Variety (Jun 1935)

Wednesday^ June 19, 1935 PICTURES VARIETY . 25 EXPLOITATION By Epes W. Sargent Kidding "£01 Sometlmea a laugh Is good even for a chiller, and one good recent Btunt was the building of a cage In the lobby of a theatre with a placard announcing that a werewolf would bc! on exhibition through the run of the play. Announcement was car- ried into the papers and gave quite a thrill. Opening day visitors to the lobby found a man sitting. In the cage reading a book or taking a nap In his chair. A sign explained that werewolves were ferocious only at times, and this was not one of the exhibit's times. For another curdler a box in the lobby, raised so that the curious had to climb three steps was tagged 'The Child of Frankenstein.' Those who took the trouble to rubber found painted on the bottom of the box 'Isn't born yet.' Another teaser was an exhibit for the 'Informer' with a set of encyclo- pedia discovered when patrons peeped through the holes set into the front of the cabinet, while a dis- play for 'Red Heads on Parade' was a collection of matches with heads of the proper tint arranged In pa- rade order with the band from a set of toy soldiers leading. ' Not very apt, but it got a laugh. Manager who has a fondness for clippings had accumulated a sat of news items ..about elderly couples getting married or hitches between youth and old age. He was able to get up an Interesting lobby one aheet with the question 'Wljat Is the Age of Indiscretion' for a heading. Made more comment among the customers than a lot of more ambi- tious displays on other pictures. All works back to a matter of be- ing different, and that means such (Stunts cannot take a repeat for some tlnje. Bailroadinv '£m In Omaha. Often happens that theatres enlist another enterprise to exploit pic- ture attractions, but not so often vice versa. Happened hero with the railroads hooking up with the the- atres to boost the summer tourist trade. Behind it all was Paul Beach, of the U. P. advertising department, working as chairman of a special publicity committee for the Western Association of Railroad Executives. Head of the organization is H. G. Taylor of Chicago, and body has publicity groups at work throughout the Middle West. Beach arranged a tie-up with all three Omaha theatres whereby each house held a special night for each -of about ten roads. Plan put a spe- cial Technicolor reel concerning railroad summer travel on the screen at each house along with a special reel of newsreel clips con- cerning the streamlined trains and such material. All this got highly publicized as 'Railroad Week' (June 10-lB) In Omaha. For their part theatres also got a concession in that each railroad notified each of its employees of the scheduled nights at each house and urged attendance. This meant a direct contact with over 6,000 per- sons with the Indirect percentage probably three times that. Co-Op for 'Fonrtli' Lynchburg. How to keep the patrons talking about the theatre during the summer is a problem which worried Frank M. Boucher of the Paramount until he. hit upon a series of little, Inex- pensive stunts to break the mo- notony. To Inaugurate the tieups, he sent all high school and college graduates complimentary tickets to the thea- tre. An announcement of new low prices, followed. To emphasize the laitter he passed out envelopes con- taining candy and labelled. 'A .Sweet Surprise for You.' New price list was on back. Contests at candy stores, tieups with department stores, and gifts of 'Warner Baxter roses' from a large fllorlst shop were among other Ideas. Tied up with radio station's 'birth day party of air' to give passes to all persons the station complimented during nightly , program. Other stunts under conslderntlon Include a free show for children .Tuly 4 on safe and eane celebration 6t the holiday, with other theatres oo- operatlng. An American Legion orator will round out the bill. Using the Balie Boston. Getting Joe Brown In his baseball story, 'Alibi Ike,' about the time Babe Ruth tossed himself out of the baseball situation, the Scollay Square ' capitalized by using nds urging the public to come to the theatre and help crown the new Sul- tan of Swat. Followed this up by getting a local baseball team to pa rade the business section with siml lar cony on back sicrns. Team was a sandlots organization, but they all had the same uniform and it looked good. Led by a midget newsboy familiar to Boston for years. Esti- mated that 250,030 persons saw the parade. A window In a department store handling baseball outfitting was given over to stills and uniforms, and sporting editors were sold the information thot some 25 big leairue players. Including some from Tios ton. were In the picture. One still captioned like a news' story was landed fprratls) on the Record a special easel of baseball made a big lobby attractor. and stills Two Good Oldies Duluth Roy Prylz, manager of the Gra- nada theatre, obtained excellent i-e- sults in putting on stunts to ndver ti.se "A Dog of Flander.s" and 'Star of Midnight.' For tlie former he ad vertised in th(; dally paper.s for hun dred.s of boys with dogs and carts Lads with dogs of every size and description poured in, and Prytz staged n parade. Some of the purps stampeded and others staged merry fight. Scores of people .saw the p.arade, and Prytz. had the whole town talking about the picture. At the same time, he .started ex ploiting 'Star at Midnight' by (erect- ing a giant tele.scopc across the street from the theatre with an In vltatlon to the public to hcvo. .a look All the telescope .showed was 'See 'The Star of Midnight' at the Gra- .' It worked. Good on 'Enemy' New Haven. Harry Black at Poll's worked some nifties on his 'Public Hero" campaign. First was a prison wall and watch tower arrangement erected on. building near theatre. In addition to sign announcement, the setting had an armed sentry parad- ing back and forth on wall. Second gag was a tieln with the. recent Weyerhauser snatching and offered a $500 reward to anyone presenting any of the ransom bills during film's run. Bill numbers were posted n lobby. Prize stunt was a prison cell built In lobby and . housing a public enemy. Caption over cell read, 'The Public Hero put this gangster be- hind bars^watch them shoot it out with the public enemies here.' As patrons passed, mugg in cell handed them letters, asking them to mail them to his mother. Letters were along the 'crime doesn't pay' angle and passed a word of warning to other gangsters to lay off, as the Public Heroes were dynamite to crooks. Stunt drew some laughs during meal hours when vacant cell carried a sign 'out to lunch, back at — p. m.' Bangfed on 'G-Men' Macon, Ga. Art Barry scored a hot one here with his tie-in on the G-Men, starring James Cagney. Week in advance of show he started teaser ads to G-Men of Macon with change of copy each 'day. Interest aroused quickly on account of Weyerhaeuser kidnapping case on front page. Classified ads and regular dis- play followed and 200 post cards were sent to men whose names be- gan with G telling them to 'prepare for thrlU' of coming picture. Three thousand heralds distributed as ex- tras on streets by newsboys. Sun- day before columnist offered passes to 10 G-Men. Response excellent for opening. Small car bought for %5 treated to machine gun lire and spotted in front of theatre for showing. Lobby display moved outside with start of picture. Flood lights and search lights for night effects. Stage Wedding Fox theatre, Brooklyn, la working up a stage wedding for the middle of July, witK a 40-cover wedding party for the happy pair, a diamond ring, one year's accommodations at the Manhattan Beach hotel and a lot of little things\to be promoted from merchants. Wedding' pair will be selected from the applicants as 'the most de- serving,' whatever that may mean. Applications being received, with the choice announced jus.t before the ceremony. Had It Handy Rosen, of Loew's Ziegfeld, knows the answer to the old press book gag that used to start 'get an old stage coajh '. He had one; .i holdover from one of the Ziegfeld productions. For 'Richelieu' he furbished It up, located two white horses and sent It through the .streets with a liver- ied coachman and two lackeys on the back, chaperoning the cardinal and his niece, and bannered for the Arliss production. Lackeys had trumpets to help along. People saw It. 'Mlserables' and the March of Time release were put over with 600 balloons, released from the ra- dio with I'adlo and chorus girl trim- mings. Each carried a pass good only duriiig the run of the show Most of them came in, many from the back distrcts. March of Time financed the stunt. Telephone Gag Indianapolis. Assistant Manager Crouch of Loew's used a visual angle in the old telephone gag to exploit 'Public Hero'. Large windows in vacant storeroom next to the theatre en- trance were u.sed as an ofllce for three girls working on trunk lines who went through the telephone di- rectory teilinir the populace that 'Public e.ro' was opening at Loew's Streamers ciicircUng the building announced, .'She Ih Telling the World About Public Hero Kumbei- One'. Stunt wa.s ah-o tied in with radio station WIRE, which an- nounced at frequent intervals that .anyone answering the telephone and beating Loew's girl to the gag line would be awarded passes to sec tlic picture. Gave a Commission Kentucky colonelcies arc getting so common they're U-siiiK thorn for picture house prizes. Ma.i. Caruso, of the Forest Hills theatrp, out on Long Island, a Skouras house, offered one to the little girl who wrote the best essay in connection with the Shirley Temple 'Little Colonel." the presentation beln.i? made June 16 at the theatre, with a Civil Wai' veteran making the picsf.ntatlon. Cot a lot of attention foi- the production and showed a casii profit. Several others have workp<I the .same stunt. Talking Up Chevs. Hamilton, O. Paramount's tie-up with Chevrolet Motor Co. on 'Whole Town's Talk- ing' had the natives running around in circles. Gag was to In- vite short stories on why the 'Whole town's talking about the Chevrolet.' There were no strings or limitations. Any one was eligible. Stories were deposited in receptacle in theatiTe lobby. Prize was new Chevrolet car for the most effective plug, with award made from stage on closing night of picture. Heavily advertised in newspapers and with throwaways. Localites ate it up, with response in stories and attendance far in ex- cess of expectations. Cartoon Contest Columbia Pictures will start a kid contest In the September issue of Screen Book for the best letters on 'Why 1 like the Scrappy Cartoons.' National contest for prizes donated' by licensees of Scrappy merchan- dise, but suggested that individual exhibs conduct their own local con- test first, with the children still eligible for the national awards. To promote exhibitor hustle, a cup has been hung up. Flowers for the living Los Angeles. For weekend bally, Grauman's Chinese arranged with a local florist to bank the west forecourt of thea- tre with 17,000 roses. Femmc patrons drew " the posies on Satur- day, Sunday. BEHIND the KEYS Lynchburg. Wilfred Paul Smith, formerly of the Paramount, Staten Island, new assistant manager- of . Paramount here, under appointment of Frank Boucher. Boston. Tom Wall has been transferred from the. AUston theatre to manage- ment -ci 'the Paramount, Newton, filling the vacancy, left by the death of John- N,- Snider. Eddie Welch, assistant at the Capitol, AUston, now manages the Allston; knd Jay Concanon, chief of service at tlie Capitol, has been pro- moted to assistant manager. Manchester, la. Wayne Button, operating the Plaza theatre here, hag taken over the Knights of Pythias building and is remodeling' It into a new nabe house to be dubbed the Castle. Will operate both houses. . New Britain, Conn. Connecticut General Life Insur- ance Co.'of Hartford going into the- atre business Indirectly. Architect has been commissioned to draw plans to remodel a building on Main street for a 500-seater, to' be leased. Company got building. wished on them in a mortgage foreclosure. With the summer closing of the Embassy, Manager Tom Grace re- turns to Strand as' assistant man- ager. Both Warner Bros, houses. Garrick, which switched from second to first-run for a few weeks, has gone back to second run with the old schedule of lower prices re- vived. Seattle. Don Geddes succeeds George Hood as manager of Orpheum. Portland, Ore. With vaudeville cancelled at .the Paramount for the summer, Frank Newman, Jr., Is' leaving for the Paramount In Seattle, where he will have charge of the house. Demise of NRA codes has prompt- ed exhibitors to form a voluntary code against price chiseling. J. J. Parker, operator of the Broadway and United Artists, Is the leader in this movement. Hartford. Jack Simon, manager of the Poll theatre, is now a Kentucky Colonel. Cassvlllo. Wis. Fire in projection booth of Garden damaged the house to the extent of $1,000, the fire having occurred after patrons )iad left the house. T'ully covered by insurance. Charlotte, N. C. Fox Fl!m Company's Carolliia.s exchange, housed In a new building hero, has just been formally oiKMied with Herman H. Beiorsdorf In charge. Los Angelfs. Simon Lazarus, Indie exhib, back from three montlis trip to Uu.MHla, J. D. L'Bsperance again manag- ing the ('allfornla, San Diego, fcr Fox West Coast. New cooling plant Installed In the Alvarado, Independent, operated by Irving Carlin. Harry M. Popkin and George Dawey Ringer now operating the Savoy in San Diego as part of their southern California chain. . Hi Peskay leased the Norwalk In Norwalk ' (suburb) from Principal Theatres. O. A. Olsen formerly operated. Another shortage of picture prod- uct forces shuttering of Criterion (downtown first run) by T. L. Talley. St. Paul, Everett Selbel- moves from the Publix Riviera Into the Paramount, ace loop house, succeeding Ralph Ayer, who takes charge of Publlx's new house In Colorado Springs Colo. Walt "Van Camp, Tower mgr., will temporarily be at the helm of both Tower and Riv. Harvey Henreddy, Orpheum's asst. mgr., leaving here fflr the Coast about July 1. Ralph Ayer, Paramount' mgr. left Friday (14) to take charge of a new house in Colorado Springs, Likely Harold Kaplan will move back from Minneapolis to his old stand. Gordon Gteen In from SIou;; Falls, replacing Harry Dow at the 'Xjyceum's helm. Dow into real estate. Asbury Park, N. J. Walter Reade opens his New St, James theatre here tomorrow (Thursday). House number 40 In the Reade chain Is newiy con structed. Birmingham. Martin Theatres opened the new Rltz at Sylacauga, House has n seating capacity of 900, and rcplaecs the house burned last December. Philadelphia, Herman Whitman, formerly at Albce, Brooklyn, and the PaU-.c'e and Music Hall. New York, new house manager at Earle, WB film and va- i-loty theatre, replacing William TIalnes. Harold l^razen new assist- ant in place of Max Cooperstein. If It Sticks Unless some means Is found of continuing the NRA codes, picture theatres will have greater liberty in stunts involving passes and hand- outs, but since the code period has materially cut the extravagant use of gifts and tickets, It would be wise to hold off extensive giveaways un- less forced to some action by the opposition houses. Difficult to see that the collapse of NRA will materially alter the posi- tion of bank nights and similar schemes. These will be held by the post office to be lotteries, no matter what saving clauses may be pleaded, and action can be had without ref- erence to the new deal. Improve- ment in conditions applies more to smaller schemes which are not lot- teries, but which have been-barred as unfair competition. These can now be used with more freedom and frequently with effectiveness If the Idea is not overdone. Still to be avoided are stunts which will make habitual deadheads through the continual employment of pass prizes. It's not 'just a mat- ter of getting something for nothing. Plenty of people look on a pass as something Important, and will spend more than the cost of the admission to get In free. Give such persons an opportunity to compete for passes and they'll sulk when they lose, and refuse tp put up the price of a ticket even when they really want to eee the show. Now and then a widespread hand- out may have some effect,' but the NRA at least cut down this ..abuse. Now, Just because it Is legal,' there is no excuse for reviving the old gags. Now that free tickets have again gained some dignity, they should be held on that plane; Bargain Days M. & P. theatres, Boston, Is re- Issuing to all houses an adaptatidn of a manual, sent out In 1930 when a merchant-theatre combination wa« epidemic, particularly In the Miesla- slppl Valley section. Briefly, the Idea, is to engage mer- chant interest in a schennc 'whereby stores give a 10% discount on a coupon' Issued by th6 theatre with all admissions. Argument IB that v/lth a discount card .people wlU bo more apt to buy things not abso- lutely necessary, with the theatre profiting from the fact they have to patronize the house to get the re- bate. Side angle Is that the store gets screen advertising and the the- atre gets into the store's newspaper spaces, with perhaps bundle, ^tuffers and other angles, Including ■win- dows. Cards recommended by M. & P. give the full' rebate on any pur- chase, but In the earlier form' some towns ' followed that plan while others gave the tickets only a dime valuation, a larger purchase than a dollar requiring two or mor^ .cards; In either case the stunt'can be- worked either with or without a prize giveaway. It all dependal upon •the temper of the stores—since they donate the prizes' in return for the theatre engineering the stunt. Cus- tomary to take' In. one store in each line, with, of course, some, overlap- ping in these days when drug citorcs nell other merchandise and depart- , ment stores sell drugs. In the earlier days of the slump this v/as a business saver in ma.ny sections. Still can be revived ■\vith profit to all, including the buyers.' .Spartanburg. S. C. Plans being drawn for .Tames IC. iVIassie's theatre at Waynesvllle. .\. C. La Porte. Ind, Iloxy theatre taken over by a 'rroup of Chlcaw and G.'xry men from Gregory Clrciilt. No change In pcr.sonnel. Kansas City. I/awrcnce I'hompson, assistant manager Loew's Midland, trans- fei'red to Loew'.s State. Cnlurabiis, ;iH manager. Succeeded here by 'lordon TlauKer, .switched from Co- •umbus. Louisville. Mid-West Theatres, Inc., tin- nounccs a merger for operation with Theatrical Managers. Inc., with ofTlce.s in Indianapolis. Richard A. Plerson and Jack I. Schwarte of Mld- (Contlnucd on page 32) Mailing Dope This Is the time of ■vear to wtch the mailing list with portlcu'ftr eare. Many families will bo re-nov- Inrr to the country for the Hummer. Others will be awav for a! couple of weeks or a month. It Is postal 'csi'Iatlons that onlv first cl??3 Tiall be forwarded. Oth^r mall goea to the dead letter office unlci?? It carries a return postage guar- anteed Imprint. In the first Instance much mall win go into the discard on iWhIch the theatre 1« paying postage week after week. It would be well to check up on this Wante. In the .second dasB mall Is re- turned a-s iindelivorable. The stencil Is removed from the ille. It 1p not nut back unlesH a definite request is made. The remedy Is a reply porital card, printed on the return half with the theatre's address. On the reverse Is a form made up with proper spacing with some such copy as this: 'I phall not be In town (space) to (space). Plc.'-'sc rc-u. at the expiration of that date.' I shall be glad to receive pro- nrareiK at (space) between (.space) and (space) at (space). Please send no more programs until (space). This can carry a tilled in address or, better, the Iniprcat' of the stencil. The going card should read: 'We ar<^ making our regufar summer rc-. vision of our mailing list. Will you plea.ve signify on Uie return pn'-tn] what your wlshe-n are In regard to the m.HIine^ of your program.s (C'ont/ntied on p.age 31)