Ballyhoo (Nov 18, 1955)

Page scan 00016 from Ballyhoo

Record Details:

Title:
Ballyhoo
Date:
Nov 18, 1955
Volume:
Ballyhoo (Nov 18, 1955) Profit Blitz for 'Fitz'
Leaf #:
00016
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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$10,000 1N CASH PRIZES 2 fit Ble X te’ nship PROFIT with showme SEPT. Sth SERVE with showmanship TO DEC. 3rd SAVE with showmanship with showmanship HONOURING 25 YEARS OF INSPIRED LEADERSHIP IN FAMOUS PLAYERS National Drive Captain DOAN KRENDEL SELL WITH SHOWMANSHIP CAPITOL CALGARY When Ralph Mitcheltree played TALL MEN, he made a deal with the leading purveyor of Western togs in his city, MacLeod Brothers, The store put in a slightly terrific window display, featuring various types of Western equipment, a couple of dummies attired in dude outfits, and plenty of theatre posters and copy ... In return Ralph placed a very attractive display in his lobby ... That's not all ... MacLeod'!s gave away a $15.00 cowboy shirt to the tallest man attending the theatre EVERY DAY ... and one of those ten gallon off-white jobs to the tallest man during the engagement, In return, the store handed out a pair of ducats each day to the tallest man entering their establishment. What a deal ... MacLeod!s has a terrific country clientele ... among them people who would come miles to see a good Western, and plugged the deal over their daily sports cast which they sponsor, The store also kicked in with space in their daily newspaper ads, oXeXoXoXo PARAMOUNT ROUYN Benoit Lehoux had several thousand small dodgers printed ... in French ... for his French version of GONE WITH THE WIND. These were handed out in stores, homes, and parked automobiles, A local dairy, Dallaire's, paid half the cost in return for small mention on the give-aways. oXoXsXoXe CAPITOL NORTH BAY Bob arranged with eight local eateries to stamp all their checks with copy on both COBWEB and THE PRODIGAL ... well in advance of and during the engagements, I see two good scenes, on off-theatre pages in the local Nugget. A good window on PRODIGAL was put in by Palangio Motors who have a giant showcase facing the main street. I also see a good # page co-op set up by a local builders! supply house, headed "Don't Live in a HOUSE OF BAMBOO, etc." with a good press-book illustration and copy in support of the pic.