Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1947)

36 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, January 4. 1947 the SHOW BUILDER A Monthly Feature Dealing with the Booking and Exploiting of Short Subjects Shorts Shopping 1946 Exploitation on Short Subjects Topped by Warner, BftGM. RKO Topical 2-Reelers Boy Scout Subject Proves Salable as ^en of Tomorrow' Campaigns Build If 1946 has proved anything in the short subject field, it is that exhibitors are apparently eager and willing to promote short subjects of present-day topical interest. During the past two or three months there has been more exploitation on a handful of topical shorts than there was selling activity expended on other shorts throughout the entire year. There are, of course, exceptions, but the general rule applies here. Warners' "Men of Tomorrow," RKO Radio's This Is America, "Highway Mania" and MGM's "Traffic With the Devil" have, we'd be willing to bet, been exploited by theatremen who never before took the trouble to sell their shorts beyond the customary advertising program. And now that the March of Time's "The American Cop," a 20th Century-Fox release, has gone into circulation, we can expect to hear of promotion on that two-reeler too. The principal reason for the special interest in these shorts, as we see it, is that their subject matter provides the basis for civic cooperation. There is, for example, no organization better known and of greater value for the youth of our nation than the Boys Scouts of America. In practically every city, community and small town there are Troops. Therefore, wherever "Men of Tomorrow" has played, it has received full and enthusiastic Boy Scout cooperation, and this in turn has prompted city officials and educational leaders to join in on the promotion of the short. Result: campaigns continue to pour in from all sections of the United States and Canada. Safety on the highway are the principal themes of MGM's "Traffic With the Devil" and RKO Radio's "Highway Mania." Public officials, ever mindful of the growing list of dreadful accident fatalities every year, are nearly at their wit's end in an effort to find a campaign that will effectively teach drivers and pedestrians to be careful. Consequently, they have literally jumped at the chance to assist in every way possible in the promotion of the two shorts. Courtroom screenings have been held; judges have sentenced offenders to see the subjects; policemen have distributed notices of their showings to the public; high public officials have endorsed them. Few others shorts can boast as much. It would seem, judging from the performance of these films, that they are the type which stimulates promotional activity reflecting in increased grosses at the box-office. There will be more of them coming up during this new year. It will be interesting to watch the ex(Continued on Page 37) Showmanship continues to be the order of the day wherever the two-reel Warner short, "Men of Tomorrow," plays, with campaign reports still coming in from scattered sections of the United States and Canada. Some of the campaigns : In Syracuse, N. Y., the Herald Journal and Post Standard ran editorials praising the subject during its run at the Paramount Theatre there. The Herald Journal critic also gave the picture a two-column box in Sunday's paper, three days before the opening date. Among unusual promotional activities put on by the local Boy Scout organization on behalf of the short was a loudspeaker, installed by one of the scouts on his car, plugging Boy Scout Roundup Week and "Men of Tomorrow" on a busy downtown street at the peak hours of traffic every day for a full week. The car also was bannered on both sides with exploitation copy. Local Citizens Sell It A broadcast was set up over KSOO from the lobby of the theatre on the opening night, with prominent local citizens participating, and the turnout for the event was swelled by extensive word-of-mouth advertising and newspaper publicity that followed a special advance screening of the short. Invitations to this preview were sent out by the president of the Union Central Bank, and the event was given full coverage by the daily Argus Leader. Churches, Civic Bodies Aid In Plainfield, N. J., merchants ran large ads in the Courier-News to congratulate the Boy Scouts on the occasion of the premiere of "Men of Tomorrow" at Reade's Strand Theatre, managed by Murray Mienberg. The Plainfield Chamber of Commerce, churches and other civic organizations also cooperated to plug the picture. One of the ceremonies on opening day was the presentation of a cup to the outstanding local Boy Scout. Large blowups of the "Men of Tomorrow" Squirmed in Seats Traffic law violators squirmed in their seats in Los Angeles traffic court recently when they attended a command performance of MGM's Theatre of Life fact-film "Traffic With the Devil." By order of Municipal Judge K. Leonard Kaufman, court proceedings halted, the room was darkened and the audience of motorists accused of highway infractions was shown the short subject. So effective was the courtroom showing that arrangements were made to have similar showings of "Traffic With the Devil" daily for traffic violators in Los Angeles. press book cover were displayed in store windows. Several hundred window cards announcing the film's playdate and Scout Roundup were distributed by the Scout group. A special lobby display was set up at the theatre. In St. Catherines, Ontario, one of the highlights of the promotional activity arranged by Manager Roy Miller of the Lincoln Theatre was a Boy Scout parade. Some 500 Scouts also attended a special Saturday matinee showing of the picture arranged through the local Scout officials and the national executives of the Canadian Boy Scouts in Ottawa. Both press and radio commented on the Scout parade to the theatre and the effectiveness of the film's educational impact Quimby, Smith Name Contenders for Award Fred Quimby, head of MGM's short subject department, has selected "The Cat Concerto," a Tom & Jerry cartoon, as his entry for the Academy Award for 1946. Quimby is already a four-time Award winner, having won in 1940 with "The Milky Way." Three consecutive Tom & Jerry cartoons won for him in 1943-44-45; they were "Yankee Doodle Mouse," "Mouse Trouble" and "Quiet, Please." Another MGM producer, Pete Smith, has announced "Playing by Ear" as his candidate for the 1946 Award. He won the 1937 Oscar for his Technicolor short, "Penny Wisdom," and in 1940 won it again for "Quicker'n a Wink." Vermont to Supervise Series of Shorts Boris Vermont, who has been associated with 20th Century-Fox as head of the Foreign Versions department, was this week named by Edmund Reek, vice-president and producer of Movietone News, to supervise the production of a special series of short subjects. Prior to his 20th-Fox affiliation, Vermont was a documentary producer in Europe, and during the war he was associated with the Office of War Information. Staub Plans Short On Industry Charities One of the first shorts to be produced this year for Columbia by Ralph Staub will dramatize the three major charitable institutions established by and for show business.' They are the Motion Picture Country Home in the San Fernando Valley, the world-famous actors' home at Saranac Lake, N. Y. and the Variety Club near Dallas, Texas.