Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1944)

I August 5, 1944 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 15 Leg Contest Again Crowds Fabian House Second annual Beautiful Legs Contest for the girls of Staten Island was held recently at Fabian's St. George Theatre, St. George, under the direction of Edgar Goth, in charge of advertising and publicity for the circuit's theatres on the Island. As in the past, the stunt proved a business-builder. This year Goth tied-in with the Venida Liquid Hosiery Company, a national concern, and also promoted prizes of a $300 fur jacket, a $100 fur scarf and a $50 fur scarf from the I. J. Fox Fur Company. In addition, there were five prizes of $10 each in war stamps. The contest was publicized through newspaper stories ; hand-drawn display ads designed by Ingrid Nilsen of the Fabian district publicity office; trailers projected in other Island Fabian theatres, and a huge setpiece in the St. George lobby. Winners were judged according to the beauty and symmetry of their legs. To prevent any possibility of prejudice, the girls were asked to stand behind a curtain which revealed only their lower limbs to the audience. First prize went to Miss Gladys Israel, 854 Bay Street, Clifton, while second and third prizes were won by Mrs. Ruth Crane, 83 St. Mark's Place, St. George, and Miss Pauline Cummings, 333 Hanover Avenue, Concord. 'Cover Girl' Winner In Round of Activities {Picture on Page 26) Accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Walter C. Hart, Dorothy Hart, 21-year-old Cleveland brunette beauty recently selected "Cinderella Cover Girl of 1944" from the fifty finalists in Columbia's nationwide contest, arrived in New York this week to remain ten days as the guest ijf Columbia. On Tuesday Miss Hart made a screen test for a role in the company's forthcoming Technicolor production, "Tonight and Every Night," >tarring Rita Hayworth who also starred with Gene Kelly in "Cover Girl," the Technicolor film which inspired the contest. During her New York visit, the Cinderella Cover Girl was scheduled to participate in a round of social functions, with several famous models who appeared in "Cover Girl" acting as her instructors in the technique of the glamor and poise that go to make up a successful beauty. Miss Hart was also to be painted by Bradshaw Crandall, one of the country's leading artists, with the portrait to be used on a future cover of Cosmopolitan. She has been offered a modeling contract by Harry Conover, head of the fam.ous model agency. Blind-Date Theatre Party A "Private Hargrove Blind-Date Theatre Party" was arranged by Ira Grain, Capitol Theatre manager in Sioux City, la., and MGM Exploiteer Jack Conner. Twenty-five hostesses from the local USO and 25 soldiers from a local Army Air Base were paired and attended an evening showing of the film. The couples were interviewed over radio station KTRI from lobby of the theatre, and the stunt received wide publicity. Radio, Posters, Newspapers, Magazines Flashed Wilson Publicity to Millions When "Wilson" burst upon New York Tuesday the groundwork for its world premiere had already been so well laid that the accruing publicity and word-of-mouth seemed to come so easily that a passer-by remarked : "Aren't those fellows lucky to get all that publicity for a picture right off the bat?" "Those fellows" — meaning Hal Horne, Harry Brand and the rest of the 20th-Fox advertising, publicity and exploitation staffs — know differently. There was no luck in it ; instead, the big publicity splash came because of a carefully mapped campaign that is saturating not only the New York area and that of Los Angeles (where the Carthay Circle premiere is set for August 10). but also the entire country. In the matter of magazine advertising alone, "Wilson" is reaching a reading public of approximately 44.500,000, with all well-known national magazines, including the film fan group, represented. The newspaper campaign is equally as far-reaching, but is limited because of space restrictions. At that, the linage will exceed that used by the same company for "The Song of Bernadette." Ad Linage in N. Y. Dailies In New York, starting July 10 and going to August 7 — second week of the Roxy run — Horne and his associates contracted for 34,450 lines in local newspapers alone. This figure is not startling because of the restrictions put on space, but the seven New York dailies it must be remembered, are repeating the "Wilson" message almost 30 times to date. Feeling somewhat cramped in the matter of newspaper linage, the 20th Century boys decided to put over the big Zanuck production with extra-large outdoor and radio campaigns. An idea of the extent of the poster activity can be gained by glancing at the exploitation report on this phase. Look and be awed : Twelve hundred and fifty 24-sheets were posted as far away as 300 miles of the Roxy, and 3-sheets were posted on all railroad stations One of the stunts in the strong campaign used by Ken Hoe! and his assistant, Al Brevak, of Pittsburgh's J. P. Harris Theatre, Pittsburgh, on 20th Century-Fox's "Pin-Up Girl," is shown above. A life-size cutout of Betty Grable, sans Betty's head, was placed in front of the theatre, and girls wishing to have their photos sent to men in the armed forces were photographed a la Betty Grable. The stunt is reported to have created considerable attention. of the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Long Island, New Haven, Baltimore & Ohio, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Erie and West Shore. These reach as far north as Albany and south to Philadelphia. Ten thousand double car and bus cards are on display in all the cars of these railroads, as well as in all New York street cars and buses in the five boroughs and Westchester. In using radio the Horne-Brand forces evidently planned a blanket coverage of the country for listeners have been hearing about Darryl Zanuck and his "Wilson" for the past month through 40 coast-to-coast broadcast tieups. Among these were Walter Winchell, Hildegarde, Arthur Hopkins Presents, Stage Door Canteen, Million Dollar Bond, Basin Street, Double or Nothing, Broadway Showtime and Blind Date. But the real blanketing has occurred in New York, New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester and Connecticut. Up to this week a total of 3990 radio spot announcements were made over 12 metropolitan stations, an average of 133 daily for thirty days. Counting a 12-hour broadcasting day, that's 11 announcements per hour or one about every five minutes. No one who is at all within reach of a radio has failed to hear about "Wilson" in the New York area. The same large scale operation accompanying {Continued on Page 16) Photos of Artists' Sketches Good For Exploitation on 'Wilson' Five of America's top-flight artists — Wallace Morgan, John Fulton, Lee Gustavson, Frank Godwin and Theodore Utz — have transferred to canvas their various conceptions of scenes from the current Darryl F. Zanuck Technicolor picture, "Wilson." In one drawing, Morgan caught the color and excitement of the 1912 Democratic national convention which nominated Wilson, depicted the war hysteria of the period in another. Frank Godwin chose the more intimate side of Wilson's life for his sketches, while Utz's revealed the drama of the Paris Peace Conference. Gustavson caught the pageantry of the 1912 convention, as did Fulton, who also drew a sketch of the President throwing out the first ball at a Washington baseball game. A set of ten 11x14 photographic reproductions of the drawings will serve exhibitors well as lobby or window display highlights, as newspaper feature art, as elements for speciallyprepared advertisements, or in many other ways for the exploitation of "Wilson." Loew Theatres in 5 Cities Plug 'Waterloo Bridge' Return Date With all of the fuss and flourish of a first-run engagement, Loew's theatres in five citiesHouston, Memphis, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Columbus — are announcing a "special"' return engagement of MGM's "Waterloo Bridge," which originally brought Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor to the screen four years "ago. One angle being used is a managerial announcement of money-back if the patron is not pleased by the picture that "we feel will please 999 out of 1000 persons who see it." The five engagements are set for August 17.