Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 8, 1949 11 Selling the Picture News and Ideas Concerning Profitable Advertising, PviblicitY and Exploitation Merchants, 4-II Help Karp Sell ^Green Promise^ Manager Harry Karp of the Temple Theatre, Viroqua, Wis., is mighty proud of a letter he received recently. "I want to add my congratulations to the many I know you must have received," the letter read, in part, "for your very complete and showmanly handling of 'The Green Promise.' . . . [it is] an example of a complete and intelligent handling of a picture with specialized appeal." The congratulatory message came from RKO Radio's Director of Advertising, S. Barret McCormick, as the result of the fine campaign engineered by Karp on "The Green Promise." Karp began his activities one month in advance of the film's showmg. At that time he held a private screening for 4-H Club leaders in Vernon County. From then on, things were humming. Following conferences with the 4-H leaders, county agent, assistant county agent, home maker and leading merchants, it was decided to make the campaign a 4-H tribute to Vernon County 4-H Clubs. The merchants tied-in solidly. All in all, there were 10 windows devoted to 4-H Club work and advertising the picture. Five-hundred postcards were sent to Vernon County 4-H Club members. Karp was invited to attend the 4-H Club picnic a few days before the film was scheduled to open! "I was introduced to the entire crowd," he reports, "and was given as much time as I wanted to speak to them over their p. a. system on the picture, which I took full advantage of." One-sheets were posted in store windows in both Viroqua and surrounding communities. Double-truck layouts promoted from the merchants appeared in the two local newspapers, and these newspapers were distributed house-to(Continued on Page 14) 53 Openings Set for 'Intruder in the Dust' MGM has set 50 openings in Mississippi on "Intruder in the Dust" for this month and three for Tennessee. Starting with the world premiere of the picture at Oxford, Miss., which will be attended by Claude Jarman, Jr. and Elizabeth Patterson, appearing in the film, and Clarence Brown, producer-director, subsequent openings will follow in Memphis and Nashville, Tenn. ; then Columbus, Tupelo, West Point, and Starkville. Miss. ; and then Jacksonville, Tenn. After Jacksonville, the balance of the openings will be in 45 Mississippi cities and towns. Bogart Tours Neighborhood On Behalf of 'Tokyo Joe' ^Humphrey Bogart made a series of personal appearances at 10 Loew neighborhood theatres in New York on Wednesday and Thursday evenings in behalf of his latest Santana starring production, "Tokyo Joe." The Columbia film will open in mid-^Ottober at the Capitol Theatre. Wide Awake Krolick No one has e*er accused Arthur Krolick of the Buffalo Paramount of sleeping on the job. For the showing of "I was a Male War Bride," he put the house on a 24-hour basis and advertised that those who came in around 4 A.M. thinking they could take a nap were in for a disappointment for "the laughs of other patrons will keep them awake." Stunt pulled in extra business. Lipton Calls Meet OnFilmCampaigns Promotional campaigns for forthcoming Universal-International releases during the November to February period, will be set at a series of meetings at the studio called by David A. Lipton, U-I's national advertising and publicity director. Studio, home oflfice and field representatives will attend the meetings and screenings starting October 8. Present for the conferences will be Al Horwits, studio publicity director ; Archie Herzoff, studio advertising manager ; Henry A. "Hank" Linet, eastern advertising manager ; Charles Simonelli, executive in charge of national exploitation ; Phil Gerard, eastern publicity manager ; Ben Katz, mid-west field representative with headquarters in Chicago, and Cliff Brown, west coast field representative. Screenings of "Francis," "Free For All," "Woman in Hiding," "East of Java," "Bagdad," "The Story of Molly X" and "Ma & Pa Kettle Go to Town" will be held at the studio. Paramount People Contact 1,200,000 During P. A.Tours With Gloria Swanson the latest to "hit the road" on a six-week nationwide tour for "The Heiress," during which she will meet with newspaper editors, civic groups, service organizations and university and educational groups, appearances in a period spanning the past 30 days and the next 60 will bring iParamount studio personalities into contact with an estimated 1,200,000 people, the studio revealed late last week. Additionally, loca^l press and radio interviews are expected to bring the travelers into contact with an estimated 50 million more. Several top-bracket personalities are included, acting as "ambassadors of goodwill" on behalf of many forthcoming and current releases. Producer-Director William Wyler, in New York for the world premiere of "The Heiress" at Radio City Music Hall this week, has been meeting with the press and radio people and area exhibitors. Marie Wilson has just completed a 35,000mile tour during which she has been exploiting "My Friend Irma." She has covered 11 cities. Corinne Calvet has been "meeting the people" in major U. S. and Canadian cities and telling them about "Rope of Sand," in which she debuts. Bob Hope, who recently returned from Michigan appearances, takes off soon for another swing of a half dozen major U. S. and Canadian cities, during which "The Great Lover" and "Fancy Pants" will be exploited. Henry Wilcoxon has passed the halfway mark {Continued on Page 13) CALLS FOR CELEBRATION. Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" last week completed one year's continuous run at the Park Avenue Theatre, New York, so Universal-International officials thought it proper to do a little celebrating. At the theatre (left above) a huge birthday cake is cut by Miss Marion Hopkinsons-Hopkins — who has seen the picture 24 times as a paying patron — assisted by U-I Vice-President John J. O'Connor. At right, closeup at the speaker's table during a luncheon of U-I officials hosted for the press at 21 Club, as President Nate J. Blumberg accepts on behalf of J. Arthur Rank a scroll awarded for "Hamlet" by New York University's Washington Square College of Arts and Bciences, with Dean Thomas Clark Pollock making the presentation.