Variety (Dec 1931)

Tuesday, December 8, 1931 PIC T W R E $ VARIETY 19 EXPLOITATION -:' , By Epes W, Sargent Jumbled Boards Fosters upside- down have been used to gain extra, attention, but tbe Jiimbled board seems. to be sormethlng new,: though It is de- veloped from old vaudeville acts which dat9 back SO or 40 years. Fan'chon & Marco have ah Idea out thls 'season which uses the device, each of the slrls painting a block which when assetnbled maKes > a complete picture. For outdoor use It requires 24 squares of compoboard of one-sheet size, with one sheet - of the paper pasted to each' square.. These are tacked to the .billboard, but in ir- regular order and per.-nltted to stay up tor a'day or two In .that pd'sl- tloii. before .they arte rearranged to . give the proper poster, which can be quickly done. ■ The .chances are that it will k^p ' the phone 1)usy, but thsit merely gives an opportunity for furthjer sales talk. Even a single, sheet misplaced will often bring a dozen calls; and; the board .completely jumbled will bis iaven more provoca- tive to the pepple who. love to re- . port the errors of others. ■ Only a one timer, so save it for -something big. . Paint over with waterglass (silicate of soda), to prevent a waahdown. PirateB for Corsair Most masquerade and costume parties ■ are apt to bring out more girl pirates than anything else. The ■girls, know the costume is .pic-, turesque- and shows their limbs off nicely. Many have such costumes, so it should be a comparatively simple matter to stage a pirate contest In connection With 'Corsair,' Hold It for the week of the show-. Ing, and If possible arrange with the newspaper to have a photog- rapher there, if you cannot get your local plcturje gallery to make gratis -prints ill.the hope of selling copies to the contestants themsel,ves.-Stunt should boost business and cost pnly the price of. a loving cup at the mist. Employment Several - managers' are using the odd ]obs Idea, recently mentioned, to' help the unemployed tide over, but another plan is a . theatre agency for jobs. Announced that all who desire may register free, and employers are urged to-call the theatre when needing permanent help. ■ - No great volume of work is re- ported as being obtained, but the etUnt listens well and now and then someone does get a Job through this means.. • It helps ' keep' the /theatre prominent in the community. Paper Weights Odd bits of 2x48 should be sawed into 16-lnch lengths, painted In a bright color and lettered with some house slogan for distribution to newsdealers, to be used-In holding down their newspapers.' ■ Most will welcome some tidy'weight to offset high winds, and they wIU remain on the stands at least until the end of spring. Can either be made a permanent appeal or. If considered worth the trouble, painted lip for purrent at- tractions, two seta being' used. Helping the Patron .TVIth a national magazine run- ning a sliced portrait contest, man- agers are bothered with innumer- able requests for identification.' To btisv men this Is a.time eater, and- to refuse to assist Is perhaps only natural, but It Is not going to. help business. In similar contests man- agers have earned a lot of ill will through gruft refusals. {The other extreme seems to be pisting the identifications in the lolbby as soon as each issue appears. This has been tried, but It robs the stunt of that suggestion of intimate assistance which carries the grreat- est value. . iThe best stunt so far reported i^ a manager who designates .one of the girl ushers as an Informa- tion bureau. Help Is not volun- teered, but wh?n asked . for, any house employee: refers thd- patron to the designated'usher. The pa- tron-then goes away feeling that here Is real help. It may seem tomniyrot to the manager, but it Is so Important to the contestant. A lady Painter ■A. C. Raleigh, whose death was reported from Seattle, was one of the pioneer hustlers and one of the first to develop the use of flasher buttons for lobby displays. Ho used them ' to back revolver shots, to wink eyes and to suggest a; man puffing on a dgrar or cigarette, and this In a day when efCects were more seldom used than - now. Perhaps Raleigh's most unique stunt was pulled when he was run* ning a theatre in Butte. He wanted to work the Woman sigh painter stunt nnd was unable to find a girl who possessed both the nerve and the nbllity to fill In a pign. He got Publiz Toylaiid . .Through an arrangement with Lord ;& Taylor, New York department 'btore, the Eliza- bethan Room of the Para- mduht theatre will be given over to Xi. & T. for a Xmaa '' toyland show. ' In addltfoh to . the diaplay, L. & T. will fur- ■' nlsh inatructors on backgam- ' mon and bridge, . Starts Friday" (11) and runs until Christmas. a blonde wig, had a pair of red vel- vet bloomera,' made- from an old drape, and did the Job himself. .Aa his make-up could not stand a very close - inspection,' he had hiniself lowered from the roof instead of going up a ladder, but he put the idea over for. big business. Mystery H. C. Competent: directors = of kiddle clubs are,, or can be made, a vital aaset. Generally the preaa agent, the manager, organizer or aome Other houae worker comea out to Jazz thinga up,' but one club ia makr Ing a cleanup with a mystery char- acter; a person who Is seen' only during the club sessions and who Is supposed to vanish OS soon as the meeting is concluded. So great is the Interest he arouses that children have been known to wait two or three hours at. the .stage door, hoping to catch him as he makes his exit. The mystery character really Is the house aign writer. He uses a clown make-up, and', the youngsters are fascinated by the mystery angle, with the result that he can keep thing's going at top speed with half the efCort- required from the straight. m. c. or organlat. Play for Photographers If you have 'Over the HIU' make a special drive on. the photography with appeals to both still and 16mm. amateurs. They are interested in good photographic work, and they will enjoy the many unusual efCects in this picture. Appeal ought to be'particularly directed to the v motion photog- raphers, who are usually more In- terested'in Indoor lighting. " 'Work through the camera clubs, if any, and through kodak dealers and agents for developing concerns. Posted Newspapers Several' .small' town houses are using a 'newspaper' of which only one copy Is produced. This takes the form of a. bulletin board In the mezzanine. It consists of local news, gossip, and wisecracks about- the coming shows.' No advertising permitted for other than the houae, but. local mer- chants are given mention' of bar- .galn ^ales on the grounds.that this Information is news to the women patrons. Only stipulation is that the' theatre shall be given - the item In advance of circular work. As the local paper is Issued but once a week, this Is a convenience- both to the merchants and their - women. patrons. Looking for Pointers Midwest theatre has writing desks In both lounges and on the mez- zanine floor. On each there Is a small box with' a slot and above It a framed sign, which reads^ 'The management' will appreciate any suggestions or criticism from the patrons—particularly suggestions.. ' One patron suggested an Idea which has netted the theatre, sev- eral hundred dollars and Is still working. Where a name and address are added, a personal' letter of thanks or explanation is sent, and a pass Is added if the suggestion Is of real . value. One Good Tom, Etc. Chicago. Making use of a real estate be- longing to a new theatre liot to be opened until Christmas Day,' Dave LIpton, of B.. & K., secured the thankful co-bperatlpn and aid of the entire neighborhood commer- cial field. Adjacent to the new South town, theatre la a lot to hold 1,000 cars for Its patrons. Neighborhood mer- chants were howling for parking apace to hold the holiday shopping crowds. By a tie-up B. & K. gave the merchants the use of the lot free, but asked merchants to in- form the public. Result Is that copy of all stores carries the Information of free parking, naming the theatre, loca- tion and opening day. 'Window cards, pluggers, stickers, wrapping papeirs- and store circulars carry the offer of free parking space besides the plug for the new.theatre. All paid for by the merchants. After the Holidays . It Is. not a simple matter to sell entertainment at any tlme .Juat now. and It is going to be more difHcult right after the holidays, when every one has been haying a pretty good time and feels. alighUy- fed up. Keep your perdutksive linea and. bright Ideaa' for the post-holiday season, wheii you will-need them tno're than during the celebration itself. The weeks just before the holldaya may be tough,' but they are apt to t>e tougher for the couple of weeka following, with - the bills coming In and a lot of annual or aeml-annual payments to be made. Most theatregoers are. not In a mood to respond to appeals with serioua drama, so make your ap- peals sprightly and . hiimoroua, nol matter what your style of perforiit- ance. Makia them laugh a little aiid they may.come down in the hope of -meeting another chuckle. Varying a Contest If the drawing conteat has been overworked, try it oiit along a new line. Offer the prizea for the best drawing of an aninuti or bird with real fur or feathers. Hake up an ex- ample or two, pasting 'fur on to the body and drawing in the head of the cat, dog or whaitever animal may. be aelected, and give the children plenty of time on the Job. Some really Interesting effects can be ob- tained and theae can be used as the basis of show window displays, after they have served their original purpose. In this or any similar contest, try and get the art .teacher of the near- est school to act as Judge. It not only will relieve you of the neces- sity for making: a decision, but - It win ensure a larger entry list. Three at Once Baltimore.' . Running three contests alihul- taneojusly for the same string of houses takes a bit of doing, but It was done by Arnold Stoltz, Loew's local director of publicity. He tied the 'News' to the Cen- tury for a daiice contest for men. Entrants were .tried out at. an elim- ination contest at the Liord Baltir more hotel, Chester Hale girls serv- ing as their partners. The 10 best were selected to dance with Miss White on the stage, and the winner liOs Angeles. Two more suburban houses have added one day a week of vaude. Fox, Santa Barbara, takes Ave acts from - Fanchon & Mairco Sundays and 'Warners, Whittler, takes a like amount In Sundays from the Bert LeVey office. Reading, Pa. Old Laurel Street theatre (films), condemned and closed, turned into an athletic hall. San Francisco. Dec; 16 opening for Fox Para- mount, Oakland. House may get F. St M. units; San Francisco. Morgan '^''alsh has tak en the T. & D., Oakland, from FWC, 0|>enlng It Chrlsmas as 20c. grind. House dark for 10 months. Ft. Dodge, la. Jess Day Is manager of the Rlalto, succeeding J. C. Collins. Latter will have charge of the three Central States properties here. Denver. Foreclosure of $70,i>00 mortgage on RIvoII, owned by Aromor Invest- ment Co.; granted In court on appli- cation of Mary Clarke Steele, holdei- of the note. Sale of- the property ordered by the Judge. Rube Milton has a. 10-year lease on the theatre. He was In vaudeville as a performer some years ago. 'VV. B. Cook has sold the opera house at Dawson to Phelp's-Dodgo Corp. The Moon at Berthoud and the Pueblo, Pueblo,' closed. Otto G. Brown, owner of the Moon, is re- opening the Loveland at Loveland. R. E. Pracht buys Grand at Flag- ler from B. S. Henen and Orln Mil- burn. Providence. Capt. Jacob Conn contemplatr>H downtown theatre. Will seat 3,500. New Torlc. Three of five cash prizes awarded by Metro for the best campaigns on 'Politics' have gone to Publlx man- agers. First prize, $50, was won by John F, Maloy, of the State, Al- toona. Pa„ WB manager. . Fubllx trio includes Morri.s Rosenthal, Capitol. Wilkes Barre. Pa., now ht the 'Vli'tory. IColyoke. Gossip. Sheet as Plug Dallas, Dec, 7, : The average Texas small towner sells hlS product with one .sheeit and stills sent by the exchange,. seldom bother- ing -ivitli tricks'of exploitation. But, at that,: once in. awhile, one of |em blossoms forth. There's the femnie. exhib at . Electi-o, Mrs. Martha Mc- ' Spadden, who has .'started a house orgr.n in the form of gossip rag titled 'The Town Tatler.r With. th6 editor in- cognito, sheet-gets oft'a lot of . razzes and-'lowdown on the burgers, at the same, time serving as a flrist class plug for coming nnd current plots. ' Merchants are taking Space In the 'Tatler,'' making It self- supporting -with ihebbe a dol- lar-or two for the bankroll besides. was announced, at a dinner at the sameliotel the following night. The Century also was hooked to a classi- fied ad contest with 10 questions dally in- the special aavertlsement for 'His Woman' with the answers in the classifieds. Neatest replies drew a pair of seats apiece with 30 singles'for consolations. The Stanley offered 25 singles a day to the children making the best copies of a 'Popeye' cartoon In the •Times'. Hooked Into 'TlVe Champ,' the current attraction. The -relationship between Hearst and . the Metro interests' probably helped, but it was a good sized Job. Joe Brown Tell Contest Pittsburgh. Warner Brothers- preceded the showing, of Jde Brown's '£>ocaI Boy" with a yell .contest In all WB nabe sites. Upon his return to the Coast recently Brown made a trailer giv- ing details of the competition and announcing $60 to the winner. Finalists were picked in all the naborhood houses,' who appeared at the Stanley the ' day 'X^cal Boy' opened. House did $400 over the regular biz evening of the flnals. ' Mass.; James H., of the McKoy, Olympla, Miami and S. S. Solomon, nt the Paramount, Youngstowh, O.. Lbs Angeles. Fox-West Coast has switched Spencer Leve from the closed Car- thay Circle, to the Fox Flgueroa, replacing Murray Pennoclc, no longer with the circuit. Fox • theatre. Billings, Mo., re- opened. Odgensburg, N. T. Fli-e Sunday (29) damaged Hip- podrome here to $20,000. House. -wlU be rebuilt. Bronx, N. T. C. Herman Starr back in Bronx at Skoui-as' Park Plaza. New Bedford, Mass. Peter J. Leve.sque, manager of E. M. Loew's Strand, transferred to ^Fltehburg for the Universal and Majestic. Succeeded here by Thomas Whalen, formerly, a per- former. Russell Lnmb has piirchOAPd the Gran.iaa,-Mount Morris, III., frbtn B, A. I.ucas, , . Grand Rapids Mich. Walter J. Norris, manager of local RfvO Regent, goea to' RICO Doivntown, Detroit. Ed Cannelly, Downtown manager, comes .here. Hamilton, O. Par.amount district ofHce here, ha.-' folded, II. L. Davidson going to Detroit for-assignment. Bill Mayer, .secretary to - Davidson, shifts to South Bend, Ind./ at the Colfax; San Francisco.' Local Film Board of Trade re- ports Glade theatre, Lindsay, Cal., from T. & D., Jr., to J. L. Seller. Plaza. Ileald.shurg, long closed, rtioperied by L. Klllingsworlh. .Seattle. How.ird Wliltc, n6w maiiiiger of Paramount (Fox) surceedliig Tom Olsen. Latter in ofllce of Bob Ben- der, divl.slon mgr. "iVhite recently m;iintonance and purclia.ving rep for Fox West Coast In nortliwr-st. AVIIIhim Fitzhenr.". former hou.sf- ni«r. for FrWC in Vanr-ouvfr. Wash., apDCilnted horlhwesl dl^'i- ' (■•"onthiMeil on pa(;p 47) I Why It's a lottery Someone writes in to ask Avliy it IS that a N.' T. State court recently decided that a drawing for a prizo was a lottery- if the holder of the ticket had to be in the house whllo the di-awlng itself was apparently regarded as legal; This Is a point in'the. a'nti-Iottery law which provides that a lottery consists of a- prize and allotment by chance on tlcketa for which a con- sideration has been paid. The three elements must exist to constitute a lottery. .If It is required that a -winner must be in the house when the prize Is drawn; It Is held that he is there for the purpose of obtaining the prize and not merely to see the show. The law points to the stand- ing room business and aska if that is the normal .patronage. . If. it is not, then the excess are presumed to be there In the hope of winning a prize. In Minnesota . It has even been held that to require the presence of the ticket holder constituted a lot- tery even If no admission fee la charged, it being held that atten- dance constituted the consideration. For a Dark Honse - Comes too late for use thia sea^ son, but . worth remembering ne.xt year by city managers for circuits which have dark liouses. .'forked this year In a town where one house was closed to reduce the overseatlng and was started on the World Series and continued tor the football pe- riod. • : City manager announced In -his houses and via newspapers that the Idle house would be opened free of charge to receive the reports. House sound systiem had been sealed, but It'was a simple matter to borrow an amplifier from -a radio shop, and tap air reports of the games. Oh the baseball 'events and most of. the football periods, the house was capacity. Comment of patrons at the boxofllce at the other theatres Indicated that they appre- ciated the courtesy. Stunt paid for Its.elf through the use of an adver- tising curtain, side wall advertising and the sale of a concession for soft drinks. - Ushers were detailed from the open. houses, so the staff cost nothing. Chatterton 'Good SpeeohV Contest . - Dallas.-' As-a forerunner for future Chiit- terton bookings, the - Publix-Paiace la appealing to native highbrows with a better speech contest Fig- ure the star's punctual elocution has moat of its boxofflce value -with that type. . • Gag haa heavy sUpport from John Roaenfleld,.,'News' scribbler, mouth- piece 'for the local upper cruat. Actress is supposedly in on it with a irophy, 'the 'Ruth Chatterton Award for Good Speech.' Most.of the work is done by a' femme com- mittee, headed by prominent society women. Sort of stuff that sets solid with club women eager to crash print. The school angle hasn't . been touched, so. far. Medical Aid United Artists Is after an element of support out of the ordinary for 'Arrowsmlth.' Firm Is going, to con- siderable lengths to Interest doc- tors, pharmacists, et<!., due to the nature of the film. For the first time, representatives of every hospital In New York wer* Invited to the opening. Advice on Lore Los Angeles. Free advice to the lovelorn was undertaken by Jack Proctor, pub. for the United 'Artists theatre, on 'Age for- Love.' Proctor -Installed Madame Wanda, local psychic,. on the mezzanine to give ear to all.the plaints without charge, and the girls flocked. Essaying Newsreels Whenever the live wire exhibitor gets a picture based on a story clas- sic, he Is pretty apt to hop over to the school and contact the teachers on an essay story about either the. book or the author. Most managers can get that Idea without being told. But ev^ery week the manager over-, looks the newsreel and disregards it as a drawing card, Schools close for the holidays, so contact teachers with the offer of passes each week as prizes for the host essays on any current. news topic derived from the newsreel. Snow Cards Xo'.Vs tlic time to get a couple ot biindle.x of lath and have someone' sharpen one end. Make up cards u'ltii institutional copy and taicU tli< III on. Then you are all ready to .Klick into .snow piles the first tlm« (liero Ik u lieuvy fall, and SO or 10* (Conllnucd on page 47) , BEHIND tte KEYS