Variety (Jul 1934)

16 VARIETY PICT E S Tuesday, July 10, 1934 Canning Maratbon Small towner has the hougew.iyes ail upset over an announcement of prizes next October for the be^it hbme~nta4e preserves. Entries' must consist of. two glasses 6£ jelly, two ot jam and two • marmalades. Top prize is $10 and a, silver cUp, with, three sinaller prizes. Looks like purely a house event, but . the prize money was "promoted from the grocers in consldex'atibn of the impetus given the sale of sugar and pectlnl All stores have window displays, most o| which will he con-, timied through tho cahning .season With jelly glasses, jars, rubber rings, labels and canning equipmehtt and each leaves a space for a still or two of the current picture,, changed with eacli bill. Originally started on the county fair idea when Jt appeared there would be no fair,. :but . from tbe way the women have taken hold it looks as though the local show \vi}l be as big as the. fair exhibit, since it Is less trouble to inake entry. Novel angle was supplied Avhen a salesman for a canning equipment blew into town. .He-spotted the lay-*- out and before he, -contabted the stores he ai'rariged with the theatre tor a- special canning event, thfee cans to be entered at the time the jellies are brought in> but not. to be opened until next spring, with the '.decision more on proper packing than quality of px'oduct. This gave a special m'orning deni- onstration at the, theatre- of the outfit, which permits home ca-nning without the. use oC solden Sales- . man has taken the idea to. other towns because it helt>ed. business at the point, of .origin. " ' — Iiooking. A&et^d EiXhlb in a towii .with strong.re- ligious sentiment is looking ahead to possible' developments on. the church crusade. He figures that he'll have to take some slaps, but' he .wants to - ca)?i.talize insofar as possible on the. situation. He h;is not taken , actioh yet, but'he is'g:e^- tinjg his fences fixed and has vr^^ pared a round seal, with a wj^eaoi. and a 'N. 15.* • in the center, witttv 'Not disapprd'ved' in the . circular frame, the whole thing about ajn Inch in diameter. j , This seal will be used in. all ad- vertisements for picturf^s not dis- approved by the authorities when' and if such shall ;be <.constituted.' Figured ..that this iwill ,)}e., .better tban asking specific, approval, sihce probably some' pictu.re's' will not", be' ' approved, while not actiiklly -'disap- proved,, and the 'not 'disapproved' will be used more often than ia . straight. approVa^I.- When the scheme is .put . into :ef- . feet he*ll form a comjnittee to' rep-, resent the three chief divisions, and look to-'them for" notilication aS to what they disapprove. If he hits any such jpicturos. they Will be ru(n'' "without the- seal, but ,witl;iout com- ment. Figures .that this ■v^ill; be the tlpoff to the ungodly that tlie film might be worthwhile. On thje other hand, he'll .collect from, the church element on the others. .If he double bills, tho picture frowned upon will "carry the line, 'This picture has not the approval of the ,' whatever the authority may be, but the other will carry the seal. Figures it will be the way to handle a situation which may -proye a headadxe, at the least. Par's Trailer Truck Hollywood A traveling sound theatre, moimti- ed on a trucks is being sent out by. Paramount on a six months' tour jbf the country fbr exploitation of the company's pictures. The wheel theatre carries. 'a crow of four, with sound and -projection apparatus to • project trailers^ of coming Paramount fcatuves on special .screen mounted oii the,rear end of the truek, Shaded screen will allow for prbjeetlop duirlng the day. : ' . iJvery city and town of'6t600 and' over on the' route traversed by tli'e inachine ■will have one oi* mor^ screenings of; the trailer, -which will be renewed from tirne to time', to keep p,ace w\ith new. product being released. ' Truck has left hero for Seattle, where it will is tart on the tour whfch wlir include Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago and New York. After covering the: New Eng- land States, the machine goes south along the Atlantic -jwiUDOArd* re- turning to the coast via the south- ern route. Tho outfit was con- --.Bltn.ctedJ}yJBLJai,.iiQ3a^ mount at a reported cost ot $12,000. Shopping TbtiT for 'OenV , ^Adventures of a Gentleman' will lend itself to a masculine shopping trip thx'ough a newspaper cb-opera- tionv and caVk be given the feninl® angle throug/h visits to night clubs, restaurants and the like. Not new, but still in the running where prop- erly handled, and good fbr all fiortn ot tie-ins with merchants. Can be -worked on the .Raffles idea, with prizes for locating him, or the" chara^cter can appear in the fleshy elaborately dressed, using the. best auto an agency can be induced to lend, and making strolls through stores at advertised periods, giving out an occasional ticket. He can visit- restaurants - at certain times, picking up the.check of some un- escorted woman, do the dance spiotis, perhaps judging a cbntest,. and make his presence generally felt, i In a • medium-sized - town suxjh a stunt can-be irun up to big news, perhaps stiEirting with the arrival of the gentlenaan by trsiin or bus.. On one occasion such, a pera,mbulator gave out autographs, signing dozens Of aliases. Recipients kept these cards,, and following the engagement it. was annoiihced that cards bear- ing' a certain name were authentic and good for small prizes; By-Fro&ncts ■yvith unemployment keeping idle labor on the move, it is often poa-- sible to pick up an idea that wi-11 help one of the labor tourists arid at the same time give the house ja boost; In one town a house man- ager has a standing arrangement with the relief committee to tip hitn; off on prospects. Lately they sent him;, an engraver, who was jjroniptly ' put to work writing on-the inside of a store window. .To him writing in reverse was as simple as the normal way, but it' was a great card to the man In the street, -who 'Watched sales messages being Bcribbled and erased 'With . a wet sponge. Used soap pencils.- Another man was a plastic worker \yho ,dug VP some modeling-clay artd made relief sign's' all day for a $5 bill. ' A' sign painter who'-Was e:i- liert-at painting mirrors touched up' the town's soda bars and a steeple- jack-did. some flagpole fitting that included, a display of a-banner for the^shbWi. Ah unemployed pluniber 'went fi'Om' door to door, ' putting out htenild'S tiind offering to mend pofs and pans free^'and picked up a nuni- beir- ot tips in addition to-the moneiy the manager- paid him, and a tramp gardener'put',in a couple of days, on the^ public park, sadly neglected for re^Bong of economy. That goes ;a ■6-sheet sign oh the eity hall la-vvn. '. Plenty of chances "to get cheajP advertising ' and at the same tinfie lend a'helping hand, but care'mySt be-taken .not to. usurp the functions of . local artisans. Zimlmlist'fl Idea Al imbajistt of the St. Louis Ainysement. Qo., is trying out . a j'u'Venlle bathing suit contest for the King and "Queen of each qt the several counties -which are ihbluded in the' territory. First house to try it Is . the Tiyoll. managed by Syl- yert Setron, who reports favorably. Contests are held bn Friday nights, which is regarded as kid night In that territory. Children may. enter on their own, but. the local merchants are encouraged to' enter under the store name as 'Miss A. & P.' or ♦M)p, Beacom.' Prizes are cups tb each county King and Queen with a pair of shoes, the contest being tied up to the Intei;--^ national Shoe Co. as well as to tl^e CBS station KMOX. Local papers also tie in on the individual con- test for the circulatibn angle. Usual idea of a -winner in each hobse and a run Oft for the county to follow. Figured it will help the Children Nights' idea which the house Is trying to establish. Zimbalist adds, relative to his general advertising and current conditions: 'All advertising and exploitation campaigns have been revised. "We're now selling our; pic- ture merchandise 'commercially clean* with no emphasis whatever in any theatre on suggestive scenes. Many of the pictures have biSen pre-sold through first runs, magazines and radio. We merely have to handle it with kid gloves as do the clothing stores. The label. It's a Warner Bros. hit. The type of story. The cast.. Reactions from other states and prominent critics. 'Not for Children'—For the Entire. Family—for Adults—for M^usicq.1 Comedy Romance Fans— for'Drama Patrons, etc. In ,oth?r words, I'm applying a new twist to the old '■ Barnum method of sensa- tionalizing, not deteriorating. I can shout all over to.wn about a pic- ture, using, the correct psychology, without showing them dirty scenes or copy. And it.works but fine. ' 'As a matter of fd.ct, I'hi going but after, endorsements in this to-wn for such, a method of informing the public. ' *I merely apply the same sales- manship accorded other highly valued merchandise. A car sales- man doesn't tell dirty stories jaboiht cars, neither does a suit salesman. Yet they manage to complete sales. And they've still in business; and not facing boycotts.' I On Ice Birmingham. AUhbugh electric refrigerators hi^ve cut down on the number c|f lcev__w.agohs circulating there are still quite a teyf and the Rialtp here has an agreement to place cards on .eabh ^side of- the -^gbn^ a week in advance^ of pictures.. The wagons circulate almost exclusive- ly in the residential sections and are sure.to be seen. Bogs ^Em In ' Small town indie'has been making a cleanup with his police dog for several months, using tho pooch to advertise the more important pic tures. His wife makes costumes tot the hound, 'over which is :a blanket for the attraction adver- tised. .Perhaps the biggest hit was niade when the dog appeared on the streets with an old ostrich plunie tied to. its tail to advertise. Salljy Rand's dahce in 'Bolero,' but in numerable changes have been rung oh the costume idea. Does not necessarily follow tlie play idea, though once or twicje there have been chances given along this lih.e, the gerierar fdeia being to ma;ke them look at tlijc dog and then-read the eign^ 'Gen- erally accepted by nbw that if the dbg is out, the play is worth white One costume Was\a pyjama, suit fqr 'We're - Not Dressing' and another was a monkey skin (made from a;n :old ryg) for. "Tarzah and His Mate.' So much .'attention has been paiid that manager is now laying plaris for a dbp parade' sbnie. time in Auguiut With prizes for the best dressed and mbst. uniquely clod canines. To be held on a Saturday morning for the benefit of the rural population, and to be blown up into nn event. Even a cardboard plug hat will get attention on the street, and the costumes donot have to be eldborte to excite comment. Babies and Stamps | Lou Stein of the Ritz is promoting a baby popularity contest tied up with the Claire Studio for photos and fappan's for tl.OOO of jewelry, including diamond wrist watches and-table silver^ He is. also headini^ ten other hbuses in a stamp club with a pack- age bf stamps given, e.v.ery Saturday and free albums. Plugged Parrot New Haven. Ben Cohen turned his college lobby Into an aviary when he In troduced an oversized parrot as a plug for 'Charlie Chan's Courage.' Bird's caige was plastered with signs* like .'This parrot talks Chinese and he knows the solution of the murder in next week's jpicture.' Noise and Notice Electric bells ^Ith the gong re- moved work mcely as window tap-' pers, but the same idea can be worked. in the lobby, if. a noise maker is desired. one man made his noise attractor out of a five gallon alcohol can, re- moving the top and cutting panels into three sides with a single 60- wii^tt lamp to illuminate yarnlshed posters set in. The bell was bolted to the bottom of the can in .an ap- proximate position and then the hammer was bent .until It barely touched the side of the can, to. pre- vent too much noise. Placed on top of the box office it -was far from' suggesting its lowly origin. Just for a change the metal was isurfaced. with walnut, varnish filrnlture istain instetid of the usual color^ which gave effect to the illuhilnated - in- serts. . Later on the same bell was placed behind a frame display. With the hammer barely touching ,the back" board. People stopped to see what made the noise and absorbed the text on the i?oster. It could haye been made mbre effective by setting a disc .into the circuit which wbuld provide for an intermitent tap. To change pace, a buzzer can be used in place of a bell. It wii)< help to mount It bn a cigar box to give resonance to the tone. The buzzer should be one .of the smallest size -with a high pitched note. One house uses buzzers on both cornier three-sheet boards, but thiis Is to be recommended only for houses al- most wholly dependent upon tjie transient trade. For names It's .a little too cheap, though useful for a one-time. Toddy Boes Something Ted Toddy, \yho does advertising and exploitation for Columbia pic- tures out of Atlanta,, gets out a house organ no^ and then. Some- thing about . Columbia pix, but mostly about Columbia customers, which is more important from the S£tl6S fltHQ^lC* That isn't news, but for his lead editbrlal in the most recent (July) issue. Toddy has al» article .by the Dean of the Pro-Cathedral In At- lanta, on Courage, which winds up with the exhortation to exhibitors to have the courage to' carry on. An artlclie by a high church aiji- thority in these days, of church cam- paigning against the pictures is !a regular ostrich plume in Toddy's hat. But that's the TBort of go- getter-Toddy is. Putting Up a Tr^nt By and large the Columbia pic- tures year book is holding its - own with the - other . announcements, of this season, with excellent color work, restrained, If enthusiastic de- scription and good drawing, liut the Columbia book would be notable If for no other'reason than its cover, which hits a brand-new note. Front and back are gold, as weU. as the end pages, but the front is printed with a line cut in perfect simulation of^etched brass and quite the hand- somest cover ever to be fastened to any year book. George Btown probably put In a lot of brain, sweat on this product,' but he got something for every drop of perspiration. The art work was done by Frank Spicker. It also rates mention. BEHIISP ihe KEYS New York.. Harry Goldstein, formerly house manager of the Mount Morris The-, atre, nbw managing the Municipal Theatreifor A. Brody. Denver... T. B. Noble, jr., Frank L. Dent and George A. Crowder have in- corporated the Pueblo Theatres, Inc., covering the Chief, Rialto arid Pueblo. The Chief and Pueblo have been owned by the Westland Theatres; Inc., and' the Rialto was taken over from J. J. Goodstein. Operators in most of the non- union houses in Denver have or- ganized the Sound Projectors Union of Colorado, Inc. Sten in S. A. Buenos Aires. Anna Stcn's debut in Buenos Aires lilm, is heralded with a heavy caWipaign^of^iiMic:ityi="In=thi3==re'»=^^ spect United Artists Is doing every- thing, hunianly possible for tho Goldwyn star to get a reception on her return to the screen In her first American picture. United Artists are filling the newspapers and periodicals with her name, pictures and past history of .her screen career. The radio stations' are broadcasting their views and opinions on the abilities of Anna Sten, as transformed and enhah'ced by the miracle workers of Hbllywopd. Pasadena, Calif. F-WC closed their Strand, first run picts, here, for the summer, to permit house being remodeled. . Combo stage and picture policy has been installed in the Wilshire, 'Sanfff"M6Hiearhy"Dcuscrn'^?ind==Seal?= Portland, Ore. Harold Stewart has replaced Ted Carrington as manager of Ham- rick's Oriental. Andy Saso. is still city manager for Hamrick in the burg. Lynchburg. Indie Interests are taking over the Academy from Hunter Perry, chain operator, and -will reopen about Auffr 16. ,. Lbs Arigeles- Newton Brunson transferred by Principal from Yuma to. Alhambra, Cal., to riianage the Alhambra and El Rey. Fi'ank Gandolfo .promoted from Banning to Yuma., ; E. - S. Calyk^has bought the Plaza, in Hawthorne, suburb, from (5. Black. ^ • .- President (Principal Theatres) 'has been closed for the summer. • L. J. 'Waterbury of San Diego has acquired ground . in Beaumont; Calif., and plans to erect town's first pic house. Beaumont has a pop of 2.000. . Roy Wolf, manager of the Man- chester, local nabe house, won two cups in the 1934 city amateur, golf championship matches. Won third flight and copped Glass B low net. Montgomery, Ala. Harris McQueen, doorman, Har- riett Printz and Betty Vaughn, cashiers, have left the .staff of the LSirjyii^.jli£atEeL^-JS£firg<e.^.^^ manager, who came here from Bir- mingham goes to Lakeland, Florida. No successor has been named to Phillips. Lloyd Towns, city mgr. for the Wilby theatres supervising Strand until permanent selection is made. Pittsburgh. New . managerial appointment, change of policy In one house and shuttering of another announced here by Harry Kalmlne, zone man- - <ContInued on page 21) Cosmetics for 'Make-Up' Although the beauty parlor idea Is kidded In 'Kiss and Make' Up,» there's still reason for tieing-in to the .beauticians when the picture comes to'.town, .but .t^ere is plenty of bthbr matprial. For example one bf the gags can be played up by asking, 'What did Genevieve Tobin mean in.'Kiss and ' Make Up*.-when she threatened .her>. self -with a .fate -worse: than death 7' See the answer on page- ?.' The answer, which should be in a small space on the page indicated is 'She threatened to eat starches and get FAT!' * Might kill the gag when It's sprung, but there is enough sales values to break it down, and there are plenty more'gags. Another stunt would be to ad- vertise, special ra,tes for harems, with, some; reference to that situa- tion in the play. . For a lobby .dis- play get three or four girls to sit around at selling times, one with a mud pack, anbther with a face mask,- one with a permanent wave machine; if you can horrbw one, and anoth<^r with bandaged.hair and a-cream application. Tell they do hot use these make-ups all the time in the picture,' Sbme hook-up should .be made tlie Warnpas Baby-Stars, though they cut but a small -figure. At any: -rate It. is a talking point. For the.' warm hxontha a bathing suit parade can bo tied to the. late scenes, and there is alwjays a, chance for free beauty lectures bjr .soirte local ex- pert- the Week before the 'picture is shbwn, tJorh^^ps with special em- phasls.-on sunburn. Cartons for Lobby Thei'e-iised to 'he a man -who made a frbnt sign out bf shoe boxes, the lids of which had cUtout letters and. were interchangeable. That's a little too makeshift for these days, but very sightly hanging displays can be made from the corrugated board cartons in which so many articles nO-w cbme packed. Most drug and department stores have them.by the scorie and will bo glad to turn over a suppl.v in ex- change for a few passes. The ones to be selected are the top openers, which present four smooth sides. These are' painted with ordinary house paint to which a little 6i>ar varnish: Is added. A -hook or loop Ifl inserted in the. top and the bottom Is pasted over tind, fi,lsQ painted..; ...Lettering is done.,on ;^our sides and the' light .b;}'xes hung from the. lobby ceiling to swa)^ iri the breeze'. More than ia. dingle can be used'lor a mass display '^nd with a littl^ tro-uble letter can-be: cut into-th© sides and . lighted by a single bul6 within, . They make a inuch better display, than would be imagined.. Larg?r size boxes can. he utilised for peep shows^ -Wlt^ iai, straight poster or a 'miniattire -scene Inside. AS' a- precaution . the poi-t of - the box holding the lights,for these dis- plays should be lined with asbestos. If this Is done there is small danger frbih fire.- Sign men for the larger houses disdain makeshifts, but they can use this material to real advantage. Miexico's Big^e *Texico City. • Lobby, -wax works of leading characters in the production brought 'ern in for-'Jyarez y Maxi- millano' ('Juarez and Maximilli-. an'), dramia bf Mexico's Iron Man and the Austrian archdU>ke who became Emperor of this country and expire^ before ; a Mexican fir- Trig .squad", produced; a riM^^ company and distributed by Co- lumbia; Production is now cur- rent at the Cinema Principal, 200-year-bld stage house that cently went pix. Production demanded, arid got» hlghes,t top, $1.40, at its premiere ever charged here for a picture In many a year. Producerfl assert pic- ture cost .$140,000, nearly 60 times production set back for- average picture .made in this, country. . Cast comprise^ '6,000 per.sons, 'including seyeral recruits from' the local stage. Government aided witb federal troops arid loans of Em- press Carlota's jewels and cos- tumes from* the National Museum of Mexico. Mirrors and Flumes St. Paul. 'Cock-eyed Cavaliers,' the cur- rent Wheeler-Woolsey laughfest. was sent over nicely by Lou. Gold- en, local RKO Orph manager. -Lou^snag!rcd-=two=-latighlnir-'niii'-" rors and placed one on either side of the box btlice In front of tho hou.se. Result had the- peasants crowding all over each otljer for •> look and a snicker. Golden also lined up two lads to doll up like tho stars, even to the ostrich plume hats, the pair pa- rading the lobby, foyer and inoz- y.anine for very o/foctlve word-of- mouth. Pic openod sU'uij« i,n tho \<\<uvtl\ drawing an enpooiaJIy largo kid at- tendance.