Variety (Aug 1935)

Wednesday, Aug ust 7, 19 35 PICTUR E $ VARIETY 23 EXPLOITATION Epes W. Sargem Busy in Seattle Seattle. With 20,000 men with the Pacific fleet In Seattle harbor, for 'fleet week,' Paramount theatre cashed In with an 'AH Pacific Navy Talent contest," Herb Sobottka, engineered, and got results, too. Some dandy talent found. All told 25 acts, from almost as many ships, entered the contests which were staged at 3 shows last Thursday, Winners se- lected by audience applause. Jules BufCano orchestra on job for the day. Coupla bands from ships also there, but as an act. All ships were radlogramed about the contest and Invited to send their beet. Chaplains posted the Idea so all the men could read It. Consent of the admiral first obtained, and they all played ball to put It over- bl'g. One act came from an English warship but this, not In the contest. Lcss-Uked acts eliminated at each show with 12 acts going Into the flnats. "Winners got cash prizes. Papers gave the show much space. For the short, 'Wings Over Ever- est' (Fox-Ed) Vic Gauntlett Invited aviation men and aviators to spec, preview, but he aimed to get one man there; Radio Speaker Steven- son, local demo power and county commissioner, who speaks daily on air on political questions and has many listeners. Pic made such an Impression on Stevenson that he de- voted over half his time to extolling In his talk to his public. Went over KOL, and cost the Fifth Avenue, where pix shown, not a cent. Fig- ured the talk helped takings plenty. Balto Sun Unbends Herb Morgan, Loew's Baltimore p. a., succeeded in getting the straight-laced Evening Sun there to break a policy of the paper when he hit the sheet with a still of the Cab- ' in Kids, colored youngsters, appear- ing In vaude show at Loew's Cen- tury. First time the rag has ever run a picture of colored entertainers ap- pearing at vaude houses. In fact, only colored performer of any sort whose pic landed In Sun was late Richard Harrison when he came here with 'Green Pastures.' Not only did the Sun let down its bars as regards pictures, but even sent a staff man to interview the Cabin Kids. Up till recently, paper refused to carry Interviews with vaudevillians of any color .or Impor- tance. Still doesn't carry vaude re- views, however. With a New Twist Loew's State, Syracuse, gave a new turn to the old gag of finding someone who had never seen a motion picture. Getting harder all the time to find anyone with a blank record, but Edward McBride found a girl 'Who had been bedridden for 20 years, but was now able to get around in a wheeled chair. She was brought to the theatre In a truck and wheeled down a side aisle where she and her brother saw two performances of 'Love Me For- ever.' Then she told of the pictures as she remembered them, contrast- ing them with the most recent product .(there was also a color short on the program), and the newspapers went for It in a column plus way. Not necessary to go that far back. Any invalid who has never seen a talking picture can be used for the stunt. Looks as though McBrlde had started something. Beating Wall St. Subtle type of ballyhoo was em- ployed effectively by Chelle Janls, manager of Loew's Ziegfeld, In ex- ploiting 'Front Page Woman.' She drssed man and woman up In garb resembling Bette Davis and George Brent, stars of plx, and seated them in an elaborate limousine. Then spotted them on Wall street around noon hour, with Hearst Metrotone News truck alongside. Gag was to emulate 'shooting' of a street sequence, with elaborately costumed phoneys as stars. Incor- porated shooting slate in this imi- tation picture photographing stunt. And on this slate was the only ad- vertising matter on the picture. In small white chalk was the title of the feature and name of theatre. Stunt attracted such crowds that police reserves were called. Querying the Quins Howard Waugh, of the Warner Memphis division, or perhaps Bill Hendricks, of the Warner local house, worked out a swagger stunt for the DIonne quins, but instead o£ pinning it to the newsroels, they tied it to 'Broadway Uondolier.' For five days the ri'e.ss-Scimitar printed an unt.-igged picture of one of the Diotine family, with readers invited to put on the proper tatr-s. As a control each contestant al.so added a one sentence grcctinft to the babies. Good for a three col- umn break for (Ive (iay.s on the front pasc, ;md plenty of mention for the show. Catered to Eids Down in Houston Francis Deering pulled a real one to launch Elisa- beth Bergner and her 'Escape Me Never,' Bergner's N. T, run in the stage version did not make much noise in Texas and Deering flgured It was up to him to do something about It. He borrowed a vacant building next the State- theatre, persuaded a department store to put In cribs, with all the necessary bedding, got a music store to kick In with a piano and announced that mothers interested In the theme of the pic- ture could check the youngsters and enjoy Miss Bergner's work In com- fort and peace of mind. That Idea was spread all over the store frpnt, with the window given the co- _operatlng store for 'a display of baby things. Two radio station.? were used, one with a cash word forming contest, and a preview assured early com- ment from the local papers. Cooling the Crowd Omaha. For an unusual angle of exploita- tion on a picture with a good sum- mer-time theme, Ted Emerson of the Omaha theatre took one from the railroad travel literature. He got up a folder reading like a travel booklet on 'Call of the Wild' emphasizing scenic and cooling as- pects of the film. Material Included location information, story of the snow bound cast last spring, Info about the players and the dog star, and particulars of the dates at the theatre. Also included shots from the film and atmospheric decora- tions. Done in cooling' colors of light green, blue and white, and made up as attractive as the come- on railroad stuff. 12,000 of these Emersofi had dis- tributedhln downtown offices, hotels, restaurants, etc., week before show- ing, mainly working on idea of at- tracting by cooling effect of picture as well as entertainment value. Two from Balto Baltimore. For 'Raven' (U) at Keith's, Larry Schanberger used a gag display In lobby both In advance and during pic's run. Had copy building up the shocker aspects of flick, and the dis- play contained articles offered by the mgmt. on loan to nervous per- sons who 'might require them.' There was a rolling pin to flatten out goose pimples, a rubber mouth- piece for chattering, teeth, a spring shock absorber for quaking knees, a bottle of ammonia for passer-outers, a linen gagkerchief to stifle screams, and a heating pad for chilled spines. Such a set-up won laughs and notice and inspired outside comment. Schanberger also used scare copy on lobby, boards spotted on sidewafk outside house warning nervous peo- ple of the pic. Morris Mechanic, of the New, tied in with local Henrst newspaper and ran a contest to plug 'Curly Top' (Pox). Sought a small girl most resembling Shirley Temple, and the winner was sent on week's vacation along with mama down to Virginia Beach, Va. Tied in with a boat line which furnished transportation for both the mother and the child which resembled the Hollywood wunder- kind. Easy for Uetr,o Paris. Metro's French branch is pulling prize contest in connection with Austrian national railways, to boost 'Song of Youth' and Ramon Novarro pictures in general. Customers are asked to find a slogan for touring in Austria. At the same time they are Instructed to tell what song they liked best In the 'Youth' film, and (in case of a tie) to list the films In which No- varro has appeared in uniform. Ad- mission stub for Madeleine Cinema, Metro's local showcase, ' must ac- company all letters. First prize Is return trip to Vienna, first class, and three other lesser tripe are offered for other prizes. Not a nickel of outlay for Metro, naturally. Telling It All For the first Marion Davlcs pic- ture off the Warner lot the adver- tising staff has spread itself on the pres.s book. Many of the stunts are a bit beyond the reach of the small ap])ropriation thcatt-e, but there Is plenty of .stufi.' left. One interesting contribution is a series of three projected campaigns each compiled by men who actually expect to use tliem on the picture. Fir.st is by Windisch,' of the N.Y. Strand, with the second a medium tirst-run house, the Central, Jersey City, done by Jules. Field. Al Plough contributes the third for a neigh- borhood house in Philadelphia. It's an all-angle appeal that will enable any hou.se to sell intelll- gontly, and it's a model from this angle. Cartoon Bally Rochester, Aug. 6. Manager John Fenyvessy of the Fanjily theatre tells the world his house Is nationally famous with a lobby, display, of 20 newspapers carrying syn- dicated cartoon mentioning the theatre. John Hlx's 'Strange aa It Seems' cartoon for McNaught Syndicate shows chap with, pillow buying 6-hour show for a dime at the Family boxofllce. Cartoon Is based on storye In Varibtt. Manager Fenyvessy obtained names of papers using the cartoon from the syndicate, then wrgte for the papers for his lobby display. Gallop with Uetera Hollywood. Warners Holljrwood and RKO- Hillstreet, playing 'Broadway Gon- dolier' simultaneously, tied up with Yellow Cab ior clty-wlde tire-cover and banner plugs on the metered gas buggies for the picture,, in which Dick Powell plays a Bronx cab-driver who- clicks as a radio star. Air-Minded Spartanburg. Taking advantage of rapidly in- creasing local aeronautics Interest, State theatre is doing well by it- self with frequent run of flying Alms, Many studea aloft learning to fly, and with magnificent Me- morial Airport recently finished, the city's alive with aero gab. Wiley Post's aero film, with Ralph Bellamy, others starred, did well, as single optic pilot is well known hereabouts result of Dixie tour with pal, Gatty, some time back. Plus other Interest is that created by visit here some time ago - of Col. JSoscoe Turner, and frequent army- navy planes visits. Even a re-run (2 days and nites) of Howard Hughes' 'Hell's Angels,' packed the house every show. Shorts a Winner Philadelphia. Joe Conway, manager of the Egyptian theatre in Bala, Just out- side West Phllly, has Just Inaugu- rated a new Idea for his house and reports high degree of success. He put on a request program consist- ing of nothing but shorts on a Wednesday and Thursday and found biz was 30% better than that of .a Shirley Temple film on Monday and Tuesday and latter was well above average. Local dallies commented on Idea and local exhibs are much Interested. Makes '£m Like It George Kraska, of the Fine Arts theatre, Boston, writes that the odd- est result of his 'Blue Moon' cam- paign is the returns. It will be recalled that he adver- tised the Jimmy Savo pix as the world's worst, in the estimation of the theatre, with an urge to the public to come and vote. Midnight matinee turned out so well the film was. put In for three days and ex- tended to a week. Not all patrons voted but at the end of the third day the vote stood 916 for the 'worst' and 986 for 'best.' For the full run Kraska was up a tree for reviews, since most of the first stringers had covered midnight matinees. No use asking them to repeat, so he made a trip around the newspaper offices and persuaded the editor to detail the music critics to cover the score and the snooty Transcript went for this angle In a big way. Another victory was getting men- tion to the extent of a column In the Christian Science Monitor. Special Pronts Built In lobby fronts are frowned upon by Are marshals, and with good reason. The. day has passed when the completely built-in lobby front was regarded as the last word in advertising. Today It's mostly the first step toward a court sum- mons. But that does not mean that the Idea Is entirely tabu. Some years ago Walter Llndlar devised a couple of book lobby dis- plays that BtUl can be used to good effect and which can be Baved for repainting and reuse. The first of these Is a book with a hole, cut Into the back for the ticket window. The back Is the width of the ticket booth and the sides, in proportion, go "Straight back to shield the sides of the cage. It does not prevent free ingress and exit and Is not dangerous in a panic. The sides are capable of a variety of treatments. In the other the back again mask* the ticket office, but the sides of the book are open and extend to the sides of the lobby. The lower space Is cut away to a height of eight feet, leaving no obstruction to freo passage. Another good device Is a foIIag« piece across the top of the space, with leg drops for the box ofTlca and the sides of the lobby. This Is Inviting for outdoor titles and the inside of the lobby can be built to match. Nowadays It seldom pays to do too much building on the front, but now and then the addition will so completely change the front as to carry sales appeal, Posting Places One of the peculiar phases of ex- ploitation Is the manner In which good old ideas go into the discard and are forgotten. Few managers seem to keep, scrapbooks and few who do don't dig very deep. For ex- ample, when did you use the barber shop posters last? Barber shop signs are hand painted In large letters and hung from the ceiling over each chair. The patron, as ho is tipped back for his shave, is bound to see the sign. Can be changed for each show or for the best bid of the week. Each has a rather limited appeal, but In the aggregate It makes for good business. Another good spot Is the public telephone booths. For special 'phone titles a. card Is somctimeH cut to be placed over the mouthpiece. The hole Is BO small the mouthpiece has to be unscrewed to get It Into place. Danger that the card will be torn off, but a small card In a frame in the wall about eye height will hold the caller's attention, It may be necessary to arrange with the tele- phone company, which generally has a contract provision against booth advertising. Anothei' good spot ts a -neat sign above cashiers' desks. These read 'Count your change and see If you have enough for tickets to ' The blank space Is filled in with the changes of bill at the theatre. None of these can supplant reg- ular spots, but they can,' and often do, build business surprisingly. Clerical Help Although the League of Decency Is easily the most Important threat to the pictures. It was by no means the first antl-plcture movement to gain wide publicity. Old timers will recall a number of other upsets, in- cluding the party given to Fatty Ar- buckle at Woburn, Mas.s., with its resultant attempted shakedown. The story ran for Hevnraj dnys )n papers over the country and It was re- porlcd from many sections that it had slapped business down. .Most managers let it run, trusting to the Inevitable loss of interest, but 111? late Max Doollttle, then an ox- ploileer for Paramount out of tlio Des Mollies office, pulled a stunt for (Continued on paso 37) BEHIND the KEYS Mobile. The city of Greenville, Ala., has let a contract for the erection of a' new $36,000 motion picture play house. Work on the building has been started. Will be opened during the latter part of November. Birmingham. Repeal of Alabama's blue laws In the smaller towns will be one of the main Issues of the legislature now In session after a short recess. Known as the Lusk bill it repeals all Sunday laws prohibiting sports and shows in towns from 1,000 to 60,000. Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile already have repealed the Sunday law. A provision of the act makes it possible to suspend operation of the law until the cities can vote. Otherwise it becomes ef- fective immediately. Riverside, Cal. Lester Solberg Is temporary man- ager of the Riverside here, and also supervising the Golden State, both F-WC houses, during absence of Roy Hunt, on short leav6. mount with Jack Thorsen In as assistant, replacing Ron Harring- ton. Roy Brown here from Seattle as booker for nine local Hamrlck- Everpreen houses under the new merger. New offices opened with Al Flnkelstein In the No. 1 chair. Mose Mesher also from Seattle to handle exploitation and p.a. work for the Hamrlck-Evergreen layout. Mrs. Flnkelstein moving her home here from Seattle to Join Al. Phil Carlln now owner and man- ager of the subsequent run Taylor Street theatre. Carlln Is also operator of the Lincoln, Blue Bird and Star Hawthorne theatres (nabes), all second run houses. Salt Lake City. Wayne Bateman is new asst. mgr. at the Orpheum here. Was former- ly at Tally's Criterion in Los Angeles, Omaha. Orvllle Renne, assistant manager of the Omaha theatre, left Aug. 1 for a two-weeK spell of vacationing with his family at Lake Okobojl, Iowa. Jack Kolbo, vacationing in California, returned to take up work as treasurer at the Omaha. Same time Evert B. Cummihgs, district manager for Trl-States The- atres Corp. (Omaha, Orpheum and string of oiitstate houees), motor- ing to the Rockies with Mrs. Cum- mlngs for ten days of trout flying. Bill Mlskell, Orpheum manager, drove back from two weeks in northern Minnesota at a lake resort. Portland, Ore. The Oriental theatre, dark since April when John Hamrick relin- quished his lease, reopened August 3 under the ntanagement of Ever- green Theatres, which also operates the Paramount and Liberty. The east side house will operate on a subsequent run policy. Ron J. Har- rington has been made manager. Norwalk, O. Schine Enterprises haa acquired the Forum, new 600 seat house built last year. William Selman, presi- dent of the Norwalk Theatre Corp, which built the theatre, remains as manager. Louis Lazare, zone manager In charge of the Schine houses in Ohio confirms the report that- his or- lanlzatlon Is launching a large ex- pansion program in the state, the object being to acquire either by lease, purchase or construction as many good houses as are available. • Lynchburg, Va. Wilfred Smith, assistant manager of the Paramount, resigned. Alex (Red) Thompson, Isls assistant, transferred to Smith's place. Walla Walla. Fred Mercy will soon open the Capitol, long dark. This will make three houses here for the Mercy Organization. Long Beach, Cal, Capitol, dark for year and a half, been reopened by Atty. Donley Bol- inger of Los Angeles, who owns the building. House formerly operated by Milt Arthur. Alhambra, Cal. Principal-Edwards, operating the Alhambra and El Rey here, have renewed pooling deal with Harry Vlnnlcnf's Garfield, to start Sept. 1. Former deal was called oft a year ago. Portland, Ore. Ron Harrington goes to manage the Evergreen Oriental from sub- managing the Paramount. Oriental Just reopened. . Hal Daigler stays at the Para- Galveston. Interstate Circuit, Inc., secures $45,000 building permit for 960-seat- ing capacity stucco and hollow tile theatre building at 3720 North Main, Houston. Des Moines.^ Two new hou.ses to open in Iowa —New Hubbard at I^ubbard and the Rock at Rockford. Latter house to be opened Aug, 15 by Mr. and Mrs. Leo Gorman of Greene, Iowa. Lincoln. Rosalie Boughn, Walthlll, Neb., has taken over the Walthlll here which was formerly operated by Fred Baker. George Thompton, who runs the Township Hall theatre in Chambers, Neb., is having new equipment In- stalled. Cairo, Cairo, Neb., has been taken over by John Cady from Owen Frederick. The latter recently closed a theatre he had operated at Wood River, Neb. Fred Baker has given up the leose on the Emerson, Emerson, Neb., and it goes back to its former owner, R. Hingst. Klva, Westland second runner here, has settled the price down to a dime anytime. E. A. Patchen and his Missus took their vacation in Hollywood. Patchen Is the Lincoln Theatre Corp. exploitation man. Canton, John Kaiser Is planning the open- Ins of a ncv.' hou:;o at Frankfort, O. The Ohio, Cambridge, O., is dark for tljft remainder of the summer, opening after September 1. C. n. Kahn Is remodeling the Roxy theatre at Fostoria, with re- opening slated for mlrt-.AiiKust. I.ilberty at Verona, I'a., l.s dark to permit the remodeling of the house (Continued on page 31)