Variety (Aug 1933)

Tuesday, August 8, 1933 P I C T ■ R C S VARIETY 23 EXPLOITATION By Epes W> Sargent Do It How, I return for a two tens as a display i BeTenill^ Undated Bill VI* lo K,.* a* '^^^^''i Posting a 24-Bheet-without house It may seem » e*^*?''>V* ™* al)out the comine attracUons. ] br date^ worked as a teaser to ftioy^ la the Ume to have the hjattagr tj,© Idea Is that, the advertisers Iblc money In a lot- of spota In the System overhauled against pext fan. fail harder for th^-adyertlBlnerfp^t 20 years, but the dato wlth- ust as the flrat few warm d^s are ^^n If he can toss In theatre pub- IJut a poster can be made to work jimportant to a theatre as taflueno- Ucity—and It Is tHe only way to get as well, and has the advahtaga Ing a summer habit, bo the chiuy the screen. It's great small-town giyine the advance publicity to the theatre on the first cold snap may atufC and not so poor in larger spots.' create a repellaht association of IdieaB in the minds of many patrons. Be all ready to fire up'the first frosty morning, even though it may not be necessary te run the fire more than an hour or two to taie the chiU eff the house, j^nd when ithls is done it's' no time to be dls^ And It's the first new slant oh co opit reported in a long,°^ong tihie. theatre instead of the iklcture. Usual stand is stripped first of all with only a date. Three or four days later the theatre namb ia added, but the bill ia not slapped^ up until the rest of the paper goes lymapiiBBre i into place or, better stlflT one day practice of l in advance; It fixes the minds of the speo* Bmlt Up For a dozen yetus many.managers have been making a^ practice of , „w .Ml— — sending a. pair of admissions to iall w- ~^ covering that a gauge glass was t newcomers to the town or the city Uators op the fact that a partloa< ibrokeni a gksket needs adiusUng. or l sector in which the theatre «»^»o- | iariy goo^ picture is coming to the Sie^adiator valves will flot wotk. cated. It's acoompajiied by a letter Uheatre on the dates menUoned* ' Tt misht be possible to work a I of welcome and the hope thM the an^ ^^r^ than half the selling ta ■cbeine regularly used by one Uvei recipient will like the theatre and accomplished before the bill goes iwlre. About the middle of August j become a regular. Names^ are pro- | up: just a change of pace, but a be calls In the steamfltter and for a couple of weeks permits him a sign in front of the hOuse reading, >We are overhauling the. hearting system of this- theatre. Now fs the time to prepare for cold weather. "cured from renting agents, storra;] and laundries. Generally the rent- ing agent knows first. In the last six im>nths- a new* I scheme has come uirbugh. One alert manager sends a routtd robin. valuable one. not let . us look over your 1 letter in wh^ch the stranger la wel- MQiy - . loater, .too?' TJie name and bus! ness address follow. ^ , Not only advertises the theatre's preparedness, but brings a cut in the charge, since the mechanic finds he picks up . a lot of ; other orders ^ithlu the riejct week or twQ. IhrofciBsional Show Ted Toddy, in his well-^edited house organ for Columbia's Atlanta exchange, reports a neat stunt [worked by Vic Meyers in the Or- comed not. only to the theatre, , but to. the naborhood stores. After speaking up for the theatre, the let- ter runs on:, 'Not only do we hope that you will enjoy the fine shows iat the theatre, but we feel certain you will be delighted with our smart shQps. For instahce, there* are 'ai<>. ways real bargains at the Blue [ Frbnt * Grocery,'. wKh mention- of a meat markeit,- a wet wash laundrs^ a notions store ^nd - 6ther .shops. : Down lit- the bottom are a .sejk of Phbiiey Coime-Qn: Minneapolis. . The Asier here, ^th l^ife in the Itaw,' very proper • *restern,. as the attraictibn, had a sign in front, 'We could not have shown this picture Id years, ago; we'd have been put in jail.' The pedeieitr-ian looked liito a trick mirror and saw a distorted; linage of himseU. UirrOr Rebeiit revival offered the trlpte mirror iiea itor.'a vanityjtitle. Dress ihg taible iRTith * three-fold glass corner of the lobby ^w„.. ^. , was-set In et,, _ offer*: ^ l.etter, tf presented at the agaiist a .blaok curtein. - - ' Atv important times the center ^AiW th^airl^&w Otle&nB, for meat market, brings a sample pobk- Atv important times tne center ??®"'?;-*?^!?;l'^fS!Zi-.^.*- ■ aee Of bacori. the erodery contitlb-Jmlrrori was removed and. replaced ^.SjrJ?S1iufh^ contacted working ag^ a out of the feminine star^ the girl being picked , and dressed as nearly as posisble to ji*esenible..the..UthQ.. ... Sales copy carried above thei mirror, under the $lass top and be- low the edge of the table. A credit card-to the furniture reduced the cost to the hire of the girl. A dlsnlav of work by its members work.free, ^. ^ niong Srt Ihies/ and-built on thlsi Golnif over In,a big^ay.. - with locil schools and colleges. Wt- ting an art exhibit, that in»de fi fine idlspk^y in the theatre. Display included paintings, «aw Ings, pottery, statuary nnd .needle Managier ^ith a birthday, list <6r bis ktd Qiub is ^otng a uttle 4|ulet exploitatlQirfQr.the younsattos,- nnd (work done^by Now Orleansjjom^ i ^1^-^ 4 j^^^ Spafce Is cheap imd iind sevewl women M^^^ tails hfs Si^turday announcement studios in «^,^J*ff*«^ffiSLatoSB «*e'ault of a Snndny paper) with iworkea at ^^J^.^^^^^^ ^^S^ a list of all the kids whose birth- to enj?^ the Interest of younger ^^^^ ^^^^ following week, iwomon, ^ ■ *.v™. ...v* I Idea is ostensibly to invito the The Idea i« 5S»f5*^^* to »>e gueits,^but thrcffl" *^SS«,^^^^£lt^•lU hSt ^i^n have found out whtt he lm«W pional- title, thoughj^hftt WjU 1^^^ advance. It hel^s to remind peo- tAnd even In thd larger town there is a swell chance to make the newa- papers tor a couple of columns Wr stead of ft couple of Inches. pie thnt presents are in order. And [-niaybe the children .don't love it To some extent it is also Itppre-' dated by Iriends of those Bstiibt Want TfOk Iios Angeles; . Operators Of loud-speaker, appa ratus, Yreely used by picture bouses land Others to e?plo|t their ware s, are preparing to protest a proposed ol^ ordinance which wQSld restrici: the use of such deyJe^s from any buslnoM secttoa;''and also make them llieml in various residential .tioned, and it helps *to make for" IgiptOVillg Btlffl.Oi . regular reading of the; Saturday nn- Gener^illy • street iBftffles. is Ued noUncement. Into some uewapaper and it required r that to win a prise thti aoooater be, BrQU^'s Z^'n^^Un^^Jt^ ^1 thS.gummer sun simmering, * iitef? a mfnagw very generaUy «e^^ neiaSipe? to Jomo Into the U«>rn. and the opened parasdl forms * . ^«^^K«^2;t ^ha idcA of llnd*k^^ flne surfafte on Which to paint the . ftnd he got the Wea OC linUlTOg -,„nnuTir.(iniA»tt tor Almost anv show. WW;_|.sections, Four months ago, the Better Bus Hand Colored iness Bureau submitted a proposed l ordinance to control and license years managers wlt|i limited loud speakers, but the measure has appropriations and plenty of husUe been lying dormant in the city ar- ^^^^ been using the hektograph 6r chives. Now agitation for such re- almilar dupUontlng device to get a striction has been renewed by the ^igpii^y In two or more colors* which Chamber of Commerce, with some . simple enough with nn aasort- aotion expected by City e6uncin.njeut of colMed Inks. The Robin this month. | Hood theatre, Arden, Del^ goes thnt , one better.. It employs a. mlmeo- Followine the Ball I er&t^ nnd puts the coloring in with ' ... I crayons, u Rochester. I The Robin Hbod is one o£ thie Apparently impressed by Buffalo earliest of highly ultra artistic suin> Baseball Club's success in Increas- mer theatres, and It is nQt surprlAr ng attendance bjr giving. away ing that they Should realise the aUtom(>bileB, some of the larger I value of restrained use of color. The Etochester theatres are try Ing. the [ announcement Is all done InMblaok. giveaway Idea. The RIvOra has a on the mlmeOgrttph stencil, the card i;iei.ln with several stores to present at hand showing a^sketqh of *bA . an automobUe or trip to Chicago: theatre at the top, flahked^by two Exposition ' to holders of lucky trees, a firecracker^ crossed aabnn uaeets. The Century lias numbers and a star. The cracker Is colored pSnS on advertising program and Uith a Single straight stroke of a Advertisers ta give mer-1 red crayon, the trees are suppUed SS?dlL to^taniii numbSs. Iwlth foUage In green and the top of. l5SS?a^loc£BtertaaS5tli5TmS^ venUlator on the theatre^nn* - SSl v^^^a-^StS^ giving the star toward the bottom are fiUedi ™^ «woJ£«h« S^mStohS S5 In with blue. Nothing much to the away photographs of P«ron a lav i^^^^ . ^ ^^^^ the design from; a' makeshift to something that strikes the eye ao^ classy. The trick is to use the coior: movie star. Liclnding Leo Bmle Austgenj, of Loew's, Akron, wnnted to photograph a partlcular- ijr good stnnt to send the home of-; flee. He took the. car around to some public building with sculp- tured lions and shot to get one of- the lions. It looked at first glance to be part-of the. design of the .car, sparingiiy. Try^ It some time, uslnsr government postcards. A couple of kids will color a thousand for a pass' apiece. " Well, WeU ^stuck.-for..a.pAt-exploitatj|pn^ CM' itself was a perambulating; [ for a picture one hustler thought ui^ sound ' aissemiiiiitor with a dosen horns. It was bannered for 'College Humor* and was- run all oVer town and the suburbs playing the phono-, g^ph records on the picture, ^ It made a strong flash., the car being done in white, artd It helped to hoist business out of the well. FotBa^Tft^cs iSaby titles come along ev«ry lit- tle Wh'il^, so here's one to hold up for the next. It's a stork painted on a threer:sheet size board,, l^ut provided with a composition head a peach that probably made merer talk than he prob<ihly would have gotten from, ansrthing the plotur« suefgested^ Down-the street In the. business, section was ia vaoajat storey Nocmt: the edge Of the sidewalk was a coal' hoiel An. Old-»Xnshloned w<iU ourt>^ was buUt over the open . Jiole,. with! weathered . boardsj, and provideiOf with two oidrfiudiioned buckets: hung on a chailn over, a pulley. Any- one who dofhred could pull up tb.^. bucket down the well nnd obtidn numbered herald on tli^ picture which was already pret^ well nd- Provweu witn a c^^^^ vertlsed on the weU strubture. That, doll in a baby blanket, both doll and | evening he bouldi come to the house: and see It the nuinbet on his pro-; blanket being actual. That's better than Just the babies dangling from the marquee or the box offi ce, and will . get more atten- tlonTTf there is plenty'of "time and" patience, the stork can be plumtsd with real chicken feathers. It's a gram compared with any of th^ numbers posted on a board ^by. the^ box. ofltoe*-: If Jt did, iie^ot-a.^iakBt.1 Abbiit 40 nikmbers were postieidj but of these iO. wi^e .thM« on hi>reid» not given ont' The maiorlty of th6^ others came bdt 8<^res bought lit because they were downtown , and. gag, „ . J . the contest to 'detectives'. w«o wore their badge openly displayedt The badges w.ore-pasteboard discs supplied by'the theatre to all who made application at the box office " iSefore the house opened. Some '^Is.OOO were printed up, but feven at that the supply ran out and more had to be' hustled alohi?. - Badire read to the effect that the wearer wiM empowered a6 a detec- tive to arreet only the person sought^ About half the town Wore - ithe-badges-for-three-days^nd- It proved a better, ad than the tisuat newspaper hook-up because the (picture was more constantly in. piind. Prismatic Hen Now and then a picture comes hlong which does not seem to lend Itself to promotional stunts and the average sales promoter 1% on the top branch.~of .a tall tree. . . ■ . Olio chap climbed down with the aid of a chicken. There was a •large , dead Space in the lobby, ; in w^hlch he installed a sizable pen In which he put a chicken with Its fwhite. plumage liberally spotted [With red, blue ahd green dye.; Qver . in a corner of the coop was a straw neist containing six eggs of different coloris. Over the top was. a legend, •Prismatic hen from PerhAmbuco. She lays colored eggs. Kindly loaned by Miss Sally Flash, how appearing In 'Ch6kgdiin_the_aub.wayf.- Newark, N. . Clayton Corum, manager of the Terminal, has been promoted to manage the State, Jersey City. Suc- -ceeded—by -George Nichols from Bound Brook,, whose place is taken by Jack Keltli of Englewood. Pres- ent manager of the State, Morris Hatoff, goes Into exploitation. All Skouras. , Robert Pasko has now tMten Warners* Stanley, Jersey City. Wbile^'rumored before this has just 1 been decided. — - —^BonncelesB-Gheckt^ —^———Minneapblls.. When he played 'Whoopee,' Edgar J W. A; Tuscany wants to build n ja&H, of the Majestic, Columbus,,] $40,000 OOO-seat neighborhood the announcement tor almost .any show. Best if worked with more than one girl to carry the announcement and if any one .around the house .can rerL. cover the awnings, new fabric will permit the same, frame to be used, over and over again. This is especially- where the shore or park resorts are being worked, but the umbrella sandwich sighs should also be given exercise in the downtown section during the lunch hour, from 12 to. 2. good idea to be able .to take the dis play in when the theatre closes, as ^ _ the bab ie s are a pt to disappear^If ,J j^jUihjniQwhereuel^ - left out all nlglit. 1 " ii r ..' iJlHelpl Richard li. MoBti of the BItO the-* atre, lioS Angeles, Writes that the house la getting a Uttlo gravy'from what used to be a totigh Job. In^ stead of looking over the short sub« jectB at various exchange projeb-j tion rooms, the shorts are broughtl Jo_ the theatf*. on.«!_ apeclfled day. eaich week and run (>ff on the first program. It not'oniy gives the booker a line on audience reactions^ but it pro- vides a. better than usual morning attendance oh. that day, A line In the ads and an announcement in the lobby puts the Idea over. t7Seful only In spots where there's an ex- change and for a hoifse which pays for shorts, but great whcrci It can be done. •• handed the women checksJlQood for 1,000 Giggles." Printed slghature of iB. Sure & C. Eddie Cantor. He got up a fine front flash at a cost of only $10, and a mike on the stage picked up the songs and re- layed- them to a speaker back of a cutout head of Cantor, saving the cost of records. " The setup .was. loaned by the manager of WAIU, v/hich cut out cost on.the. best fea- ture of a smart display. Give Hart three weeks in a newj town and he can borrow.^everything: but the (iity hall. " atre, but he's having ditpSculty In ohtaining a building permit from the city council.. A - public playground is located within 175 feet of the proposed site and the petitions assert that chil dren would be in constant danger., pine Bluff,- Ark. The Alamo, closed and lessee Os- car Miller has gCne to Newport, Ark., to manage the theatre therie belonging to the Malco chain. Not only gave him a laugh that sold a lot of tickets, but also sup- plied his Sunday dinner. Must Identify Voices Hollywood. ParianiQunt is fostering, a. 'Know Your Star's Voice'. Contest to get under way in theatres Aug. 20. _ jetlzfi§_»rni: be. chiefly merchandise I ^^^^^£^1^^ H. Gll^ arranged through whiatever tie-ups jjj^^ and A, L. Means opened their New Co-op Idea No, that's not. a misprinti There's actually a new . idea in co-ops. It's lugged in by Ben, M. Cohen, who officiates at the State theatre, South (Manchester, N. H. It's available to any' house which uses advertising (Slides on the Screen, or is willing, to r:^=di>.^so=jn^-return.»:for.==a=^big=wad^oX. publcity. Newspaper ruhis'a cover head, in this instance three cols wide, with Thla week's Manchester shoppers' specials,' with mention of the bar- gains 'as advertised In.this space and on the screen of the State the- atre.' Cohen gives the slides free in Oklahoma. City. Rlalto and Rex, Clinton, taken over by (Srifflth Amius. Co. from F. G. Roberts. Key. -Wewoka^ taken over by John- Terry. Griffith Amus. Co. has opened its exhlbs can get. Studio will provide set of autogriaphed pictures. Four trailers wUl go to exhlbs taking part. First is to be an an- nouncement, while other three will.I each- show six Par players, photo- graphed from in back. Audience must identify players from their voices. Morals Contest Empress at Wilson, Okla. Cozy at Checotah, Tuttle at Tut- tle, and Hugo at Hugo closed. Canton, O. E. R. Colvln made assistant to Adolph Buehrlg, Jr., manager of Lioew's/ succeding Bob Rhodes. Hope theatre, Seville, O., operated by lieo Jones and William Walt maugh being dismantled..' B. Raful has taken Ave year lease Mexico. D. F. , . „ „ gin' at the Cine Palaclo here as re- sult of 'an essay contest for young adults of both sexes on the subject, 'May a woman seek happiness in love,outside of naarriage?' Success- ful contestants received caSh prizes ] and passes^ opening Aug. 15. M. Raful, his son; win manage. M. A. Shea has taken over the Weller theatre, Zanesville, formerly in the Caldwell Brown circuit. P. R. Toimey, from thei Capitol, Cleveland, has taken a seven year lease on the Princess, Wauseon, O.' J. S. Rex previously operated the hoUser— Mlddletqwn, O. TaftEstatiB.'Ciricinnati,: operas the Paramount here, which was turned back by Publlx, has leased the Strand, l,800-8eat delUxer. House Was closed a year ago by First Commercial Bank & Trust Co., after Pete Chifos, former op- erator, defaulted In ijent. Wl" re- open after rianovatlon and rewiring. ''Dav* DavIdsoff wlU handle the publicity for the Brooklyn Para'^. mount when It reopens Aug. 26. It's ills flrst try In New. York, having till now. Two Ettveloper — TWO envelopes were worked , but Ki^^°Iur,^«™i<idTrwestern Arthur Oohn for a special ad on been with the middle western cnains | j^tiiBance.' Piece was a faki> telegram directed to lawyers and insurnnce men on the picture at the Earl' theatre, Philadelphia. Th^ envelopes were printed up ^or at- torneys only' and the other set BUb> Btituted 'insurance men.' Both car- ried the - undteline . it)6Uyered - by Western Vnion messenger service.' ' The Wires stjres^ed the particular^ appeal to thiijfife professionals, and added a few Words about the vaude- ville. No effort was made to sug>* gest that It Was an actual telegfaini, which probably would have been re- sented by professional men. For general use Cohn used a cir- cus Style throwfttiwiy with strong copy. " , Denver. Bill Fowers, manager for Fox- wesco at Walsenburg, - Colo., has been sent to PocatellO, Idaho, to manage the ' Orpheum while the manager, Paul Scates, is on a leave of absence due to illness/Paul-Krier- goes back to Walsenburg after in absence of a year. The Rio Grande (Foxwesco), at. Las Cruces, N. M., bUrned to the ground with a loss of $40,000. The Del Rio has been reopened and will be .operated until the Rio Grande can be rebuilt. Ban Francisco. Judd Clark added to Wa^flcld, handling exploitation; . He comes back into theatre work from a lo- cal department store. Paul Spier; formerly in the Warfleld job is Shifted to Fox-West Coast's nabor- hood El Capltan. DeFRuth pn *lCingfi»l/ San Franciscd. Four new houses reopening in this. territory are Lyceum, Fresno, •recently purchased by Wiley Con- nelly from T.-Mlwa; Desett at Hawthorne, Nov., by Essie Bower; Rex, ClovlH, by John Hucknell and Orph eu S an-Raf aelr-by--Joe-Blu->?| menfeld; ' * . ' Arlington, SuLsan, closed. Hollywood^ Aug, . Roy l?el Ruth has been -set to direct 'klngfish"*; this story inspired hy the political, career of Senatbr Huey tiong of Loulsiaina, at War- ners. Final script Is being rushed by William Rankin and Carl Bricksdn. Latter was reassigned to- collabo-. rate, after having been off pending Long's okay of the story; Los Angeles. Murray Pennock replaced Harry Cohen- as manager Forum. .. of Warner's ii. Macdonald's Story HpllywoCd, Aug. 7. Philip .'Macdonald has<\1>ee'n en- gaged to. do a story fcr Paramount; to fit the title 'Pink Chemiae.' ,'