Publix Opinion (Sep 26, 1930)

2) oe x: PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 26rn, 1930 BANKERS SHOW INTEREST IN FILM ADS (Continucd from Page One every Screen Broadcast,’’ declared Mr. Johnson. “First and most important is entertainment. Unless our features have as much entertainment as the items which both precede and follow them on a Publix program, they are not permitted to leave our plant. It is the constant aim of our company to enhance and heighten the pure entertainment qualities of a theatre program and the utmost care is expended upon this phase of the Screen Broadcast’s'production. We feel certain that with our new color process and with the co-operation of Paramount’s trained studio experts who complement the work of our own experts, this objective will be attained. “The second point we strive for is a constructive story for the audience. Being a co-operative arrangement between theatre and merchant, both sides have to be considered. The theatre wants entertainment. The merchant wants the message about his merchandise effectively and attractively put over so as to instil a desire for his product in the minds of the audience. “Our job is to fuse these two desires into a Screen Broadcast. As in the case of entertainment, we assure ourselves of accuracy by calling in the experience of Paramount studio men, so in getting the merchant’s message across, we make certain we are right by getting the ideas of the merchant himself on the subject. In this way, the greatest effectiveness is obtained. Theatre Revenue “The third objective we have in mind is revenue for the theatre. This is attained by a. successful combination of the two other objectives mentioned above. For if we succeed in making perfect entertainment out of our Screen Broadcasts, then it serves as an added program feature which the theatre has at its disposal to draw people to its box office. “Tf, on the other hand, we satisfy the merchant with the effectiveness of the Screen Broadcast as a direct advertising aid to his business, then he becomes eager to cooperate with the theatre in the form of tie-ups, newspaper advertising and exploitation—all of which tends to increase the box office receipts. This is further FOR KIDS’ INTEREST As a means of getting the children back into the theatre, after school re-opened, Manager M. L. Elewitz of the Strand, Des Moines, Ia., formed a kiddie band, which gives concerts in front of the theatre every Saturday morning. after parading through the town with an escort of motorcycle policemen. Note the display of ballyhoo signs, exploiting current attraction. OOOO 06-0100 0+ O9-O 04 OOS 18+ OO Ot OO Musical Dance Picture Gets Ballroom Tie-up H A tie-up effected by Harry ¢ Hardy, manager of the Paramount Salt Lake City, Utah, for the showing of ‘Good News,’ is applicable for simiJar musical dance pictures. Local ballroom sponsored an “Good News’ Frolic, advertising the occasion and the theatre's attraction in all i newspapers. Announcements of the picture and the frolic ¢ were made in the dance hall t prior to playdate. Ballroom also paid for 4,000 heralds from exchange, theatre paying for imprinting. Guest } tickets rewarded prize win= ners. 4 0 : 2 OOOO +-O 0+ -O20+-B1 0+ 0+ 9109-10-02 0+-O02-0: FOOTBALL URGE MUST BECOME B. 0. BUILDER (Continued from Page One) you going to sit idly by and watch your box-oflice revenue being taken away from you right under your nose? Without a struggle? Without lifting a finger in defence? Without exercising a molecule of brain matter to combat it? If you do, you're not a Publix showman—or any kind of a showman for that matter. “Only two effective ways of handling opposition haye been successfully practiced by all fighting, advancing and conquering or —_—____—CsCSCSC(CSssCSS Fzaannizaatiionns since thee beginning of greatly augmented in effectiveness by national and local advertising and exploitation of the Theatre Service Corporation itself. “All this, of course, is extra revenue over and above the appreciable guaranteed revenue paid by our company to Publix for every Screen Broadcast shown in a Publix theatre. This revenue is all chalked up with the gross of the individual theatre. “Under those circumstances, it is evident that the interests of our company and those of Publix go hand in hand. It is for this reason that the co-operation of all Publix managers and advertising men has been asked for our salesmen. This co-operation has been most enthusiastically forthcoming and has been a great aid to our men in making their sales. For this splendid, enthusiastic help, I should like to express both my own personal appreciation and that of my company. I hope that in the future it will continue to operate as effectively for our mutual benefit as it has in the past.” Marksmanship Ballyhoo Aids Western Thriller An 8 by 10 target, constructed of compo-board and placed in front of the Avalon, Grand Junction, Colo., supplied the ballyhoo for ‘The Last of the Duanes.” Appropriate copy invited passersby to test their marksmanship. Manager T. W. Thompson awarded guest tickets to 25 perfect ‘shots’ —1000 attempted to win tickets. An air rifle was used. Reproduced below is the group ||most profitably and practically be @|ING ON THE IDEA TODAY! || City Manager in Fort Wayne, Indi\}ana, time,’ declared David J. Chatkin. “One was to crush it. If the opposition were too strong or, by its very nature, deeply rooted and inevitable, the only other way left was to ally oneself with it, so as to profit by its power to do you good and not suffer from its power to do you evil. This second way must necessarily be utilized to combat the football opposition. Can't Buck Foot Ball “Nothing any theatre manager can do will prevent people from attending foot-ball games. Therefore, it is useless for him to attempt to buck this formidable opposition. What he can do, however, is to tie in with it. The enormous crowds it assembles at one spot will facilitate selling of his show for the rest of the week. The news-reel presentation of this absorbing activity will help him to get people into his theatre if he features it properly. He can exploit the interest attached to foot ball personalities by inviting them to his theatre and profit by the enthusiastic crowds who will buy tickets to see them there. These are only a few of the ways in which the enterprising theatre manager can harness this tremendous force to his own boxoffice. “In the course of a business year, a number of seasonal oppositions crop up which tend to make the box-office going harder. Among these are Lent, outdoor summer activities, school opening, and the pre-Christmas slump. Upon analyzing the weekly boxoffice statements during these periods in comparison with the manpower set-up of the theatres, I have found that usually the weaksister operations are the ones where the energy, intelligence and enthusiasm of the manpower was not properly geared to the task in hand. There were, of course, some exceptions to this but, as a general rule it was true. It is always under a strain that the weak links in a chain manifest themselves. “JT want every Publix theatre manager to fully realize the magnitude of the football opposition and to leave no stone unturned to.so tie in with it that not.only does he keep his theatre revenue intact buti adds to it by an intelligent exploitation of this enormous public interest.” In the Bound Volume of Publix Opinion, Vol. III, No. 8,.Week of Nov. 1, 1929, appears a story entitled ‘‘Cash In On Football Craze.” In this article detailed instructions are given just how this might done. READ EVERY WORD OF THAT ARTICLE NOW! Then, get out a pad of paper and a pencil and begin planning just what YOU are going to do in YOUR town to cash in. The index of the bound volume will help you to assimilate a great number of workable ideas on the subject. The main thing is to GET WORK COX CITY MANAGER Harvey Cox has been appointed Mail should be addressed to him at the Paramount Theatre in that city. +0 10-D-O+ O10 S+O* LAUGHTER SCORES! Previewed before an audience in New York recently, “Laughter,” the coming Paramount heavyweight with Nancy Carroll and Fredric March, made a terrific impression. The great story, : with its powerful dramatic appeal, held the audience spell-bound. Nancy Carroll, beautiful and winsome as ever, reaches great dramatic heights in this picture, the first seeds of which were seen in “Shopworn Angel’ and ‘‘Devil’s Holiday.” Pronounced by Home Office executives a sure box-office picture. | IDEA SUGGESTS FEATURE FOR NEWSPAPER Theatres in Chicago under supervision of District Manager C. F. Strodel compile audience comments on each opening day, for guidance of Publix-B. & K. executives there. Comments are sent to everyone in the management, advertising and booking departments, with notations as to whether the comment comes from a man or a woman. Practice, which is quite general over the circuit, suggests a good publicity stunt. Papers will go for a feature story on “What Patrons Talk About When Leaving the Theatre,’ Working the comments into a story, for publication as soon after the picture’s opening as possible, affords an excellent chance to register a good percentage of the audience’s favorable criticisms. To lend authenticity to the story, it might be well to include a few mild knocks, but so flavored by personal preference as not to detract from the picture, Story could be gotten up in statistical form, playing up the difference between tastes of men and women, wherever possible getting in twists about preferences which are not generally known. For instance, in ‘‘The Spoilers,” feminine patrons will rave about the fight sequence, whereas the average newspaper reader would suppose that it would hold the most attraction for men. Stunt lends itself to ads, as well, making it possible to quote bonafide comments of patrons who actually paid to see the picture, as contrasted to comments of preview audiences who would be reluctant to pan a picture seen on a pass. HOUSE RE-OPENS Apollo Theatre, Peoria, Ill., reopened Sunday, September 14th, with the same policy and admission prices where were in effect at the Rialto, Peoria, before it closed on September 6th. VON STERNBERG NAME MUST BE IN ALL ADS Heralded by Mr. Jesse Lasky, Arch Reeve and other West Coast Studio executives as a sure sensation, “Morocco” will put another feather in the cap of one of Paramount’s ace directors, Joseph von Sternberg. The man who wielded the megaphone on “The Last Com nrand,” “Drag Net,” ‘Docks of New York,” “Case Of Lena Smith,’’ “Thunderbolt” and “Blue Angel” has hit the bull’s eye again with the new Gary Cooper-Marlene DietrichAdolphe Menjou opus. In view of the great following Mr. von Sternberg has built up with these pictures, and the celebrated reputation he has established, Publix theatre men must be sure to capitalize on it by carrying the director's name in all ads, posters heralds, etc. Aside from the fact that it is a specification in Mr. von Sternberg's contract which must be adhered to, it is to the obvious advantage of the individual theatre to stress a name in its advertising which has such a proven drawing power. The following is the correct way to announce the presentation of the picture: Paramount presents “Morocco” with Gary Cooper Marlene Dietrich Adolphe Menjou Directed by Josef von Sternberg Adapted by Jules Furthman From the play ‘‘Amy Jolly’” by Benno Vigny ) A Paramount Picture Gary Cooper’s, Marlene Dietrich’s and Adolphe Menjou’s names all to be the same size type and each on a separate line. ‘Dawn Patrol’ Heralds Paid For By Merchant When the ‘Dawn Patrol’ played at the Broadway, Council Bluffs, Ia., Manager R. K. Fulton promoted the cost of printing 6000 heralds, from a local jewelry firm. Copy on the attraction, playdate and theatre appeared on one side of the herald while the jeweler’s copy appeared on the other side. J. von Sternberg Note: Rudy Born, formerly City Manager in Rockford, Ill., has been appointed City Manager at Elgin, Ill., succeeding H. G. Fitzgibbons, resigned. BOW’S LAST A WOW! The following enthusiastic telegram from Arch Reeve declares Clara Bow’s latest picture, “Her Wedding Night,” to be a sure-fire box-office attraction. “Clara Bow in ‘Her Wedding Night’ is an out and out hit. Tremendously enthusiastic audience reaction at last night’s preview at Alexander Theatre, Glendale, definitely proved this. “Surrounding Clara Bow is a genuine all-star cast, headed by Ralph Forbes, Charlie Ruggles, Skeets Gallagher, and these three contribute a large share to this riot of comedy, for that is exactly what it is. “Tt is broad comedy, fast moving comedy, irresistible comedy and the audience’s response was an almost uninterrupted gale of laughter. : “T personally have not enjoyed a picture so much in months for I like to laugh and I believe the world likes to laugh. That’s why ‘Her Wedding Night? should be a hit.”