Paramount Around the World (1931)

Page 2 YXlround the Worid blished in the interests of Paramounteers in every part of the globe; designed to reflect their aims, efforts and sentiments ; and with its contents, of course, strictly confidential! Editorial Council Editorial Staff J. H. Seidelman George Weltner O. R. Geyer Charles Gartner John B. Nathan Jose Cunha J. L. de Betancourt Samuel Cohen, Editor J. Ventura Sureda (Spanish) Arthur Coelho (Portuguese) N. Vandensteen (Dutch) Gertrud Wiethake (German) Luigi Luraschi (Italian) F. J. J. Merckx (French) Vol. 4 FEBRUARY, 1931 No. 2 “Rango” The faith and vision of a Lasky, plus the courage and daring of a Schoedsack, have resulted in bringing to the screen the most unusual, authentic and fascinating entertainment in the history of motion pictures. The consensus of opinion, in our own organization and throughout the industry, is that “Rango” will be one of the most sensational business-getters ever released by Paramount. And what is even more to the point, it is made to order for the foreign market. I am willing to stake my reputation on the prediction, that “Rango” will rank with the biggest money-makers the Foreign Legion has ever handled, provided it is backed up and built up by the right kind of merchandising efifort. You don’t have to search very far to discover the underlying cause of “Rango’s” irresistible appeal. It lies in the universality of its theme — self-preservation — in this instance, the eternal struggle for life of man and ape in the primitive jungles of Sumatra. Although two of the principals and all of the “extras” are animals, stamping the picture as a veritable “who’s zoo” of Sumatra, “Rango” is not an animal him, any more than “The Covered Wagon” was a western. Schoedsack spent eighteen nerve-racking months in the jungle wilds patiently developing the simple yet powerfully moving story, that puts the picture in a class by itself. “Rango” has everything that “Chang” had in the way of gripping action and breath-taking thrills involving numerous wild beasts, but it goes one step further than did its predecessor by weaving together into a comic, dramatic, realistic pattern the threads of human life and animal life in the jungle. Just a word about little Rango, the ape, whose natural antics provide a major share of the picture’s comedy. Everywhere the production is shown, Rango will be the talk of the town, for his appeal is to all levels of humanity— the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, as well as the lawyer, the doctor and the merchant prince. In other words, Rango is not only comic but cosmic! And so, for that matter, is the picture itself! Say It with Ad Sales ! is not a plea for — but a reminder of — AD SALF,s! I _L Ad sales is not on trial — but you are! You includes every one in the exchange who contacts the exhibitor, and that goes for district and branch managers, salesmen and bookers, as well as ad sales managers. Each and every one of you has an AD SALES obligation to Paramount and to your exhibitors — an obligation which cannot be fulfilled unless you protect your sale and your company with an order for sufficient AD SALES to insure the success of the product at the box office. The time is past — if there ever was such a time — when a salesman was judged solely by the number of contracts he sold or by the prices and playing time he secured. Bitter experience has taught us that where the salesI man failed to encourage the exhibitor to support the product with adequate advertising effort, the exhibitor I either failed to live up to his contract, or prices had to ! be adjusted later, or playing time was sadly curtailed. Today, more than ever before, a Paramount salesman is judged by his record and his attitude toward AD SALES. And why not? Quite apart from any other considerations, isn’t the .AD SALES dollar as big a dollar and as good a dollar as the film rental dollar? Today a Paramount salesman realizes, or should, that merely getting the customer’s name on the dotted line of the contract is not enough. In addition to selling the exhibitor — and selling him equitably and fairly and cleanly — he also must see to it that the exhibitor makes money on the pictures he bought. A contract without AD SALES insurance is not a 100 per cent contract. And it certainly does not represent a 100 per cent selling job! Selfish considerations alone ought to make every salesman an AD SALES booster. What a tough job it is to sell an exhibitor a new lineup when he has failed to do business on the old group! ' The exhibitor always blames the pictures — never his own lack of showmanship! And he won’t thank you for pointing that fact out to him either. You should have talked to him about AD SALES merchandising in the first place! It all boils down to this: it pays the salesman to convince the exhibitor that it pays to advertise. The extra time you spend with the exhibitor educating him to make generous use of AD SALES material is like bread cast upon the waters — it will come back to I you in increased film rentals, in increased exhibitor good I will and in increased prestige for Paramount. I If you legionnaires want to assure yourselves of a resounding “Banner Year” ^ ^ I say it -with AD SALES!