Variety (Sep 1933)

Tuesday, Seplcifiber 5, 1933 PICTURES VARIETY 21 EXPtOITATION By Epes W. Sargent Happy Entertainment Lios Angeles. Beginning with a 10-day cam- paign late In July, every, house In th6 Dlcfc Dickson Fox-West Coast district has just completed staging a . Happy New Entertainment Year campaign that ran through the en- tire month of August, and resulted In considerably tilted grosses over the normal summer biz for those towns. Teaser campaign started with lavish use of stickers, auto bumper banners and other material each bearing a Happy New Year greeting. Merchants in many of the towns picked up the gag and began wishing customers and prospects the same greetings, which at first had many of the town people figur- ing everybody had gone nuts. Main stunt was a tiein with a newspaper In each town for a daily star identification contest, with a different picture name designated for each day of the month. Cash and ticket pi'izes were awarded all who successfully named the stars and designated correctly the last picture in which actors had ap- peared. Newspapers devoted full pages to the stunt, with the San Bernardino 'Sun' issuing a special New. Year edition In colors. Back of - the campaign was the Idea of conveying to picture house patrons information concerning new picture product, in connection with the Roosevelt new deal. Idea can be successfully worked In other towns where no Fall product is available. Booming the Pretzel English trade and general papers are to be educated to the pretzel as a prelude to 'Moonlight and Pret- zels.' Universal handlers have started a campaign, and to the Brit- ish mind the idea of anything being required to make beer more accept- able appears to be one of those ex- traordinary Yfinkee notions. How- ever, they are taking to the novelty and the scrap book,waxes fat. Sounds absurd to those who have been born and biroUght up with pretzels, but the pretzel can be used to con some more space out of the daily paper or perhaps form the basis of a questionnaire. Little realized that there are sev- eral unions whose efforts are re- quired to produce the true lover's knot of the beer hound. It's taken for granted that the pretzel is just baked and eaten. Actually In the production cen- ters there is the pretzel bakers' union, a branch of the regfular bak- ing trade, the pretzel benders and the pretzel varnishers. Woe betide the varnisher who essays to bend a pretzel, and anathema on both- if they try to bake 'em. And pretzel bending, or the fashioning of the dough into the double lop, is one of the few things" still to defy modern labor-saving machinery. All of which is food for the_ press agent, whether 6r hot ne absorbs 3.2. Baseball Windup .■?retty soon the baseball pennant fight is due, and the nien will crowd around the bulletin boards to get the first hews of the big games. Wire service can probably be. had from the telegraph companies, but it probably will be comparatively easy to get the newspapers to lay its bulletins oft to th^ theatre in re- turn fpr an occasional plug for the paper and its baseball stories. Un- less the paper has superior standing room accommodations In front of Its building, it should be possible to get the theatre designated as the paper's ofliclal broadcasting spot. NcighborhOAd houses can quite probably get a layoff, particularly If it permltis the sale of the papers in th6 lobby. Plenty of home lovers will be glad to come over to your theatre to get the news off the bul- letins, get a paper and, possibly, see the show. At least you've been able to attract him to the lobby. It's up to the front to sell. If you're in a spot where the re.- turns come in before It's dark,, ar- range a flag code. If the Nationals are ahead, run up a white fla.5. When the Americans beat the score, haul it down and run up a red one. If you can get a couple of large gas balloons, that's, even better. Whatever you do, work on the line that interest is centered on baspball for the moment. Make them think of your theatre when thoy think of the gamp. This Sounds New Jack W. Hynes of Shea's theatre, TJradford, Pa., comes in with pome- thing which .should build up like a hog-calling contest in the rural dis- trict.s! and probably will not be a buslnes.*! POpellent in the neighbor- hoods If if can be swung right However. It's the small town rivalry that malces it the big noise In the nine o'clookcrs, and makes 'em stay up until 10. Big ifloa Is a competitive barn danofi for the octet doing- the smootlio.<<t performance of the old- fa.shionpd quadrillp. ,Hynes pitted a local eight against an import from Limestone, a nearby community, and he packed them in on a Satur- day night. Probably better on a Saturday than on an oft night, be- cause then everyone can come. It worked so well for Hynes that he's going to take encores until he ex- hausts the neighboring territories. Cost Hynes $15 for prizes, the band was promoted and a refreshment shop took up half the cost of the throwaways and their distribution. Worked up with ain appeal to lo- cal feeling, this should be good for an every*other-week all winter. And no reason why the prizes should not be promoted, too, once the drag of the idea is established. Winning tea,m is established by applause, and then the prizes go to the best two couples in that team. Managed a Telegram Edgar Hart of the Majestic, Co- lumbus, had a tough tlnie with his fake t'eliegram, but he got there. Time was when either wire outfit would contribute the blanks and often the boys to distribute them, but in Columbus they shut down on the idea a long time ago on the theory that it cheapened the wire service. Hart had an idea that he would play fair by using half W. U. blanks and the rest Postal, but the latter outfit didn't want any part of it. The W. U. man was a. little more open to argument and finally agreed to Ipan a cut of the- blank heading if he could obtain permission from the higher up?. Cut was one the office loaned newspapers for a re- production of wires. Permission was gained and a local printer dug out the paper and printed the blanks, with a message 'To U & Others,' reading 'Tomorrow at Seven is here,'.>' These were en- veloped and one was slipped under the door of every office In the busi- ness district after they were closed for .the njght; a new form of dis- tribution which brought excellent results. Telegraph manager was surprised, at the reaction to the stunt froni his company's angle and has inti- mated he's ready to play ball again. Trying Ont United Artists are working' Qn..a contest Idea for Walt-Disney Mickey Mouse cartoons tied lii to the new M. M. watch. Beiiig given to 26 theatres in Ohio and' Michigan, If it works, it will be made a general hookup; Ingersoll company provides six watches, for prizes for the children who can most accurately estimate the number of Mickey Mouse pins in a glass container. Company is sending out a man to check the re- sults In the first spots and if the re- ports are favorable will break it open to all who use the cartoons. In that case they'll provide the six watches, 5.00 buttons, the con- tainer, cutouts and .balloons. The exhlb prints up his own entry blanks, which may be obtained by the estimators from the store han- dling the watches. Back of the -watch people's gen- erosity is the.'thought that, if six kids get watches the others will want tbem, too. Chang^g Sign Another adaptation of the color absorption idea has been worked out to give a new idea for -ivindow or lobby work, passed on tbc action of blue on grreeri. Announcement Is painted with transparent color on thin sign paper with green letters for the red back ground. Lighted froni behind With red. white and green bulbs so ar ranged that only one color is on at a time. This is done with a small motor on a turntable with three contact points. Not much trouble to make if the electrlcl£kn Is clever, Alternate lightings give red on green, black on green and red on black, and plenty of people will prawk and wonder \intil the sign has been Impressed upon their mem- ories. Perhaps a just-bnce stunt, but capable of variation. Flower Shows If it has not already been planned for, it's not, too late to frame an* impromptu .show of chrysanthe- mums and other fall flowers In the lobby or mezzanine, the latter being best If It's figured that enough will bo attracted. Small medals or cups are bettor than ticket prizes, since the winners will appreciate a visible trophy, but a couple of .small cups will not cost much -and the jeweler can be promoted to engrave the winners' names. Even in the larger places It !s possible, with a little pxcss work, to bring out a Jilce display, but it is a particularly good stunt for .subur- ban towns, where mo.'^t persons have flower gardens. Some profp.s.=ilona] .iudpe .should be u.sed, prflferablv the local flori.st. If he's afraid It might hurt trade. It's always pos.slblp tn locate .some woman who really knows flowers. Double Cut Exhibitor who had just Installed some of the devices to permit the hard of hearing to listen in on plays made the idea cut two ways. He was playing a com^^ while the workmen were making the in- stallation and for a small tip he got one of the sets rigged in the lobby. Then he sat a pretty girl in a comfortable chair with the ex- planation that she was laughing at the humor of the picture. Not only gave emphasis' to the fact the comedy was funny, but stressed the idea that the picture could be heard even in. the lobby with the aid of the device. So many people wanted to listen in that after a counle of days of the stunt she took t^he phones oft and let all who deslrdd listen in briefly. Put both ideas oVef with a bang and the boss Is figuring a permanent rig to be plugged in now and then for plays with specially good dialog. Only trouble with that idea is that people figure the show has started, so what's the use of going in? Urging Praise Manager who did not want to bother wjth the usual round-robin letter of appreciation to. a' star, which he had already used, made a deal with the exchange to land the studio press department for . one letter from the star .of a picture he was booking. Then he came put with the an- nouncement that the best letter in praise of the picture would be sent to Hollywood. Small ticket prizes for other letters, and he got' about 300. Winning, letter was sent directly to the press department, which ar- ranged for a letter of appreciation to be signed by the star and re- turned witli an autographed por- trait, and it workejjL, so well he is trying to plant the gag with other studios. What he liked best was that it cost him only 3c postage. Broadcasting Baily Butte, Mont. Under the caption, 'Manager's Exploitation Ideas,' Montana divi- sion of Fox-West Coast is getting out a weekly mimeographed sheet, freely illustrated, of' 'exploitation and publicity stunts that have been successfully tried put in the various towns comprising the district. Pep talks are also carried. Fist Issue made its appearance Aug. 28. Silent Trailer Minneapolis. Charlie Winchell, Publix adver- tising head, put over a clever and effective trailer for 'Baby Face' at the State theatre here. He had all the sound taken out of it so that it was run the week before as a silent. At the tag end it was explained that this was done because the pic- ture was 'for adults only,' whereas the theatre currently undoubtedly held many children. The tag went on to explain that adult patrons attending the theatre the following week would find all the dialog and action in the picture. There also were plenty of other strong intimations of the attracj- tlon's sensational character. Many patrons tried to 'read the lips' of the actors in the silent trailer and-imaginations were used plenty. The ti-ailer'created no end of comment and even resulted in hundreds of letters of protest to Mayor A. G. Balnbridge. The pic- ture, sold red hot all ,the way through, did a big business despite the critics' panning. BEHIND the KEYS .Gardner, Mass. Geo. L. Seed is now manager of Giles' Orpheum theatre here. Baltimore. Paul- laufox managing Nickels' grind picture house. Embassy. Denver. Frank M. Bronte reopening Gem at Yuina, Colo., after in hospital at Rochester, Minn.; for some time. Hollywood. Mirror (Lazarus and Vinnecof) has dropped its Saturday-Sunday vaude. temporarily and will operate straight sound until new season's product Is available. day (31) under new management, James P. Clark and Jack H. Green- berg, of Philadelphia. Thomas J. Begley is manager. Youngstown. - E. C. Prinsen, for three years Paramount supervisor of the Ohio division, is manager of the Palace, opening Sept. 1, bringing vaudeville here for first time in nearly a year, theatre operated by Harry Katz, Milton Feld and David Chatkin. Jo- seph Martinko, orchestra leader, holdover. Harvey Cocks, asst. mgr., comes with Prinsen. Prtces '25-40c. Paper Heads One manager is waiting for school to reopen to provide himself with a set of heads of the leading stars. Art teacher of the high school, who has considerable facili- ty as a clay modeler, will mako heads of these players part of the class work, adding the finishing touches herself. Before the clay dries, the head will be set into a form and plaster of parts poured over it. When the plaster has set the clay will be dug out and re- turned to the school, the last traces being removed with water. Cast will be dried and oiled and then newspaper smeared with flour paste, stiffened with glue, is worked into the mould, layer on layer, until a thickness of a quarter of an inch is built up. Then a layer of cheese cloth, similarly pasted, and when it is fully dj'ied the paper model is re- moved, varnished and colored, their mounted on a board. If the model will not come out easily, the plaster can be broken away, but it is planned to make the clay model so that no trouble will be experienced. Only cost is for the plaster, pasto and paint, and the proper head will be used each time that star figures on the bill. Another Clock &ag Metro offers a number of clock stunts in its press book on 'Turn Back the Clock' and they are good gags, but here's one more. Wind up an eight day at noon eight days before the opening. Set it at the exreme of slow speed and let the crowd figure Just how much time the clock will lose in seven day^. Two ways to a payoff. One is to name six prizes each of a little less value and award the top prize if the closest estimate was made on the first day, 'and In ^decreasing value to the sixth day, no estimates hethg accepted the last dky. Idea is that as time passes and the clock con- tinues to lose, estimators can get a better line on how much time is being lost dally. Other gag Is to have the six prizes with one for tho best estimate for each day. Clock should be started precisely at noon and the time taken at noon eight days later. Just a variation of the run down clock, but giving the crowd a Jbetter line on the loss. Estimate should be in hours,. min- utes and seconds, since the esti- mates should run pretty plose. Youngstowh, O. B. C. Prinsen has been named resident pianager for the Public Square Theatre Co., which has leased the former RKO theatre, dark since last spring, and will re- open it September 1 with vaudfllm on split. Town has been without stage shows since ■ spring. San Diego, Cal. Fox, once operated by Fox West Coast as its local deluxer, again has passed to circuit operation through a new rental, arrangement with the landlords. Opening picture (cur- rently) is 'Tugboat Annie.* House is a part of B. V. Sturdivant's dis- trict. Fairmont, W. Va. Warner Bros, theatre at Morgan- town, near here, reopened Saturday (2) after being closed for five weeks. Kenneth Grimes is manager of the theatre. San Diego. The following managerial changes in the FoxrWest Coast San Diego unit were announced today: Fred S. McSpadden, for the past three years manager of the' Fox North Park, de luxfe nabe, has been named manager of the 3,000-3eat Fox, San Diego's largest and new- est theatre, reopening Friday, Sept. 1, with 'Tugboat Annie.' Charles M. McManus, manager, Fox Balboa, first-run and only vaude spot in town, goes out to the North Park. He was formerly manager of the JEgyptlan, another Fox nabe. C. H. Meeker, of Payallup, Wash., goes Into Balboa. Jimmy Wyatt, Egyptian manager, becomes as- .si.stant mgr. at the Balboa. • Homer SkilUon, formerly of the Lyric, Huntington Park, becomes manager of the Egyptian, B. V. Sturdivant is dlvi.slonal manager. Newark. Harr.v W. Relners starts at the RKO here In charge of publicity this wpok. Ea.stpn, Pa, Nfw Ro'xy fhpatre at Northamp- ton, near here, w;m opened Thurs- Hartford, Conn. Recent Warner theatre changes in this territory include transfer of Ben Cohen from State, Manchester, to Lenox, Hartford; Hugh Camp- bell, Lenox to Colonial, George Clark from Gfilonlal, Hartford to Way- burn, Penn. Charles A. Brennan from Bound Brook, N. J., to manager of the Capitol, Hartford. New manager expected to be ap- pointed to the Palace, Hartford, soon to be opened as first-run. Los Angeles. Fox-West Coast circuit manage- rial changes in California have been made as follows. F. E. .McSpadden to Fox, San Diego, which reopened Sept. 1; C. P. McManus to North Park, San Diego, and C. H. Meeker to Balboa there. Robert Harvey replaced Jack Ryan, resigned, at Virginia, Val- lejo. Robert C., Cannom goes to the Fox, Pomona, replacing F. J. Mennelly, who has returned to the California, Glendale, replacing Ed- ward Penn, who goes back to Alex- ander, Glendale, as asst. Harry P. Franklin made mgr. of the Em- bassy, Frisco, for F^-WC. V Guttenberg, la. Fred .Nelson, Sioux City, new owner of the Princess theatre, buy being made from Hunstad & Becker. Syracuse, N, Y, Brighton, South Side deluxe neighborhooder, going to try it again under Jack Karp, . Karp will re-llght the house in a fortnight. •Syracuse, N. Y. Myer Kllman, who gave Eastwood, .suburb, its flr.st theatre years ago, is returning to do the «ame thing for Mattydale. residential district. He has started .a oOO-seat hou.se to co.st $25,006. London, Can. . Grand (F. '.) clo.sed Sept. 2, whilp workmen are ru.shlng girder.s Into the roof and painters redecorating. Next policy for hou.so not dotPr- mined. Manager J. K. MinhPnniiik. hf.s 25th annlvf'r.sary at the nnihd, is now managfr of I»alacf; n<M'.) and Grand. Manager Ted Doney of l'ai;icp v- turn.s to Capitol (V. P.) a.s .-is.st. New .scale nt Capitol. Xi«Mf Uija- to 40f. *'rom 35c. and fr-jm '^0' t.-o 25c. f;iiildrpn, lOo. af("j-rloori;-, -ui'l j 15f;. night.s. I Radio's New Idea Most distributors are searcibine for new ideas to make the prean books more helpful to exhibitors, and Radio Pictures comes forward with.the latest. Designed by S. Bar- rett McCormick, who ought to know. The usual sales talk, merchem- dlsing suggestions, publicity, ad mats and posters are stapled to a stiff back card and thumb indexed for quick and handy reference. Top of the card rises four inches above the pag^s and is ruled up for a two weeks' record of the newspaper campaign, with other ^spaces for other advertising charges, includ- ing the lobby and bill posting, with a totalizer to arrive at the com- plete cost of the campaign on the picture. Also inclttded are -spaces for four shorts, including Pathe News, print- ed in. It gives a quick summary that can be transferred to the per- manent record when the picture has been played. Meanwhile, the man- ager knows just where he stands. Complete, e-ven to a punch hole with a brass grommet. One of the moat useful ideas yet. Plugs foi: Contest L. A. 'Examiner' is boosting its National Recovery contest (figure counting gag) by trailers In all Pox- West Coast theatres and In inde- pendent picture houses with which it has a co-op tieup for Its dally attraction calendar. . In addition to the free directory listing, 'Examiner* Is also distrib- uting circulars, one side of which Is devoted to its contest and the other-side to a reproduction of tho picture house calendar, thereby giving, the pic houses clty-wldo house-to-hou.se■* circulation as well as to 'Examiner' readers. Makeup's Appeal Los Angolcs. A.s !i b. o. lure In connection with the engagpmpnt of Katharine Hep- burn in '.Morning frlory' (Radio) at the IIKO Hiil.street. here, house la j-pppatirig a h'tIp.s of daily lectures f>n fii'ikpurj .'jnd bp.auty on the mez- z.-uiir:p flofir lii.-it 1« making a spe- ci.'il :iTii)i'.-iI to fpnnne cu.stomers. J..(.'-HirPH .irp liPifiLf given by a I-'I> ''f iI')II,v\v )f)d tti.aicpup manu- l;i'-llir'-f- Tagging the Parade ]''i;:Uriiig it w;.i.s no u.sp to buck ■in entertaiiini'-'nt ^jiven l>v one of thp mont iinpori'int 1op;i1 rhijrche«, <))P hp-id wiiripr for a small town t|i'"ifr-' I to go the old gag of (Com iniif-'.] on page 40)