Showmen's Trade Review (1939)

Page 10 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW July 1, 1939 Miss Indiana" Contest To Be Held at Mich igan City Many Hoosier Theatres To Participate in 6th Annual Beauty Pageant THE annual "Miss Indiana" contest, a Hoosier civic promotion sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Michigan City, Ind., is to be held this year on August 11-13 at Michigan City in conjunction with the Dunes Water Carnival, also held annually. All the girl winners in each participating town and their chaperones receive a threeday trip to Michigan City and Chicago, all expenses paid. The winner of the title, "Miss Indiana," will receive a trip to Hollywood where five major prizes are offered and a possibility of term contracts with one of the producers. "Miss Indiana" will also receive a Dodge automobile through the cooperation of the Dodge dealers in Indiana. A caravan of Dodge cars will carry the various winners to Michigan City to compete in the selection of "Miss Indiana." Speedboat races, a Venetian night parade and the annual yacht race to and from Chicago are all part of the program of the Dunes Carnival. The Dunes Water Sports Carnival started five years ago with only nine towns competing for the selection of "Miss Indian a," and has grown each year to the point where app r o x i m a t elv 35 cities are competing this year. This promotion has proven a big box office stimulant to summer grosses in those towns where enterprising theatre managers have jumped on the bandwagon and staged their own local beauty pageants in order to send a winner to compete in the show staged at Michigan City. According to Maurice Rubin, who has been chairman of the selection of "Miss Indiana" for the past six years, the following towns and theatres are scheduled to participate : East Chicago, Vogue Theatre ; Whiting, Hoosier Theatre ; Indiana Harbor, Indiana Theatre ; Hammond, Paramount Theatre ; Gary, Palace Theatre; Valparaiso, Pre mier Theatre ; LaPorte, Roxy Theatre ; Mishawaka, Tivoli Theatre; Goshen, Jefferson Theatre ; Fort Wayne, Paramount Theatre ; Portland, Hines Theatre; Winchester, Lyric Theatre ; New Castle, Castle Theatre ; Muncie, Rivoli Theatre ; Anderson, Paramount Theatre; Kok'omo, Sipe Theatre; Frankfort, Roxy Theatre; Logansport, Roxy Theatre; Peru, Roxy Theatre ; Indianapolis, Fountain Square Theatre; Shelbyville, Ritz Theatre; Seymour, Majestic Theatre; New Albany, Grand Theatre; Washington, Indiana Theatre; Bedford, Indiana Theatre; Bloomington, Princess Theatre; Sullivan, Sherman Theatre; Noblesville, Wilds Theatre; Warsaw, Centennial Theatre; Michigan City, Tivoli Theatre. Although it is not definite, it is possible that theatres in South Bend, Marion, Wabash, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Crawfordsville, Columbus and Franklin will also participate by sending a representative from each. In last year's competition, Miss Maxine Bragg, of Noblesville, was selected "Miss Indiana of 1938" from a large group of lovely contestants. There is still time for other Indiana exhibitors to get in on this outstanding promotional stunt. For those who have never staged a local beauty pageant, an article on that subject appeared on page 35 of the Anniversary Issue (dated June 3) of Showmen's Trade Review. It will aid Hoosier exhibitors, or any others, for that matter, in planning and carrying out the details of their own beauty contest. Set Your Watch Now Twenty cards which read "Set Your Watch Now So You Won't Miss 'Stagecoach' " were •placed on large clocks in merchants' windows to plug the showing of "Stagecoach" at the Orpheum Theatre, Hammond, Indiana. Maxine Bragg of Noblesville Miss Indiana of 1938 FOR BETTER SHOW SELLING Showmanalyses Have Appeared In STR on Following Pictures Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Feb. 18 Bridal Suite June 3 Broadway Serenade April 1 Captain Fury May 20 Dark Victory April 22 Flying Irishman March 11 Hardys Ride High April 22 Honolulu Feb. 4 Hound of the Baskervilles March 25 Juarez June 10 King of the Turf Feb. 25 Little Princess Mar. 4 Lucky Night May 13 Made For Each Other Feb. 18 Man About Town This Issue Man of Conquest April 29 Only Angels Have Wings May 27 Prison Without Bars April 8 Pygmalion March 11 Spirit of Culver March 18 Story of Alexander Graham Bell April 15 Streets of New York April 15 Tail Spin Feb. 4 Tarzan Finds A Son! June 24 Three Musketeers Feb. 11 Three Smart Girls Grow Up March 25 Union Pacific May 6 Wife, Husband and Friend Feb. 25 Wings of the Navy Feb. 11 You Can't Cheat An Honest Man Feb. 18 Young Mr. Lincoln June 10 Zenobia Mar. 18 Stop Here for Refreshment Amid tropical atmosphere, a Royal Crown Cola Boat bar has been set up in the mezzanine of Loew's Rochester Theatre, Rochester, N. Y ., by Manager Lester Pollock. The Cola, which is cooled in icers right on deck, is served in ,4-ounce Dixie cups to patrons. At this writing, 9,200 drinks had been given away. What a tieup! Costless Tieup Provides Theatre Refreshment Bar Serving cool drinks is just about the finest bit of summer selling that any exhibitor can engineer. Some, without even trying, think it can't be done. But we've had too much evidence to the contrary, and now along comes Lester Pollock, genial manager of Loew's Rochester Theatre, Rochester, N. Y., to prove that it positively can be done. Through a tieup with the distributors of Royal Crown Cola, Pollock set up a Royal Crown Cola Boat Bar in the mezzanine, where thirsty patrons can be readily refreshed with a 4-ounce Dixie cup-ful of the Cola drink. The beverage is cooled in ice right on deck, and poured from the bottles into the cups as it is served. Another important feature of the tieup is that Pollock gets both sides of Royal Crown's 22 delivery trucks for institutional advertising; gets spot announcements over local Station WHEC immediately following Bob Ripley's "Believe It Or Not" nationwide broadcast, and at present in the making, displays to be placed in the windows of all Royal Crown dealers. Already the added treat for Loew's Rochester patrons has gleaned extra space in the newspapers. "And the jolly part of it is," Les smilingly declares, "the tieup was conceived at absolutely no cost to the theatre — believe it or not." We believe it, and we believe other showmen can do the same thing! "Can't Cheat An Honest Man" Is Well Exploited by Mgr. Kennedy Here are some of the stunts Manager R. Kennedy, of Warners' Hamilton, Chicago, used in exploiting "You Can't Cheat An Honest Man." The chief usher got a piece of wood and placed it in the lobby. Copy on the wood read, "I'm Charlie McCarthy's brother. See Charlie and W. C. Fields in 'You Can't Cheat An Honest Man', Sunday and Monday."