Penrod and Sam (Warner Bros.) (1937)

“PENROD and SAM” EXPE ASI ON GENERAL SELLING ANGLES HAVE ‘PENROD AND SAM’ FIELD DAY An outdoor Field Day would go over big with the local youngsters, so hire a field near town, plaster it with plugs for your show, and hold a Saturday morning ‘Penrod and Sam Field Day.” Features of the day might be contests in roller skating, marbles, handball, etc. And for a finale, how about a home-made vehicle race? You'll find that nearly every boy has a wagon or scooter that they built out of a soap box, so have a free-for-all race. Promote prizes from the various stores tieing up with you on the show, and plug the field day in your ads, making sure that a couple of reporters cover the event. Stores contributing prizes should play it up, too, with window displays of the merchandise to be given away, and copy in their ads. TIE-UP WITH THE BOOK Grosset & Dunlap has put out a 75c edition of “Penrod and Sam,” so contact your local book store, and tie up with them for a strong promotion on the “See the picture, read the book” angle. Be sure that they give a window to the books and stills from your show and, incidentally, be sure that dealers use the special band that was made up by Grosset & Dunlap. And furnish them with a pile of heralds — one to be slipped in each book that they sell during the run of show. GAMES FOR YOUNGSTERS A special children’s matinee could be given added interest if you arranged to have your youthful patrons stay after the performance and play games in the lobby. You should be able to promote a bunch of games like Parcheesi, Lotto, and others of the same type. Arrange these on some long tables in the lobby and let the kids enjoy themselves. Announce it in your ads, of course, and you’re bound to get a swell response. Or, if you like, you might keep the games in the lobby throughout the run. STILLS FOR TIE-UPS For your local tie-ups, order the following stills from the Campaign Plan Editor, 321 West 44th Street, New York City. Billy Mauch — PS 9 — Boy’s Sweater. Billy Mauch—PS 31—Sports Jacket. Billy Mauch — PS 316 — Pet Shop. ; Billy Mauch—PS 328—Flashlight. Craig Reynolds — CR 29 — Men’s Sutt. Craig Reynolds — CR 16 — Snap-brim Fat. Page Four gorgeous color. BUILD-UP FOR BILLY MAUCH Build up Billy Mauch in your town as the sensational new juvenile star who played the young “Anthony Adverse.” Blow up a still of him in that role for your lobby, and label it “The boy who scored such a hit as young Anthony is now the immortal Penrod.’ Make as many tie-ups as you can with stores in town (you'll find tie-up stills listed on this page). You might send letters to the various women’s clubs in town suggesting that they will want their children to see this new boy star. The children _will get a big thrill out of signing a jum bo telegram of congratulations to be sent to Billy, so why not blow one up for your lobby? An amateur night for the youngsters, with the title “Town Billy Mauch” and promoted prizes.for the winners, should bring in a record crowd. HAVE “‘FATHER-SON NIGHT’ Your show is a natural for a “Father and Son” night, so set aside one night for that purpose and play it up big in your ads. You might have some contests on stage after the show, with prizes for the father and son teams that win. In order to get a good response, contact the local men’s clubs — Rotary, Kiwanis, Elks, etc., and suggest that the men who have no sons bring some boys from local orphan asylum. Newspaper should be interested in writing up the stunt. SIX SELECTED VITAPHONE SHORTS PIGS IS PIGS (Merrie Melodies). A beautiful color cartoon with a sprightly story. KIDDIE VAUDEVILLE (Big Time Vaudeville). The stars of tomorrow in an ace reel of talent and charm. UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES (Broadway Brevities). morous tale of Civil War General Stonewall Jackson, filmed in (20 minutes—No. 2003) PORKY’S ROAD RACE (Looney Tunes). A sparkling cartoon with Porky Pig at his best. NICE WORK (Color-Tour Adventures). novel occupations of the world, and narrated by Jean Paul King. (10 minutes—No. 2304) (7 minutes—No. 2205) (10 minutes—No. 2606) KICK ME AGAIN (Broadway Brevities). Joe Palooka, Knobby and their pals continue their comic exploits on the sea! (20 minutes—No. 2021) The gla (7 minutes—No. 2806) Presenting several TEN BOY MANAGERS -FOR-THE-DAY Select about ten kids to manage your theatre for a day during the run of the show. You’ve probably seen the stunt before, worked by a city, so you know how it’s done, but be sure that you have one of the boys out in front to act as barker. bring in the crowds. Other kids act as ushers, and one of them is planted in the box office. Another angle of He'll love it, and it’s sure to the stunt might be to have them call up the town from the theatre, and tell the folks that they’re managing it that day, and would like to have a record crowd. After each performance, introduce the kids from the stage and tell the audience what a swell job they’re doing. Kids see the show, of course, and it should be good for swell newspaper breaks. BRING IN THE STUDENTS You'll want to sell your show to all the local students, so why not try some of these simple stunts? Station a boy outside of each school at the closing hour to hand out heralds. Hand out book marks (see page 11 for them) in the schools. If possible, arrange a special school matinee, with the teachers as your guests. Offer a promoted prize for the best essay written by a grammar or high school student on “How the picture brings the book to life.” HAVE A CLUB MATINEE All the kid clubs in town should be interested in your show, so be sure to contact them on the subject of theatre parties. If you get enough of a crowd, you might have a special “Club Matinee,” with competitive games on the stage after performance, and prizes for the club teams that get the most points. Be sure to cover all the clubs, and if some of them want to hold their meetings in the theatre after the performance, see if you can’t give ’em a corner of your lobby. FREE RADIO SKETCH A free radio sketch — twelve minutes in length with three minutes at the beginning and end for picture plug — tells folks enough about your show to get them all steamed up. The sketch is particularly planned to interest juveniles, so it might be a good idea to try to spot it before or after the children’s programs. Copies for each member of the cast can be obtained — free — by writing to the Campaign Plan Editor, 321 West 44th Street, New York City.