Variety (Dec 1934)

Tuesda^f December 18, 1934 p le til B i s VARIETT i\ ❖ liarked Caleiidm . For some reaaon a calendar hfis Always been a ■ big sellier' for any; picture advertising, from a calendar with a special: week inalrked ott to a ringed date. ■ It's not only lii pic- tures, liodge secretaries have: also fbiJiHd this use' of thie' calendar helps: Newest angle was worked oi^t by ft manager who had a big one com- Jhg for the last three day» of the ' month. He had: his Job printer run off a calendoir of the nionth with the dates , of the showing with only question marks<. The printer Also loaneid him a set of calendar logo- types small enough to go nicely Into a'two-column space., :'i The cards were iplaiced In prac-. 'tlcally every store window In town ,,Wlth a top line reiading 'days to 77?' There was a black square printed In front of this which was. treated with: blackboard; surfacer, borrowed from the ischool Janitor. . ' The ctirds were put out three days ■ before the flrst of the month.; . On tbe first of the month an ushet went arburid artd in chalk: wrote 26 in the prepared splice, at the same tlmo marking- the flgure 1 In the calendar with a cross mark. Si- multaneously, the newspaper bios-. iBomed out- with the calendar, but the crossing :c6uld not be done with- out mutilating the borrowed logos, 0o this: was omitted. The cards were marked every morhlhg. When the~ House went into the regular ad- vertising, the dates were annoimced togelther with-the title of th6 fea-' ture,' this being stripped into the ippace occupied by ; the . question marks, -^t made, a cheap and highly effective campaign, but only . good on a picture that warrants^ three weeks of . teasing. - Anmyersfury Stunts -Manager, who's had the same house 16 years is asking for some anniversary gags. The most ob-: vlbus would appear to be tickets, for 'the best personal recolleictldns of opening night. Another, offer might be for the best contrast of .that pro gram, with the one intiended for the anniversary, with the presumption that .a hit picture has been .booked ■•for that occasion. ; , Even at the cost of a second night ' Bhow it will pay to stage some Jubi- lation, with the mayor, if possible, oiTering cphgratuiations, the local editor stressing the adviahce in .quality of entertainment, luxury: of environment aiid perhaps a passing reference to the possibility thalt a ijlmll,ar pe.rl<y|,.hence teleyi3lon_inajr replace the prbdent screen. . A mu- sical: program should be offered, with a current singer and a rievival of the old illustrated song, if. slides ciin be ^obtained. ,lf it is worked discreetly. It should be. possible to get someone ;tb circulate ah album in which all of the .towhfolk subscribe to a resb- lutlbh of gbod Will to be presented the nianager, and, of course, take him by surprise.: This book can be offered in the lobby, for belated sig natures, but as many leading names: as: possible shbuld be obtained be- forehand. • /, : A souvenir program should be pre- paredi to- be paid .for by'th© Inser- tion of advertisements, and cor- —rylng--*uts-^>f-:the--OFigina4-41wtttFe44 and. the house as it looks today. Ad • ditional copies should be distrlbutfed to those unable to obtain, admlssiori, and If possible the exercises should • be piped by loudspeaker to the side ,;■ walk. .■ ■ The general Idea should be: to make more whoopee than nioney, with the coin coming later from the favorable reaction created. - -More ft. 0. - Quaker Oats, which Is going In for Picture hboks in a big Wajr, through .. the Lord & Thomas agency, lias tied Imitation; of Life' to Aunt Jemima .pancake flpuri or perhaps it's vice versa. Anyhow it's $1,500 for the best window displays on the pair and the theatre welcome to a: set of the window material the dealers are receiving. Aiab hanging tip: cash prizes totaling arouiid $8,000 in a coloring contest. : Ad displays, aire In the local groove, with the advertising done whlld the picture is playing, which '.gives the belated riins a look In. ■.^ ■ Mansfield, O. Warner's: Majestic is rendering a new servibe to • patroni. Cards nbaded '"To Our Pitrons," with space for .name; address and tele- phone number arei distrltluted in the lobby. They read: Vlii keeping with 6ur policy of rendering every possibte service, we urge ybu to UlL out this card. Our Plan' 1$ to 'phone ybu each Week ^nd acquaint you With the current and coming attractions. .The^man- agement trust that this service will aid you; In aranglng your entertain- •meiit prbgrami'^ Gettiiie Theim: Back Manager who has had ; trouble :with.. hla Januarys business, in past years has figured it out thkt be- tween :Christmas and; New Year's parties and general merrymaking, the public has.lost, temporarily/;its desire fbr entertaiiinleht; Buisiness has been stow through-most of Jan^ uary. -■: .. . > ■:■ ■ This; yeiar he Is gbing tb go after the crowd in an intensive fashion. Giving them' a day in which to rest up, be plans to start bh Jan.:-3 with a brldfie tournament for a 10- day riin, inatinees only, and held in the mezzanine. In the evening he will offer a nurbber of local acts, tvirb or three a night, with : a cash prize for the act voted best in. the runoffs.. £:ach night a, winner will L j declared,; and these will be matched agaliist each other for a; final Jan. 11, so as hot to hurt the Saturday trade. Ballbtlng will, be by ticket instead of acclamation on this run off, since he figures/that each contestant will try. to bring in as many voteis as possible.: The winner will be ian- nounced the following Monday, Urst from the stage and then by a lobby announcement. It's his plan to Jazz them into coming again Instead of waiting tintil along in February; "Where there is hot room for a bridge Ught, it may be • possibre to substitute cooking; denibnstratlohs, cooking contests^-hat trimming, or any other subject of: feminine aip^ peal, but some means of overcom- ing patron inertia seems to fee indl^: cated. BrowiL Oontest Winhen : The 'Winners of the cash prizies and-certiflcates biC award offered, by the .iQuaker Oats Co, for. the best exploitation: campaign on: the War-; ner BrosV picture; Joe B. Bro^n in !The Siz-Day.Bike. Rioer.' are as fol- lows: First prl^ (|600)VAl.Slndllh- ger, Appletbn" theatre; Appleton, Wis,; second prize ($250), Bill Henr ) dricks, Warner theatre; Meniphls, Tehn^; third prize ($160)i E, M. Haiti Oxford: theatre, Plalnfleld, J.; fourth prize. ($100), Wally Akin, Melba theatres, Dallas, Tex; The camjpaighs were so excepttbnal that the. company made an additional cash award' of $226, to bb allotted as follows:; $60 prizes to. the follow- ing: Dewey Mousson, Knickerbock- er -theatre,- Nashville, Tenn.V K. A. Grlnies, Warner theatre, 'MOrgan- towh, W. .v.; Will j. Conner;. Music Box theatre, Tacomtf, /Wash.; Glen Rlggihs, Ellany theatre, ;ei - Pasb, Tex.; $26 prize: to Walter iP. Davis, Orpheum theatre. Fort: William, On- tario.' ; ■ Worked with Legi Xiari'y Cowan and Zac Freedman, of the Fox Brooklyn, worked with the American: Legion Christmas Basket fund for ; a nice, cleanup. Legion wanted sbme money and the Fox wanted something to plug the holiday slump. Supplied the legion- aires with 20,000 throwaway tickets with; a cut ort all turned in. . No price conccssibn. Ticket merely stated that fC presented at the box office with the admission price the Legion fund would benefit.: Until a cash transactlbn It .; was Just a throwbut. Mayor LaGuardla posed for newis- paper art, buying the first ticket, which brbke all the Brooklyn papers and the lobal section at some, of the N.^ 'T," sheets. Legion also got mili- tary and :haval highlights to attend the opening; and the NaVy ; Yard contributed flags, guns /and war relics,. :^,.Womeh's--glee—Giub,—cbnr nected with the Legion sang as an added attraction at ekch final night show, and seven different posts con- tributed a band; ohe for each night of the run. Legion also loaned its 40-8 fake Ibcdmotlve and freight car for a traveling ballyhoo. Hbiise cleaned up some nice coin without expense and- the Legion appreciated the aid. ■ ^ Everybody Plugging With Warners having a majority of the downtown theatres in Phila- delphia, the press staff has been working on the department „8t;ore;s and restaurants In a drive for busi- ness. Department stores carry a Ine—ui.^glng-;-the-r-plotures—aft«r- -ar shopping tour, a typical example reading ;*Shop and dlne,.Lthen shop till nine and, take In a mbvie.' Restaurants also are using slips on their menijs and wlndbw cards urging the shop-and-show angle and the theatre ads reciprocate Horn & Hardart have large cards •Stay in town for the movies,' bver the urge to Investigate the dinner values offered. . General ideor seems to be to get them downtown and then sell them the works. And it isn't a bad idea. Getting Ambitions Dave Davidson shoots in a press book on Majestic's 'The Perfect Clue,' with the intimation that he figures that for an indie outpirt^t'g pretty much big time Not much room for argument there It looks like the big timers. He reads well, too. Lists 12 stunts which are applicable to this particular picture and then tosses in a schedule for thblr use over a seven-day period. That's a new one. Carries about all the super de luxes have, but with the bunkum boiled out, ; Nine Truckloads .'■;-.■: St. Paul. . St Paul's seven Publlx. theatres put on their annual tby matinee Dec. 8 and broke all records for contributions, getting nine, truck- loads of toys from more than 7,000 kids. • ;: .-■■ Publlx worked with local P-T-A ■council and the Santa Claus club, which dovetailed nicely for beati- coup publicity. Half-column yarn oh page one of Sunday's papers, with pix four columns wide and a foot deep, with. captions mentioning the participating theatres by name, torousialt Publlx pleotr oC good will. .: How Vande Helps Portland, Ore. Andy Saso, Orpheum, used one of his . acts of vaudeville, Westerlund and Nlckerson, to get plenty extra attention for his hbuse last week. Babe Westerlund Walked on his hands around the edge of the the- atre building, eight; stories, doing a; series of , one-arm hand stands and climaxed the stunt by raising his partner, Ernest Nlckerson, in mid-air with one arhi. . Publicity feat was put bn during the nbon hour and the streets were Jammed with natives taking in the act. .■'-...:; ■ . - Hew Bed Ink ^ Burlington, la. : A theatrical advertising stunt that will go over big whtere-the picr ture is but of the ordinary or will lend self to unusual- exploitation, was brought to. light here recently when the margin of a news page bore play advertising matter in red- Ink. Only drawback is that plug must be confined to about 11 words. Stands out from the black and white like a lighthouse in a fog. Costs are .higher, but as an Innova- tion worth the extra shekels. Called Out the Trbops Fred Peary, of Comerford's Capi- tol, Blnghamton, N. Y.„ turned oiit the Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars jwhen. h« .came.Jo^'TheLFirst World War.' Both war organiza- tions met the film cans at the sta- tation, with the field muslc; and es- cbrted them on a gun.caisson to the theatre. That happened on a Sun- day, which brought a line , that was big enough to last two hours. . During show times a guard of honor of two men was cbntinubusly posted in the lobby. Heny Waltzeni ' Granada theatre, Emporia, Kans., staged a dance contest at the "Teachers' College for "The Merry Widow,' with the winners given a stage' date-fdr-the run x>f the pic.. Made a lot of local talk, which helped bring 'em in. Being used in 'many-^wcster n spots. . — ' — ?■ It Happened One Night in Milan, . sbmething like _Caln. has been raised, and only^a miracle - has prevented murder. The cause was a delicately scented nbte in a feminine handwriting sent to all the men of the towA,. and .worded:. ''Tl attendo qilesta sera alle 21 sot- to I'atrlo del Cinema Corso, Baci, Claudette. (I shall , expect you this evening at 9 o'clock at the entrance of the Corso Cinema. Kisses. Claudette.) ' ■ W: '- Of course, not every wife knew that 'The Walls, of Jerico,' featuring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, is at the" Corso. The, consequence was that, Italians being what they are: wildly excitable and ungovern- ably Jealous, some . really awful rows;. took place. In bne case neighbors were only Just in the nick of time to prevent a poor hus- band from being knifed. Shots were fired, luckily without result, by anbther infuriated wife. ; The papers have protested against what is called a stupid advertising stunt.. Nevertheless, the box office re- ceipts have been large. Previewing a Train .'.y'' ;. . Lincoln,. . Since the Burlington railroad has about one-third of all its tracks with- in the state boundaries: of Nebraska, local theatre meh arranged to have a preview of the 'Silver Streak,' which stars the C. B. & Q.'s Zephyr train, for newspaper people and local Burlington officials at the Lincoln. Original plan was to have the world premiere on the Zephyr on its regular run between Lincoln and Omaha, but the current on the train wasn't high enough to run the prb Jection machine. ;; Models for Serial Boise,; Idaho. J. D. Braunagel, operatbr of the Granada theatre has a model air plane contest for local kids in con nectlon with the serial 'Tailspln Tommy.' Passes are given for awards weekly and the grand prize is an air trip to the Coast. Second prize is $10 cash. Braunagel has built' a miniature landing field in the foyer on a table on which entries are displayed, with a fepotlight placed ■ to: give night landing effect. Newspaper tie-in giving plenty publicity. Entries to be -given rto ah ^Orphan's -home for Christmas gifts. Promoted air trip is in return for advertising of air- line in all publicity copy. More Pepper \ Harry Browning, working for the New England section of Parambunt, sends in some, nice' examples of a niimeo Jazzer-upper. Not mbre than three pages, but smartly written and tells things. Gets around to each man Ih the course of time, but his. boys know- that the more they do the quicker it Is to get around to them again, so they buckle down. Lots can be done -Inr a Couple of pages; more than is s<Mhetimes done in several times the space. It' s all in the . state of mind of t h'e'Wlriter. . Youngstown, O. . The Rialto theatre, one of the pioneer downtown .movlO' houses, has been converted; Into a night club, knbwn as The Lido and wH] be opened shortly. Duluth, Woodrow Praught, assistant man- ager of, the Lyric, now manager of the Homer, Hibblng, Minn. Everett Olson succeeds Fraught. • New York, Dave Lipton's affiliation with the press department of Columbia Pic- tures, ' New York, Is not settled. Possibility that the former Balaban & Katz publlclist will stay with Sally Rand rest of the winter. Bal- loon dancer Is tentatively booked for Florida following current en- gagement at' Paradise restaurant, N.--Y. .,: ■;■•■ -- tre-in-AltavJstar-Va.—^No successor- appointed. ' Alec Thompson* former chief usher at the Paramount, has been promoted to assistaht -manager Of the Isis. ■ •■■;■ ■'- ■:■ ■■■.■.:■ Omaha. Paramount theatre went dark for second time this year Dec. 9. After clbsingMast summer it reopened in October .running till present clbslng; FoOr biz glyin as reason, ana ii is the main one, but other rumored factors include rental and bond difficulties. ;. Xios Angeles. ' .Tim Riley resigned as mgr. of F- WC Granada at Inglewood (suburb), replaced by Ernie Sllcocks. . r [ ', ' . ■ , Harrisburg, Pa. Stated largest and -newest' Wllmer & 'Vincent house here, goes dark Saturday (16) after, a season of less than a month, due to poor patron- age. :: ; ■■ . ;':.■■:'-■'■■ ■■:" -:••■' Lynchburg. Lowell Lewis, assista,nt manager of Warner's Trenton here, has re- signed to manag* the Libertir tbea- - .;;; '■ '■ -■■ .-■-. Memphis, i The Orpheum, now . under the management of M. A. LIghtmari, of Memphis, Trl-Stajte chain theatre owner, as result of deal cbmpleted in New York with Aaron Courshon of the G.C-S. Circuit of Chicago, operating the theatre since Septem- ber. ■ ■■■:. : :>■;. Sharon. Pa. Managers of Sharon's three pic- ture theatres were fined $25. and costs each when arraigned before Alderman Hayes T. Brooks on charges of violating the city ordi- nance banning Sunday shows. The chiarges, to which he pleaded no de- fense, were preferred by the Civic League of Sharop, organized to pro- mote law observance, after Sunday shows were started here six weeks ago'.. Those fined were Thomas (Contlhued eh page 29) : New Peep Show . CaRUftllzing..c.uiioalty by.means of: the' peep show is standard, but a re- ■ cent improvement adds both nov- elty and double appeal, , Manager brlginating, thi stunt had an extra. bpx.;,:ffice with a window flush.with the lobby wall. It had been Intended for regular ticket sales, but he pre-, ferred the island office: hearer the curb line; and since the house was opened the ticket office has been inore or less dead space, though he used the opening now and then for scenic miniatures and other novel- ties. His latest gag Was to install two balbptlcons,: one either ^ide : of' thb window, each provided with picto- rial copy which was thrown on a screen back of the window when the lights were on. A temporary installation. waa. made of two push' buttons, each controlling the lights in one. of the projectors and the investigator was urged to; press . the buttons alter- nately; to get the dbuble show. Pressing elthei^ button brought on' the lights in bhe of the machines ; and the message was projected on the screen. .Because of the double show the projections attracted more ; than ordinary attention. Now he. is. trying to figure out a double projection by means of which a; teaser message: will be: projected and then filled in from the second lantern. Doesn't • know quite, how to' accomplish this with the. . single ~ button, but he has develbped the. Idea of a constant light on the side; with 'Who. do you suppose will bp the star at this theatre next week. Press the button to find out'. Press.-: ing the but. m lights the other, lan- tern with the name and picture. ■ Badip Scripts | Most managers figure that if they ^ can get the tuner-inners to dial his broadcasts on pictures from the lo- cal station, he has done about all that can be done with the air ma- terial, but one manager gets a back- kick that seems to help business. The station, a bne-luhger, is glad to get the scripts oh cbmIng plays, and uses three a week, but now the manager has promoted a script writer's club to promote further in- terest. Ostensible idea is to develop material for the station, and gag worked from that angle. Student members aire supposed to. listen In on the brbaidcast, see the picture,.and then make an effort to write a better script than the ohe airedj with; the prbm ise o f tickets^ -to 'the~'wrinini6l^~'~ Three cohYesfs"a week, with the; 'students' given three days after the showing in which to get. up, their homework. Kicker is that the . names. of the winners are first announced a week after the initial cast, and the whole town seems to be listening in. Cample scripts are displayed In the foyer Of the theatre for the guidanpe of the aspirants and once a week' there is a brief talk from the stage by someone from the sta- tion, dealing with some phase of the writing. • Idea has stirred up a remarkable interest, and while it was started as a gag, the station is finding sbme material Ih other scripts sent in by - members of the club and is hopeful of digging out some real material in time. '.:■■.'., ■'■'; Xmas Cards Lincoln. ; Llhcoln; theatre here is sponsor- ing a Christmas card sale bf. tickets which is catching on in neat fashion, - Admissions to the-Llncoln theatre, printed on. a very present- able folder card and sold complete with- envelope fbr 6c below the normal ticket price, is the gag. .; . It's especially timely right; now when everyone .Is so pocket con- scious and it gives; the house, be- sides a novelty ad, a; little pin money coming in on the side, E.. A. Patchen mothered the idea. ; Hew Toy Xrain : Lincoln. A constant plug ; for . 'Silver . Streak' came to town: in the fbrm of Xmas toys; Toy: electric trains modelled after . the ; Burlingtbh Zephyr are in almost every down- town store window. It took only let . little persuasion by E. A. Patchen to get one of theni displayed In , mbtlon In the Orpheum lobby, and In most of shop windows a small card labelled 'Silver Streak' was plainly noticeable withdut destroy- ing the store's commercial display. UA's 'Cardiff Giant' ; ■The Cardiff Giant, stone figure carved out of gypsriim, once bally- hooed by P, T. Bariium as a prehis- toric find, is being used by United Artists In exploitation of its, film,; 'Mighty Barnum.' The stone figure will be exhibited - simultaneously with showing of the picture, begin- ning bn Dec. 20, at Bridgeport, On the following d^ay It Will be seen in New York and', from there to other points. -: : ; ;