Publix Opinion (Jun 27, 1930)

PMANAGERS’ SELF QUIZ! Front House Operation \ The questions appearing below are designed as a selfquiz for all eacione ts improve their standing in showmanship through self-education. Get information on those things you do not know. Don’t lose out through indolence—the motion picture industry 1s progressing too rapidly for stick-in-the-muds! tron will more quickly tear QUESTIONS : down a patron’s regard for 1. What is the correct shpies ote: PReUeH etre and fis Sane e the usher or doorman on p fig’ as a whole than-anethine 2. What is the approach euare Bike that is done= The terse Et en, and how should it be used? taker’s responsibility as re3. What are the duties of the gards the handling of tickets ticket-taker? as representative of a certain ANSWERS amount of money is the same 41. Heels on a line and together, pee ee B JAK G0" cae traight without stiffEA ES naa HIDE level and drawn must exhibit every care and precaution in seeing that un. back slightly, chest ee ag authored! GEGaTataG nok pee arched, Ses Ss eal : his door or that tickets do not fawaccnined back) e hace get out of his hands at any clasped behind the _ back, weight of the body resting equally on the heels and balls of both feet. When engaged in conversation, moving from one point to another or actively ‘handling patrons the hands should be dropped to the sides. 2. In executing the approach ges ture the hand is brought from the side with the fingers curled naturally to a position slightly below the level of and di ED KRAUS It was only natural for Ed Kraus, manager of the State in should be turned in slightly, the line of the wrist and back of hand on the same horizontal plane and the elbow kept down at all times, not brought up in a sweeping outward movement but in a movement such as would be used to convey food to the month. This gesture is simply a beckoning movement accompanying the phrase, “This way, please” and is for the purpose of attracting the attention of the wiian j{ Playing i@stock com|} Pany was his ' jifirst job, too. ys): uN ria Ey Ged 0 V Memiassisted >» jiin the box of 'j| fice of a road ~ j/show house in mi DOaveun Wport, Iowa, jjassisting the rectly in front of the ae Fargo, N. D. and about four inches from —— to enter show business, for it. The palm of the hand Whis ree ont ~ jiconducted a meaizfroup of jistock com jjpanies and his “jimother was actress. . “>: kid’ “parts with a PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF JUNE 27tu, 1930 time. He must know the variotis types and kinds of passes and be guided by instructions on the handling of same. He should be in a position to relieve patrons of. parcels or packages when they enter the theatre by checking them at the door, to be picked up by a member of the staff on the floor. He must always be on the lookout for cripples, elderly people and children and do everything within his power to make their visit to the theatre a pleasant and comfortable one. EXPLOITS “DIVORCEE” ‘The Divorcee,’’ at the Lyric, Jackson, Tenn., received considerable publicity in the form of heralds, novelties and a tabloid story of the picture in co-operation with the local paper. A tie-up with the Mae Davies Company, 651 Broadway, New York, resulted in free cosmetic cases for woman patrons, _ —“MEET THE BOYS!?’— Know your ORGANIZATIO LEA RICHMOND Lea Richmond, District Manager in A. L. Mayer’s division, : gsraduatBeds tit) Om ‘ishattuck Military Academy in Fairiibault, Minn., iJat 16, and went to work for the First rINational s)'«i|Bank of Min~-» Inewaukon, N. Js :1D., as janitor siland book>jkKeeper, to _ if[become assisi|}tant cashier Hit wo years meailater. At 19 ‘j/he moved to -j]/Asheville, N. 1C., and bej]/ came teller in CONCENTRATE SALES -EFFORT AWAY FROM THEATRE AS WELL — AS ON THE INSIDE IS ADVISED \ rf >. “Publix is now ‘live’ and ‘lively’ lobby conscious !” : This was the ultimate conclusion reached by Mr. Botsfor after a recent discussion of theatre exploitation and publicity ag practiced in the Publix theatre circuit, by its managers and pubaS oe © icity men: “Lobby displays are unquestionably meritorious in obtaining word-of-mouth advertising,” says Mr. Botsford, “but their worth is, after all, limited. . They are limited because of the fact that they resell persons who are already patrons of the theatre. They do not pretend to reach the attention of outsiders with sufficient force to bring them in large numbers ito the theatre proper. “It has been the practice of Publix theatre managers and exploiteers in the past, to concentrate their efforts on two types of lobby displays: advance attractions, which type is absolutely ; necessary and should be concen: trated upon; and the placing of : various commercial exhibits of unusual interest, to bring general comment and word-of-mouth advertising. It is this last practice which is questionable as to its true value, and, which should be weighed carefully before completion of plans for same. “The theatre does all it possibly can do, to re-sell those patrons who have already been sold on LEGION TIE-UP Ben M. Cohen, Publicity Director of the Paramount, New Haven, erashed the notoriously difficult New Haven Register with a four column cut,of the newly organized American Legion drum corps, which he promoted for stage concerts on three successive days. Accompanying story carried full attraction details. G. LUTHER STRONG G. Luther Strong, manager of the Mesa Theatre in Grand Junction, Colorado, entered “ma{t he theatre jjbusiness with — Southern En~~ ilterprises, Inc., as a doorman at the Palace pe Debio. ; rs trailers and advance lobby disEe] 1923. plays. Therefore, outside of the : After six latter form of display, further ‘months in _ 4|/this capacity, \ |Strong was promoted to jjthe manager “iship of the Crystal, Dallas, and operated this theSPS) es Ea for work in the lobby is totally unnecessary and wasteful, unless that exhibition carries enough publicity value outside of the theatre, to merit effort, on the part of Publix. “Nothing should be brought patron and at the same time putting emphasis on the verbal request. It is used by the usher when taking a patron to seats, changing his direction in the foyer or in any way requesting the patron to follow. The approach is at no time a salute, it is a natural beckoning gesture, slightly modified so as to retain its naturalness and at the same time conform to the need for uniformity and refinement of movement. The ticket-taker is in such a position that he contacts with every patron entering the theatre; therefore, this contact must be of the most pleasant bill poster in his spare time. Kor 2 numberof years he was treasurer and assistant manager of various vaudeville and picture houses in several cities. After 18 months in the army during the war, he traveled ahead of several road shows, then joined the Orpheum circuit. A connection with the American Amusement Co., in charge of three theatres in Mankato, Minn., followed. For four years he handled advertising, publicity, exploitation and com munity contact for the five American theatres in Fargo, now afililiated with Publix. After a short leaye of absence this spring, Kraus returned in May as manager of the State, Fargo. Ed Kraus j/a bank there. : 1 Bs beats ES! Yee Bot Ss. A. Lynch brought Richmond to New York, where he entered the accounting department of the Triangle Film Co., later going to Washington as auditor of the branch there. Just 21 when the war began, Richmond joined the air service, but re-joined Triangle early in 1919. When Lynch organized Southern Enterprises, Richmond became auditor, then assistant treasurer. With M.‘J. Mullin, he organized purchasing, warehouse and accessory departments. GoIng with Paramount's Atlanta exchange, in 1921 he became manager of the Oklahoma City exchange. When Lynch sold out to Paramount and bought Tanlac, Richmond became his South Ameri Len Richmond memicigchteen ~~ j]/months, when he was transferred to Ft. Wo xr th’ ‘as manager o f the Hippodrome. Strong remained at the Hippodrome for sixteen months, during which time the circuit with which he was associated became a part of Publix. Transferred to San Antonio, Strong managed the Princess and Empire Theatres there, handling purchasing for the seven theatres in San Antonio at the same time. In 1927 Strong left Publix, and went into the manufacture of truck bodies, in Dallas and Kansas City, but returned in June, 1929, receiving his present G. Luther Strong into the theatre proper unless the tie-up affords either generous free display ads in newspapers, special window displays, or special window streamers in goodly number, or preferably all three items. Unless one of these three items is present in a hook-up, the value of same is null, and IS NOT WORTH AN IOTA OF THE TIME SPENT TOWARDS ITS COMPLETION! “Publix theatre lobby space is valuable! Managers and publicity men are inclined to forget this value,. and to dole out lobby space to merchants without due consideration of equitable reciprocity on the part of those merchants. Publix entertainment, by means of eve Bk ~5§ ioe, kind. He must realize his responsibilities are great; that in addition to the fact that each ticket that he handles is a coupon representative of a .. certain amount of the com pany’s money and must, therefore, be protected, his manner of contact with the patrons is reflective of the company’s and DAN BURGUM Theatrical experience of Dan the theatre’s attitude towards Seta ade the patron. Therefore this operator in contact must be as pleasant 065 Ke wiserved his ap. Prenticeship with the Pia. 7 ig Amuse meGen © Co, of Pittsburgh “jand McKeesip.o Tr t, Pa, later becom as possible. Each ticket must be torn in half, one half being returned to the patron and the other half dropped in the chopper. He must know show times always, must know the names of the current and coming attractions and who is mS playing in them. He must ie know conditions of fill inside e the house. He must have a good knowledge of the community in order to be able to auswer questions as to direction, etc. He must learn to 4 recognize patrons and other ne employees of the company who come in to the theatre iy from time to time and greet them with a “Good Evening” ora “Good Afternoon.’’ He Must acknowledge each ticket ing manager of the Altmeyer Theatre, Ruben’s first manager, in charge of the Lyric, Burgum held this po Sition for five years, when Mr. Ruben transferred hjs interests to St. Paul. Going with Blank, Burgum managed the Garden, Des Moines for thirteen years. In 1926 Burgum joined Saenger Theatres, Inc, and received his Dan Burgum so ie | pleasantly with a present assignment. He is a a i Creo You" or an appreciasraduate of Jack Barry’s 1926 and * tive nod. Céarelessness in ac1927 managers’ schools, in New eepting tickets and lack of inOrleans and Bay St. Louis, Miss. can representative, establishing Plants and organizing distribution in the Argentine, Uruguay and Chile. He returned to the States in 1924, and after a venture in the pine oil products field on his own, joined Universal in Florida. West Virginia and the Hostettler circuit in Nebraska Saw him next, and when the latter became affiliated with Publix in June 1929, Richmond received his present assignment. TED CROWTHER Idxperience of Ted Crowther, manager of the Stanley Theatre in West Palm s>Beach, has jjbeen entirely in Florida. He joined Publix £83 an usher at the Pheil Theatre in St. eters burg in 1926, and remained thereuntil the house be came chief usher, then doorman; chief of service and assistantmanaTed Crowther ger. In 1929, was transferred to Tampa as ane Sistant manager of the eminole, and in December, 1929, received his present assignment. manager, range windows and counter diss Plays in stores handling the product. assignment at that time. This procedure must be carriea out in strict detail. Managers must assure themselves that as much outside publicity and advertising has been arranged for as is possible. ‘‘No tie-up is complete,” PAUL S. WHITE Paul S. White, manager of the ’ } ; 4 « Indiana, was Mr. Botsford conti “unless all a . Bots. inues, ‘‘unless Che ieutte ||| possibilities of that tie-up have business via been absolutely milked dry!” the Fifth Manager sg’ Training School. “Tie-ups are many, and as cheap as you care to make them. The theatre has the most valuable consideration to offer. FS a a Milcity, he at. Be sure that the second party |\tendead Col has _an EQUAL amount, OR > ia venue iia UniMORE, to offer. | then vontened When you have assured yourMesithe real esself of this, concentrate your sales ey, efforts away from the theatre, and get all that is absolutely possible. Always watch out for chances to get free radio broadcasting, newspaper display ad space, window manarement end. i}White was 171°C Oncerned with adminis r it nee mace on display, and window streamer posoa proper||| Sibilities. Milk each tie-up dry pally Ps before you consent to enter into it Paul S. White -..and then consider a lobby dis{ play for your theatre as the reward to the merchant.” “HONEY” SYRUP Inability to effect a honey ti¢ up on “Honey” didn’t bother Manager Paul Short of the Tampa Theatre, who got a syrup whol saler to provide a lobby displ y, give out 5,000 sample jars, and ar aN houses. ing’ an appointment to the orinh SEY Ua) fe Pe be Managers’ Training School, upon Sratuation White Was assigned to the Strand Theatre in Muncie, Indiana, in the capacity of assistant manager After four months in Muncie, he was transferred to Anderson as manager of the Paramount there On June Ist he was transferred to the new State, in Anderson, as