Showmen's Trade Review (1939)

August 26, 1939 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW Page 17 FOR BETTER SHOW SELLING Showmanalyses Have Appeared In STR on Following Pictures Bridal Suite June 3 Broadway Serenade April 1 Coast Guard Aug. 5 Dark Victory April 22 Each Dawn I Di= Aug. 19 Elsa Maxwell's Hotel For Women Aug. 5 Four Feathers Aug. 5 Goodbye Mr. Chips July 29 Hardy s Ride High April 22 In Name Only Aug. 19 I Stole a Million July 2'9 Juarez Tune 10 Lady of the Tropics Aug. 12 Lucky Night May 13 Man About Town July 1 Man in the Iron Mask July 15 Man of Conquest Ann! 29 On Borrowed Time July 15 Only Angels Have Wings May 27 Our Lending Citizen Aug. 12 Prison Without Bars April S Stanley and Livingstone Aug. 12 Star Maker This Issue Story of Alexander Graham Bell April 15 Streets of New York April 15 Tarzan Finds A Son June 24 They Shall Have Music This Issue Union Pacific May 6 When Tomorrow Comes ... Aug. 12 Winter Carnival July 29 Wizard of Oz This Issue Young Mr. Lincoln June 10 Extensive Campaign to Launch "The Old Maid" A large and intensive publicity and advertising campaign has been launched by Warner Bros. "The Old Maid," which is scheduled for national release Sept. 2 As the first release on the 1939-40 schedule, the company is giving the picture an unusually widespread campaign in order to set the new season off to a flying start. Big gun in the campaign will be the appearance of full-page ads in the October issues of seven of the nation's most influential fan magazines. These issues will be out on the stands September first. Over ten million fans will be reached by the ad campaign which has been designed to sell the stars and the Pulitzer Prize winning story. The fan magazines are Motion Picture, Screen Book, Hollywood, Picture Play, Screen Romances, Photoplay, and Modern Screen. To date, the film has garnered a national series of publicity and picture breaks from the new dance designed by the Dancing Masters of America entitled "The Old Maid." The story of the dance was picked up by all the wire services and received widespread coverage in the national as well as tht New York press. In addition, five radio broadcasts have described the dance in detail, giving the film a tremendously effective plug. The home office publicity department is making available to exhibitors a special advance sales manual, in addition to the regular press book on the picture. The manual will contain special stills and feature stories, cast and synopsis material, reprint of the fan ads and samples of the press book ads, exploitation ideas, and a special story entitled^ "Bette Davis' Story of 'The Old Maid'," told in the first person, and giving intimate highlights of the making of the picture. The entire Warner field exploitation force will be pressed into service to concentrate on the feature in their territories, and they will set up special material in strategic situations to get the utmost coverage out of their campaigns. 8-Page Section Heralds Greater Movie Season Greater Movie Season is being celebrated up in Big Rapids, Mich. — and in grand showmanly style, too. We've received a tabloid supplement of the Big Rapids Pioneer which has been prepared on the big event now in effect until September 1. The front of the supplement carries a photo of the theatre, one in the Butterfield chain, together with such copy as "Make Every Day a Movie Day . . . The Finest Pictures Are Yours to Enjoy During August." And again, "A month of pleasant entertainment in which to revel in the new and finer triumphs -of the screen, the Big Rapids Theatre has arranged a recordbreaking array of outstanding attractions to be shown exclusively during August. You'll want to see every; one of these splendid photoplays !" Ads From Merchants Inside are ads from several merchants who are cooperating with the theatre by offering free guest tickets to customers. For example, the stores offer a free ticket to the first five purchasers on a certain date, the dates being different so as not to conflict. The newspaper offers a free pass to the first five subscribers. In addition to the ads are stories and art about the Greater Movie Season attractions. On the back page of the 8-page supplement the theatre advertises its program for the entire month of August. Congratulations to those who were responsible for this strong promotion. Theatres throughout the country are preparing to, or are, celebrating Greater Movie Season. With several merchants tied in, there is no better way to herald the big event than by arranging with your newspaper to prepare a special supplement to the regular edition. Of course there's a lot of hard work to it, but it pays big dividends in the end. "Holly's" Lobby Displays Here are two attractive displays which attracted patrons recently at the Babcock Theatre, Wellesville, N. Y., managed by C. L. Hoilister. The one on the left ivas used for RKO Rctdio,s "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle," while at the right is a montage of production stills surrounding the reprint of a color ad on Warners "Dodge City." Lexey Screens Trailers Outside Theatre; Stunt Wins $100 Prize Jack Lexey, manager of the Broadway Theatre, Philadelphia, believes that if the trailers are to do the best possible job of advertising a film, they should be shown where the greatest number of people will see them — outside the theatre. So, in Warners' recent exploitation campaign on "They Made Me a Criminal," Lexey copped first prize of $100 by rigging up a small screen out in front of the theatre. The venture proved so successful that he is continuing it. Most of the time at the Rialto Theatre in New York, Manager Arthur Mayer runs a trailer on the current attraction by means of rear projection on a screen with a shadow-box effect. Attractive Front Used by Strand On "Four Feathers" This attractive front was designed by Charles Smakwitz, of Warner Brothers Strand Theatre, Albany, N. Y., for the engagement of Alexander Korda's United Artists release, "Four Feathers." In case you can't tell, the letters of the title were studded with electric light bulbs.