Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1945)

July 14, 1945 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 31 Many Industry Notables Rose to Fame In Paramount Posts {Coiitiiincd from Page 10) tainment and financial fields, was elected chairman of Paramount's Executive Committee. Y. Frank Freeman, who had joined the company in 1933 to take charge of its vast real estate holdings and had later been placed in charge of national theatre operations, became vicepresident of the Board of Directors in 1936. Paramount prospered and acquired that spirit of good will which comes with material success. The company's fame sky-rocketed because of tlie excellent pictures it produced, the popularity of its stars and featured players and its discoveries of new player personalities. Takes Over Studio Reins In December 1938, Freeman transferred his activities from the New York office to Hollywood as vice president in charge of studio operations and added impetus was given the company's already rapid strides of success. Streamline Production Set-Up Freeman later was joined in his production endeavors by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, and together they turned out a procession of outstanding productions. Later still another foremost production executive joined the Paramount studio high command and the progressive policy now in force called for the appointment of this executive, Henry Ginsberg, as vice-president in charge of studio operations, with DeSylva thus permitted to devote himself exclusively to immediate production work as one of the two independent producers now working on the Paramount lot. The other independent unit is headed by Hal Wallis, long associated with Warner Bros., and credited with turning out some of that company's greatest hits. The high standard set by the production department was equaled by the other three broad divisions of corporation activities — distribution, exhibition and foreign. The distribution depart HAL WALLIS Producer ment was headed by Neil Agnew until March, 1944 when Charles Reagan, for years chief aide to Agnew, became General Sales Manager. Direction of exhibition, relinquished by Freeman later, was taken over by Leonard Goldenson and foreign operations continued under the guidance of the late John W. Hicks, Jr., who has been succeeded by George Weltner, who was long HENRY GINSBERG Vice-President in Charge of Studio Operations associated with the very able and greatly popular Hicks. Through these recent years of eminent Y. FRANK FREEMAN Vice-President, Paramount Studio and outstanding progress. Vice President Austin C. Keough has remained as head of the company's legal department. Robert M. Gillham has served as director of advertising and publicity. A. J. Richard has guided the activities of Paramount Newsreel and other veteran specialists have brought their varied talents to the maintenance of Paramount efficiency. In the new field of television Paramount also has taken a leading part, holding a controlling interest in Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, pioneers in television research. Paramount Still Playing Top Role In Applied Showmanship If you had been reading the early February issue of The Saturday Evening Post back in 1921, you would have seen a full-page advertisement plugging Paramount pictures, and if you had looked closely enough you would have found these words buried in the body copy : "If It's A Paramount Picture, It's The Best Show In Town." You would then have been in on the birth of a slogan that has remained a by-word for Paramount ever since. At that time, the advertising brains of Paramount were testing various slogans for their institutional ads ; they were seeking something that would indelibly impress itself on the minds of movie-goers, a word or a phrase that would be synonymous with a satisfying evening at the cinema. Some of the early tryouts were quaint, such as "You are in line for something good and you never take a chance when it's Paramount," or this lulu : "The name is your guiding star — Paramount." That's just two of them ; there were plenty of others of the same ilk. But the slogan that so hesitatingly sneaked into that February 1921 Post ad caught on, and in December of the same year. Paramount took a full-page ad in Photoplay Magazine and Motion Picture Classics with the present Paramount slogan boldly emblazoned in screamertype. From that date on, the slogan "If It's A Paramount Picture, It's The Best Show In Town" was IT. The Boys had established the Phrase. Several years prior to this — in 1917 — Paramount had begun taking full and half-page ads, in color, in some of the nation's "slicker" magazines, chiefly in The Saturday Evening Post. At that time, the motion picture companies were concentrating on selling Movies to the public. trying to get people to go to the movies habitually, attempting to plug the infant industry as an Art — and a sort of fairyland, get-awayfrom-it-all diversion. The slant was toward leave the dishes in the sink and let's all-go-out-of-thisworld. Of course, product itself wasn't totally neglected. It came in for its share of advertising, but it usually took the form of a straight type lineup of forthcoming pictures laid out in a single column panel somewhere on the borders of the ad. Prior to all this, however, the Paramount trademark had made its appearance. In fact, the well-known mountain ringed with clouds and surmounted by a halo of stars had already been well established as the quick, visual synonym for Paramount. Its inception and development are interesting. The original idea was hatched by W. W. Hodkinson, one-time chief of Paramount Pictures, and the Lesan advertising agency. At the time. Paramount Pictures was only a distributing company that handled the product of Famous Players, Oliver Morosco, Jesse L. Lasky and Hobart Bosworth. As so often is the case in "history" as set down by a writer or reporter, there are several versions as to precisely how Hodkinson hit upon the name Paramount and the trade mark featuring a mountain whose peak rises above clouds loftily drifting across a star-studded sky. Anyway, it is pretty well agreed that Hodkinson was responsible for the name Paramount and the general scheme of the trade mark which has featured Paramount's advertising. The stars, incidentally, were to symbolize those stellar personalities . then appearing in Paramount pic(Continued on Page 32)