Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1947)

Variety Clubs Raise $207,214 Via Variety CitV Benefits 10 (Sec Photos on Page 22) Smooth showmanship and coordinated teamwork between Paramount and the Variety Clubs International served to sell a total of 47,192 seats to the special benefit showings of "Variety Girl" in 23 cities and to raise a total of $207,214 which went to the charitable work carried on by the Tents in whose territory the special premieres were held. This became known recently as Variety Clubs International Chief Barker R. J. O'Donnell and Big Boss John H. Harris made public the results of the premieres which were held in each instance before the regular run of "Variety Girl." Both O'Donnell and Harris' were warm in their praise of Paramount, its General Sales Manager Charles Reagan, its field exploitation staf¥, and the assistance given the movement by the press, radio, merchants of the 23 specialshowing cities. It was also revealed that the idea of giving these special benefits was developed by O'Donnell and Reagan. Planned Last May The plans were formally announced at the Variety convention in Los Angeles last May when Reagan told the delegates that Paramount would give "Variety Girl" free for a special showing to whatever Variety Tent wanted it. This announcement was followed by an arrangement whereby the theatres in which the benefits were held gave their house absolutely free while labor and performers donated their services. Immediately after the Reagan announcement, O'Donnell and Harris put Bill McCraw, executive director of the Variety Clubs International, on the road to whip up enthusiasm in the local tents. Following up on McCraw came the Variety publicity office in New York. As a result, a coordinated pre-selling campaign which functioned independently in each one of the premiere cities, was evolved with results which will probably make it an all-time record holder for penetration on benefits. A spot check of several scattered cities shows : Dallas — One of the largest newspaper and general promotion campaigns put behind any picture was handled by Tent 17 for the Majestic Theatre premiere. The Tent not only got in behind the movement wholeheartedly, but editors, vaudeville performers, night club entertainers, exhibitors, tied in with a three-week advance campaign which went for ballyhoo in a big way. Some of the stunts used were a calliope playing in front of the theatre. Newspapers ran seven different pieces of art and more than 65 inches of free space, which was complemented by a series of newspaper ads designed and paid for by the Tent. Los Angeles — Tent 25 packed 3,000 into the Paramount at $15 top. The take was $20,000 or better with the committee headed by Charles Skouras doing a bang-up job. Pete Latisch of Fox West Coast publicity handled the newspapers, getting breaks in all five dailies for a three-week advance period which totaled over 2,000 inches of free space and some 40 art studies. All first-run theatres carried underline slugs in their daily ads announcing "Variety Girl" and 75 Los Angeles Theatres gave the event trailer space. Twenty-seven radio disc jockeys gave the event a mention in addition to 600 spots in three weeks. Other stunts included announcements at football games, 75 24-sheets blanketing the town, 400 six-sheets and 500 window cards, plus drug and department store tieups. Charlotte, N. C. — Five hundred jumbo window cards were up two weeks in advance, backing up a four-frame trailer run by all Charlotte theatres. Dick Pitts gave 15 minutes of his WBT radio program to the premiere, using material furnished by Publicist Everett Olsen. All public gatherings featured an announcement of the event and newspapers devoted 164 inches of free spaces to it. Albany — ^The Times and the Knickerbocker Nezvs together gave approximately five columns of space and 2 two-column photos. 'Escape Me Never' In Magazine Tieup Ida Lupino, who will be seen shortly in Warner's "Escape Me Never," is being featured in full-page national magazine advertising under a tieup set by Warner Bros, with Margate Blouse & Sportswear, Inc. First ads appear in the October issues of Charm, Glamour and Mademoiselle. The Margate firm also is distributing several thousand display cards to dealers for use in window and counter layouts, which can be tied in with local playdates of the picture. CITY HALL HARVEST. Two Loew farmerettes, Lorraine Ferrence and Ceil (that's the way it's spelled here) Bercaw, delivered the colorful invitation (shown above) to Loew's Harvest of Hits to Hon. Vincent Impellitteri, president of the City Council in New York. Same stunt in almost any community would most likely crash the local newspaper, so why not try it? SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 18, 1947 Stars, Executives to See ^Body and SouK Premiere World premiere of Enterprise's "Body and Soul" at the Globe Theatre, New York, in November, will be a gala affair, with John Garfield, star of the film, and Hazel Brooks, Director Robert Rossen, and Lilli Palmer scheduled to be present for the opening-night performance. Charles Einfeld, Enterprise president^ and Bob Taplinger are also expected to be on hand. Johnny Green, composer of the title song, has been set for a series of guest radio appearances, and New York disc jockeys have been alerted with platter tieups of the song. Special showings were held for sportswriters, in New York for the World Series, and further publicity has accrued as a result of the controversy stirred up by the Boxing Managers Guild which protested the picture as unfair. The recent fine on the 20th Century Sporting Club and the censuring of Madison Square Garden, which also protested the film, is also serving to give "Body and Soul" a big sendoff. Extensive ad and promotion campaign keynoted by the line, "Everybody is sold on 'Body and Soul'," is getting under way in New York and will be followed by similar campaigns in key cities where the film opens following the initial Manhattan showing. WB-Scholasfiic Magazines In $500 'Father' Contest Warner Bros, and Scholastic Magazines have embarked on a "Life With Father" essay contest which will return $500 in cash awards to the best compositions submitted by students comparing the American scene as portrayed in the Warner picture with conditions as they are today. Contestants must first have seen "Life With Father" and then include in their essays a comparison of conditions in the film with those today in the home, transportation, dress, business, fashions, etc. Rules of the contest, now under way and to run to Dec. 15, are receiving extensive distribution through school papers throughout the country. Winners will be announced in the Jan. 19. 1948 issue of Scholastic Magazines. U-I Buys Air Show Marking the first leading radio property ever acquired by that company^ Universal-International announced this week the purchase of "Life of Riley," top-bracket air show which Irving Brecher, its originator, will write and produce for the screen. Both U-I and Brecher indicated that William Bendix, who has portrayed Riley since the program's inception four years ago, would be their combined first choice for the title role. Search for Widow The widow with the most children was being sought via radio this week as the result of a tieup between Universal-International and the CBS "Houseparty" show, in plugs for the .\bbott and Costello starrer, "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap." Winner will receive a cash prize.