Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

52 Motion Picture News December 20 , 1930 MANAGtrr rcouND table club Look This Pair Over; They Are Adaptable For Many Pictures Here's a couple of corking slants, credit for which belongs to J. P. Harrison, manager of the Waco Theatre in Waco, Texas. They formed part of his campaign for Amos — 'n' Andy. (In fact, they formed so potent a part that we are passing them along in the event that any of the Club members can find space for them when they play the film.) Or, if you are not playing the picture, remember, they can be used for many other cinemas. One display that was placed in the lobby in advance and then moved to front of vacant store adjacent to theatre during playdates attracted practically every passerby. This display consisted of a front view of a shack with a shattered window pane in the center. Through the shattered window pane could be seen the figures of Amos 'n' Andy talking through a microphone. The other display was placed in the lobby facing the people coming out of theatre. This display consisted of two large heads of Amos 'n' Andy and were placed on opposite sides of the lobby and connected by means of a flasher with small bulbs spelling out the words of Amos 'n' Andy. Cut-out letters of Ha! Ha! and laughs galore were placed around the display. A victrola placed in the back of the head of Amos, whose mouth was open, played Amos 'n' Andy records. Both displays helped immeasurably in letting people know that the popular radio team was in town starring in their first all-talking picture. Good work, "J P." Let's have some more. CLUB EMBLEM PIN!!! 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. Marpole Gave Away A Radio as Plug on "Feet Firsf Selling Our old friend J. D. (Jack) Marpole, manager of the Paramount Theatre in Ogden, Utah, made a corking tie-up recently with a radio manufacturer by which he obtained a ^^^=^^^^^^=^^^^^=^= whale of a lot of publicity that resulted in the successful selling of "Feet First," Harold Lloyd's latest laugh offering. The company ran a newspaper contest on the number of words one could make by using the six letters of PHILCO. However, in order to become a contestant and obtain an entry blank, it was first necessary to see "Feet First." Entry blanks were handed out by the cashier to each adult who paid admission. The distributor donated a console radio. The prizes at stake were of such proportions that everybody wanted to cash in on the contest. That undoubtedly helped to swell the attendance at the theatre to see the Harold Lloyd talker. Philco paid for the two 3 x 15" ads on the contest, sniped Philco "Feet First" 24-sheets and all Philco dealers had co-operative window displays which further helped to sell the picture to the public. Marpole also broke into a window that has hitherto held aloof from theatre advertising. This window was with a leading men's store where they featured Florsheim shoes. A full window display consisted of shoes, a big head of Lloyd, name, title, and playdates. In return for this concession, the Florsheim trademark was imprinted on the instep of shoes shown on window cards. Listen, Jack, we'd like to hear from you more often. Keep us posted will you, so that we can pass along these live-wire showmen stunts that you engineer on every attraction? "Song o' My Hearf Display Boosted Box-Office Business His patrons at the State Theatre in Brooklyn, N. Y., take a great deal of interest in the lobby displays that I. Berman, manager of the house turns out on every new change _^^^^^^^^_____^__^_ of show, so it can be very easily seen that he has to do some tall stepping to give them nice art work, and at the same time keep within his advertising appropriation. When he played "Song o' My Heart" recently, he gave the McCormack film a good advance plug by constructing the lobby display that we are showing in the photo. The display was simply constructed. The only material used was compoboard. which served as a background for the excellent layout of the stills from the attraction. Persons entering the lobby would be sure to see the display, as it was placed alongside the box-office. You will note in the photo the clever way that the playdates are advertised by their placement on a heart made of compoboard. Considering the fact that Berman is rather limited as to his advertising— which must necessarily be so in a neighborhood house — he turns out some excellent work. We'd like to see some more of it too, so that we can pass it along to the rest of the Club.