Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1947)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, January 4, 1947 Remington-Rand, Fox In 'Miss Pilgrim7 Tieup A nationwide tieup arranged by 20th CenturyFox for "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" in connection with Remington-Rand started last Sunday with the appearance of a full-page, fourcolor ad featuring Betty Grable in This Week magazine. The ad campaign is slated to reach 65,000,000 readers, and will see the appearance of full-page black-and-white ads in the Saturday Evening Post and Collier's during the second week in January, followed by two-color ads of the same size going into February issues of both magazines. In addition, Remington-Rand is taking advantage of every promotional angle to exploit the tieup, including the distribution of 100,000 reprints of the This Week ad to business executives in those cities where the picture is slated to open. Copy on the mailing piece plugs the film strongly, and the reprint will be scheduled for mailing in time with key showings throughout the nation. Window posters illustrated with photos of Betty Grable, will be displayed in 500 Remington-Rand dealer stores and district offices during the run of the picture. Three-dimensional display pieces will be on view in 150 RemingtonRand offices for timely promotion. Four thousand four-color counter cards mounted on easels will reach local dealers and district offices in time for day-and-date exploitation of the film. Branch managers of 150 key city offices of the typewriter company have been briefed on arrangements for theatre parties, in which they will contact the local exhibitor for blocks of tickets on certain days of the film's run. Prominent business executives in each city will be invited by Remington-Rand to see the picture. 'Suspense' Gets Good Campaign from Gammit A heavy preliminary campaign was used by John Gammit, advertising manager of the Boyd Theatre, Allentown, Pa., for the opening of Monogram's "Suspense." Campaign included distribution of advertising nail files at beauty parlors, miniature cutouts in 35 store windows, a window tieup with a leading jewelry store, special setpieces in addition to regular lobby display, and large space in the local newspaper, Morning Call, which also ran feature stories. Warners, DuPont in 'Nora Prentiss' Tieup Under a tieup arranged by Warner Bros, with the Plastics Department of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Ann Sheridan in "Nora Prentiss" will be featured in a big schedule of national magazine ads on Du Pont Nylon Bristles. Among publications that will carry the ad are Life, January 20 issue; Saturday Evening Post, January 18; Look, February 4, and Collier's. February 8. 78.000 See Stunt Manager Walter Kessler, Loew's Ohio, Columbus, engineered a stunt unique in Columbus annals when he persuaded Ohio State Homecoming officials to permit him to present the Robert Taylor "Undercurrent" trophy to Ann Leslie Weiner, Ohio State Homecoming Queen, between halves of the recent Michigan game with 78,000 fans looking on. Stunt went out over the air, broke local papers and was serviced to coast-to-coast clients of AP Wirephoto and Acme. MetroGoldwyn-Mayer shared in the arrangements. Hospitalized Veterans See Premiere of 'Duel' The official press premiere of David O. Selznick's Technicolor production, "Duel in the Sun," was held last Monday evening at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, with leaders of the civic, social and industrial world in attendance. Special events in connection with the premiere included a towering Wall of Light into which thousands of vari-colored balloons were shot ; an illuminated airplane circling the area and dropping parachutes, and other colorful electrical displays. Actual world premiere of "Duel in the Sun" was held one night earlier (Sunday) at Birmingham Hospital in Van Nuys, a suburb of Los Angeles, before an audience of 2,000 veterans of World War II. All of the stars of the production were in attendance, including Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Herbert Marshall, Lillian Gish, Walter Huston, Charles Bickford, Joan Tetzel, Harry Carey, Tilly Losch, Otto Kruger, Butterfly McQueen. Sidney Blackmer and Scott McKay. Col. Thomas J. Cross, Deputy Administrator for the 12th Military District, represented Gen. Omar Bradley at the "Duel" premiere. He officially thanked Producer Selznick for showing the film, which King Vidor directed, to the veterans first. The veterans' premiere had all the trappings of a typical Hollywood opening. There were lights, stars, excitement. The stars personally visited with the wounded men both before and after the showing. No civilians were allowed. 'Summer' Selling in Clubs, Schools, Stores The Empire Theatre, Fall River, Mass., had promotion on 20th-Fox's "Centennial Summer" spread through local night clubs, schools and stores, with Kern music featured by local school music students and night clubs orchestras, and posters displayed in stores. Through a radio station contest, listeners were requested to guess the titles of Kern songs played over air. Best guessers received guest tickets. — HFD. 'Slick Chick' Contest Begins on 'Egg and V A new angle on Beauty Contests was disclosed this week when Clyde C. Edmonds, president of the Poultry and Egg National Board, Chicago, announced the launching of a nationwide search for "the most beautiful hen in America," the selection to be made from among the flocks of more than 5,000,000 poultry producers of the nation. The winner will be crowned "Miss Slick Chick of 1947" at the premiere of UniversalInternational's "The Egg and I." The search will be led by a special Egg and I National Committee headed by Glenn H. Campbell of Cleveland, Board secretary, as chairman. The committee will work directly with state leaders on the contest, which is being conducted from January 1 through March 10. Regional entries are to be submitted in the form of close-up photographs of the hen posed with its owner, and send to the Poultry and Egg National Board headquarters in Chicago. "Judges will not concern themselves with regular, customary judging rules," Campbell stated, "but will adjudge the contest hens entirely on the basis of charm, personality and sex appeal." Coquettishness of eyes, contour of figure and sweep of tail will help. A "Slick Chick" winner will be selected from each of five regions in which the United States is divided for contest purposes. The actual hens whose pictures win the regional contests, and their owners, will be brought as guests to the city, as yet unnamed, which will feature the world premiere of "The Egg and I." Here the final selection of the national beauty will be held. Preliminary plans for the premiere now call tentatively for New York City, in which event the final judging will take place at the WaldorfAstoria, one room of which will be transformed into a Hen Palace for the occasion. All five "Slick Chicks" will be awarded specially conceived fur-lined nests, to be created by fashion designer Orry Kelly of Hollywood, and owners and hens will be guests of Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray at the premiere. The hen selected as "Miss Slick Chick of 1947" in the final judging will be presented a gold award in the shape of an egg, and her owner will receive a $500 cash prize. No Patrons Seated During 'Verdict's' Last Minutes Jim McCarthy, manager of the Warner Strand, Hartford, Conn., hit on some nice stunts for "The Verdict." He used the line "The climax will stun you !' " in his newspaper ads. McCarthy issued the following warning to patrons : "In connection with the showing of the film, 'The Verdict,' at the Strand, starting today, Manager McCarthy announces that no one will be seated during the last five or ten minutes of the movie during its run. The precaution is being taken to safeguard for the audience the suspenseful climax of the movie, McCarthy says, in urging patrons to note the screening time of the picture throughout the day."— HFD.