Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

56 M o t i o n P i c / u r c X e ic .? Dece in her 13. 1930 MANAGE!?*' ROUND TABLE CLUB Binstock Presents Novel Backgrounds On Advance Displays For a number of good reasons— all of them showmen — Astoria, Long Island has been the center of a lot of corking showmanship for the past few seasons. We have presented, =■ on the Club pages, many examples of live-wire work that we are of the opinion proved to be valuable to whoever used it when we passed it along. Of the Astoria showmen, Paul Binstock, manager of the Fox Astoria Grand is very active. No matter what type of picture he is playing at his house, you will generally find that Paul is right there with the goods and turning out some knockout flashes for a lobby display. One of CLUB EMBLEM PIN!!! WILL IDENTIFY YOU AMONG THE WHOLE SHOW WORLD AS A MEMBER OF THIS GREAT ORGANIZATION AND A REAL LIVE-WIRE SHOWMAN! This is the actual size of the pin. It is made of rolled gold with the outer circle containing a blue enamel background and the inner circle an orange background. The wording is in gold letters. Use This Blank: Managers' Round Table Club 729 Seventh Avenue, New York Kindly send me, postpaid, Club pins, for which I enclose payment at $1.00 per pin. Name of Member Theatre Address Chy State. his most recent ones was on "All Quiet on the Western Front," and because it presented an unusual picture, he gave it a great break as an advance plug. We are showing a photo of the display, arranged in his lobby, and all set to sell "All Quiet" with a big noise. We believe that once before it was pointed out that Paul uses a painted background, or a twentyfour sheet background, on most all of his advance displays. If you will look closely at the photo, you will note that he is using this idea in conjunction with the picture he is plugging. The background sets off the display of machine guns, helmets, rifles and sandbags very well. Cutouts were also placed alongside the display. Should you be using this form of lobby display, it might be well for you to consider the angle that Binstock has hit upon in the form of the depictive background. It is one that will attract a lot of attention especially if blinker spots are focused upon it and shed green and red rays over the scene. The whole idea may be put into effect at a small cost, and we believe that the publicity resulting from it will more than help you jam them in during playdates. Before closing this story, we'd like to enumerate one or two of Paul's other activities, so that you may see that he knows his stuff along all of the other show lines, too, putting it into use at every possible opportunity. A real estate corporation was plugging some newly built homes in Astoria. They offered free bus service to all persons wishing to inspect the houses. Binstock arranged to place a large banner, plugging his picture, directly below the company's banner. This move was found to be very valuable, aiding him in the selling of the show to good advantage. The real estate men liked it because, as they stated, "it made people look at the bus." Other valuable tie-ups included the securing of the co-operation of a fur store to plug Jeannette McDonald, star of "Monte Carlo," the feature playing the Astoria Grand at the time. The store permitted Binstock to place large signs in their windows. As the fur dealer has one of the best clienteles in the town, it is easily seen that the tie-up was a most advantageous one. And now. At the top of this article you will notice the picture showing Paul, busily engaged in transacting the office routine — as much as possible — over the telephone. We want to ask you to look closely at the photograph and note the prominent spot that his membership certificate occupies on the office wall. How about your certificate? Does it, too, occupy so outstanding a position? Let's see it. Thanks, Paul.