To Be or Not To Be (United Artists) (1942)

LOBBY REVOLVING WHEEL SELLS BENNY COMEDY Sell the audience-pulling, story of Jack Benny’s hilarious series of disguises with a moving lohhy display that tells the story vividly with pictures! Idea is to set up ^^moving wheel” display, centered with a straight shot of Benny (Still No. Jack Benny-1 A), and mount a series ^ of stills of Jack in the impersonation roles on a wheel behind the front j piece (which is cut to reveal one still at a time). Art which shows Jack Benny in the disguises is on Stills Nos. 91 (the actor), 89 (high Nazi # officer), 49 (medium Nazi officer), 36 (disguised spy) and 101 (escaped Nazi officer). In mounting the stills, be sure to crop them suitably for the purposes of this stunt. Tie in the complete promotion with a catch¬ line on this order; ‘‘A Great Actor—JACK BENNY AT HIS BEST—star¬ ring in ‘TO BE OR NOT TO BE’ (billing). Here’s a swell attention-getter —for socko boxoffice returns! The same set-up can of course be used as a simple lobby display, in 40 X 60 proportions and presented without any moving effect. Exploit ^ the important showmanship angle of Jack Benny’s portrayals in a new k kind of comic role! i SELL THE TITLE VIA AIR QUIZ ft . • u The title “To Be Or Not To Be” is of course a famous quotation that everybody recognizes. A great many other films, plays and books have had titles that also originated from familiar quotations. What are some 1^ of them? Here is a typical radio quiz question of the kind that’s most popular on the air, and a natural for dropping into your local quiz show. Get the m.c. to ask the “experts” this question: Name five well-known I books, plays or films whose titles are taken from famous quotations,” !i Among the possible answers are: “The Grapes of Wrath” (book, film); ^ ‘‘To Have and to Hold” (book, film) ; “Of Mice And Men” (book, play, f film) ; “Brief Candle” (play) ; and of course “To Be Or Not To Be.” "IT'S DRAMA-irS COMEDY" LOBBY DISPLAY Exploit your show on an important exploitation note through a lobby display featuring the advertising headline: “IT’S DRAMA . . . IT’S COMEDY!” This exploitation angle plugs one of the best-known features of Lubitsch productions, which generally combine the two ingredients in highly pleas- ureable entertainment, and “To Be or Not To Be” is an out¬ standing example of the combination’s high-power boxoffice potential! Idea would be to display two stills, in blowup form, which typify the two ingredients of your great Lubitsch comedy —with the entire display headlined with copy indicated above. Use Stills Nos. 118 (for comedy) and 48 (for drama). Round out the display with theatre and playdate copy. "TO BE" SNAPSHOT CONTEST For sure-fire exploitation on the famous title of your show, arrange with the photo editor of one of your top local newspapers for a photography contest “natural”— based directly on the phrase “To Be or Not To Be”! Idea would simply be to ask entrants to submit their concep¬ tions, in photo form, of the title—to use the title, in other words, as the inspiration and caption for a photograph of any subject. There’s no limit to the scope of a contest of this sort, and constant popularity of amateur photog¬ raphy makes it a natural for newspaper publicity and town-wide attention. In setting up the contest, the news¬ paper will recognize the value of a set of important judges —and will join with you in exploiting the contest through stores and outlets merchandising film and photography equipment. Your lobby is of course an important adjunct to the contest—for display and tie-in publicity purposes! Follow through on this important stunt in every wav possible! Page Three