Ballyhoo (Sep 17, 1954)

Page scan 0003 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Sep 17, 1954
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Sep 17, 1954) Ontario 'B' District
Leaf #:
0003
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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A WORD FROM THs BOSS MAN I have a memo from Mr. Fitzgibbons, commenting on the content of our last issue of BALLYHOO ... and I am flattered indeed at what he has to say. Part of his message contains some good food for thought, and I am passing it on to you verbatim .-. UMotion Picture Ixhibitor, August 18th issue, has an editorial headed SUNRISE OF A NEW ERA which starts off by saying. "The most hardcase veteran must agree that the box office future never looked brighter, and the supply of strong grossing possibilities from now through the coming fall and winter never looked better, than in this summer of 1954." ... Mentioning pictures like CAINE MUTINY ... ON THE WATERFRONT ... EXECUTIVE SUITE ... SEVEN BRIDES ... STUDENT PRINCE ... KNOCK ON WOOD ... LIVING IT UP ... REAR WINDOW ... THREE COINS ... BROKEN LANCE ..DEMETRIUS ... ABOUT URS. LESLIE ... DIAL "i" FOR MURDER ..THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY ... GONE WITH THE WIND, etc. etc. This certainly gives your boys opportunities enough to ring up unheard-of grosses that will make our theatres everywhere a "Channel One" supplier of the best entertainment." I wonder how many of you have read that editorial? ... If you haven't, dig out the August 16th issue and read it NOW. I wonder how many of us have actually realized just how many TOP pictures we will be playing ... dust glance again at the array of titles above ... and that’s only a few of them. This is OUR YEAR, gang ... let us not dissipate our opportunity by carelessness or thoughtlessness in our selling methods. There's a gold mine right on your doorstep. START DIGGING ... and that naturally means ... Start BALLYHOOIN’. TO HOLD OR NOT TO HOLD One of the most controversial subjects in present day theatre operation and certainly in the theatre operating division here at head office = is the question of playing time ... More time is spent in discussing hold-overs than just about anything else. It's the first item on the agenda every morning. Naturally the distributors are interested in getting every extra day they can out ef thelr product. So are we, of course, providing the product justifies it. What are you doing to make sure that we don't run a picture into "Losing time?" And, what are you doing to make sure that we don't toss a picture out before we have exhausted all of its potentialities? You DO contrary to the feeling in some quarters, have a voice in our decisions ... but you do not always exercise your right. If you don't wire in your receipts, we have no wey of knowing what you did until your B.0. statement arrives late the following day. If your business is really BIG, and you should stretch your playing time, this is once I'11L welcome a leng distance call. If, on the contrary, it is so bad that it should be cut down ... the same thing goes. So fellows, get on the ball and start making your voices heard ... How about it?