Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1947)

24 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, January 4, 1947 SELLING THE PICTURE Giant Post Card Gag Still Good Just because a stunt is old is no reason to believe it is not good, opined Manager Howard W. Thomas of the Centre, Owen Sound, Ontario, so he revived this oldie which had never been used before in Owen Sound to tell the local populace about Jane Russell's forthcoming appearance there in United Artists' "The Outlaw" and to invite them to attach their signature to the greeting. The card was 4 by 8 feet in size and was set up in several restaurants as well as in the theatre foyer before and during the film's playing at the Centre. 'Nobody Lives Forever' In Chain Book Tieup As part of the campaign put on by Jack Tiernan, advertising and publicity director of the RKO Orpheum Theatre, Kansas City, for the local opening of Warners' "Nobody Lives Forever," a special window display of the book version of the picture was prepared for the Katz Drug Co. chain of eight stores. In the center of the. window display put on at each of the drug stores was a large placard calling attention to the current engagement. Local Boxer Plugs 'Polooka' The Dixwell and Rivoli, New Haven, Conn., used a local fighter to promote "Joe Palooka, Champ," the Monogram picture. Stage appearance of Nathan Mann) New Haven boxer, was ballyhooed in advance by ad. 'Snappy' Stunt Enlisting the aid of a photographer, Joe Di Pesa and Jim Shanahan, publicists for Loew's State and Orpheum theatres, Boston, arranged a stunt whereby the photographer stationed himself at a busy downtown intersection at noon and snapped pictures of couples passing by. Each couple "snapped" was given a card stating that the photo might be placed on a frame in front of the State. Couples who found their photos thus posted, and who identified themselves, received guest tickets to see the picture. Thomas states that he can't tell whether it was the picture or the stunt that caused crowds to get out of control of his staff and the local police, but out of control they went, bending one of the door handles completely double ! For the two evening performances on opening night (the house runs .only two shows nightly) there were ten more admissions sold than double the capacity of the house ! That's Manager Thomas on the right in the .photo above, and the attractive young lady affixing her signature to the card is unidentified. Contests in Hartford Sell 'Rage in Heaven' A number of contests marked the campaign for the return showings of MGM's "Rage in Heaven" at Loew's Poli and Loew's Poli Palace theatres in Hartford, Conn. One contest posed this question : "Who is your favorite leading man for Ingrid Bergman?" Another contest offered guest tickets for the largest list of pictures in which Bergman has appeared. Still another sought the longest list of pictures dealing with psychiatric themes that have been released during the past five years. During a "man in the street" broadcast passers-by were asked to comment on what they liked best about Bergman's acting. The campaign, which also included news truck bannering, cooperative ads, counter and window displays, was in charge of Lou Cohen and Fred R. Greenway, manager of Loew's Poli and Loew's Poli Palace, respectively,, and their assistants, Sam Horowitz and Albert Lessow. 'Kilroy' Show Scores Pearce Parkhurst, manager of the Capitol Theatre, Pawtucket, R. I., has developed and put on the stage an idea he conceived while overseas in India, using the name and fame of the ubiquitous Kilroy. The show is called "Kilroy and His Hubba Hubba Stage Revue" and was given a try-out at the Capitol in Pawtucket with excellent results. Bregoff Offers Collie in 'Lassie' Essay Contest The comprehensive exploitation campaign on MGM's "Courage of Lassie" by Manager H. Spencer Bregoff at Fabian's Palace, Staten Island, N. Y., centered around an essay contest in which "Lassie of the Palace," a live pedigreed collie puppy dog, was awarded for the best answer to "Why I'd Like to Own Lassie," with guest tickets awarded to the other winners. A group of distinguished community officials acted as the contest judges, viz : — The President of the Borough of Richmond of the city of New York, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools of the New York City Board of Education, the Director of the Staten Island Zoo, the Staten Island Manager of the ASPCA and the President of the Staten Island Kennel Club. Several thousand contest entry blanks were submitted, and, on the third day after opening, a special "after-school" showing of the feature was held at which "Lassie," the prize pup, and both her parents made "personal appearances" on stage, and the winners' names were announced. That night the Borough President personally presented "Lassie" on stage to the winner and the other prizes were also awarded. The winner also received a complete dog outfit (harness, etc.) which was promoted from a local pet shop. The contest was sponsored by the Goldwyn Reliable Jewelers, who paid all promotional expenses. To advertise the contest, Bregoff posted threesheets throughout Staten Island; planted special hand art window cards in the Staten Island Zoo, branch public libraries, and the two stores of the sponsors ; distributed 7000 contest entry blanks ; displayed lobby 40x60s ; paraded the prize dog and her puppies and introduced them to patrons in the theatre foyer; sent letters to school principals ; planted publicity stories and "blurbs" in local newspapers. As a precaution, Bregoff had an ASPCA official check on the home environment of each of the prize winners before final judging. Consent of the parents to accept the dog, if won, to provide it with a good home and to release the theatre from all liability was also obtained. Hear Ye! Greetings . . . "Jury Notices," sent out by Bob Bowman, manager of the Latonia Theatre, Oil City, Pa., as a stunt in connection with his showing of Warner's "The Verdict" were taken seriously by several of the recipients. The notice followed the serious tone of a regular jury notice informing each recipent that he had been selected for Jury Duty to render a verdict on the most baffling, etc., etc., and wound up with the line, "The Verdict," at the Latonia Theatre. Three persons telephoned Bowman asking to be excused on the grounds of illness and a woman who said her husband was in the hospital refused to believe Bowman's explanation that the notice was only a promotional stunt for "The Verdict" and demanded a formal excuse. So Bowman sighed gently, and gave her one.