Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1946)

16 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, November 16, 1946 THEATRE MANAGEMENT Jackson Discusses ReIssue Problems (Continued from Preceding Page) film program it is better to defer their engagement until you have time to make an appropriate picture purchase. Your program schedules are also important when you are offering combined stage and screen shows. Be sure that your stage attraction is presented at times most appropriate to volume attendance. And, watch your short subject buy. It may be possible to save part of the cost of the stage attraction by eliminating a short or two. When it comes to booking film for exhibition with stage shows it is necessary to be extremely cautious. If the stage show is such that it promises to stand on its own legs and return a profit lay off the better class of film product and make a flat buy of some minor release of ordinary entertainment value. When the stage show is just so-so, go after a better picture and, if percentage is demanded by the distributor, make sure that your contract contains provision for the total cost of the stage show and extra advertising expenditures to be deducted from the receipts before computing film settlement terms. One thing the recent court proceeding has done is to make the distributor representatives more amenable to consideration of deals of this kind. Avoid percentage arrangements when you have stage shows if at all possible but if you happen to be committed to exhibition time for some "cluck" on a percentage basis the stage show may be a genuine blessing. Of course you'll be raising the price if you go for the combo shows and a percentage picture on the same program offers the possibility of plenty of extra "manna" to the distributor. Maybe you won't be able to get away with this one but it's well worth trying. Out in California the Spanish picture distribs are going for deals on combined stage and screen shows where they participate in revenue on a basis of prices charged for film only and the exhibitor uses the extra "take" to cover the cost of the stage attraction. You'll have to figure for yourself whether the arrangement is better than the "first money" basis as far as your house is concerned. Before I go hunting for that guy Morpheus I'd like to remind that this is a swell time to make a concerted drive for extra attendance by the mail route. Look over the society columns and see who is holding parties and then drop them a line enclosing a few tickets to be distributed to their guests. Try the same gag on union meetings with the tickets going as door prizes to stimulate attendance. Kid^s Program Gets Major Radio Show to Aid Safety Since Saturday morning shows have attained such great popularity, more and more ways have been discovered to increase their scope. For instance, getting the kids together has been found to offer real opportunity to put some ideas over on them that they will take in this form, whereas Dad's moralizing only gives them a pain in the neck. They'll take anything if it's sugar-coated. "Be careful crossing the street," says mama or papa, and junior takes it in stride. But when the lesson is put over via a show it's altogether different. This and other sugar-coated lessons — all designed to help both the children and the community at the same time — are the basis for an unusual civic development unlimbered by Warren Faust when he recently was manager of the Fox Theatre, Phoenix, Ariz. In Phoenix the Sears Roebuck Company was sponsoring a weekly radio program called the Safety Rangers, which featured cowboy music and western atmosphere, carrying a master of ceremonies, a half dozen singers and a 12-piece band. The program was almost entirely music, interspersed here and there with little spiels on the subject of safety. Faust got to work and induced Sears to broadcast this program from his theatre instead of the studio every Saturday morning, thus making it part of his program. This move resulted in crowded houses and iht kids got a great show besides the usual pictures, and — important for Faust — the theatre got credit for doing its share in promoting the local safety campaign. Periodically check all structural supports and wall fasteners for corrosion and loose joints. Do not permit bent or loose handrails or bent steps. Keep fire escapes and their structural supports and wall fasteners rust-free and well painted at all times. SIGNS AND MARQUEES Need for expensive repairs in vertical signs and marquees can often be traced to poor maintenance. Be sure all struts, hanger rods, turnbuckles and holding bolts are kept free from rust. Check turnbuckles with a wrench to be sure that all hanger rods are under tension and that each is therefore carrying its proper part of the load. Keep the marquee roof clean and all drains open. Carefully remove snow accumulation so it will not be overloaded. Do not use it as a storage space and never install heavy displays there. Don't puncture the marquee roof. Keep interior and exterior of marquee sign boxes as clean as possible; a clean interior is less likely to be seriously damaged if a leak develops. Pay special attention to marquee roof flashing leaks, as in all roof maintenance. Paint as often as necessary. Have all marquee leaks fixed immediately; to wait invites serious damage and expensive repairs. DOORS Proper maintenance of door edges is the key to door maintenance. Keep the edges well painted. Use a small mirror to check the bottom edges. Swelling of wood doors is caused entirely by absorption of moisture. Keep all wood surfaces well protected against moisture by proper painting. If doors become loose at glued joints do not use metal straps but re-glue, inserting wood dowels. Poorly maintained door closers have ruined as many doors as any other one thing. Keep them tight. When inspecting doors, be sure to check the tightness of hinge connections both on the doors and on. the frames. WINDOWS Inspect wooden frames and sashes for any surface failure (including failure around the edges) which will allow absorption of moisture. Check for loose putty around window frames. Inspect steel frames and sashes for rust. Check both types for looseness. Repaint defective wooden surfaces and replace all loose putty. Repaint rusted steel surfaces, making sure rust is wire-brushed or otherwise removed before painting. Weatherstrip and caulk if loose fitting can materially affect the heating or cooling load. FIXTURE SUSPENSIONS Some large electrical fixtures are so located that they cannot be relamped or cleaned without lowering them to the floor, for which either a rope or winch may be used. In either case carefully and frequently inspect every piece of equipment involved and keep it in safe working condition; when the fixture is in place carefully check the position of the holding equipment, making absolutely certain that it cannot under any circumstances allow the fixture to fall. Stationary light fixtures also should be regularly and carefully inspected to make sure they are still properly and safely fastened, altogether against possibility of any accident. (All of the foregoing comprises verbatim quotation or paraphrase of a chapter in the book issued to members of classes in the School of Maintenance of Wilby-Kincey Theatres circuit. The book was made available to Showmen's Trade Review for such quotation by the company, which is headed by R. B. Wilby and H. F. Kincey, and is recognized as one of the most progressive and efficiently operated circuits in the United States. The book, according to Mr. Wilby, was prepared not as a manual, but merely to serve members of the classes {which are conducted for managers of the circuit) as a notebook to rpare those attending the classes the effort of making their own notes during the talks and demonstrations.)