Ballyhoo (Jun 25, 1954)

Page scan 0001 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Jun 25, 1954
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Jun 25, 1954) Ontario 'B' District
Leaf #:
0001
Language:
English
Collection:
Canada, Global Cinema, and Hollywood Studio System
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Greig Dymond in memory of David Dymond, Paul Moore and Jessica Whitehead
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:

Ballyhoo

  • Ontario 'B' District Ballyhoo, editor: Dan Krendel (1952-55)
  • Profit Blitz for ‘Fitz’, editor: Dan Krendel (1955)
  • National Ballyhoo, editor: Dan Krendel (1956-57)
  • Time Out for Ticket Talk, editor: Norman Barker (1960-61)

Ballyhoo (1952-61) was published by Famous Players Canadian Corporation as a mimeographed internal sales and theatre managers’ newsletter. Editor, Dan Krendel, had been division manager of the Ontario ‘B’ District since 1942, and initially created Ballyhoo in 1952 to circulate weekly updates for a regional sales contest. Ontario ‘B’ District Ballyhoo continued until 1955 as a tool for sharing and incentivizing new sales techniques and publicity methods as the movie business declined in the face of television and the baby boom.

In Fall 1955, Profit Blitz for ‘Fitz’ was a nationwide sales contest, named for Famous Players’ president J. J. Fitzgibbons, honouring his 25th year as head of the business. Dan Krendel was made National Drive Captain and edited a weekly newsletter for the campaign.

From 1956 until at least 1957, National Ballyhoo was published weekly with Krendel as editor. He continued the style and content developed earlier for his Ontario ‘B’ District, but now extended vastly for a chain-wide coast to coast scale. Ballyhoo’s sharing promotional tools came at a time of contracting box office as television and automobile ownership became prevalent in the mid-1950s.

By 1960 until at least 1961, Time Out for Ticket Talk continued as a mimeographed newsletter, edited by Norman Barker of the head office publicity department. Time Out was compiled on a less ambitious scale than Ballyhoo. Compared to the earlier national compilation of local publicity gimmicks, Time Out often contained only a single memo or reproduced local story, and was often undated and only informally edited.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Date Added:
April 11, 2024
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if Y AL NO? UNS AGEE amees: 2 On the front page of the Motion Picture Da 127 uader date of June 1L4th appears the following story over the signature of Sherwin Kane ooo See what you get out of 16 oo. "Neighbour of ours, who up to a few years ago went movies several times a week, tors himself away fxom hia televi set recently and with his wife made a veturn visit to the ieee oes hood theatre ... Granted he could be exaggerating, us (and certainl y the experience of him and his wif described, is no% typical) ... Nevertheless, this i happened ooo a, if ceuly is what he said They were taken aback by the admission price, which seemed to them to be about double what they used to pey. Strangers te the concession stand. they pressed closer to ges a leok, only to have a customer turn around quickly, buwuping the wife and spilling a sert drink on her. They had the usual climb over the others getting to their seats, followed by later arrivals climbing cover them ... The day was warm and the theatre's air conditioning either was not oper] aLIRgs, OF working unsatisfactorily ... They were uusomfortable in the theatre coo They arrived in the middle of & Pe, had no, idea what it was about ooo At intetnl seion Ber me reels were shown oo. &@ succession of Leu with a plug for a new film in it. (“And you motion pictures people point fingers at TV commercials" he exclaimed) oc. The newsreel also included a clip broadcasting an appeal for a charitable cause, and announcement was made that the theatre dis played receptacles for contributions coo Then the feature started and the couple agreed nth ale had a "Let down" feeling after catching up with the story s near the middle ... They attributed that mostly to ansstiefied ex= pectations planted by the advertising for the picture Our neighbour observed that deapite the fact that they found their seata in the theatre comfortable, while thay wore im them ooo that the theatre's attendants were noticeably GOULEGOuUS ooo the new wide screen and sound repreduction impressive, and the washrooms spie and span, they will not be in ea hurry to return. There was just one optimistic, and, we hepe, significant observation in our neighbour's recital ooo “Y did hear about two new pictures on a TY progran the other night" he said, "that both of us would like to see if they get out to our neighbourhood before we leave for the country for the summer? > ff that theatre can get them back a couple of times more, it will have them re=won, despite the anneyancas they encountered on their first visit oo. RoXoXKo Rak That's the end of the story ... Worth a little thought, I'd sar, eae —a ————_