Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

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16 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 1, 1949 Sellinff the Picture News and Ideas Concerning Profitable Advertising. Publicity and Exploitation U-I Rouses Explorer^s Spirit To Beat Drums for ^Columbus^ History, Exploits and Day Honoring Discoverer Furnish Surefire Exploitation Angles In his day Christopher Columbus was quite a guy. He could swing a mean hand on a loom to weave a snazzy, if conservative, piece of cloth. He could prove that old one about the square of the hypotenuse in the best geometric tradition of Euclid. He could name the stars in the sky and had a wacky idea about the world being round like a cook's belly instead of flat like a statesman's head. He could draw maps complete even to the dolphins breaking water in their far corners. He could find his way through front and back doors of at least two courts of Europe and could out-intrigue some of the best of the courtiers. He could sail a ship and— incidentally— discovered America when he was looking for another place. But if anyone had told him that he would figuratively rise from his grave some four and a half centuries later to become the spirit press agent of a motion picture, he would probably have remarked in grammatical Castilian marred by Genoese accents : "Chris? No!" Anyway, that's what he's doing right now. For by happy coincidence, his history and exploits, plus the fact that the United States recognizes Columbus Day as a legal holiday each Oct. 12, provide a relatively surefire exploitation program for a picture in Technicolor known as "Christopher Columbus." And you can bet that the strategists who plot and plan campaigns to sell Universal-International product were not going to overlook the fact that they had a picture about Columbus HORSE SHOULD KNOW. The best judge of pictures about horses, decided Manager H. Mellor of the Blackpool Theatre, Blackpool, England, is a horse. So he invited a local horse to attend a special screening of Columbia's "The Return of October" (retitled "Date With Destiny" in England). Naturally, the newspapers devoted front-page stories to the stunt and there was a rush to the boxoffice (folks, not horses) when the picture opened a few days later. and that most of the United States takes a holiday on the day known as Columbus Day. So out they started with plans to put the film over, making C-Day — Columbus Day — the DDay for theatres in some 75 or 80 towns whose premieres will be followed by additional openings in a total of 100 cities during the period starting Oct. 13. Only the Beginning But that's only the beginning. The erudite gentlemen who exploit pictures for Universal went for their history books. It seems that Columbus, a weary fleet commander who was faced with water shortage, bad weather and mutinous crews, must have been a happy man when he sighted land; so happy in fact that in a fit of pious gratitude he called the first island in America San Salvador — the Savior. Less pious succeeding generations, according to the doctors of philosophy in Universal's Park Avenue offices, changed the Island's name to Watling Island. But did this stump Universal? No. They per■suaded the post office at Watling Island to issue a special San Salvador Stamp. Then they made up packets of a highly decorated script letter in Spanish which is the exact letter Columbus sent back to Ferdinand and Isabella about his discovery. This packet is being sent to editors and critics in all the key cities where the film will break Columbus Day. As it -is written in Spanish, it is assumed that the newspapermen getting it will either be as erudite as the publicity men at Universal, or that they will be intrigued and hire an interpreter. Anyway, for one mailing, the historic name of San Salvador is back on the map. Putting 1 1 Men in Field l hen to keep the drums beating long and loud about the picture, Universal is putting 11 men into the field. Eight of the men have been hired especially for "Christopher Columbus" and the entire crew is to blanket 23 cities, to work on art and school contacts and to plant the Columbus story series in newspapers. This series consists of a five-chapter serialization of the picture story, each chapter accompanied by a still, which is given one newspaper in each community. While there is nothing to accent youth in this stunt which has been tried successfully before, to date the press seems to have taken cordially to it, and U-I proudly announces that it will run in the Cleveland PlainDealer, the St. Petersburg Times, the Washington Post, the New Orleans Item, the Chicago Herald American, the New York JoimmlAmerican and the Los Angeles Herald Express. Part of the campaign leans heavily on school interest. For this purpose a visual education strip on Columbus is offered as part of the suggested campaign. Another is a "true or false" quiz on Columbus which may be held in the schools. Still another is a so-called matching contest known as the "Christopher Columbus Explorers" Contest." The idea on this one is to {Continued on Page 20) PLENTY OF STARS are on tap for patrons of Warners' California Theatre, Santa Barbara, according to this attractive advance display of forthcoming Warner Bros, pictures arranged by I.M.P.S. Member Norman W. Lofthus, manager. Belgium Dates Set On ^Battleground^ MGM will hold simultaneous premieres of "Battleground" in at least four Belgium cities and provinces the same time the picture opens at the Astor on Broadway, Nov. 11, it was learned over the weekend. There was a possibility that a fifth Belgium city would be added, but this would be contingent on the run of "The Three Musketeers." Definitely set for the day-and-date p^emiere^ are two theatres (the General Patton and the Ardennes) in Bastogne, where the famous battle depicted in "Battleground" took place. Also, the Metro in Antwerp, the Marivaux in Luxembourg and the Forum in Liege. The fifth city is Brussells, where the Cameo is slated to open with the picture on or shortly after Nov. 11, depending on the length of run for "Musketeers." There will be premiere invitational showdng.^ at both Bastogne houses, as well as at Antwerp and Luxembourg, Nov. 10, the same date as for the Astor. Producer Dore Schary and a number of members of the cast will attend the special invitational premiere at the Astor, and there will also be in attendance a host of home office executives as well as important personages in army, city and state affairs. Worth Fine to Plug 'Boundaries' Over Air With "Lost Boundaries" booked, Manager Milt Baline invited 56 clergymen to attend a special screening at Schine's Glove, Gloversville. N. Y. Rev. Schaertel, prominent among the local clergy, said he would plug the picture over the air. He also made it the subject of an address at the Kiwanis Club which usually fines members $1 for a commercial. He told the meeting it was well worth paying a $1 fine to have had the privilege of seeing such a fine picture and recommending it. A local Negro clergyman said he would mention the film in his sermon.