Variety (Jan 1935)

VAMIETY By Epes Sargent Hit ^?lain' P(Bopl« ■ : "'Z^ancaster.'^Pai-. Graoklnv Into the etald and lhd«- . toendeint lAinco. Service igtoree for. Bio flrat time, Harry Travis, Grand ' tfae^ttr*' manager, put .ov£r an ex- tenslvd oampalgh on 'Imitation of Xlfe' with th« Aunt Jemima tle-ln. Idea was localized with an Inde- Sndent Aet of local prizes Including ah and tickets from theatre and ;))aBkets of groceries from: the: store «omblnatlon. Campaign was unusuaal In that the chain. Is operated In closis con- liectlon with seotloh's .'plain' eisctB, . .trhlch have for a generation bisen: Apposed to :mbvlng pictures, or' they fitrical entertainment of siny kind. Grand cracked the combination for 16,000 store heralds, newspaper ad- -: vertlsing, 8,000 store window cards, 5nd radio mention In addition to ads of contest blanks in 150 storea/ In addition placed color blanks in primary departments of all city and county schools to be distributed by -. jirt'-students,' ' ' All this waa coupled with a' big Ipbby display and the usual theatre posting and billing/-/ Another effective Graiid campaign . took advantage of two na,tiirals to put over 'The Mighty Barnum.' One w aa exp lbitat loh r>f Trim Diatlfty , Veteran circus man who looked at tlie; show and then wrbte a news- • paper: story about his personal, con- tacts with Bairnum/. Other was grabbing of midget and . Ireak show, playing in a store room ^nd putting It in the lobby, for a circus build up.; ' ■ —Li :. ^_l^TeitiiiMmiiiJ»: St. John, N. 'B. : Testimonials, titled 'Citizens' Per-, : ional Views,' have beeil introduced ■in behalt of the .Strand Theatre, Sydney, N. S.; and the programs py B. R. Synn, manager. These testimonials have . beeii used "In- - local T--^newspaper--iadvertlslng,- 'apart from .space regrularly used • p y. _ the theatre, the original aiiJf" reproductions 7^ast!ed~"~6tC •taiids' in the' lobby aiid iii store Windows through the city and sub- . Iirbs, and op slides for. the screen. Also, In folders distributed at the door of the theatre. The newspaper .Mvertlsing Is 4Mi Inches deep and , two columns wide; A sample word- fag under the heading Is, 'What yames McDonald, City Clerk, - says about the Olasolo of the Year , 'On e 'Sequbia^ Campaigni; This campaign on 'Sequoia' at Loew's Rochester theatre is given in ample . form :becau§e It : Is. r>ne .of the flrst of the eastern stunts and because, through " the ■ presence of an exploitation man It uses most of the stahd^d stunts planned for th|3 8tory.'-;.,./^.:V. ' i"'.-^-:.'. ' The eutstandihg gag' was a pre- view, a couple of days Ih advance; to which were Invited the heads of the Paifeht-Teacher asnociatlDii, the Audubon Club, Isaac Walton, League, TiW^C.A, T.M.C.A.,: Girl Scouts, Boy ScoutSi . Campflre Qirli and the heads; of most school and chiurch orgahizatlons as well as the editors and film writers on the dall- ies. ThesiB were asked to mall (on supplied postcards) their reactions to the picture and frbm the: ap- proximately 1,000 cards selections were made and the: writers &pr proached fpr permission to reprint on, a; throwaway, . . Letters were , sent to a selected list of 2,000, and 600 of the books made lip by: the Hays office were distributed to the high schools. A meeting of the Better Pilms Council was attiended/ All: local managers had been Invited, but only one other theatre—was^represented^-^Uwhich- gave thie Insde track: to 'Sequoia,' It: was through this meeting that the contact .was made for distrlbu- tloh to tiie high schools of the booklets ref erred to above,\ The list: Of newspaper tleiips cov- ers about a full page .of single spaced ' f oolscap: which included stories by a yoiing woman who. had gone to; the- Coast last summer-oh a TSfire^ieaiTTthg-wiKrTnrdn^ picture In production: Special stories 4nd art were: planted::on' 16 country papers, and foUr sjpbt ian- houncements were " carried "by WHEC. Three banners were placed two: on fronts and one oh a sldewaii. The l atter blew loose and-th'e" efCorTs of-the;-w6rkmoif^o- secure It gave extria value to this JRQLjQILjLJ.in»iB,lJ*ftj9JJQL^^ the local.- crossroadsV About 20 downtown newsstands Were spotted and 100 special cards tacked to the A boards for the auto show, by ar- rangement, Tlie same number of quarter sheet cards were tied to light poles and a' nuniber of Win- dow diisplays were arranged: Following a bad snowstorm a dls-. play: board was mounted on a bob have 600 specials of the Dally Star imprinted on front pajge In red, saying 'Jean Parker In town' In box- car letters, th^se distrlbed'by new- sies ait downtown shops: Olympic hoteli where the flicker folk stopped, had 'Welcome' banners on Its three marquees. These were the ^hlgh - lights pulled In the ezplbltation. and results Were bke, although weather was terrible. > ; • piaifomt for '../'Indianapolis.V.'. During the showing of 'Lives of a Bengal Lancer* at the Indiana the- atre. Manager Henry Sommers,. who is something of a militarist himiielf since he Is a Kentucky Colonel on the stfiYt of Governor Lafoon, had everyone in the house wearlnjEr uni- forms : and paper mache helmets. Name of the attraction , was printed in red on visor of the helmet. Stunt attracted .quite a bit of atr tentlon and some of :the helmets even overflowed from the: house and were worn by : newsboys oh the street, although no protectibh from sun was needed since i>ick played house during eub-zero weather, ■ EooMng to ikiiudieiin -Lttncasterj-par- Calpitbl and Grand theatres co- operating with WGAL here In the conducting of aii' amateur contest for radio talent. Stunt set, to ruii bVer six weeks With plugs of the theatres one each program.. Winner Is to be selected by Judges picked from town's most prominent people and will he given an engage- ment^to-appear on the stage o f one of the c~o~<JFeratlnBrthBatriefB7^ Program is just starting and al- ready ha^ almost a capacity list of entrants. ; ■ . Printed the Script V Omaha. jChaiaie_Schlaifbr,^managcr of the Tfi-States theatres^^advertlstniff ~0t flce> devised a timely tle-UP: tor J)avld-Copperfleld-thatJKaBn'J^nuthe. press bobkr Feeling .that the local dallies would'nt go for the serialized story, Schlaifer anranged with the Omaha World-Herald to-prlnta sec- tion of the:original film script ver- batim in the paper^s magazine as a Sunday feature article. A wire to Frank Whitbeck of the Hollywood M-G-M publicity office brought the desired section of the sc r ipt by air mall In pl e iity. uf-tlme to be planted as the gag Was worked out ten days before opening of the flint.' '.''■- CIa,ud Morris, of the Metro pub- licity department, m town to lend a hand to Schlalfer In lining up a heavy campaign on Copperfleld. RADIN'S ARTIE CHAIN tlAYPUYmCEACTS iifattjr Radlh has. six theia,tre8: in his .projected ; xrosa-couhtry arty chain set and'is negotiating for few more spots. . Opens the Audito- rium, Baltimore, Feb. 8 j Majestlci Boston,: Feb. U, and Belascb, Wash- ington, Feb. 21.. Also tiie Great Nbrthern Chicago, but .ho opening date. .AJil: four are ;form6 legit spbts. Operates .J the Acme and Camieo theai:res In New York' but Is negbtlatlng:for another : spot in the Times Square sectbr, Riidin; also Is: negotiating for houses In Detroit^ Philadelphia and Cleveland, :AU ifoUr out of; town theatres: set will open., with 'Chap'- ayev,' Russlari film current at the Cameo, arid will be. followed by a mixture. of French and Russian Radin's idea in picking ex-legit spots is to have a stage..; He .hopes to Import .some Russian legit; ballet or bther shows and will route them around his chain. Zukor iind (Continued from page 6) : the person^ of. A. H. Fordington. Xjeixtral -HanQj^^ ■pbrlea, mHy ai Fprtington so get"7 one rep- Gentral Haribyer Bank, It is reported, ma.y also get onie rep- resentative, namely. President W. Si'Gray, jr.^ rather than George Davison, chairman of the. C<H.B. Another added name to. the new board -is that'of -Floyd "Odlurti; 'Lat== ter Is chairman of Atlas Investment -Trustr-ambn^the—biggest--ofT-^its. kind, wiilch: Is otherwise Interested In film business shares through holdlrigs In Fox Film, Loew, .^ar: ntos and even In RKO, according to accounts, Atlas' holdings- in Far, however, are reiJorted not to. be as eixtenslve as: popularly belieyed. Situation, can be sized up as. a most trying; one for q,ny. of the re- 'CaUofWild' HQllywood, Ja:nl;:28. Twentieth Century Is haying, plenty of headaches bp. its 'Call of the Wild' locatipri ' trip at Mount Baker, Wash, ; Continued, blizzards, plus sickness of the director, Wll- liam A, Wellman,, and inadequate accoriimodatlpnia for the troupe are having their effect bn production. Picture Is already a forthigrht behind in productibn, due' to Clark Gable; returning to Metro for ; 10 days to make retakes on/Copy Cat.' Further production complicaitloris are popping up, with Galile's loanr . out, :cpntract to 20th Century term- Inatirig Fbb. 'io. He la due back at Metro at that time to, start work on 'China Sea,^ Latter picture, with Tay Gat-iVett directlngi. has been .in preparation for the past year. Pic- ture wlU get started Peb^ 3, tvlth the company wbrklng around Gable un- til he is returned, by . 20th Cent. restrair . . ■ (Cbiitlnued. .from P.age..f) ... . , : able actlbn by the : Rules group, SIrovlch decided to: Introduce a bill which; will automatically conie Up before^hia Ptttehts: Commlttee' and provide an excuse to :call witnesses aTtd-g6^lntb:the-Tyhoie7Subjec t. Iridlcatirig fllms ahd radib arioL in-\ eluded in; the 20 or so Industries about which he wants to. get the. low-down on, patent control, Slro- ylch proposed that 'every agree- ment by which rights lii a plurality of patented InventlonB are ren- dered subject to common ownership, icontrol and enjoyment' must be rpn -li Ijight of Love';...'While In New York on vacation, I had the good fortune of witnessing 'One; Night of Love,' at Radio City.- It was un- doubtedly the best picture, of Its Jtlnd I have ever witnessed, and .abounds with sparkling music, wholesome comedy and'all around entertainment. .'Nbtwithstahdlng the fact that Badio City Rceommodates 6,000. peo- ' >Ie,_I Was forced, alon^ withNBCore s iI~otIfers, to remain m line:; for al.- Miost ah Ihour before ..'securrng. ad- S^lsslbUT-whlch Itf striking evidence . { the pbjjuiarlty of the flim.^ . 'Signed—James McDohaldj '(City Clerk of Sydney) —TWs^-plcture—wiU-^pen^at^tte- Strand Monday.' A picture of McDonald em^el- ilshed the teiatimonlal as.lt appeared n print. Other testlmbhlals' from local city officials: were used, after the flrst .day of screening of 'Love,' :4i: picture- bt eabh :belng used. All Jiox office recbrds at the Strand for our days wore broken, necessltat- Jng exteasibn of the booking two lays more.: sled and perambulat e d. TblH In- cluded one trip down Main street, which was agalhst regulations and brought a yawp from the police Which made the newspaperij. Tlie sign later .was placed ; on the fence of a parking station. Plenty of co-operation from bus lines, Including the Greyhound, and 6,000 strip tickets, suggested In the press book were put out. Postcards of. the Hotel Dixie, .N. Y., were handwritten—and—mailed—In—New- York,-andrthere-was-arT^llve-animal display In the lobby consisting: of a. California raccoon and a horned owl. There was v a " woman attendant to answer questions'about the; iiiiiiaalS and the -picture, Toasted Bnime Dubuque, la, Iffie_±oast^the-iBtar_oi_thfti^.Q3cn!s. In all of the istunts, where pos- sible,; 'David Copperfleld' the under- lined picture, was also plugged. Fainily Trade Sprlngfleld, O. Chakeres-Warner houses gia,inlng added . newspaper space by 'family -night' -stuntr - Set for every- £atur-: day night, press cites endorsement Of plan of 'speriding one night each together by each family,' approval ({omlng: from civic, business; and ehurch leaders of city/ : Regent, State and Fairbanks in- Oluded In advertising of stunt prossea; showed big lift at flrst two ^QUseB with nH/lcirt pl^^B-^HTjgV^ Ip at third after, two weeks, Midget Auto .'-^^{.i-- ■ •: ■ San Antonio.'. , Aztee cashed ih effectively for •lI'Khty Barnum' With a tie-In with jLuto service and accessory firm .Ifhich was conducting a contest With a midget racing automobile as flrst prize. Pic hbua8:^laced-a- :8ma;il Sanner-plugging -Beery pic ' oh" the ttle car which was pilbted all over town by a midget driver In racing Tegalla, ■ Much neck twisting re- ' ISUlted.;'. -, '- . ■ ^' •• College Bally for 'Band' Lancaster, Pa, , _ Plugging both hla features, and his stage show, Jack Frere; manager <ff the Cblpriial used the Franklin frnd ■ Marshall College band: as a medium. ■. ' . Promoting The Band Plays On,' he rah. a. competition in-which the tpcatre helped, select the druni mar ■JOr for t}ie cbnrlng year. >- '■ •„■'- . ■ • .- : ■:, Seattle. • There was everythlng on the ball for 'world premiere' 'Sequoia' (MG) at Fifth ' avenue 'theatre. (Evergreen). Pour.weeks of teaser* ads in the' dallies, flocks bf preaa storlea In advance, even Luella writing a' scribble In her gossipy column,- V preview showing coupla- days in advance, with; delegates trom " Civic -ciubs~lnvltedr"BO~ blll=" boards, 24 sheeters. Instead of the usual dozbh, in town and out in the country, . cards. ;at . the.. desks arid into each room: of guests at hbtels, with ;dope thereon, of premiere of 'the motion picture that is destined to amaze the world,' as CVlc Giaunt-: lott's lingo put It, street decoratioris and a lot of .gags In connection with the personals of Jean Parker and Russell Hardio, as well .as John: W, .Considine, Jr., coming ba ck to the home town. "TlllsTtngle wasTiestvIIy^ played up. ^ The producer and players talked at C of C meets, on the. radio arid interviews..,. Jean got Into the so-, ciety section at. receptions ; .and plxes with ;sbclalltes.: She got in right with the newspaper arid radio mob by throwing a party for them a ll at the Oly mpic hotelj and: got over nicely with" a petite ana. sweet persbhallty.:: Herjb ;Spbottka, m ager, had; the. lobby of house, done in wild style with bark and small sequoias, . In foyer •vyere the-sbna of the puma, arid deer used In pix, sent up with, a keeper by: MQ, froni Holly wood.' These 'pets.': wiSre caged side by each arid looked peaceful and-pally; enough; Special mat was given for! boy scouts and camp Are gals, where Jeari appeared iri pei-sori and was made horiorary meriiber. Mayor Smith .was present at the •Hollywood' premiere, giving a pep ialk, .and telling- of the World-wide, advertising Seattle iS: gettinET from this- everiC Another stunt wae to Jbe3:t_mQYle,'.Tyatj;hej?ay.t.h put acrbss Irene Dunne Ih 'Sweet Adeline.' a full page ad being used on ar cb-op basis with-other -mer- chants. The lead off was- devoted to a splurge of ; the pic and a cut. ■Stars^blank"eted;~the"page~wlth'~va- rlous Arms tying. In their products in a promotional way with the pie. It .was. ,;an..unusual, setup .andl while the theatre: bore the brunt of . the ad cost, the remainder of the iad appeals went a long way to give the promotlon-»:^splash . that - was ^ reiai ballyhoo. • ; organization eleoients. There had' been talk even of possibly makinig George Schaefer president of , the corinpariy, wiere; Zukor to prefer to become.chairman of the board. 6ut- slders also have been mentioned. The situation now appears to have met all demands harmpnlusly, for the present at least, and It Is ex- pected that swift process towards conclusio n of reor ganiz at ion will be made. \^ Molllsen Due at U. V v .-.- ",: HbllywboS, Jan.. 28. . Henry . Mblllsori, . Engllsii:' Juve lead,"'repbrta7to-"Universal--ln-Marc^^ to begin a term contract. Import is: the son Of a;:Loridori stage: producer,and may, be fear, tured; In one of U's forthcoming serials, having ; recently done •Mc.GlUSkey, . the Siea Rover', for British Intcrnatibrial Pictures^ BEHIND ^« ^E¥S corded. in the patent Office within six months of their negbtlatlbn. Bill covers any other agreements predi- cated upbn the original understand- ingd and specifles that whether the. common ownership occurs through ai98ignment, license or btherwlse the report must be made. Penalties ' ' Each statement would contain the names and addresses-of each -party- and Identify. eyery^patent- affected by' name, title and number. Any change In the agreements would have to be reported.: Penalties of $1,000 a rid additional fine of ■ $260 for: each month's delay would be authorized. The SIrovlch measure also pro-, videa for Invbstigatlon " of ■ pooling' arrangements which may not be in the public interest. Specifles that if complaints are flled against - the pools, or If the Patent Commission- er Suspects any of the agreements are against the public welfare, a certifled copy of such agreements shall be filed with the Federal Trade Cbmmiaaion 'for such action aa the Reading. Annual meeting of Wllmer & YJn- cent circuit managers froni all the- atres in Pennsylvania, held here the first of this week,, was featured by the awarding of $276 In cash prizes to managers whose houses showed the biggest Improvement In business during the laist two arid; a half months. ■., Paul Olase, of ■ the Embassy thea- 4neHWon-the-flrst^ptlze-of.$100r-j:ohn-|-Bald Jtlaloy, of the State, Altoona, was second place winner and got $60. Jerry Wollaston, Victoria, Harris- burg, was third, with a $40 awatd, David Murphy, of the RlaUp, Allen- town; E. RUdlin, of. the iState, Easton, and Lee Conrad, of the; Em- bassy, Johnstown, each won prizes of $26. -.■ i.:WalterJf.!ncent,, J._DiEageii_gej^ eral manager, and Prank Fowler, chief auditor of the circuit, attended, the confab, . .■■:;■.■'.' Moriaca, Pa. Roiy here, until recently the Penn, has been leased to J. F. Huazar and . Glen Floyd, at Follarisbee;. W: Va. The two pa.rtners wore formerly competitors In Follansbee, but when a third theatre was opened in that town they got together, arid are now branching'out into a small circuit, . ■ '■ ■ ■ Albany. : . ^ ■.'.. .: Canton,.,Q,:.' ?L?,Yeral openl.riM have beep an- noimcta .ti» eastw'B .phIo; j-6cently, Including the Majestic, Camden; Pendrpla, Lpndpjh . F.orum. _ Nor- walkV Slemorial, Mt. Vernon; Ritz, Hurbn; Pastime, Coshocton. Oklahoma City,;. Aldrldge theatre, negro patron- age, has been taken over by the BiJpu Amusement Co, of Nashville, Terin, The company plans further expansion of their opefatlons, it Is Colonel Charles B. Kessnlch, rank- ing M-G-M offlclal of the: southeast, announces the appointment of Roy M, Avey of Oklahoma City as branch manager of M-G-M at Atlanta, sue■• ceeding Jlmmie Hanlon, Minneapolis. Melvln Evldori, salesman of Mln- j$eflik>AisjBXCharige, appointed branch manager, of Columbia Pictures Des Moines office. He replaces Joe Levy, resigned, , : Fairfield, la. L. B. Gaines, owning the Or- pheum, has taken over the Rex the- atre from T, W. Thompson and Walter Dewey, Federal Trade Commission may deem necessary to protect the pub- lic Intprcist and the public welfare arid .prevent uri'^warrahted mbnbp-" oly.'' -■:■,.■:,;■'. ''."' ■. .::':■' Wheeler-Rayburn resolution is in- tended to make -certain that the A.T.&T. does nbt escape quizzing on any of Its affairs through legal chal- lenge of the Commissipn'a authority. Although the Commish originally In tended- to-lopk ln to_Erpl, .the_n tw:^ resolution would preclude any v.-- Jectlops to the rights of. the govern- ment agency to demand Info about this subsid, Specifles that Commlah shall Investigate and report on pos- sible competition or ' Invasion. ' other fields of telephone communi- cation. ^ " '\ .' Film production and distribution, manufacture ;'of ;. electrical ; ;equli}- mont, teletype, tclephoto and tele- graph service, and broadcaBtlng all ail are listed as subjects intp which the Commish may legally probe. Waynesburg; Pa. Larry Puglla, of the Waynesburg opera house, was charged with vIot latlon of the. Penrisylvanla .la:ws when he opened his theatre on Sun- day, : ;".^ ■■ . :'.■■;'■: ..' . theatres/ named a member of the board of education, in Oloveraville, wliere" the chain's headquU.rters lis located. He recently was elected president, of the State Y.. M... and Y. w. H. a; ■J/ ■.Myeir 'Sohi'ne, ;liMd ■ bf : S'''1iIik' ;, ■ . Glens Falls, N. Y. . ,. Warren ;J. Walr;ha9; beeri nami'd, :i(Mb)!jvro'i'i''-'<KTt^ of •.PcIhUo.,: