Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1943)

14 SHOWMEN'S TRADEREVIEW October 16, 1943 Good Foot Forward^ Tieup/ More Covers With Cartoons,Rankin's Service to Women We're not going to reveal the temperature of the weather at this writing ; all we can say is that when we stepped outside our abode this morning we had to break the thin sheet of ice atop the water in the rain barrel before we could reach in and dash some of the frigid liquid on our sleep-swollen eyes. And on our way to this desk we stepped pretty lively, despite the fact that our general tendency is to count ten before lifting one pedal extremity in front of the other. It Wasn't the Copy So here we are, ready to get down to work. Our eyes fairly popped (we're only human, like any other male of the species) when we caught sight of a herald put out by Manager F. J. Cahalan of the Magnet Theatre, Claremont, N. H. Seems that Cahalan was playing those two "naughty and risque comedies," "The Virgin Bride" and "School for Husbands." The former was described as "spicy as only the French would dare," while the latter was labeled "a gay spicy bedroom farce." But it wasn't the copy, we'll venture to say, that caught the reader's eye. There, attired in a two-piece bathing suit (trunks and bra) was (we assume) Danielle Darrieux, or we should say, a halftone silhouette of the French actress. The figure measured eight and one-half inches high, and stood out like a house afire. Cahalan never reported on the business for the pictures' threeday engagement, but we'll guess it was better than average. How about it, F.J.? Incidentally, we've decided to reproduce the herald on this page, not merely to add glamor to the proceedings but to show what must have made collective Claremont eyes bulge. A good tieup between the war bond campaign and "Best Foot Forward" is embodied in the layout on the back p.age of the program for the Uptown Theatre, N. Y. Highlight is a striped-trouser leg, cut of¥ just below the knee, stepping forward. Apparently it's a "close-up" of Uncle Sam's limb in stride. Also illustrated are silhouettes of Harry James and his trumpet and Lucille Ball. Title of the film stands out. Then just behind (to the left) Uncle Sam's leg is this tie-in copy : "Keep Your Best Foot Forward ! Buy More War Bonds Here ! Immediate Delivery !" 'Movie Will Ease Strain' Cartoons occupy the two programs received from Harry Hobolth's theatres in Imlay City and Capac, Mich. One shows a burglar taking a "roll" from a terrified civilian. Says the thug: "Next time, maybe you'll buy bonds with your excess purc'nasing power before I get to you." Another cartoon shows some women war workers, apparently in the wash room of a war plant. As one of them looks at tape coming from a ticker machine she says : "Cauliflower advances . . . celery averages higher . . . red cabbage is available at good prices . . . broccoli ranges cheap to reasonable." Above the cartoon is this line : "A Movie Will Ease the Strain." The card announcing the anniversary program of the Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ontario, may not be ornamental, but Manager Harland Rankin made sure it would be useful. Besides listing the October attractions ori the inside (when folded), Harland used the front and back (when placed flat on a table) to present FROTHY & FRIVOLOUS FUN Cahalan's Eye-Opening Handbill Reproduced above is the eye-cpen'ng handbill distributed by F. J. Cahalan, manager of Magnet Theatre, Claremont, N. H., on the two-feature program, "The Virgin Bride" and "School for Husbands." Note what made local eyes bulge. "some handy measurements for the home." Across the bottom is a six-inch rule. These measurements are listed (just in case you'd like to inject the service into a future issue of your own program): 3 teaspoons — 1 tablespoon; 16 tablespoons — 1 cup; 1 cup — Yz pint; 2 cups — 1 pint ; 4 cups — 1 quart ; 2 tablespoons butter — 1 ounce; 2 cups butter — 1 pound; 3^ cups flour — 1 pound; 2 tablespoons sugar — 1 ounce; 2 cups granulated sugar — 1 pound ; 2 cups chopped meat — 1 pound; 8 or 9 eggs — 1 pound. We believe your women patrons would appreciate a service of this kind. Seldom does Cinemag, published for the Capitol and Majestic theatres, Paragould, Ark., devote its space to a short subject. But in the current issue there appears a one-column scene mat of Faye Emerson in her role of a Wac in "Women at War." Just found another of those programs with a cartoon on the front cover — this one from the Palace Theatre, Greenfield, Tenn. Sketch shows a plant foreman pointing to a worker who has apparently gone of¥ balance, for he sits on the ground playing jacks and holding an all-day sucker. Says the foreman: "Smith has been working pretty hard lately. Perhaps an afternoon off might do him good." A headline just above the cartoon says : "A Movie Would Be Just Right!" We have a program for the Normandie Theatre, located on Fifty-Third Street at Park Avenue in New York. We are seeking some information concerning the printing and distribution of this program, and just as soon as we have it, we'll relay it to our readers. Well, that doesn't bring us so far over on this page, but it's as far as we can go this week. Look for us again in your next issue of STR. Most Unusual Autographs Owners of the most unusual autographs received guest tickets to "The Youngest Profession" as a feature of the campaign for the film put over by S. N. Fangman, Rialto, Boone, la. Fangman used a 40 x 60 board in front of the house and invited passersby to write their names. Merchants Cooperate With Cato to Stase Farm Market Week Combining cooperative advertising with a prize contest is an idea seldom tried on a scale that will return full value to both advertisers and the theatre. But Roy Cato, Fox city manager in Cape Girardeau, Mo., certainly got full value from it when he put on a Farm and Market Week, which actually ran two weeks. Idea was simple : the affair was sponsored by local merchants, who advertised in newspapers and helped to put up the prizes. Purchases at the stores of merchants who sponsored the event entitled patrons to coupons, and these in turn enabled them to enter the contest by attending the theatre. But the prizes were the big attraction. The first prize was a purebred cow and ten bales of hay. Secondary prizes were registered live chickens, which were given away at a rate of 20 a night for five nights. On the sixth night the Guernsey was the prize, thus reaching a climax which had real meaning in a farm area. The contest covered two theatres, the Broadway and Orpheum, both of which used special trailers, displays in all cooperating merchants' windows, and heavy billing on the outside. One of the most effective bits of the campaign was a herald which resembled the handbills seen at all farm and stock auctions. This began with copy that announced the "Cape Merchants and Fox Theatres Farm & Market Week." Below this was a cut showing a brood of chickens, with copy alongside explaining that they were to be given away free. Below this was a cut of the cow, just as in the auction handbills and described in the same way. "Given Away Free !" was also very noticeable here. Then followed separate ads of eleven merchants who were cooperating, so that patrons were aware of their cooperation. While this was primarily a cooperative stunt for farm sections, the basic idea is applicable to almost any community — even to the auctiontype handbill. One adaptation could well be a tieup vi'ith chain stores, featuring their current food bargains, with a few prizes of foodstuffs which housewives find difficult to get in these times. Big Campaign Boosts Roy Rogers in 'Frisco A full-bodied campaign which included newspaper advertising, radio spot announcements, and billboards, as well as promotion in con , nection with the personal appearance of Republic's Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, resulted ;' in a gross which was next to the highest in the history of Loew's Warfield, San Francisco, Calif. Fox Division Supervisor B. V. Sturdivant and City Manager Herman Keisken and their staffs cooperated with Republic in the campaign, which included posting of two hundred sixsheets ; big display ads in the Chronicle, Examiner, Call Bulletin, and News; and radio spot announcements on Station KPO and KGO. Rogers rode Trigger in the big San Francisco parade which opened the War Bond Rally Drive for Northern California. He also broadcast from the I. Magnin Department Store Victory Window over Station KGO of the Blue Network, and the store ran advertisements 1 in the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle ' heralding the appearance of the King of the Cowboys at its War Bond Rally. The star broadcast on the Art Linkletter program over KGO, entertained wounded soldiers at Letterman Hospital, entertained the armed forces at the San Francisco Stage Door Canteen.