Showmen's Trade Review (1939)

August 26, 1939 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW Page 21 Harris-Dubois Front, of Class Construction, Permits Employment of Attractive Displays RCA Victor Launches Publicity On UA's "They Shall Have Music" RCA Victor, in cooperation with United Artists, has launched a nation-wide publicity campaign for "They Shall Have Music." Keyed to simultaneously boost exhibitors' box office receipts and promote the sale of Victor Red Seal recordings by Heifetz, the program offers musical merchandise dealers an unusual opportunity to capitalize on the artistry of this world-famous master of the violin. Marking the opening of the joint campaign, an illustrated story of Heifetz' life and genius, his debut in filmdom and his Red Seal records was carried in the August issue of the Victor Record Society Review, which will be read in the homes of over 150,000 subscribers in every section of the country. And as "They Shall Have Music" dramatically brings to life the genius of Heifetz for millions, the popular RCA Victor "Music You Want" radio programs in more than fifty key cities will be dedicated to Heifetz records preceding the opening of the picture. Through United Artists, RCA Victor will notify its distributors of the booking in each city so that dealers may be prepared to tie in with the special "Music You Want" broadcasts. In addition, the United Artists press book which is mailed to all theatres scheduled to show "They Shall Have Music," will devote space to RCA Victor's promotional activities on the film, and will instruct exhibitors to contact RCA Victor dealers. Conner Calls "Kildare" Manager Marlowe Conner of the Rhodes Theatre, Chicago, made ten phone calls a day one week before the opening of "Calling Dr. Kildare." When someone answered Conner asked, "Is This Dr. Kildare." And when the answer came in the negative, Conner concluded with "I was 'Calling Dr. Kildare' for the Rhodes Theatre." Good "Winter Carnival" Layout This ad, one of the many fine layouts in the press book on Walter Wanger's United Artists release, 'Winter Carnival," would be ideal for a college or high school publication, in view of its "It's a Date" headline. And the society page in the daily wouldn't he a bad spot for use of the layout, either. MANAGERS with theatres whose fronts are constructed of Carrara (or some other type) glass have the opportunity to transform them into attention-compelling fronts. The idea is so simple that, with the assistance of a good artist, one wonders why it wasn't thought of before — before it was tried out at the Harris-Dubois Theatre in Dubois, Pa., one of the houses operated by the Harris Amusement Co. According to Manager H. A. Doman, the stunt is inexpensive, easy to produce and just as easy to remove, and one that can be employed by any exhibitor who is fortunate to have a theatre with a glass-type front. Originated by Stanley J. Sekula, it permits a new and unique display with each change of attraction. In the case of the Harris-Dubois, enough wallpaper is promoted from the local paint store to cover the front. It is put on right over the glass, using ordinary wallpaper (powder) paste. Then, Sekula goes to work with his designs and lettering. "To remove the fronts," advises Doman, "you merely thoroughly wet the paper with a hose, then begin to strip it off — and it comes off very easily, with absolutely no Page Announcing Greater Movie Season in Flint Looks Like Leo That was some break MGM pictures received on the occasion of the opening of Greater Movie Season in Flint, Mich., recently. A half-page ad, announcing that "the month of August is Greater Movie Season at the W. S. Butterfield Theatres," contained layouts on "It's a Wonderful World" at the Palace, "Lucky Night" at the Regent, and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips'" at the Capitol. At the top of the page were three twocolumn art breaks on the same attractions, as well as three important publicity stories. It looked more like "MGM Week" than Greater Movie Season. But just the same it was an excellent amusement page, for which the Butterfield publicist's in Flint deserve hearty congratulations. Garfield (No, Girls, Not John) Has Successful Tieup with Merchants Every week a cooperative page plugs the Sunday and Monday attraction at the Ravenna Theatre in Ravenna, Ohio. In a tieup with local merchants and the newspaper, Manager Harold Garfield has a stunt whereby readers search for misspelled words. When they find the words, they mail their entries, being sure to designate the name of the concerns in whose ads the errors occurred, to the (name of attraction) contest editor. Garfield has forwarded us his cooperative page on "Man About Town." Ordinarily the page breaks on Wednesday, but in this case he didn't know what his Sunday book damage to the glass or front." If your front lacks appeal; if you've used cutouts and other ideas so long they're beginning to lose their novelty, why not follow the method originated by Sekula, provided, of course, your theatre has a glass front. We don't know just what a storm would do — whether the beating of the rain against the wallpaper (if the front is not entirely protected by a marquee) would cause it to loosen and come off or not. Doman did not explain this in his report to STR, but it is evidently a chance that exhibitors with little protection from the elements will have to consider. In the accompanying photographs above, the scene on the left represents a side-angle view of the front and its Carrara-Glass construction before it was converted into an exploitation. The scene on the right shows the same front completely transformed with ordinary wallpaper of a "springish" and floral design, retouched, paneled and lettered by Sekula. The attraction on view in the photograph on the left was Paramount's "Undercover Doctor," while that being exploited in the other was MGM's "Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever." ing was until Thursday morning. As a result, his outdoor posting was delayed as well as the page. But he wasn't deterred. He planted a story which informed the readers about the delay due to the loss of the print in an auto accident and delivery of another by plane, the lack of publicity, and promised that the page would appear on Friday. It did, and business was none the worse for the delay. In fact, business was good. Sixteen merchants run ads on the cooperative page every week. By means of the contest, strong interest is sustained in every attraction. A tieup once in a while is noteworthy, but a showman who can maintain such an arrangement week after week and thus keep on consistent friendly relations with the merchants is deserving of a place in the exploitation hall of fame Swimming Pools Used To Plug "Tarzan" at N. Y. Loew Houses Practically every worthwhile swimming poo. in the Metropolitan areas was used by Oscar Doob's exploiteers at Loew's to advertise Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan in "Tarzan Finds a Son." Johnny Weissmuller "Tarzan" swimming races were arranged in each pool. Most important of these tie-ups was at Manhattan Beach, where at least 50,000 present witnessed a "Tarzan" Junior and Senior swimming contest. Loving cups and medals appropriately inscribed from Loew's, etc., were awarded the winners. As in all pool and beach tie-ups the contests were advertised at least two weeks in advance with banners and 40x60's, all of which mentioned "Tarzan Finds a Son", at the local Loew Theatre. SSTFS A DATE!" That's lovely Ann Sheridan, the standout star of 1939, inviting you to adventure and romance on top of the world -at Dartmouth's Winter Carnival, worldfamous festival of fun! . . . r«5 RICHARD CARLSON HELEN PARRISH • ROBERT ARMSTRONG { VIRGINIA GILMORE Dtew b, CHARLES R1ESNER . AcJeoavd thru UNITED ARTISTS