The Philadelphia Exhibitor (1935)

THE PHILADELPHIA EXHIBITOR Jan 1'35 27 Tale of a Duck Fred Hermann, Capitol, Wilkes-Barre, believes he has the year’s prize promo¬ tion story. When the Joe Penner film played the big Public Square house, Fred went out shopping for a duck. Then he hired an impersonator of Penner to make his rounds of the central city. So successful was the ballyhoo that the police called Fred up to tell him to get his man off the streets as he was block¬ ing traffic. Before Fred was able to reach his man, the gentleman came to his office with the duck under his arm. He said the duck had met with an accident. It was Saturday and Fred told the ballyhoo man to take the duck home with him. When the man reported on Monday without the duck, Fred made inquiry. “H ow’s the duck?” he asked. “Good,” the ballyhoo man informed him. “Where is he?” Fred wanted to know. The man, obviously embarrassed, hes¬ itated. “We ate him Sunday,” he fin¬ ally explained. That ended the ballyhoo. “6 Day” Winners Warners have announced the winners in the “6 Day Bike Rider” contest. A1 Sindlinger, formerly a S-W manager here, won first prize. He is in Wisconsin now. Certificates of awards went to Artie Colin, Earle Theatre, here ; Wilmer and Vincent’s Colonial Theatre, Allentown ; as well as others in the contest. On Star Ratings George Messer, manager, Broad Street, Nazareth, says that the star sys¬ tem used by weekly publications hurts business. Reviews given lesser number of stars suffer. He says the idea should be abolished. HERE’S CARDIFF GIANT. Ex¬ hibitors of the territory got a squint at the Cardiff Giant, well known hoax, which dropped into town in connection with the showing of “The Mighty Barnum,” from U. A. The stone man attracted a lot of attention during his tour of the city. UA is sending him to practically all key points in the east in connec¬ tion with key city engagements. “The Mighty Barnum” from Two Angles In an effort to get a literary as well as business viewpoint, THE EXHIBITOR asked Miss Dorothy Pizor, daughter of Lewen Pizor, prominent exhibitor, as cum laude graduate of Bryn Mawr to review “The Mighty Barnum,” a scenario-published version of the United Artists picture. Here’s what she says: T do not doubt for a moment that the “The Mighty Barnum” is a thoroughly enjoyable picture. But the book is neither interesting nor entertaining. Among other things, it has been suggested that the book will serve as a guide to struggling would-be scenarists. That may be true but beyond this possibility, I can see no reason for its publication. We do not wear coat linings instead of coats, or dress patterns in place of dresses. Likewise, a scenario is merely a working frame and not a finished product. As such it should be regarded rather than as “the forerunner of a new type of literature.” Comparatively few people enjoy reading plays. And even those of us who do admit that reading a play is far superior to seeing the same play on the stage. Yet stage directions — exit left, enter right, down center, etc. — are simple and easily understood by even the uninitiated. But “follow shot cf Nancy,” “another angle,” “fade in,” “cut to,” “on sound track,” etc., can be rather bewildering to a mere reader. Even if eventually one could completely understand such directions, they would still show the “reading action” and clutter up the story. The background built up in the opening scene, for example, must be very effective on the screen, but as reading matter it does little more than weary and confuse the reader. The style of the preface and asides (the latter of wdiich are supposed to be reminiscent of G. B. Shaw) is I believe, Hollywood at its worst, cheaply clever. Call me highbrow, if ycu will, but I still believe that before writing is put in book form, it should be worth such permanence. P. S. As the daughter of an exhibitor, I think “The Mighty Barnum” will be “good box office.” Save yourself from worrying ABOUT PRINTING DoN’T be like the exhibitor above. He doesn’t know that placing his printing contract with National Penn Printing Company will save him a lot of thinking as well as a lot of worries. Printing is more than a mechanical process. It involves a lot of catering to the particular needs of the client. Be¬ cause National Penn Printing Company has done this success¬ fully for many years it can right¬ fully boast of being the industry’s leader in that field. PrINTING programs, heralds, etc., is only part of the battle. Rental of posters and paper, etc., is another division which is highly important to the exhibitor. Here, National Kline Poster Company is without a peer. Not only effect¬ ing economies for exhibitors but providing them with an efficient, quick means whereby they can obtain all necessary paper, Na¬ tional Kline Poster Company has grown because exhibitors need it. Long lists of satisfied customers testify to this. National Penn Printing Co. 1233 VINE STREET PHILADELPHIA National Kline Poster Co. 1307 VINE STREET PHILADELPHIA OSCAR LIBROS AL BLOFSON SIMON LIBROS