Publix Opinion (Mar 16, 1929)

Reads ALL of ublix Opinion z ercial age of ‘“‘drama)*romancing’’ articles se, such as cigarettes, elothing, candy, coffees, ‘et ., is here, and the these products find y is the popular fe when it comes to ble attention. es by but what Pubor Mr. Botsford or Mr. ves dozens of full er ads paid for by jobbers, and featural appearance of a ‘or musical star at a re at a particular year “Publix Opin1 telling about the S now ‘‘caught on’’ in ree. to newspaper ad instances it is renerchants pay for the huge quantities of lith| Window display materds. Plus this, ex‘are presented to the ‘ and Advertising the ideas. nm, Lou Goldberg a for a tieup to a turer and got huge display space, full-runs in subway-cars, L-car, tion posters, and thouvindows. All of the distribution cost, as cost of space in the on, was paid for by ‘Not a single This idea has vely used for many @€ Balaban and Katztres in Chicago, and Kunsky-Publix group the Skouras-Publix thneans, the playdate tion and the theatre lly as prominent as e. ave learned that tieod reader-interest to | otherwise be dull copy nercial product. ne time, it provides an advertising to the theaSts nothing, and autoOlishes a huge part of 1” which annoys every ager. Incidentaily it business to tne newsch also builds added Ueessnandvevaggonvsnsanypyiayouanes cute cenupena eee END sane re HIN NTTS t Tip!! | Howie, Managing The N. Y. “Mirror” as one of the onegreatest executivein America tells r of PUBLIX OPINthe public is now _ Mystery-stories. to you! You’ve 7em coming for . Make a newson each, offering the best solutionfor a 500-word D synopsis printby the newspaper a a week in adpicture, Mr. “guessing the our mystery seriete., has jumped ition tremendously.” rity enough for i= editor in your TO UCC LU ~ J ASUNSUNNLANDUNEUOOUNCANNULNELE te Publix O IX) , The Official Voice of Publix Day-and-Date Run on “The Let pre rv tins Publix Theatres Corporation, Paramount Building, New York, Week of March 16th, 1929 HOUSAND, WITHOUT PASSES days of “give-away showmanship” are over is revealed fy week by the specimens of campaigns being sent into fice by the showmen in charge of our theatres. STH SESSION OF SCHOOL STARTED With a class of twenty-eight men, the largest that has ever been assembled for _ training since the organization of the school in 1925, the fifth session of the Publix Managers Training School started Thursday, March Le The successful candidates were selected from over a thousand applicants after each one was personally interviewed by department heads. From the four previous classes of the School, seventy-four men are now engaged in theatre operation in different sections of the country and abroad. This represents over 90% of the graduates of the School. As was the case with previous elasses, the majority of the men selected for training in the Fifth Class have had previous theatre experience, some of them being brought to New York for the training session from Publix Theatres, and from theatres of (Continued on Page 3) partment heads, a'a’a"a"a"a’A"A"s’AA"A’A"A7A7A"A"A"AA"A"A"A"AA"AA'A AY "ara"a"a"a’ tardiness: envelope. .§ VaTa'a'ava’a"a’s’a’s'a'A'a’A"A AAA" A'A'A'A'O'A'AvA 8 a"a vaTa"a’a’a’a"a'a’a"a'a"s'a! PYYYVT 5 raa"a'a"a'n'a’ aa a'a'a"a'a'A'a' A a'a’A’Ae' a it is not the same Manager At this writing, Tuesday, perienced wee reports no later of same, no later t possible for each week for 1. Not mailing reports on-time. 2. Not having made the proper investigation as to when the train or airplane leaves, thereby making an attempt to catch that conveyance. 3. Oversight in placing a Special Delivery stamp on the 4. Not using envelopes which have. been made up, eés pecially for this purpose. In each and every instance, I have written to the manager, calling this tardiness to his attention, he usually promises never to do it again, for a month or so and then forgets about it. each week. 7 P. M., there are still 44 reports missing. We have never had more than fifteen reports missing at this hour during the last four weeks. ks when all reports were in New York on Tuesday noon, which proves it can be done. Any steps which will make it possible for us to y than 9 A. M. Tuesday morning, the majority han noon Monday, will actually make it at least three hours of overtime to be cut off the entire accounting department, Respectfully, CELEBRATION WEEK DOUBLES LAST YEAR’S RECORD Final returns for Publix Celebration Week indicated an increase of more than 100 per cent over the same week last year, according to an announcement made by David J. Chatkin, General Director of Theatre Management, who declared that it was a splendid tribute to Mr. Katz. The celebration week resulted in thousands of examples of positive sales-genius on the part of various Publix showmen and local organizations. In Minneapolis, Ben. Ferris and Ralph Branton arranged.for Governor Theodore Christianson to speak over the radio in behalf of the whole Publix organization in general, and Publix-F&R in particular. The idea of asking the mayor of each city to issue a proclamation in behalf of the week met hearty response, and the copy suggested in the Campaign Manual sent out in advance of the celebration was used verbatim, or improved upon. At any rate, hundreds of executive proclamations were issued in be-half of Publix theatres. In several cities, newspapers ‘were induced to devote some of their promotion space to huge display ads, congratulating the whole city upon its geod fortune in possessing Publix theatres. Radio, newspaper ads, and dozens of other media, carried the message. Mr. Chatkin’s complete nouncement follows: an (Continued on Page 3) oF acravara’aa’a’a’a"a’a"a"A’a"a’a’a"a'a’a"A’A"a’A’aTAa’a’aTA’a’Aa’A’a”a°A’a’A’A’a’A’AA'A’s°AaTATAavA’a’a’A’a’A’ Ly, TARDY MANAGERS’ REPORTS Week after week we rush all day Monday and Tuesday with the hope of being able to complete the Weekly Summarized Statement which is required by Mr. Katz and deearly Wednesday evening, and week after ‘week some ten or twenty reports are missing when we need them most, usually arriving Wednesday noon or thereabouts. One missing report holds up the entire summary. Careful check ‘up discloses the following reasons for this and in a return letter, and lives up to it In most cases We have ex-° receive all (Signed) J. A. WALSH, Accounting Dept. AAKARAARAARA AAA AA ADDR AAA SARA DADS LLIB EELELE ELLIE LETS S LES ES ry, SORA AEDES DSSS EDEL ELLE ELLE ATM “THE LETTER” = DAY-AND-DATE APRIL 20 —_——_ THE INDUSTRY’S finest talking picture drama!! JEANNE EAGELS, Star of “Rain” in an INTIMATE DRAMA that THUNDERS AND ROARS in the. heart of EVERY WOMAN. Order your press books today!! Start teasing public interest today! On your screen ! With lobby posters! With newspaper stories!! SELL JEANNE EAGELS and the DRAMA in “The Letter.” [GANQUSAANUBROSOUDEDOOOUDSEOUODOEOEREUBOEOESRES "THE LETTER” IS FULL OF COIN-LURE Here’s another advance boxoffice tip for you. Start planting this enthusiasm in your publicity, and it will return the efforts in terms of extra dollars. At a pre-view of ‘“‘The Letter,” held in the Home Office projection room, Paramount’s newest hit picture was acclaimed as a super hit by some of the most astute leaders in show business. Mr. Katz was tremendously en‘%hused over it, and so was Mr. Dembow. Max Balaban, who for many years was the film buyer for the famous Balaban & Katz circuit, declared that in all of his experience, he has never seen a finer dramatic production on stage or screen. “Here’s a bigger picture for women than was ‘Stella Dallas’,”’ says Mr. Balaban. “I suggest that if the Stella Dallas campaign idea be followed in every town, “The Letter’ will get the maximum gross it is entitled to. ’ “Everybody isanxious to see Jeanne Hagles, the stage star of ‘Rain’ in this story by the author of ‘Rain.’ Monta Bell, the director, had a marvelous story and star, and as usual, he got the utmost from both.” Mr. Balaban suggests that theatres start teasing public interest now by advance notices on the picture—playing on the thought that this woman honestly was in love with two men—even with the man she killed. “The women make or break a picture when it plays a theatre,” Mr. Balaban declared. ‘“Here’s a picture packed so full of womaninterest that word-of-mouth advertising will make it when it opens. Every theatre should assure itself of getting a tremendous ‘opening’ for the picture, and word-of-mouth will do the rest.” Among those who saw and were enthusiastic about the picture were Messrs. Feld, Schneider, Chatkin, Botsford, Stewart, Charles Skouras, Floyd Brockell and Mr. Saal. RS ter’” suvvavuuuuoueuceneeneeegeuusuuuueeeengttnnnne: Staff Reads ALL of Publix Opinion = MM No. 47 ISTORIC VENT IS SENSATION Paramount news-reel, often called to attention by PUBLIX OPINION as something to advertise for box-office benefit, seored another sensational hit when it released its first talking-newsreel service, at Washington, during the ceremonies that . officially made Herbert Hoover the president of the United States. The cameras caught closeups of every important incident and. the sound recording devices did likewise. Thru the Publix theatres that played this picture made by Paramount, millions were enabled to “‘be present’’ at the event. Pictures that talked made up the entire subject, and even the street noises incident to the parade were audible. r. Hoover’s speech was audible in every syllable and the camera had him at close range. How the Paramount newsreel cameramen were able to so completely cover the event will be a mystery to most of us, but that they did it effectively is being proclaimed by theatre audiences everywhere, As soon as the subject was made it was rushed thru the laboratories and prints were quickly furnished | to all theatres. It was on the sereen of the New York and Brooklyn theatres operated by Publix less than 24-hours after it occurred, a feat that made the newspapers devote columns of free space in praise. Nothing that has happened in the development of Paramount pictures in a long time has sent such a thrilling wave of enthusiasm thru both the Paramount and Publix organizations, and in theatre circles, on every tongue, the slogan coined by Mr. Otto Kahn, “When Paramount Moves, It Leads,” is being heard. Mr. Emanuel .Cohen, head of ‘Paramount newsreel declares that scientific perfections in mobile equipment for taking sound pictures preclude the possibility of regular newsreel service from the ‘‘talkies’ until about August, but thet in the meantime, outstanding national events will be covered as was the inauguration. ANOTHER SMASHING HIT! The slogan “LUPE’S MAKIN’ WHOOPEE!” was more than confirmed on Saturday morning when enthusiastic throngs jammed the Rialto Theatre, New York, to see Lupe Velez in ‘‘The Lady of the Pavements.”’ Attracted by the sensational success of this popular actress in the Paramount picture, ‘““Wolf Song,” which is consistently packing the Embassy Theatre a little further up the street, a long line had already gathered at the theatre hours before the opening on Saturday morning. The crowd kept coming all day Saturday, Sunday and throughout the entire week rolling up a box office score ‘which was one of the high lights of the season.