claus Partv. Go To It! Grabbing off free space from "Talk Title Talk" newspapers is one of the hab TT , „ its that Bolivar Hyde, Jr., con Latest Hyde btunt tracted when he first hit the Going Over Great show business; and he kept it " up ever since. His latest bit ^^=^=^==^^^^=^^= of space grabbing was done with the co-operation of the Montgomery Advertiser in Montgomery, Ala. Bolivar, as a number of his fellow Club members know, is the City Manager of the Publix houses in the city, with his headquarters at the Paramount. A short time ago he decided to use a stunt that has been pulled many times, but nevertheless, it is always a good one for landing space in newspapers. The stunt — though it has been called by many names — consists of taking a group of movie titles and arranging them together to make a paragraph. Bolivar called the gag "Talk Title Talk." To give you an idea of how it's done, here's an example of the titles: "Going Some," "Blind Wives," "The Weaker Sex," "Remodeling a Husband," "Treat 'Em Rough," "Man Unconquerable," "Too Fat to Fight." "The Truth About Husbands," "Frivolous Wives," "Hearts Are Trumps." Now here's a sample Title Talk: It's "Going Some" when "Blind Wives" tell "The Weaker Sex" the best way of "Remodeling a Husband" is to "Treat 'Em Rough," for while that may apply to "Man Unconquerable" who isn't "Too Fat to Fight," "The Truth About Husbands" is that they prefer "Frivolous Wives" with whom "Hearts Are Trumps." The paper gave Hyde a lot of space for the duration of the contest. The Title Talks were sent to the local paper, a pair of tickets being given away for each one selected. Ten pairs of tickets were awarded daily, with one or two of the Title Talks being published. You can use this one in your town, too, if you wish. Thanks, Bolivar, let's have some more of your work.