Variety (Mar 1935)

^dnepda;, March 27, 1935 Bnrted Air Sti^ BaltliaoEe."- Herb Morgan, publlclat for Loew'B bere, was prevented from executing a. ballyhoo stunt: h€^ had . iEtrranged :tor Surida.y ia3t;to"T>lug-'West Point of Air' (MG) when the U. S.^ De- partment of Comiherce intervened with a. demand he could hot meet. Stunt Morgan had designed was haying an - alrrdaredevll x change planes while the ships were iBylne. Firfit : balked when he wanted to ■tage stunt over Century theatre,; he was. willing to bbmprotoilsei by hav- ing affair over airport, but Dept. of Commerce flatly refused sanction unless 150,000 public liability bond was posted;. Bond was not, conse- quently stunt was called off. Reason for demand of bond Is that though the Dept. of Commerce does.: not seem particularly concerned over danger faced by stunter, it does waiit to^protect public property and persons'^ho tnlght be harmed if ac- cident or miss occurs. ; - ■. : Reported to have" prfimpted this: hew ruling, that \i «olng to be ap- idied hatiohally covering air bally and barnstorming, was the recent deaths of three people when a clrr; cusihg plane fell in La Marr, MlSr ■Isslppi,^ while exploiting ''Devil Dogs of Air' (WB). Aftier the tragedy, Warner Bros, exploitation department sent notices to all the- atres to keep all f uture alr-plcturea' _li!allyi Cflnaned_tp_stunts. that. tijy^ plre on fhe .ground. The Eagle Dives "iEawafa~S«elte, Who ■ sick houses for years with china and bedroom suite giveaways, got crashed When he went from Utica to Albany to biiild up the Regent.. He ■ instituted rrthe- stunts which have always passed current in- other t o wns, but this tl me-i4tere was a kick to the code authorities and he bad to abandon the gags; ■ To replace he has revived the comedy- auction idea, which , was a craze oiit west a year or two ago, but which has had very lUtle airing In the east. . Promoted articles are auctioned _ off and then the auctioneer; turns buyer and makes vaTldus humbrbus bids, such as $2 for a red necktie, 60c for a clgaret of a certain brand; A clevtir auctioneer can makei-the - g.ag-ver-y-^attracllve.. :He keeps buy Ing until the money Is: gone. . . Selette has been advised that this Is within the code, since technically U .is hot a. giveaway. Sold the 'Dogs* . . ^ ..l . Sandusky; -. Mgr. J. J. Schorer, Ohio theatre, . put over 'Devil Dogs of this Air' with a bang. ■ . Advance newspaper publicity and advertising included underlines and pictorial art • aa well as airplane - diuwipg . CQHt.eMg^., whlch ra n .for three days In advance. Current l»ress publicity Included adjdltional stories and art as well as a 3(l-lnch co-op add with a: local furniture •tore.. ^ . . ■" He dressed his lobby with a six ■heet on an art board flanked with ■tills from the production, a Ma,ster art shadow box, tbe Quaker Oats tie-up set ■ piece, 1,000 reprints of a ■well review accorded the picture by Arthur Brisbane were distributed to patrons in advance. His exploitation Included 100 la beled grocery bags, 1,000 labeled bags In A. & P.: stores, 2,000 Jumbo heralds which went out from house to house, 600 In laundry bundles, 1,000 included In the Cleveland Plain Dealer, seven art miniature set- pieces In as many prominent store windows. Hardware store featured a framed one-sheet stills from the picture, model airplanes suspended . from the celling, full window dis- plays . In r three prominent stores, woolworth's featured a. one-sheet, a window card, and a collection of airplane models, , , Straw Hata In Canton, O .. Jifahager Ken^Rled,. of I^ew's, hit on a novel plan to exploit the en- gagement at his theatre of. Mau- rice Chevalier in ; 'Folles Bergere' When he sent; .oiit a shapplly garbed—young man attlried-h^^-much Blmllar tb; the popular French: star and wearing a gigantic hat. 'The young man for three days walked Up and down the main streets of the city, the hit taking up alm.ost half the sidewalk. .' ... '::. .. Stunt proved one of the: best at tempted by the theatre and proved a good plug for the four-day run of the feature. On the-hat band in ,^Jai-.gft Iftttftrs was thft title, of the Egg Hnnti At least one theatre in ei&ch mai- : or point is going to have an Easter egg; hunt, as usual, and is looking around for new ideas. They have been at~ it so long; there :Is^:llttre: left Undone, but one gag Is at least a variation .of the others. . Uses ac-. tual eggs d^ed in different .cbloi-s and each numbered, with the num- bers, starting from^bne in each^cblor, <3ag Iq 'that some of these will be good for tlckets,^but ho one knows which until the ^ollbWlng day; Ttien the numbers are posted in the lobby, but it is not until the second day followlnjg that the color required is also posted and the kids find but whether the red, blue; green, purple or yellow eggs carry the prljse win- ners. After that the losers can eat their eggs. - • In bhe " town where there , was trouble with the. park "^cOmmlSBlon the previous yeajr when the chll- dreii trampled the shrubberyi a the- atre cbntacted the street railway which loaned an amusement park iat the terminus of the line. No shrub- bery to be trampled and thei numer- ous buildings supplied some swell hiding places for the eggs. Nor- mal'fare was a dime each way, but kids could buy a roiled trip ticket froni the; box ofllce for a ; nickel Full fare,: however, was charged adults Who went along with thfe kids. . Tickets >were good only bn special cars which started, from in f rbint of the theatreVi-^- - ; - - -■- And here's an :idea for:.a theatre so located that . n egg huht is im- practli^l. . One house a couple of _y,eaEs_agOA-bffetea_tol,dye_.a_dazen- eggs for arty child, patron. Eggs were left at the door on entrance and were ready to go home with the youngsters when the show was ovei two. each of ^It colors. But . no guarantee""that "the " kldargot'their own eggs, whl^h was the o"|y weak ptflnt^ln the idea, some orough" fresh laid and got staUes, Other wise it: was a, hot Idea. film and the date bt opening. All Wet hut ; Work* : Los. Angeles, lioew's. Sta;te, In ^ Its campaign on :'After Ofnee Hours,' distributed throwaways printed with Invisible Ink to every bifnce in downtown Loa Anpeles.. 'When dipped in water tlje ink ibcc'orhes readable and suggests that the." thing to do .after; onVce ■huurs is to attend Lpe.W's. State; F.' & M. theatres, the Paramount set-up for ;around Boston, Is soaking an. intensive flght a«:ainst dog and horse: racing. The circuit wa^ a lit- tle later In Btartrhg, feelliiig that pub- lic ' opinion would . never legallzb b^ttlsg, but; the November .referen- dum went in favor of pari-mutuelsi. Now that ' there ■eems to be a chance^ to-blockrtheh move, this pub- licity department haa issued ebven manuiUs, all reproducing editorial and newa storlea against the scheme, "ihey are aent to all houses in. .the circuit to hblp the local managers in their effort to Influence local newspaper thought. . It . supplies the. local men with; plenty of ammunition, and it looks like a fight to a finish this tlnie. ; Ooodwill iStiifl ; ■ ''-i ■';'"■;.■■'""Detroit;'; Hollywood theatre; Cohen Bros., neighborhood deliixer, . made page bhe of dailies, last week, when they offered: use> of theatre as substitute 'ciais's'rooms. This came about because bt Are destroying Western. High School, leieivlng 1,700 studenta without ispace for study; Merrill Hahha,; house manager, ', Immediately contacted board of education, offering com-; plete facilities Of : his theatre for student use. Edticatl.bn :dQlclals gaVe stbry-to-hewspapers-also^cbin--- mendatbry letter to the Cohens for their interest. ^ Old Home Week. ' Indianapolis. For the opening of 'Laddie,' the Circle theatre staged a wbrld pre- miere, with former employees of the Circle Theatre Company returning to the home town to do honor to Gene Stratton Porter, author of the; novel. ■. ■ . i ' ■ ^ ■ ■; S; Barrett McCormlck, . original managing director, Issued a call for all. the old timers to report, a,nd more than a score were on hand for the premiere. .Virginia Wellder came. on from Hollywood and will, make stage appearances all week. The contingent of visitors was met at the train and a parade through the downtown streets tobk them to their hotel. . Pushed 'Ruggles* Oklahom^, City. John Schoeppel, of the Midwest, managed a banner across the street from his showing of 'Ruggles of Red Gap' and biillt up on this with a variety of stunts, Including a heavy newspaper barrage. Pake telegrams were distributed by both Western Union and Postal and. Inserts were used by many stores. ', . . ' " ' : An ancient automobile; said to be the oldest In town, was parked, at the curb during the showing and the house staff was booted and Spurred. One of the Standard The- atre, trucks ..was. converted.. Into .a pram , and all of the Standard the- atres carried trailers. Horrihle Example Lancaster, Pa. Dutch ladles are inclined to be fat, that's why Ray O'Connell, man- ager of- the Capitol theatrb had to think fast' on exploitation for the Bowery Music Hall Revue. With a beef trust chorus with a cbmposlte tonhage. only^ slightly .less than a battleship oh his hands, and business terrible, O'Connell dusted out and linked'aU the drug-stores in town on fat reducers using stills of the, oversized line. Two department stores were Induced to put in window displays of rowing ma;- chlnes and gym equipment with one sheet of the show as back grounds and cards telling the public, that if they didn't Ilka rowing they might get a Job with the beef trust, only after all— iHoprlbla.. example!-, idea -sorkfid out pretty well, despite a late start and unit clbsed is engagement stronger than expected.; . 'Helldorado,' screen attraction, ex- ploited with . heralds, . one:-sheets, car cards and fobd ehop hand-bill tie-up. P. A. an Air Find • Omaha. .. In a tie-up with ■ radio station WOW, Tri-States theatres advertis- ing office has arranged for one. of the usual periods whereby it can plug the Paramount stage iBhows by putting the talent on the air. : : Started some weeks ago by offer- ing tho Bill Hogan band for a half- hour impromptu dance concert on a Friday midnight Unusual angle developed when the fan letters came In;, they said the band was okay, but that' the announcer waa a find. Check back showed the voice at the mike to be that of Charles Schlalfer, advertising director for the theatres. District Manager Evert Cummlngs liked the program so well that Schlalfer becomes a fixture on these air Intervals. Continuity for the first program was mbstly adrllbbed of a necessltyr but wilt be. ad-Jlbbed on' purpose on future programs. Sarnie set-up put Mary Brian, ap- pearing at the theatre for a week, on the air waves in a half-hour Fri- day early evening .program.. .. " Foreign Help .; Always figuring to get the most out of Its service to the (exhibitor. United Artists publicity Is on a new tack.. It's a foreign eupplemient, and it's the Idea^ of Arthur W.. Kelly While It Is not put as bluntly, the supplement Is, in effect, a prinier -bffiJk3r;Talc=- isti how to use ti«-preps:^ Ing material from the regular book, Kelly marks, out a coipiplete cam- paign for the man who Is apt to be confused by the wealth of material He says In effect: 'Take these Items and you will have one good cam palgh.* . With other material to build up, thejfQyr;.pager is. wbrth a lot to the man who Is working In a strange language. And It's as good for the man who can read English. ' Syracuse, N. T. . custt uperalurs won a Btgnal- vlctory when the Common Council .voted to reduce license fees 60%. to maximum bt .|160 a year. Mini- mum fee for any theatre will be |2B, applicable to bouses with a seatlhg capacity, up to 600. The $160 maxi- mum falls upon theatres with 1>400 or more seatBi"^ William J. Tubbert, RJCO city mana;ger, was spokesman for the rlalto in the arguments before the aldermanle UcenM committee.; Detroit Glen: Gardner opening; new thea- tre. G«m at Albion. Oarrlck, Milan, taken over by"Wil Storl. formerly of Defiance, Ohio, from Richard Spangle. M. Bush and L; Wykoff took oVer the Gould at Sheridan, renaming it the Community. Harry Pravaf■ Ro^xy, Sturgis, passes to R. Hartzner. Bark, Newaygo, purchased by J, Thtbodeaus from Hra. :J. M; I)ale. Ctobrga Spinner takes back his Al- hambra at Hlllsdate, from Howard tiahe. HiuTy Bshhett haanageB. J. 8. Buttarfleld circuit reopens tha Oakland at Pohtlac. Lester Matt renames bis Durant Flint the Roxy. Reading/Pv Sirahc«r Bentley, for; several months manager of thei WUmer & Vincent Stat* theatre here, has been ealled into the New Tork of floes of the flrnt Alblh Hostler, :formerly of ths N. T. Stat*; Harris, burg, Pa., succeeds him In Read- ing..:; ;.; McKeesport Pa; Bill Rayhor, who managed , the Harris-Memorial theatre here until a few weeks ago has Joined United Artists as a Balesinan In the At- lanta exchange. ; In. the first arrest and conviction for violating the Sunday .theatre ordinance: ■Ince Mayor George H, Lysle closed theatres five weeks ago, Jo* McLaughlin, of McKees port, was fined 110 and costs, itbllce charging that be operated a benefit for stagehands recently In the Har rls-Memorlal theatre; Warner Ei, house. ■ ■ Tacoma. Slg Strohime from house manager of the' Temple theatre to like spot at Blua Mouse. . John LaFurgey to nianager of Temple. Rex Steveneon, who has been manager of the Blue Mouse for the past six months, has accepted a position with the John Dans theatres In Seattle. Los Angeles. H. L. Waycott haa replaced Edgar Hart, resigned, as manager at the P-WC Aztec, San Diego. In the -same-town-iD-H.-Meeker-goeB-ln-a»-|^plolte£r. manager at the Fairmont while Jack Redmond lands at the Mission Carl Drane has reopened what was fbrmerly Bard's HlUstreet downtown with subsequent run pol Icy. Retabbed Town theatre, and completely overhauled. Houstoh, Francis R. Deering, formerly of the Loew organization In Atlanta, has been named manager of Loew's State, succeeding W. V. Taylor, rbr signed. , /'■ \ . '... — • ■ -,. . . ,. ; Diggers in Balto Baltimore. George Browning, p.a. for tha Stanley, draped up doggy ; cam- paign for 'Goldlggers' (FN), current Spotted a display In ;a store wlndoitr right across street from oppo^isli Century: got free window layout from loop dept. emporium on tie-in for Dick Powell shirts; got a free tie-up ad from a laundry by statinff reason pic frbupers looked radiant was because they had their clothes laundered often; Hub dept. storo used In newspaper ads a wire faked from Dick Powell In Hollywood con- gratulating store tipon an anniver- sary sale and values obtalnabla through It; since Bulck car Is used In the pic, got big window plugs and signs on all such cars from local dealers. '— ; ' Gave ducats to orkmen In nlterles and got bands to plug the hit tunes from show,, and further announcing that pic was playing the Stanley. Talked three loop music stores into devoting window displays of sheet music exclusively to 'Goldlggers* numbers, supplying art and copy for windows. Ran a radio contest week in advance, likewise one In the newspaper. Had a fiv6 and a dime store. concoct a 'Goldlggers' sundae; also several' prominent cocktallerlcs - served up special cocktails. Put aprons on newsboys. Had .a 'best- dressed man ... Adolphe Mcnjou* hbok-ln with big haberdashry; Week .befQtaupio..:play;ed house jiadl phoi\ograph records playing show's tunes at all thb ' theatre exits, with each machine appropriately placarded as to what and why. ''Bergere* in Boston. Boston. ; Publicity department of Loew's State theatre, Boston, waged a campaign on 'Folles Bergere' In whleh-aFe-some-eutstanding-Btu)i^t . ; New Orleans. Bell (nabe), operated by Mrs. WllUani Jortqua for the past 20 years, has been taken over by Mortlmore & Schlell, bperators of the St. Maurice. ' ^ _ ^ • Trenton, O. First theatre to be built In this 4lstrlct in several, years is being constructed by C. O. Dearth. . ., Wllkes.-Barre,, Pa.. New hoiise planned here by Com- erford Amusement Co. to replace the Hazel street theatre will have a seating capacity of 1;200, double the size of the present structure. Mansfield, O. Rltz building will be extended 20 feet to the rear to facilitate instal- lation of 200 addition seats. A new cooling system will be installed and other improvements made: according to : Sol Bernstein. Independent house. -■" ■ ' ; ?; ;■. canton, O. ■' Recent Ohio theatre transfers as follows: Klrisma, Kinsman, O., tb Earl J, Smith; Owen, Lbulsvllle, to Saul Daly by W. A. Smith; Shelby, Shelby, to the Shelby Theatre Corp.; LaFrance, Swanton, to K. W; Nprwlne; New Roxy, formerly the Jewell Ohio,. De Graff, to John Scheff and Victor Hayes; Grafton at . Grafton, to J; M. Newman and tbcf Palace at Hubbard,. to L.. J. Flsch. .. •■•;.' ■■.■•■.:,■•■■'• Denver. Harry Huffman has opened the Broadway aa a first run. Opened In 1890. the hours was used for legit until a few years when Louis Hellborn put In a booth and sound and ran a few films. With the Broadway going picture, only the municipal auditorium is left for Icglt ,or concerts. . Huffmah re- linquished the Orpheum to RKO this week. RKO had redeemed it from the. bondholders, who had foreclosed soon after It was built a couple of years ago. Denner now has six first runs. E. T. Zadra has leased the Wash- ington Park, neighborhood house, for five years. New theatre oh the ilte of the old Blaltb at Colorado Springs by the J. H. . Cooper Enterprises, affiliated with Paramount, will . Include a stage, and seat 1,200. Opens about July-1, In time for the tourlstHJusI-^ ness; $90,000 building budget. ; Indianapolis. ; Henry Burton, has resigned as publicity director for tho Lyricrthe- atre and the. Job has leen absorbed by Ted Nicholas, manager, ; ;. : Judy Pointer Is back In town from the west coast :and has taken a position with the Ohio theatre as Tying In with a song, hit from the show, 'Rhythm In the. Rain,' a spe- cial window was set up In a leading Hub department store, featuring . umbrellas. Art background, espe- V clally made up for the display, pro- vided the right rainy atmosphere, with umbrellas.arranged in the front of the window; Throughout the dis-: play were stills from the picture^ in addition to a poster and atmos-. . pherlp bars of music to blend the effect, Another extensive tie-up Included several; principal men's TTiat stores': who displayed straw hats In ad- vance of the season, t ogeth er with stills'frbm the'film.. r "~ A similar tie-up was made for a window in Sears, Roebuck's liptcw^ store, featuring a giant straw hat . . Another .attention-getter was a - street ballyhoo In which two young men, sporting new straw Ids, : strolled through Boston streets handing out small calling cards In- . vltlng recipients, to come to the State to see Chevalier. Because -he ; straw hat season for men Is. still a -few weeks awftyr-the-two-bally-boys— were the only men In town wearln.f summer skimmers. To supplement these butstanders, the State theatre promoted' -a dramatization of plot of the picture over WEBI, Boston, the day before opening; fashion displays of gowns - In a department store; printed nap- kins in; Liggett stores, and numer- ous publicity breaks in newspapers. Gutter Fishermen ■ ■ Seattle. ^ • For 'Ruggles of: Red Gap' (Par) laugh plx. Evergreen p.a. staff gave all. Original - gag was. half-dozen fellows sitting atop fire hydrants downtown 'fishing' ahd otherwise acting and looking crazy.. Nb signs for two days, then placard on backs telling about show. Radio carried transcription pro- gram with ptars appearing theredn; special trailers at theatre^ for two weeks prior; nice lobby wltH paint- ings of characters; also distortion ' mirrors, which prior week were In foyej", with wording--Vrhe laugh Is ■ on you, 100 times funnli>r to see 'Ruggles'.' • A flock of window cards was placed In all : barber shops, with catch line,:'Ask the ;barb<!r;.what .he .: thinks of 'Ruggles,' etc.* Small life savers were placed In manllla en- closure and - given away, wording, •You'll die laughing at, etc.' Mark- ers at all books, stores ;> usherettes in colorftil. cowgirl uniforms^ doormen with, moustaches, chaps and Stet- sons, Jewelry store tleups with dis- ■:. play of-table sets-ahd. stills; tieup..; with; P. I. whereby captions had to be picked out of want ads, and tied to stills, for funny reaction, this be- ing known as 'gag the stills contest* Ciarnjnce Bell JolnirThurston here as publicity agent, ircplaclng'rjohn miliard, who died the first day of Circle engagement of the migiclah. . Galveston. Rumors that either Interstate (Hoblltzellc) or Martini (Indepehd-' ent), will build a new theatre here this year continue to be heard, but BO far without apparently tangible (Continued on page 69) Candy Hids- Zanesville, O. • Manager Bod Rhodes of the nevr Weller saw a good chance for some publicity during a recent showing of 'The .Mighty Barnum.' ' . His street ballyhoo consisted of pitching a tent on the courthouse sidewalk with a lusty-liinged circus spieler ballyhooing the exhibition of Barnum's Invisible fish, inside the tont was a wiishtub filled wltlt; (Continued on page 23) .