Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1939)

Page 12 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW May 27, 1939 T 'HAT " O n 1 y Angels Have Wings" is the kind of entertainment audiences relish has been established by the fact that it was held over for a second week at the Radio City Music Hall. Not manjr pictures can this giant theatre (REG. U. S. PAT. OFF.) get a second week at Local newspaper critics heaped adjectives of praise on it, too. Therefore, you know right from the start you have something big to sell your patrons. However, were you not aware of this, surely the combined talents of Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, Director Howard Hawks, and Jules Furthman, who prepared the screenplay, would be sufficient evidence of the film's meritorious quality. Hailed as "a thrilling romantic adventure," "Only Angels Have Wings" has as its locale the Andes and the Pacific tropics — a locale which, if our memory is correct, has never been touched by other aviation stories. And it marks the return to the screen of Richard Barthelmess, who has been absent much too long. A glance at the cast and credits box should be sufficient to convince you that a splendid cast enact the various imnortant roles. Now — considering that the piclure's entertainment merits have already been established— surely that should be enough of an incentive to get you started on The 6-ft. standee can be placed in hotels, restaurants, bank lobbies, windows and many other conspicuous spots. Better order several of them now. your campaign. Even a .study of the cast and credits, for that matter, would be enough to get the writer off on the right track. But Columbia liar gone farther than that in the interests of showmanship. A campaign contest, with $4,000 in prizes, has been inaugurated as an incentive to all theatre managers and advertising men to develop extraordinary campaigns. No matter where you live, no matter what the size of your community, you are eligible to enter. Prizes will be awarded strictly on the merits of the campaign. The first prize will be $1,000 (think what you could do with that much money!), while ten other awards of $300 will be made for the next ten best campaigns. We wish we were an exhibitor. Would we try for one of those prizes! Don't think for a moment that you've got to spend a lot of money; that's a gross misconception. It isn't what you spend that counts; it's what you do. The more you can promote gratis, the better will be your chances of winning. But don't think of your campaign in the terms of trying to do something merely for the reward there may be in it; try to think of it, and plan it, as a campaign in which you will do everything possible to create maximum attendance for your engagement of "Only Angels Have Wings." General Campaign Suggestions In this Showmanalysis space limitations will prevent us from going into complete details about every stunt. We shall make suggestions for the general outlining of your campaign from the time you set your date until the film has begun its engagement. Naturally a lot of ideas you feel are important may be missing; but we feel sure you'll get enough of a general slant to start you on your way. Your own ingenuity will come to your assistance more than once, and associated with this Showmanalysis and the giant press book, the combination should be ample to put you off on the right track so. But YouVe Got Lots Of Swell Angles For A Glorious Campaign the first thing you'll do is start running the teaser trailer about two weeks in advance. This is the kind of picture which permits splicing the trailer between subjects in the newsreel. Then try to get mention of your booking in the daily press. If there's a columnist, get him to comment on it. In your ads, use an underline something like this: "Some people have automobiles — but 'Only Angels Have Wings'." And here are a couple of others: "The N. Y. World's Fair has its Perisphere and Trylon — but 'Only Angels Have Wings'"; "The San Francisco World's Fair has its Treasure Island — but 'Only Angels Have To the left is an ad element that could be used as a guide for front or lobby display. Wings'"; "Niagara Falls has its famous Honeymoon Bridge — but 'Only Angels Have Wings'"; "India has its Taj Mahal — but 'Only Angels Have Wings'." You can easily add to these lines. Perhaps there may be some special feature your city boasts which could be included, such as "Blankville has its beautifid new highway — but 'Only Angels Have Wings'." Remember, too, that these lines can either be used in your current ads or can be made into teasers, one to run on a page. They'll create plenty of curiosity, believe you us. Now let's get down to regular exploitation essentials. Placing a display in your lobby, running your regular trailer a week before the picture opens, getting out a wealth of posters, contacting your mailing list, planting stories in the newspaper, and performing many other regulation stunts essential to good exploitation, are activities you'll naturally perform without our suggesting them to you. Therefore, we'll dwell exclusively from now on with street ballyhoo, contests, Here Are Your Casf and Credits Geoff Carter CARY GRANT Bonnie Lee JEAN ARTHUR Bat McPherson ..Richard Barthelmess Judith Rita Hay worth Kid Dabb Thomas Mitchell Dutchman Sig Rumann Sparks Victor Kilian Gent Shelton John Carroll Les Peters AUyn Joslyn Tex Gordon Donald Barry Joe Souther Noah Beery, Jr. Lily Melissa Sierra Dr. Lagorio Lucio Villegas Hartzi'ood Forbes Murray Felice Cecilia Callejo Mike Pat Flaherty Pancho Pedro Regas Baldy Pat West A COLUMBIA PICTURE Produced^ Directed and Original Story bv HOWARD HAWKS. Screenplay by JULES FURTHMAN. Musical Director, M. W. STOLOFF.