Variety (March 1933)

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Tuesday, March 28, 1933 PICTURES VARIETY 17 EXPLOITATION By Epes W. Sargent Get the Eggs Kaster will be here pretty soon and thtit means eger hunts for the children and fashion shows for the women. With the depression it might be better to cut down to a millinery show. Last year one the- atre made a lot of friends and some money by Installing a woman from a department store In a corner of tha mezzanine. She had all of the requirements of her trade and she was on duty afternoon and evening 'Showing women how to furbish up their old lids. With the present pan- cake styles there may not be much that can be done, bilt It's a good gesture. Store gets the advertise- ment and the sale of some trlm- mlnr's. ^ ^ I'u The egg stunt seems to be the more Important and with eggs as cheap as they are now, it should be possible to get a larger supply than usual. Some theatres have run the eggs into the four figure mark and found it paid, but maybe not this year. Still something should be done to give the youngsters a run, with a park or some open place se- lected for the hunt if there Is one not too far from the theatre. Rabbits and baby chicks for the lobby and show windows will help and a flower matinee to get blooms and plants for the churches is al- wavs in order. Last year's stunts are still good. Look up the scrap book if you have one. If not, start one with the stunts presently re- ported. But don't ,let the depres- sion lick you. Have something for Easter even If you don't get a new hat. New Jig Gag Hartford. Louis Schaefer gets credit for a good one taking advantage of the present jig-saw puzzle craze.. With .'Pick-Up' booked in, Schaefer se- cured a^one sheet on the flim,, had his art studio create a really splen- did interlocking jig-saw of the poster, and on a huge table in the lobby the public is invited to play. Twenty-four pieces He about and the person solving the problem in five minutes is handed a pair of passes. It Is surprising to see the numbers that hang about attempt- ing to solve the problem which is made interesting enough to keep up attention and not hard enough to bore. Sam Maurice burst through with another scoop on what has long been banned In Hartford when he secured permission of the offlclals to permit a parade through the city streets with the performers in Fan- chon-Marco Georgia Minstrels tak- ing part. The dally feature is caus- ing considerable comment and drawing business. Throwaway Bepeats Now and then some house proflts through the adoption of a standard form of throwaway, but in general It Is better to vary the appeal as to size, color and format. For example, one house with a look-in on one of the telegraph comp^niea, runs pretty much to fake wires to advertise lead pic- tures, figuring there's a saving on the paper stock. Saving there Is probably offset by the too-close is- sues, recipients figuring it's the eame old thing and throwing it down unread. One careful manager alternates white and colored stock and never uses the same size sh^et two weeks In succession. It's a cheap and not always'highly profitable form of ex- ploitation, but he wants to make what he can out of it by changing pace. No time to be getting into a rut on any sales endeavor. offer being one run In a Chicago dally for a suburban house. The copy ran, 'Anything that's fair ac- cepted for admission,' and it took four-flfths of the five-line space. One family house passed the five member^ of one household on the washboUer iSaturday night and loaned it back Monday morning so the "wash could be gotten out. That's co-operation. Flayed a Fig Ben M. Cohen used a large hog to bally 'State Fair,' porker being led around town by a rube peram- bulator who kept urging Blueboy to "hurry up. Pig seemed to like the busy corners and stuck around. Back sign told the curious they were on their way to see the pic- ture at Warner's State. House is in So. Manchester, Conn. Cohen seems to be out after Edgar Hart's hop record, though he does not jump as far. He has had six or eight assignments the past three months, his shortest being four days at the Lenox, New Haven, just ahead of his new berth at the State, Manchester, Conn. To Cool Beer Montgomery, Ala. Lloyd Townes, mgr. Paramount, hit upon a box-ofilce attraction when he announced that within the next few weeks, two Crosley elec- tric refrigerators would be given away to stub holders attending this "theatre. More Dog GheckeiB Recently It was commented that the Plaza theatre. New York, checked dogs while patrons saw the show. Now comes the story from Paris that the same feature is in- corporated in the Rex, the Jacques Haik theatre run by Francis Man- gan. Apparently it antedates the New York idea. Patrons of the Rex may walk the dog, check it at the door and it goes into a separate kennel to await the owner's presentation of the claim check. Not only that but the Rex pa- trons can check children of all ages in a nursery under the charge of a qualified nurse who entertains them with toys. Thursday afternoon is a special day for the kids, with their own program being presented in the nursery and a general whoo- pee. Topping that off, the mother can get a permanent wave or other attention in a beauty salon fully equipped. Outside of lending her a pair of slippers if she desires to remove her tight shoes during the show, thTsre doesn't seem to be much that Haik and Mangan have left undone. Hook-up on this was made with local distributor for the Crosley machines, and both local dailies will assist In advertising space. In ad- dition to this service, mgr. Townes put into effect new rates at the theatre, reducing the night prices from 40c top to 30c. Helps Later Most theatres which went to the barter or the I.O.U. idea did so with the idea of getting at least some- thing out of a bad situation. Now that things are easing up they are discovering that they got credit for helping and have created a lot of good will that win run for the house for a long time. The barter idea appears to have been particularly strong in the middle west. The Iowa manager who took everything but false teeth has already been recorded, but there were hundredsr of others, a typical Eong ITp Biver Albany, N. Y. Two contests were conducted si- multaneously with the co-operation of newspapers to plug 'King Kong,' which opened at the RKO Palace Saturday last for four days. The most interesting one was that con- ducted by the 'Times-Union.' The Palace engaged an attractive girl for a Raffles stunt. The flrst day several persons stopped the correct girl, but they stuttered with excitement and for- got the correct words to repeat. So no prize was awarded, although the 'beauty' traversed her route several times. On the second day, however, Mil- ton Andre, of Albany, picked out the girl and went through his stuff per- fectly. He is now richer by $20, in- cluding the first day prize. The second stunt was a picture painting contest by the Albany 'Evening News.' Each day for three days a newspaper photo was printed with a story, and each had to be colored in any medium. Winners were picked as to arrangement and originality. For this contest 30 pairs of passes were distributed. Two Lions for 'Jungle' Bally Los Angeles. Two Hon tie-ups are available to exhlbs in this territory for 'King of the Jungle.' Gllmore Oil Co., owner of Gllmore. the lion, is co-operating with all exhlbs by loaning the ani- mal, in a specially constructed cage mounted on a trailer, at no cost. On the trailer Is a complimentary card reading, 'Courtesy of Gllmore,' etc. .^ ^ Robert Matthews, local resident, also has a lion In a special cage on wtreeirwlYlch-ls available for bally- hoo purposes, at a nominal charge. Numerous local exhlbs are taking advantage of the tie-ups. Gasket and All According to the local papers the mummy constructed for the Or- pheum theatre. McKee's Rocks, Pa., was so real that the manager, Les- ter W. Hutcheson. had to reassure the women with the declaration that he made it himself, to coax them in. He used the usual swathing of cheesecolth and not only made the mUmmy but turned out a presenta- able ca^e as well. Convincing.part of the job was tinting the cerements and lighting the display effectlvc.ly. He used it for an advance and then held It for the showing, It was doing so well. Seems to be the best bet on the Universal release, wlUi some of the mummy copies doing not a little traveling. EresliEggs Western manager is' getting a good local gag at the cost of 5,000 egg containers. Boxes are printed up with 'If these eggs are not pur- chased during the run of at the Amusu theatre they are not fresh.' Store disposes of from 30 to 50 doz. eggs a day, but the best advertise- ment comes from the word of mouth. Title of the current two- day picture is put in with a movable letter rubber stamp. Grocer reports the gag has shoved up sale. If any of the eggs hold over, they are transferred to new boxes. Stinper Warner press book on 'Girl Miss- ing' Includes in the exploitation gags a contest for mates for famous persons, the idea being that the names omitted are those of the girls missing. Twenty famous names, and most of them are reasonably easy, but Charles Einfeld Is playing It low- down when he Includes Robert Burns. Given names are omitted, appearing merely as 'Burns,' and a lot of those who have no trouble spotting Adam and Eve, Anthony and Cleopatra are going to do a nosedive when it comes to the poet. It's even money that half the re- plies will be Burns and Allen. Try it and see. Doing '£m Bight New York. Leo Brecher's Plaza, on swank Madison avenue, is plotting to make things easy for its customers during the showing of 'She Done Him Wrong.' Brecher fears that his type of genteel customer may be shocked by Mae West's antlc^ and so he's going to have a placard in front of the house, and on the program, warning prospective $1 haiiders- outers that the film Is somewhat naughty and to either be prepared to like it or stay home. Staged Jig Contest Mike Simmons In persons went up to Albany to put over the first showing of 'Oliver Twist' for Mono- gram, and leaves It to the news- paper clips to tell of his success. He hooked the papers into tickets for those who gave classified adver- tisers jobs, but that was Just pre- liminary to the staging of a Jig-saw contest using the 'Oliver Twist' puz- zle issued by the Vanguard Co. One hundred persons were select- ed to compete, the only requirement being to bring a flat surface on which to assemble the picture. Each was given a box containing the puz- zle and at a gunshot opened the sealed box and went to work. Con- test was pulled at a dark house, and made a big splash. There were 20 prizes, ranging from $10 to tickets, and the papers laid it all over the page. Mike writes that he pulled the contest in a boxing ring, but If he got 100 contestants in a prize ring he's a magician rather than a press agent, but the prize ring Idea is not bad as that for a playOff between two champ puzzlers. Mull that over. Spilled Faint The spilled paint gag is always a good window attractor, but It does not appear to have been used in a long time. It is simple and reason- ably cheap and the sight of a can of paint apparently overturned in a show window is a sure sight stop- per. The effect is that of a can overturned with the paint forming a pool on the otherwise clean floor of the window. An old paint can Is used to mix up a batch of paint composed of rosin colored with vermilion, red lead, amber or lampblack, the mix- ture being melted together in a water bath, which is merely setting the can in a larger vessel of hot water with something to prevent the bottom from coming in contact with the bottom of the pan. When It is almost cold, tip the can over on to a smooth paper spread on a level stone or metal surface as cold as possible. The contents will run out of the can and spread out. When hard, the paint blob Is broken from the can land the excess paper torn from the edges. Can and blob are placed In the window and a lighted match will melt the break to a smooth surface. If the paint area is suffi- ciently large, the message can be painted on that in a contrasting color. White Collar This won't work in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, but in a city a sandwich man immaculately dressed can be used— once—for an effective perambulator. Ho carries a sign which reads: 1 may be down, but I'm not out. If I wear this sign all day I can see 'State Fair* at the Capitol tonight— and it's worth it.' The better dressed the man, the better the effect. Tin Can Time With the approach of warm weather the spring cleaning season comes along, and it's time to trot out the old tin can matinee to get rid of the accumulation of cans buried by the snows. Offer tickets for 10 cans hooked together with a string, and a cash or merchandise first' prize for the longest string. Arrangements should be made with the city for a rubbish wagon to cart them out to the dump or for private conveyance If the town has no such convenience. Not so good for thickly built up sections, but a natural for Beml- detached construction localities and good at least twice a year. It's something the newspapers and schools will co-operate with and can be blown up to large size with a little hustling. Beer Bill Helps All the stir about the passage of the beer bill has been a natural for the exhlbs who had 'What! No Beer?' booked at the critical time. Now It's an even better bet, with brewers anxious to get the public away from the hard stuff and with a beer thirst. Plenty of near beer was promoted for the picture, and It should be even easier to get donations of the real fluid unless the cash customers get all the kegs flrst. In any event a 'you bet there Is' tacked to the play title will help a lot, and one manager is already set with a beer ess^iy contest 'for boys over 36' with steins as prizes. Steins are part of a collection which has been In the house for several years. Manager flgures they will be less Interesting now they are about to go In circulation. But whatever la done should be done in a manner not to give offense to the drys. Too much crowing is not going to help any, and copy should be carefully written. For Short Titles For titles of from four to six let- ters a good gag Is the progressive sandwich men, one beln^g required for each letter of the title. If the title is 'Pound,* for example, the O man takes his place on a street cor- ner. A moment later the D man turns up and takes his place. By the time the third man shows up the crowd will be waiting to see what the answer may be, and the other two letters make a quick appear- ance before the interest Is lost. Best plan Is to use front and back signs, with the letters on the front and the sales copy on the back. When the word is formed, the men turn around and the theatre, date and other appeal Is read across their backs. For a less complicated idea, send them down the street together, but with the letters jumbled. At evecT corner they change places to form the title properly. BEHIND the KEYS Kerslcen to Warfield San Francisco. Fox-West Coast managerial jobs of Herman Kersken and Frank Bur- hans exchanged, former coming into Warfleld and latter moving across to Orpheum, Oakland. Canton, O.. Stark Theatrical Enterprises, Inc., will operate the Palace here, leased last fall by G. Constant of Steu- bcnvllle. George A. Delis, manager. Oakland, Cal. _ George E. Roesch replaced Wm. K. Kltchell as manager of the Grand Lake (F-WC) here. Mitchell unas- slgned.' Globe, Ariz. Charles Alden, manager of the F-WC Martin here, elected presi dent of the Globe Chamber of Com merce. Big Jigs Spreading Cutting a 24-sheet into a jigsaw puzzle for exploitation use is rapidly becoming standard since It was reported from upper New York state. Procedure seems to be uni- form, though the poster selected varies with the house using the idea. Poster is mounted on compo board with the usual trick cutting and generally there Is a prlz^ to the person most accurately estimating the number of pieces the puzzle contains. Best bet for this seems to be to display the piece In a pile In some store window or the theatre lobby and let them fill in their estimate blanks before the puzzle is assembled. Assembling is usually done either in a window or on the marquee, with a frame made just large enough to contain the assembly. Whoever puts it together should be familiar with the poster and work from the bot- tom up the sides and over toward the middle. For a side angle there might be a contest as to the length of time it takes to get the thing together. Advance Critics Olympic theatre, Miami, gave ad- vance showings of the roadshow, 'Rasputin,' for the newspaper critics to permit them to write their re- views for publication the evening before and the morning of the showing. Figured to help as get- ting the picture off to a l>etter start. Frequently done in New York, at one time, but less familiar In road practice. Another good angle was a dis- play of old programs and photos of the three Barrymores. This , should be possible in many cities, as most old theatregoers . saved their pro- grams and some of them added photographs. Use was also made of the radio broadcast prepared by the home office for general use. It re- quires a fairly large cast—about nine people—and gives the station a chance to Interest In some local dramatic group, which Injects the valuable home talent angle. Hartford. Bob Torgan, formerly of Fox-Poll, goes to Lowell as manager of the Rlalto. George Capwell. artist, Capitol, to Palace, Springfield. Roy Flanders, artist, to the Palace. Springfield. Nat Greenwood, Strand Warners, to the Allyn-Publlx, Hvcvt- ford. tiLigh Campbell, manager ^Jtate, S. atoneh c s t o r, to th e Warner Lonox, Hartford. Ben Cohen, manager Broadway, (Continued on page 36) Novelty Hanger Joe Well, of Universal, Is right in step with a novelty for 'The Big Cage', adapted from the three win- dow cards fastened together. Newer idea is two card cutouts with all sides held at right angles by braces. Cards show Hons and tigers grouped on their performing stools, the braces carrying the figure of the trainer.standing out from the wings. Cord loop is supplied to permit It to be hung from the un- derside of the marquee. With six or eight of these and even a slight wind it's a selling lobby setup. Printing is flashy with letters white on a blue base. And if you get this trained an- imal picture don't forget to make a Hon roar. It has made money for plenty of other pictures In the past and is just as good as ever. Tagging Auction Sales Auction sales, which has been a pretty general cleanup, has a blow> off angle for the kids that can be made to pull right through the con- test. Gag is to promote the merchants who cooperate In the stunt to pur- chase a pony which Is to be auc- tioned off the Saturday afternoon following the end Of the auction run. All who have coupons left will turn them over to the young- sters and heat the idea all over again. Not only that, but the chil- dren will be plugging sales right along. Contests should not be run longer than once around the list of co- operative merchants. If It is de-' sired to extend the idea, a new se- ries should be started with a dif- ferently colored coupon. Mean- time, the children will clean out the dead coupons following the final night. Barnyard in Foreconrt Hollywood. —Through-the-co-operation-of-pack— Ing concerns and poultry houses. Manager Harry Sugarman of the Egyptian (F-WC), presented the Hollywood boulevard mob with an elaborate barnyard layout in the forecourt of the house as exploita- tion on 'State Fair.' Display, extending 160 feet along one side of the court, included sev- eral cows, sheep, pigs and chicken.s, with special attendants on duty to take care of them. Also in the court was a cage of monkeys. Stunt was an oye-getter, espe- clfilly In view of the large scale on which It was undertaken. Blondes Only Brussels. CoU.soum (Paramount), cinema, nru.ssc'Ia, now showing 'Blonde Venus.' offers free entries daily to fh-.st 10 blondes applying to the b. o. (Continued on page 21)