Variety (Aug 1933)

Tii6^7v Aiignat 15, 1933 PICT E S VARIETY 19 By Epes Sargent Toaoh It Off There no longer la a general vree'k In which to celebrate. the. opening >t-a-«eaiBon.^-^r-odUGer-s-f<>und-^at was too early for the north was too late for the souths aiid stopped spending; money on Qreater Movie Season. Some toyma form local combinations for the observance. All towns should. Even opposition managements can afford to.hide, if not t^jiy, the hatchet and get to- gether for one v/eek of. harmony in order to launch the seasop properly. The bigger: it's made, the better, the effect* There. shoul«i be some sort of Written contest, and, if pbssible, a visual contest, perhaps for the ciueen or sponsor : of the weelc. Merchants shoiild be. enlisted to co-operate, and' all theatres should try to get better than usual pictures, with this angle used ta draw them in from the , surround- ing towns. ■ , ^ There should be ^ome sort of par- ade, with cups to the merbhanta making the best float displays, per- haps a biand concert between mat- inee and night times, and anything else that will add to the g'eneral whoopla. If the others ^on't come in, play a lone hand, but make some noise ,to overcome, the summer in- ertia, and wait until you feel rea- sonably safe that a hot wave wod't Blap the idea over. Better to be ist little —late than-to-have to^do/it aU ovet again. That was the big trouble with the season. August is too early. Telephone Caids Sometimes an idea is better than advertising cash. It got a perma nent advertisement for one thieatre —and—loosehed—UP—the-telephone_co.. _for further schemes. Man who nav- igates his own hoiise sold the phonie people the idea of a business direc tory, the town not being largid enough to Support a R<)d Book. It's done on good paper, , with a smooth surface tfover and is just small enough to go into the regular com merciai 6% envelope. Cover is printed, up 'Use the tele phone to save your steps and speed your errands. Consult this list and flU your wiants.' Top of the first Inside page is printed with 'If you want-^' and there follows in alpha- betical order a number of listings. 'Starts oflE with 'amusement' with •Call .963 and learn what's at the Gem.' Local tradesmen pay $1 an issue (quarterly) or they are not listed. The newspaper, the library, hospital, police station and Are house are listed free; House supervises the editing and a local boy gets the listings, getting about $26 an issue for himself. List is sent out by the phone co., which feels it gets its own return in the Increase in calls, so that saves pes tage,' and the number, of calls aak- " Irrenabout attratstlpns- has-gone^iip by degrees to a 300% increase With the bill it does not add to the cost. Probably good for a sectional use in the citieis, but a hit in the smaller places of the Park; with the registration book in the lobby, which did not require the applicant to buy a ticket; Each name -vv^as checked and classi- fled and .16'men. were pl aced the- opening day, the downtown., papery isehding reporters and cameramen to. get a story. The second day local factories-and small employers were..'canvassed and a blackboard was ^^et in^ the lobby to recoird the employments, with top place for the largest user of labor. Working iip the Scheme through the papers and on ' the screen, it looks as though Sobel is : a little more than doing his bit, and mak- ng ia-legitimaite use of the blue eagle to push the house o%'er. Hired DoubleB . .Omaha. New angle on the Hdllywood opeijiing stuiit was developed here by: Stanley jBrpwn, Orpheum mana- ger.. Omaha version of the Holly- wood gag has been a copy Of the original except that the notable filth, persohalities have :beeh missing, Brown .developed the idea of sub- stituting. ; doubles for the actual Stars. ^Want ads, in the dailies brought' out more of the second edi tions than Brown wOtild have be lieved contained in Hollywood itself; AbOut thi rty of .the nearest ir^sem Glances were' seiecteal Fake notables were driven. to. the theatre in limousines via- a. tie-rtip with a local: Nash detiler.- -Platform and canopy were erected . leading into theatre lobby from street, and runway was made into a little/White way by use of kleigs, spots, and .any other studio effects that could ,be Jiaustecfid^^_JOieatts_alab_JbicedlI camera .and films of the event were ground out to be. shown on - .the scteen later in the. week. Gag was used eafly in evening Saturday, August 12, for .opening of double feature. program' including 'Moon light and Pretzels' and 'The Narrow Corner.' Sizable crowd thrOnged the lobby, and Brown's idea wais justified by more than average Saturday busi- ness. Coat to theatre for gag was negligent, heaviest item being hir ing of camera and building of plat- form and . canopy. Doubles were taken care of with ducats, and auto- mobile dealer was '■ satisfied with advertising he got.. Let Them Argng. 'Stranger's Reiturn' is a great pic ture, with plenty back of it other thajii the star names, but it has something of a' handicap in thaOhe -heroine-does-not get the hero. He sticks to his perfectly good wife, There is bound to be a- certain dis- appointment where they expect the clutch at the end of everything but a :scenic, but much can be done if the finish here is sold in advance to the possible objectors. To tell the story in advance would be to spoil some-of the eltect. I?On' -give it^ away^ Sell it- oh a cam paigned Contest in which- the awards are to be made following the showing;.With the idea that con- testants wijl have seen the. picture Use some such text as this: In 'Stranger's Return,' by Phil Stong, author of 'State Fair,' there occurs a conclusion which is cer; tain to evoke .. comment; The State theatre . will present (meritjoii prizes) to the writers of the best letters in which .they- express their acceptance or rejection of the end ih'g. See the. picture and. then write whethet" or not you think. Guy made the better choice That will help. Hooks to NBA Noniamaker, Virho used to do the exploitation page.for the. Philadel- phia 'Exhibitor' (and a darned good page, too), is working for the Piitk theatre, in the northwest section, and reports on. a stunt in which Oeorge Sobel, the manager, made a ,_ nulck_hook-in^t o the NRA ^and _br,o ke "T^he Stanley-Warner .'house Into the downtown papers with art. * Himself a member of the N. Y. Chamber of Commerce, he had no difllcu'lty in persuading his fellows ) to Bet back-o£ the Idea of-a-publle rfepri.sti'atibn onfice where men desir ins work might register and to which intending employers could •T-nniy.. N';>1 ho .suEfgested the use Ghanging Signs During September and October a lot .of money is going to be lost to; numerous theatres through f a ilure to watch the weather and the signs. The flirst cold snap that catches the. iced appeal still visible is isolng to dlap business down. People are. feeling cold, and the 'comfortably tooV idea will not appeal. ' As suggested before, the best idea is a reversible sign. with, the coOl appeal, in light grieeh and white a.hd with a reverse in red or white,, or a general sign' which reads 'Hot or cold, our theatre :is always just right.' This latter works particu- larly well where the days are hot and it gets chilly after sundown. Sell the idea of equitiEible tempera- ture at all times, and people will hot remember the iced air of the day- time as ..they reach for their light coats. after supper. ' With Sound One.sheet or painted sign .in the bottoni of the barrel has been pretty well worked out, but a new lease of life can be given it if it is provided with, sound, which can. be. dOne if power is handy. Make up the usual layout, of a barrel with the sign in the bottom and-with chicken netting, over the open top, but. add. a 'voice' from some toy, either a talking doll, a _ _ VTJcarisarijr-tiw^ike.—TiarTsmiXTss+propliiTnrf^ Plenty of Help Fox Pictures goes in strong, for press book On 'Pilgrimage,' getting out a double sized book for the fea? ture. One angle of interest is the preparation of three sets of ads, selling the picture from its various slants of live interest, mother love and general importance. So planned that the.exhibitor can specialize or -takO-hlS-pick-of-the-three-fOr-mixed appeal One suggestion that will be val- uable in most towns is. to . omit gold star mothers from" the publicity scheme, which would convey the suggestion of just another war story, whereas the War slant, though prominent, is merely moti -vat-i6n-^for-the-^rea;l-storyr^whichr^is that of a woman who prevents an- other woman from making her Own mistake.' hooked, to a small motor with an eccentric wheel tO.operate the voice, and the effect of a cry,' apparently made by an. animal, proceeding from the barrel will catch even those who know all about the older form of the idea, as a rule these are the quickest to investigate the: niew" trick. Al most any good gag ca ir a new whirl by jazzing it up a lit.tle. Soriletlmes the second use pulls bet- tier than the first form merely be- cause it's known and yet dlfterent. WARNERS'SEARCH FOR ::,;d_4ib»s^ Books and Schools Time for the annual Suggestion that now is the time to prepare for school days'. Most. skippers are so busy trying to wrest business from the heated-streets that they forget that presently the schools will be opened and the children will heed to adjust their schedules to . study periods. " Book covers are always surefire for an iad that will last-for a time, at leaati They should be of good <iuality paper and- of a size' that wiU fit the books locally used, Pads/ and blankbooks can be printed up with the theatre ad .if they are given as prertiiums or- if they .can be sold at a cost lower than the stores, but this latter is more or less apt to be an irritant to local, stores. Be certain their sale will not bring resentment. Pencils lettered With the theatre name may be bought cheaply in quantity and will be prized by, the kids,^eyjen of high school age, and ■will be even better. But do something to' mark the opening of school and make the children feel that the theatre takes a real interest in their affairs Exploitation ideas and campaigns' by theatre managers Or exhibitors, with practical application. sought, is a new policy going under ex- periment in Warner Bros, this sea- son. An ' ;exploitattonal advisory board has been set up dnd .mah> agers or exhibitors, Including Indie aiicounts of WB, will la/ out cam^ paigns on pictures, as assigned. The first .will be prepared by Earle Holden, mahagei* of the .Geor- gia, Atlanta, on 'Bureau of riissing Persons', tentatively set for jiatlonal release Aug. 30. Holdeii, Loii-Metz-. ger, mahager of thcSpreckles, San Diego, and Harry <^oldberg of Phil- adelphia are the present members of the special board. Others will be added, with , independents hot to. be excepted, it is understood. Warner Bros, and Cho-.i*Ue Ein> feld, under whose supervision the board will function, believei that many practical ideas shoull come out of the new merchandiising plan. Figured that exploitation campaigns practical laiowmen should. feft_ot^ valu^ to othetv-^ thieatres playing ■Warner product. As campaigns are worked out on given, picture's by the advisory bostrd* they will be incorporated in the regular press book on such pic- tures^ Worcester, Mass. - James P. McGurl succeeded Rus- sell Barrett as assistant manager of the Warner house*, Barrett Went -to Woburn to manage the "VVar.per theatre there. Alcron, O. Jack H. Roth will be manager of the Palace when it' reopens Aug, 31 with vaudfllm. He -formerly man- aged the Indiana Publix circuit , out of Indianapolis, Palace will split vaudeville with.the Palace, Youngs- town. Alcron, O. Al Becke«.4ch, manager of RKO palace, here until it closed. several weeks ago, has been made manager of the RKO, White-Plains, . Ky, Roger Sherer has taken over the Star, Delphos, O., formerly operated by Leo Jones. House reopens soon. Webster City, la. Floyd R. Puffer, who formerly op -erat«d-the-GranadaF-Webster-^ity- later selling it to Fihkelsteiri Bros., has purchased a house in Cresco. Newark. Sydney Franklin will shortly open the Warren Square with "films. oh the "other hand, the value of a fashion show might be questioned. It scarcely seemis to fit intO the general scheme of things_and_ In spots may belittle the dignity of the title. - Selling Dead Nights Tuesday and Friday nights were dead in a certain house. -Scores of schemes seemed to* give no' relief and finally the pilot decided to try a new form /of season ticket. Hard tickets were printed up, good only One of these nights for, a- lOfweejc period. Sold fOr the sum of eight admissions, but no rebates on un- used, punches. Tuesday tickets were yellow and Friday's were on green stock, to: differentiate. Check was kept on business the other nights, to see if It fell off in favor of the pulniotored days, but it seemed to have no particular ef- fect, sO -new tickets have been or- dered for the next set, with these on pin k and, gray dtock, to prevent confusion, Kebafe rsee'ms t'O get them coming, but the manager is still; at a: loss to know why... He has questioned every buyer, but they can't teil him, either. They buy the tickets because they are a. bargain. That's all th^y know. with a Painting Washington. Metropolitan got a good break in 'aT painting for. 'glmafahg'' wKTch' United Artists Is touring. Done by Vladimir ChenkofC after seeing the film and a real painting Instead ot the varnished litho; Good- enough to get into .the win- dow of "a'firm of jewelers where it got plenty, of attention from the shoppers. Art|st'.s name, plus the su"bject proved good selling. Also drew, new.spaper mention. Zanesville, O; M. A. Shea~T6sSee~or the Weller theatre here, known as his "western outpost' and farthest removed from his eastern- offlcei^ -has retained- Harry Holbrook, Columbus, architect, to remodel the house, which will open with vaudfllm early in September. Bronx; N. T, C. Consolidated, which once had the Jerome theatre, has the house back. Will reopen with pictures in the fall. Montgomery. 'Empire, will be -added to^ the W;ilby. string and reopened around Sept. 20. the long-dark Alhanibra, on Hill street here, and opens with a grind pic policy Aug. 17. House for years belonged to the F-WC circuit. Whittier Amusement Co, (J.. H. Sellers) has taken .over operation of the wardemaii (pix),. at Whit- tier, Suburb. Former operator was R. Wilkes. Baltimore. Europa, art spot ^^hich closed for six months, reopens Oct. 1, re hamed the Little. Herman Blum, who also operates the Idle Hour, nearby is setting a policy of foreign flickers .for the -small seater, but German flickers are out. Birmingham* N. H. Waters has reopened his Norwood, suburban, after installa- tion of- nejv RCA sound. Joe Steed, former operator, of the Norwood, was in Sylacauga look- ing over • ground for new theatre. T. E. Watson, manager of t he -Str8nTdr"M'ohtevailo',~has~closea for remodlihg. Cowan Oldham has moved, to Mc- Minnville, Tenn., as ihanager of Dixie. Los Angeles; Wayne DaiUard replaced Homer SklUon as manager _oC. the F -WC Lyric, Huntington Park, Calif. Slsil- lon is trahsferred to the San Diego division, so far without assignment. San Frandisco. Fox-West Coast reopens the Em- bassy about Aug.. 28 .with second runs, double bill, split week at 25c to'p. Gives F-WC five Market street theatres, three of them first runs. Toledo, la. The Welting has.; passed into the handS of Floyd ^j. Sichra, Belle Plaine. theatre .owner, from. Carl Fisher . and S." B. Comley. Oklahoma City. Phil Isley and Bill MOran have Opened the White Fair theatre at Plcher, Okla. Griffith Amusement Company an- nounces a co-partnership in the:Bi- son, Criterion, Ritz and Rex at Shawneel Okla.. A. F. Hornbeck has a one-fourth Interest. . Roy Lltsey now manager for WB at Dallas; . Allen Glenn exploitation manager loiJW-B. at Dallas. Charles (Daddy) Camp, road- shoWman, who in -his best days .made all small towns of the South'^ west, passed away in Dallas of heart disease. He was manager of the Joy theatre, Dallas, at time of his death. ' E. P. Selz ' reopened the Queen at Pilot Point, Texas. The Mayfair Pictures Corporation opened its exchange at Oklahoma ■Cjt'y,_with Carr. Scott as manager. Sou thern TPTcf^uf ^'f Operie'cT ah "ex- change in Oklahoma City, with A. Noel mJinager. Los Angeles. Dave Bershon, head of • Westland Theatres, will operate the LaJoUa, at LaJolla, Calif., under a partner- .5hip arranagement with Joe Gold- berg, Mathe and Schaeffer have leased DenverJ ■ Three of the theatres in Albuquer- que, Ni M. have been pooled: the kimo (Bechechi, Amuse. Co.); Pas- time (Bechechi Bros.), and the Rio (R. E: Griffith). Geo. Luce has bought and re- opened the Limon. theatre* LImoh, Neb. He has moved the equip-^ ment from the Aladdin, Minatore. Neb., closing that house.' Mrs. C. D.. Bebard has reopened the Star theatre at Fowler. Rochester. r*.pgent opening Aug. 18, two weeks earlier than planned, due to improved' business locally. Starts with films but expects to shift'to vaiidfi'lm within fortnight. John J. O'Neill will return as manager. PUbllx shut, the house two month.^ ago. Phoenix. Obregan, Nogales, Sonora, Mex., has been . completed, according to Harold Stetson, repre.sentative of C. A. Caballero, one of the backers. Iheatre will b'e managed, by .Esta- ban Gonzales. Henry Predado, who retains part interest in hou.se ha.<} retired from'active Interest in operation of lioune, but hns no def- inite p!an.s for futur'*'. aaip iiips. state theatre, .Cleveland, put new life into an old idea by making tho old lipstick impression into .a ra-. dio stunt. It did not seek credit for the stunt, but promioted the prizes and ,gave them to the sta- tion, which announced and handled the idea as its own. Announcement was made that th» station had a lipstick impression ot Jean Harlow's kiss and that a $50 wrist watch would be given those who sent , in their own impressions and which most nearly matched those of-the star^ Three announce- ments were made daily fOr a .weel^ in the morning, afternoon and once during the evening. The jeweler who contributed, the watch took newspaper space to ae in to both the theatre and the station, figuring to collect on . the air interest aroused. Theatre also touted the picture at an industrial exhibit which ran cqncurrehtly and drew a lot of fa> voraible comment from the fact that the girl in attendance was modest- ly gowned in black velvet. It was a reacti on fromi: the-undiar-dreflSed— girls generally used in picture ex- ploitation. Like the white horse with Lady Godiya, it was a. novelty. Two-Way Peep Maybe there"s a patent on the idea, but probably not. Anyhow, a manager recently ev olve d art ef fee- "tive- Tjeep~h6l6~hovelly~l)y adapting the idea of the double picture which is viewed through differently colored .glasses. ^ Two signs were printed on tho same .card, one in green and the other in red, done In such a manner that they overlapped. Two peep holes were provided, one covered with red and the other with green glass. Seen through the red peep the green sigh stood out in black,, while -the red was faded. The re- verse held true of . the' green eye- piece. Transparent color or dye must be used. No longer a novelty, yet with the slgjn set up in the lobby .with an- attractor legend above; it held at- tention most of the day. The same man plans to work it On a'largeir scale in a show window with a big- ger sign and more peep holes. Beauty, of the gag is that .it costs very little to make, and draws like a three figure expenditure; Making Them Known Most picture .patrons are apt to. play favorites and to ignore the newcomers, no matter h«W Impor- tant the latter, may be. In the, last 10 or 12 years, the 'road' gradually has been shriveling until, the small Owners nO longer" follow, the the- atrical gossip, feeling that in due course the New York- plays and stars will come within reaching dis- tance. Time was when local ora- cles followed the plays and players and could spread the news. Today the stage hits are but Hllghtly known in the provinces, an^ the ^stage-star.s=might=as=^\vel^be^known=^ a.s Smith or :Jone.s for "all the value their hame.<i i)o.s.sok3 outside of a few citie.s. Generally 1% takes a couple of pictures to put a newj- ro i;r on th(» map, tie good Idea worlcc.l by a small town man Ih. an introductory frame, Tf /i> ?:<>l.s -T^play title or a star not kn'jwn to hlH patron.'^, he places all (Conti u"d on papre 21)