Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1939)

;l/(;v 0. 1939 S 1 1 ( ) W Al !•: N • S T 1^ A I ) !•: K V. VIEW Page 49 ARCADE VARIETIES Prod. I\o. 94.210 Fair RKO Nu-Atlas No. 10 11 mins. Comment: Five vaudeville numbers staged in connection with a comedy act taking place in a penny arcade. East and Dumke, known in radio as "Sisters of the Skillet" appear as salesmen for a new style of peep-show device. A prospective purchaser looks into it and so does the audience. This way Lillian Roth, the Frazee Sisters, Gilrone and Starr and the Six Philharmonicas present their specialties of songs, ballroom dancing, the harmonica playing, respectively. The acts are fairly good. Milton Schwarzwald produced. Exploitation: Play up the names of the specialty acts, with mention of Lillian Roth as star of stage, screen and recently featured at Billy Rose's Casa Manana; Frazee Sisters as stars who have appeared at Hotel New Yorker Terrace Room, Gilrone and Starr as having appeared at Radio City Music Hall, etc. SMOOTH APPROACH Prod. ISo. 94,310 Very Good RKO Sportscope No. 10 9 mins. Comment: Grand stuff for golfers, and mighty interesting even for those who don't play the game. Horton Smith, Jimmy Thompson, Ed. Dudley and Dick Metz make up a foursome of golfing stars of the brightest order and demonstrate shots that will amaze many a golfer. Running comment on how the shots are made, slow motion and good camera work make it easy to look at. Bobby Jones also appears in a flash, though not playing the game. Exploitation: Swell for tieups with sporting goods stores and it is well worth getting displays set at country clubs or golf courses. Invite all interested in game to come and have stars show them how to improve their game. THEIR LAST BEAN Prod. No. 9512 Very Good 20th-Fox Terrytoon No. 12 7 mins Comment: The little foxes are bemoaning the fact that they have nothing to eat but beans. But one sly little fox follows the fox hunters and enticing them to follow him finally loses them enabling him to return and carry off their feast. This is one of the best Terrytoons we've seen this year and one of the best in a long time. It's got plenty of humor in it and lacks repeat shots, a fault common with many cartoons. Produced by Paul Terry. Exploitation: Give the subject a plug in your lobby, programs and newspaper advertising. PICTORIAL NO. 9 Prod. J\o. P8-9 Fair Para. Pictorial 10 mins. Comment: There are three clips. The first one showing the training of the Coast Guard at its Academy is interesting but it has been done before in greater detail; the second showing ducks beneath the water is also just fair; the last clip devoted to how women should dress will prove fascinating to women but quite a bore to the men. Exploitation: Contact local fashion authorities and invite them to a special screening. Essays on the best fashions for particular types of figures. Nature lovers should be interested in the section on ducks FIRST RUN SHORT PRODUCT BROADWAY, NEW YORK Week Beginning May 6 ASTOR— Penny's Picnic (MGM) rev. 1-7-39; Nostradamus (MGM) rev. 10-15-38; Popular Science No. 2 (Para.) rev. 11-19-38. CRITERION— The Warning (Alliance Films) ; Diving Rhythm (Col.); Australia (MGM). CRITERION— The Warning (Alliance Films) ; Lone Ranger Rides Again No. 12 (Rep.) rev. 2-18-39. PARAMOUNT— Pictorial No. 9 (Para.) ; Good Skates (Para.) rev. 4-29-39; Leave Well Enough Alone (Para.) rev. 4-29-39. RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL— Society Dog Show (RKO). RIVOLI— Donald's Lucky Day (RKO) rev. 10-22-38. ROXY— Inside Baseball (20th-Fox) ; Their Last Bean (20th-Fox) rev. this issue. STRAND — Bars and Stripes Forever (Vita.) ; Mechanix Illustrated No. 4 (Vita.). CHICAGO LOOP Week Beginning May 6 APOLLO— Somewhat Secret (MGM) rev. 422-39; Leave Well Enough Alone (Para.) rev. 4-29-39. CHICAGO — Muscle Maulers (20th-Fox) rev. 4-29-39. GARRICK— Rolhn' in Rhythm (Vita.) ; Unusual Occupations No. 5 (Para.) rev. 4-2939 ; Barnyard Egg-citement (20th-Fox) rev. 4-29-39. ROOSEVELT— Chicken Jitters (Vita.) rev. 4-1-39; Screen Snapshots No. 7 (Col.). UNITED ARTISTS— While America Sleeps (MGM) rev. 4-22-39. CLOWN PRINCES Prod. ISo. C-938 MGM Our Gang No. 8 Funny 9 mins. Comment: Shades of the good old days! Remember when the Gang used to stage their own circus, or opera, or what have you? and used every piece of equipment in the household? Weren't those comedies swell? Well, here they're back to their old tricks again — staging an amateur circus to raise funds to help pay the rent on the old homestead. A dog with hot water bottles attached to his forelegs is a seal; with his arms and legs stuffed. Alfalfa is the man on the flying trapeze; two boys enclosed in grandmother's corset are the Siamese twins, etc. The kids will howl, and adults will find themselves enjoying every minute of this comedy riglit along with the children. George Sidney directed. Exploitation: Bill this as the kind of Our Gang Comedy big brother and sister remember, and that kiddies will love. Arrange a pet parade in which kiddies make up their pet dogs or cats to resemble the ferocious animals usually seen in a circus. Folder on Sportscopes Sent to Field Trial and Kennel Clubs A special Sportscope folder on "Bird Dogs" and "On the Wing" have been sent to Field Trial Clubs and Kennel Clubs throughout the United States, it was announced at Pathe headquarters. A statement in the folder includes the information that "your local theatre can secure both these releases from RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. Just have the members of vour club ask the theatre manager to play '. . . 'Bird Dogs' and 'On the Wing'." This is widespread coverage in short subject advertising, so if you get requests to show these subjects you'll readily understand the promotion put behind them. MOVING VANITIES Prod. /V<». 93,70.') Laituh-Getter RKO Leon Errol No. 5 17 mins. Comment: Very amusing nonsense comedy with Leon Errol, Barbara Jo Allen and Ecldie Gribbon making the most of a good incident concerning Leon's mistake in deciding to move when landlord refuses to fix a faucet for his wife. He pays a year's advance rent on a new apartment only to find the building has been condemned and the landlord has skipped. They keep the furniture on a truck and go in search of a place to live — the trip taking them to Arizona, when Leon insists he knows the way to his uncle's house in the outskirts of their town. Arrested there on suspicion of trying to rob the house, they return to their original apartment only to find it burned out, and cops in search of Leon for leaving the gas turned on and causing a fire. The windup finds them in Mexico, with a surprise finish. Bert Gilroy directed. Exploitation: Worthy of a play in advance and mention in newspaper advertising. A moving van figures prominently and a tieup for displays on trucks of van companies can be made to produce results. Signs might read: "We move you without fuss — you'll know what a comfort a good moving job can be when you see and laugh at 'Moving Vanities' at the Blank Theatre." TELEVISION Prod. No. 94,609 Very Interesting RKO Reelism No. 9 9 mins. Comment: Shows how television is presented, revealing a telecast program in the studio, close-ups of receiving sets, interesting shots inside plant where sets are made. This will have especial interest at this time, satisfying a curiosity regarding the new medium of information and entertainment which is figuring in the news as regular television programs get under -way. Nothing technical about it — just pictures and explanations in popular form. Produced by Frederic Ullman, Jr., and supervised by Frank Donovan. Exploitation: Feature it as inside information about television — what it is, how it works, behind-the-scenes shots of an actual telecast of a show from a studio and at a race track. If television sets are available from a local dealer, arrange a lobby display. 16 mins. DOG-CONE Prod. No. 93,203 RKO Radio Flash No. 3 Comment: Old-style plotty comedy about a husband who thinks he's very ill because his wife insists he have a physical examination. He confuses advice about his diet prescribed over the phone for the family dog by a veterinarian, for his physician's recommendations for himself, and proceeds to eat raw meat, grass and other outlandish things. His wife thinks he has gone insane and the ensuing mix-up leads to the usual "chase" climax. A good cast includes James Finlayson, Muriel Evans and Gertrude Short. Comedy material is thin and conventional amusement. Charles Roberts directed. Exploitation: Cake-baking incident and good brief sequence performed by a dog are worth teaser mention in program or advance display, f(;aturing lines to the effect that wives who are good cooks can learn how Mrs. Jones made a mistake in making such a tempting cake in "Dog-Gone."