Publix Opinion (Feb 11, 1928)

of “Take A Chance ,arouse public curiosity formance. The entire cluding the feature pic9e kept a mystery. This rocedure will attract ance’ lends itself to licity and exploitation. te show with the excep duction, short film sub1 overture score and y Frank Cambria, is one eeest and most spectacuuf the year. (Full details advance publicity forms ‘use but not for adver stories and notices hance Week’’ should be “Confidence Test.’’ You g that your theatre can even ‘do not advertise your are gambling your he faces blocked out. ‘all kinds are suggestke A Chance Week.” Merchandise can. be s “You don’t take a Ce ae iShow ‘Publix House “meee i ee er ed probably prove to ; usual musical stunt ted in participants of this ehearsed. In order e nature of the feature et the rehearsals were in the. i ee eee eee icing his portion of the gee states ng to do something knowledge had never tempted by any or eeeeee blem of finding short h as | capa comprise ..Program was aldifficult as ‘locating the es. Literally hundreds i Were reviewed in bits 10velty ever developed ture history. It is not ably thrill you PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF FEBRUARY lira, 1928 ““TAKA CHANCE”’ KNOCKOUT UNIT STARTS TOUR TO BE FEATURE OF MYSTERY PROGRAMS AROUND CIRCUIT Editor's Note: This Story is confidential and sheuld not be published. A e833 TAKA CHANCE" FOR 1928 WILL BE THE GREATEST & SURPRISE SHOW EVER CREATED, EVERYBODY IN THE ORGANIZATION © IS DETERMINED TO MAKE I? THE OUTSTANDING HIT OF THE SEASON. WORK AND SINCERE EFFORT MEANS ANYTHING IT WILL BE ALL OF THAT AND A LOT MORE. (provided you sell it with the same spirjt) ee % If HARD BABY! HERE COMES BS e g MYSTERY SHOW COMING TO PUBLIX THEATRE You have gone to the Shrine Cireus and have ‘‘taken a chance’”’ on winning a motor car, a box of candy or a can of Old Dutch Cleanser. You have punched out little slips of paper on a ‘Punch Board” and have won a five dollar gold piece—maybe. You have gone to a*ehurch bazaar and have stuck your hand down into a “grab bag’ and brought forth a “polka dot necktie,’’ When you were a youngster you used to trade pocket knives “‘sight } unseen.” Never in your life have you bought a ticket to a theatre without knowing in advance what: you are going to see. That will be a new thrill you week if you attend the, theatre. The ‘“Taka-Chance”’ program arranged by Management is to be a secret from start to finsh. Every single fea eee ee we dbeeevs ee ee re y sereen there is an audible gasp of surprise. The management is very anxious to keep the entire program shrouded in mystery, and asks its patrons not to tell their friends the title of the films presented or the name of stage feature, or of any of the other features. In this way everybody will be surprised and after all what is more delightful than a pleasant surprise? Ce chance,” ture from the*overture to the final little short film will be shrouded in mystery. As long as it is impossible to talk about the pictures, the stars and the stage features, we will use this space to tell you the amount of time and energy that was expended to make this program a success. In the first place it was necessary to find a feature film that had all the elements that please a mixed audience. It must be thrilling, amusing, romantic and suitable for the whole family. This photoplay was found sometime ago and we can almost see the smile that would light your face if we told you the title. As for the stage show, we will say that it is a Frank Cambria Publix Production and you know what that means. Mr. Cambria, according to past performance, is one of the star producers for Publix having given us such shows as “A Merry Widow Revue,” “Alpine Romance’ and the “Take A Chance’”’ show of 1926 which, if we remember correctly, was one of the most spectacular ever seen on the stage of the Theatre. The ‘Take A Chance’’ idea is not 4 new one but is a serious one for any theatre to assume. If patrons attend a theatre on a promise, that promise must be fulfilled and from every sensible Ce ee | Publix would dare to “take a Here is the inside story of “Taka Chance,” Frank Cambria’s special Unit which opened on Friday, February 3rd at the Olympia Theatre, New Haven and which will soon be one of the most talked about shows ever routed over the great Publix wheel. This is confidential. information and should not be published under any circumstances: The sales campaigns outlined elsewhere in this issue of PUBLIX OPINION tell you the advertising and publicity ideas behind the “Taka Chance” plan, and this article is simply intended to describe the production so you can steam up your organization to sell it as a mystery or surprise show. without fear or hesitation, . Cambria’s settings are unique. The opening flash is an eye-feast of coral and jade which will get applause at every performance. *| Right off the bat, twelve wonderful girls who come from the Fe licia Sorrel training camp, introduce a speedy Tiller Routine with How Chicago Sold Taka Chance Week By W. K. Hollender The Chicago ran teaser trailers in the theatre three weeks in ad-. vance of the opening; that during the week of the show we had a one frame trailer thanking the publix for the confidence they had in us and requesting them not to divulge the secret to their friends. We had a want-ad tieup with the Herald & Examiner, which gave an awful lot of space. In this tieup, they told their readers that. they were not taking a chance when they advertised in the Classified Section of their paper, just as they were not taking a chance when they “took a chance at, a Balaban & Katz Theatre.”’ The plan wWasees our y names picked at random in the telephone directory were distributed in the want-ad pages of the Herald & Examiner, and those who discovered their names were given tickets to the “Take A Chance’? show at the Chicago, Tivoli or Riveria Theatre. The ads were hokum in character and vague as to the nature. of the show. They were promising, to be sure, but they announced nothing specific. We had a guessing contest in the American in which faces were blotted out of pictures and a description of the individuals printed underneath. Readers were asked to guess who they were, and those who guessed correctly, received tickets to the “Take A Chance Week” show. The pictures that were used were of people who were in the motion picture used that week. The Saturday and Sunday layouts, as well as other publicity pictures, had the feature players masked or the faces blotted out. Toledo House By Christmas Continued from Page 1 a the heart of Toledo’s business district, on Adams, Huron and Jackson street, opposite the leading department store of the city, and splendidly located as to transportation facilities. It will be of the semi-atmospheric type, modeled after an Italian garden. A main floor, mezzanine and baleony will provide 3,500 seats. All of the outstanding features of the modern de luxe Publix theatres will be incorporated in the new theatre as well as numerous new ideas which have. since been discovered. The Publix stage-band shows will provided the stage entertainment. OS The RS ES Ee a RS MS Si RE RS ee SE etc Sa ne eR AP LES MRP Ty DE a RE IT FES Rae RS a bunch of new twists. Right after them come the Bernie Brothers, a couple of sensational tap dancers, who are followed by a band number. Next comes a number which Cambria calls his, “Undersea Fantasy” introducing a novelty effect done through a series of gauzes upon which is projected an underwater scene in color. This is a tough one to describe but just rely on it to be a real sensation. Of course, the talent in this specialty is splendid and when we say splendid we must mention Mr. Charles Jolley the noted tenor whose voice has been favorably compared with that of John McCormick. The Sorrell girls appear as nymphs and mermaids and Miss Kathryn Irwin, soprano acts as Queen of the Sea. After the Undersea number, Cambria introduces a clown diversion featuring the Sorrell girls, a corking acrobatic team and, ah, here comes the big surprise, DePace, the monarch of the mandolin. It’s too bad you can't put DePace in your lights but after the first show, his name will be on everybody’s tongue. And here’s another smack, in fact three rousing smacks, the Ritz Brothers, the three collegiate nut comedians. Naturally the show stops right here as these three birds simply knock them out of their seats. It is not uncommon to find patrons hanging on chandeliers and climbing flag-poles after the Ritz Brothers finally wind up their number. Of course the finale must come sometime and for this part of the show Frank C. Cambria, Esq. has outCambriaed Cambria. This finale 1s all designed around a syncopated wedding with the entire cast presenting hot specialties and as the big surprise finish a whole flock of white pigeons suddenly appear to be flying and Swooping around all over the Stage together with a monster stork. If this flourish doesn’t paralyze every Publix audience, then we are all wrong in our idea that talent, beauty, entertainment and extravagant settings are what the public want. But wait a minute, if you think this: sounds like a great show just multiply it by two because there are two girls, two keen blonde sisters by the name of Moore who introduce every number with an original sweetheart gurgle that is simply captivating. And the sisters can dance and they can sing. They make you want Moore and Moore. .