Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1949)

m i SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, February 5, 1949 GRIST loi the SHOWMANSHIP MILL HERE'S HOW IT'S DONE IN IRELAND. Nobody gets too excited when motion picture advertising displays are posted in various locations, for the practice has been in effect for many years. But when a theatreman uses a special angle for such displays, then there is news value. And that's just what Manager James Gribben did when he placed displays in railway stations and bus terminals in Belfast, Ireland, for the showing of Columbia's "The Jolson Story" at the Regent Theatre. Note how Gribben links the past to the present by calling attention to "The Singing Fool," which played at that showplace 20 years ago when the theatre was known as The Picture House. Present Linked With Past in Gribben 'Jolson Story' Campaign in Ireland The campaign turned in on the run of "The Jolson Story" at the Regent Theatre, Belfast, Ireland, proves once again that showmanship is as ardently believed in on the other side of the Atlantic as on this. Despite the fact that the film was not new to the city (it had played Belfast many times before), the efforts of theatre manager James Gribben resulted in a very satisfactory two-week run at his house. Back in the days when films were just beginning to talk and the Regent was known as The Picture House, "The Singing Fool" made its Belfast debut at this theatre. Gribben took advantage of the coincidence by pegging all his advertising on the line "right back where I started from" — a line from one of Al's song hits and one which was most applicable in this case. The advertising display was extensive, with six 48-sheets spotted around the city and one huge display (57 feet long by 7 feet deep) placed on Queen's Bridge, where it was seen daily by 20,000 people on passing trains and on their way to the local shipyards and aircraft plants. Other outdoor advertising included 16sheets and 6-sheets placed in railway stations, bus stops and other advantageous points around the city. In a publicity and exploitation sense the campaign was equally ingenious. During a Sunday concert, attended by more than 2,000, a Jolson imitator was given the featured spot on the bill. At the conclusion of his act Gribben arranged to have the master-of-ceremonies ask the audience if ■they wanted more Jolson. The answer to their applause, of course, .was advice to see "The Jolson Story" when it came to the Regent Theatre the following week. The same impersonator, working in the theatre for two weeks before opening, sang California Here I Come at each show break. Coming to the line "right back where I started from," the singer interrupted himself and announced that the first "Jolson" film had been seen in this theatre and that "The Jolson Story" was now booked to open in two weeks. The big gun of the campaign came with a "Jolson" contest run in conjunction with the Plaza Ballroom for two weeks prior to the opening of the picture. Each night for those two weeks, four contestants sang songs made famous by Al and the prizes were free tickets to the theatre. Plugs for the playdate were numerous both in the Hall itself and in the advertising, and an estimated 75,000 were conscious of the contest and the imminence of "The Jolson Story" at the Regent. Theatre displays and theatre treatment rounded out this well-planned campaign, with Gribben running teaser trailers for three weeks prior to opening and decorating his house most attractively. Impressive among the displays was a blowup of a telegram received from Jolson which, as Gribben points out, "excited the geatest possible interest, actually out of all proportion to its importance." RKO Showmanship Award For December Campaigns Ansel Winston and Sam Torgan have won the RKO Showmanship Awards for the month of December, it being Winston's second such citation for the year. His latest winning campaign for the RKO Coliseum in New York was on the "Canon City"-"iRaw Deal" program. Torgan, manager of RKO Keith's in Lowell, Mass., won with "Red iRiver." Each man received $25 and an RKO Showmanship certificate. Sport Page Notes Film The sports editor of the Watertown, N. Y., Times plugged the appearance of the professional football players in Columbia's "Triple Threat" with a story and mention on his three local radio programs when the film played at Schine's Olympic, managed by Irv Neuwirth. Editorial Break That rare break, a newspaper editorial, came with Ray Corcoran's help to Schine's Jefferson in Auburn, N. Y., recently. "Again a motion picture of great distinction is playing in Auburn," it said. "The emotional impact of the excellent direction by Fred Zinnemann is one that the spectator will remember long after he leaves the theatre." Headed " 'The Search' — Adult Cinema," it ran seven inches in the Citizen-Advertiser. Requests for the world premiere of MGM's "1 he Stratton Story" have come from Sherman, Texas, where Monty Stratton pitched 'in 1946; Greenville, Texas, where he now lives; Chicago, where he became a big league star with the White Sox; St. Paul and Omaha, where he also played, and Pasadena, where the White Sox hold their annual spring training. The picture is scheduled to be released early in the coming baseball season. * * * Billiard champions Willie Mosconi and James Caras, featured in MGM's Pete Smith short, "Super Cue Men," are scheduled for personal appearances in connection with the subject's world premiere in Philadelphia this month. * * * RKO Radio's This Is America short subject, "Girls in White," will be given full-page coverage in over 200 leading newspapers through King Features Syndicate. Short Subjects Sales Manager Harry J. Michalson, in a letter to the company's district and branch managers, salesmen, ofhce managers and bookers, calls attention to the news feature and points out how exhibitors can help the picture by cooperating with the American Nurses Association and the American Hospitalization Association. Universal-International has placed a special advertisement in the Casket and Sunnyside, official trade paper of the undertakers' profession, featuring Digby "Digger" O'Dell, the friendly undertaker, in the Irving Brecher production, "The Life of Riley." The character, as played by John Brown, is shown in his dignified mortician's costume holding a bunch of lilies with the copy reading, "Man alive! (if you'll pardon the expression) I just saw 'The Life of Riley,' and I'm still laughing !" Live scenes and animated caricatures of stars Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray are combined in a special trailer for UniversalInternational's "Family Honeymoon." Produced by Bob Faber, it comes free of charge and supplements the regular National Screen Service trailer. Sid Glenor's animation is based on drawings by Jacques Kapralik, cover artist for Hearst's Sunday Pictorial Rei'iew. * * * Scenes from Eagle Lion's "The Red Shoes," currently showing in New York at the Bijou Theatre, form elaborate photo displays at nine leading branches of the New York Public Library, where they will remain on view through February. The displays are at the Chatham Square, Hunt's Point, Yorkville, Riverside, St. Agnes, Hamilton Grange, Westchester Square, 125th Street and Hamilton Fish Park branches. * * ^ Alfred Palce, formerly a writer for the Bing Crosby, Suspense and Bill Stern radio shows, and film and magazine freelancer, has joined the 20th Century-Fox publicity department as radio contact. As part of Warners' campaign plans for "Kiss in the Dark," a tieup has been arranged with Volupte Compacts whereby the manufacturingcompany will run a full-page ad crediting Jane Wyman and the film, in the magazine section of the New York Times early in April. The film is scheduled for national release March 12.