Variety (Jan 1936)

In a Hurry When 'Dangerous' wag booked Into the RivQll in a hurry the house publicity stafC arid the Wiarner crew went Into a quick huddle. Not much time to plant Involved stuff, but they whooped It up in brisk fasjiiou and made the toiwn a>yare of the danger. Outstanding stunt was a float rigged to repi-esent a st^jJlo^ Cii^culated the populous spots with an offer of $B0 for the most dangerous smile. Any woman who thought she could make the grade— and It was surprising what a lot of optimists there were— were photographed free while the crowd gaped at the signs which stressed the picture, the theatre and the date. . ■ A girl was planted oh the: "WHN amateur hour to do an imitatlcin ot Bette Davis with some remarks about the pending erigagehient. Sounded ■ to the air audience as though' She had put one over, but ishe hadn't. It was . prerarranged. This y/&a followed by a frequent!^ repeated contest ' on . the Milkman's Parade: oVerthe. same station (1 tb 7 a. m.) witti tickets :f or the best filoganEf jihoried in while the session was oh. A gold : buying firm on WINS, was tied to announcing that It was dangerous to deal with unrecognized dealers.. The 60-.fo6t lantern projection on the'Godfrey building. , was used and DaVeett's Responded liobly with ads Bhowiqg .BettB? DaVls ■ on skll 'and theatre mention. . Franklin >.Slm6^ also ..made; room' for. a Davis •'cbjfj fure th the. beauty ..shop ad and 400 floriatd'.-were. peirfiuade.d.' tp. come in for ;iix2Z po$ter^. in-, their jprbidowa: For ij/ iuaV order It :was Tdilv definitely :«obd"Job',-^ • j tention without great effort. Now the effect must be gained through careful planning. One. always good depature; provided that it is. a departure and hot the regular thing, Is a checker boai'd pattern of alternating squares in black or wfilte. .of " In oontrastlngcolors. This supplies the back design for the posters, and stills. Recently the Roxy, N, Y., got all sorts rif ^ati^entlfio , bv^jjiiitlng Jn^ waterfall of real running water into a corner stiir frame. A email pump drew water from a tank at the bottom to a reservoir at the top, the water spilling over the edge of this back into the bottom tank. It was comparatively simple and not at all difflcult to construct, but it was an attention-getter extraordinary. Just as easy to anihiate ah entire set of. displays set into the wall frames if the house has plenty of frame space. In another. Instance where the . display fitted there was a large cutout of a horse and rider In th^ lobby. Probably would have gotten ' the ; attention anyhow, but the builder put a rubber bulb auto horn on the saddle, . weighted the rider iat the proper point and each time he touched the saddle,' the horn honked. ^The result was that there was a crowd all day. Work .In motion and sound and the house, front will sell double. In the Coin Xioiils Charninsky, of the Capitol, Dallas, gets the first prize in Unlversal's 'Fighting Youth' contest Others were A. W. Sobler, New Spreckleis, San Diego; Lari-y Cowan, .Fox.^ . Brooklyn ; Joe Ryan, Grand, St. Cloud,' "MlrihV 'There" were seV-' er^l other cam^aiens that were outstanding, but tiijere wete but four pi'lzes and so the others gei hphoi*ablfl piioraMon/ j.. These are: . Ed. J. . De Cosmo, Strand, Amsterdam, N. Y.; Robeipt Blair, Tudor, New Orleans; Fritz May, Strand, Birmingham; John Wendel, Elxpress, Decatur; F. G. Nutting, Pa:ramount, Grand Forks, N. D.; ;H. P. Borresen, Strand, Mlnot, N. D.;. Charles ■Wihchell, Tower; St. Paul; Matt O'Kecfe, Rltz, Scranton, and Morton Levine, G. . O. H., Wilmington; Del. They are not. mentioned in the order of thefr merit, all -n-ere good. Beyivals •About every so often a istunt seems to die away and lie dormant until some one -Femembers it and brlngQ It back. Just because it Is old 'Is' no reasoA why it cannot be new after a' couplb of years. ' :Por example, the street car perariir buiator -with the sides bannered for St. current picture and the windows • IJnusuil ' i , I,; >.■ ■ ,' ' I Something dlfferent.ln .the way of • a cotop I's ^tierit iiiby Frank K. .Shaffer, .of -the ."VlreJlnla, Harrison^ burg, 'Va ; It -.was "Worked -on 'So .'Red the Rose', in conjunction with the local chapter of the United Daughters'of the Confederacy, which got tho'. profit,' bi)t supplied the house with' 2,000 rheralds of unusual value. It Is a 'sheet 10x12, folded once. AppfOpriately Confederate grey. Inside Is mostly for the picture with a dedication, to . 10 . local men still living who .saW . service. There Is also the endorseni(Bnt. of the Chapter. It is the piiti^lde pages, printed as a whole, which itnarks the departure. Carries the autographs . of all who paid' for the privilege. No advertising and no fprmal arrangement, just the slgnatui^es. ;But thPse signatures meant something tb .the town under the 'clrcumsticqces; . probably more than forlhal ads. It's the ultimate In cashing' in' on local sentiment without seeminK'.t.o <}o so. •.".,Da-v;ld•Berk;and'■J.^ . , for 'tlire'' Bast • .prahge , Amiis. ' .. -! '^Utiimafed! • le'aise fOr ^B-years'.'oh ^triaHd,5?BaiBt.6i^hge, N.^ JT, to Mori: iflis' ;P6uezner; . of • Boston. : Entire structuro'-wlU -.undergfo' alteraitlohs and change of, eqiilpmeht ; and clikt;tels'atf cbdt'of about $60,000;" Rent for the term' approximately $350;Q0Q. Cohoes, N. Y. . , For the second time In two years, burglars jimmied their way into the Rlalto theatre, Cohoes, smashed the combination of the office safe, and escaped with the contents. This "time the loot was $500; on the previous occasion, it was $1,000. .In a Hurry C J, Rusdell; pf One..of ithe M. & P. theatre Baiigor, gbt.c hotlfce of a chajige -in'tlte date of 'Top Hat' thie afternoon of the day before the' picture was dUe in. ; HlB'<advahce work had'taken 'pare pf tliO selling'; but It was ' at tough lirpblem to notify eyerybne Of the, sWitoh. This wajs Important >as< the. film ■ was due in a nearby town and Russell knew that several parties were planning tO drive.'bver.-.: • He got word at 6 :'20 and 10 minutes . later •^isent out his lii'st announpfement over the radio, followlng-)vltb three tJther ^announcements through 'the' evening.' Announcements were .'put into 'the -lobbies of sister hous'es and the' head ' usher was sent around town to drop in wherever a crowd was ifit to Pongtegate to announce, the coming, while the cashlOr put over several hundred phone calls.. Half sheOts were, posted the next morning and the picture was put over in a large way.' Sonosky Gets It A. J. SbnOsky, Granada, Minneapolis, Is the winner of the recent letter contestarranged on 'Red Salute' by United Artists on the Reliance picture. Runners ■ up' were Ray Englander, Poll Palace, Meriden, Conn.; D. O'Brien, Shea's, FItchburg, Mass^; Arthur D, BlaOk, Rivlertt and Pine Grove, Port Huron, Mich., and Milton J... Brotman, Avaloe, Chicago. AwaVd was held up a couple of weeks due to the absence from town of one of the judges. Not an ad contest but for best letter o" 'Are Superlatives Necessary In Ads?' Brought some decidedly good letters. New Orleans. First-run houses' niove to boost matinee prices for weeks-ends' and holidays is denied by managers. Henry Lazarus, operator of two downdown houses, has applied to the city zoning commission for permission to construct uptown; plans to spend $25,000 on structure. Seattle.-s Walter Penney appointed manager, of Liberty (J-yH) with Wm. Gooley transferred to Roxy (J-vH), nabor house in Ba.llard district. A. W; Metzger and company will begin the copstructlbn of a 'theatre In Gresham, Ore. • Gloucester, Mass. Arthur ^S. Murch, Jr.', has been assigned to 'manage the North Shore here, ' succeeding Janies Klncade, who died recently. Murch, former manager of the Federal, Salem, has been relief man in North Shore M&P district. Ben Greenberg, nxanager of the Stadium, Woonsocket, father of a 10-pbund gill. Newark. In the drive for the sale of tickets f Or 'Midsummer Night's Dreani' at the Shubert, first prize was split between .R. Clark .of the Wellmpnt, Mpntclair, and Al Barber of the Clalrldge, Montclair. Akron. Ernie Austgen has been appointed manager ' of the Now Ohio thejitre Cuyahoga Falls. House Is now In process of construction. He Was formerly at Loew's here. Salt Lake City. I Here to assume temporary man 7 agement of the Orpheum theatre, Fanchon & Marco house, . William Grleason arrived In Salt Lake Friday (2.0> from LPS 'Angeles. Mpntgomery, Ala. . Ellsworth ,Dye, Jr., formerly with the staff at Ti.v01i, nanied assistant managerEmpire theatre, . -Pi H. Lippman, for many years chief electrician with big roafl shows,, made State Deputy Fire Marshall Due to Capacity crowds at each drawing night at Empire, police in,formed theatre to make better arrangements for handling crowds. Strand theatre Is now used as part of the Empire entertainment on the nights of the drawing. Seattle. Managerial setup announced for Tacoma by John Hamrlck theatres follows; Roxy, Ned . Edrls, who is also city manager; Music Box, BUI Conner; Blue Mouse, Slg Stromme. Prentiss, Miss. New theatre is under construction by B. G. Griffith. Operating plans have not been announced. Rochester; N. Y. Lincoln, .Tay street nabe closed for two years, reopened by Frank Foley, who recently sold his house in Binghamton. This is second shuttered housic opened this month. Freak Fronts Freak fronts for theatres have changed in recent years I'rom the elaborate built up front to an orna-. mental design flat against the wall. The flat designs are better, since they reduce the risk In a possible panic, but they require a lot more thought. Back when It was permissible to mask the lobby ppenlng with a. castle front, a Jail, a log pabln or whatever woilld suggest the • picture,' It was possible to attract at Blrminghani. Tpny Sudekum's Crescent Amusement Co., of Nashville, Tenn., has purchased the building at Gadsden occupied by the Princess. Transaction Involved $60,000. Strpudsburg, Pa. H. A. Sclieuvmann, manager of the Sherman, suffered a fracture of a bone In his left. knee when struck by a oar as he wag crossing tho street In front of the theatre. Portland. Ore. Completiely renovated with new seats, new sound Avalon (nabe) hap been opened' by O. H. Wlebe. Lincoln. Al . Kehr's new Prairie theatre, Oga.Ialla, -n'hich Is the biggest thea^ tre building program in the state since, the depression, has already passed the $85,000 ccst mark. Don L.~Meyers, who has the Cornstock, , Comstock, Neb., has Just picked up and opened the Variety, Arcadia, Neb. Estimates' point that pre-Xmas business in the' state was 25% higher than for the same period in .1934. Des Moines. • Fred Levey has sold his theatre at Holstein, Ia„ to Ed. Kugel of Clarks, Neb. Irving King has sold the Royal, Charter Oak, la., to Harold Smith. Smith operates 'houses at Carson and Walnut, la. Opening of a theatre by F. X. Long, at Roland, la., gave town its first clnemia In nine years. . Fifty patrons rushed from the OrpheXim at Fairfield, la., when a $6,0Q0 fire destroyed $600 .In films and damaged the projection riicchinery and lobby of the house. The blaze originated in the .pi-ojecT tioh I'ooni, according to L. E. Gaines, owTier and manager. peopled by a score of picture stars hais.gone into limbo, Npw and then a bannered car, usually carrying sixes pr 24 sheets, will be run over a route, but the passenger car has not been reported in a long time. It's merely an old car \yith the sides ■bannered and a .-head .from. an . old . pne sheet cut piit fpr €ach . Window. It gets plenty of attention. Even more desirable these days for . the bus lines, since they run closer to the' 'siaewalk.' Used to ' life a band inside In the pld days. Now' it can be a phonograph and eC loudspeaker. Bill Yearsley's sleeping In the graveyard' stunt has been made over Into sitting through a horror show all alone in a dark theatre, but Yearsley's giant candle stunt, developed about tiie Same time,' has almost disappeared. Idea was a large candle, burning in a show window fOr some apt title (we think 'The Eternai Flame 'was the first) with estimates as to Just how long the candle will burn. Candles can be bought from church supply stores in almost any size, or can be bpme dipped. One exhlb made his from ^he broken candles left in a dlmery after the Christmas rush. Got them for very little and melted them into one large taper. There was not a single chariot reported for 'Pompeii' though chariots ar^ eioslly made frpm a lEront-wheel of a truck and a little pasteboard. Same goes fbr the Jinrickisha made from an old rac.irig sulky or pair of buggy wheels. .. The masked daiicer In a show, ■wirido'w at 16 minute Intervals with a prize for her identificBtlon, the girl who spends the week In a furniture store window, , the girl who is put into a store window to call up the town on a picture, with a loud speaker relaying her chat to the outside are all more or less forgotten, though, they are still sure fires. So is the gag of the deaf man with the ear trumpet whose' friend is trying to tell him about a current picture. ■ The. 'no bull' stunt seenis never to die, but the blind man .whoSe sign proclaims that he would give $1,000 to see the show named, has gone' intb the dusk pf the gods along With the yokel who asked eiveryone where the Rltz theatre was, because his Maw told him to be sure and .see that picture before he came hom^; it isn't the stunts that are dead. It's the exhibs with short memories. Boston. Philip .Smith, who heads the Academy Pictures Corporation pf New England, has been selected as distributor of Victor and Edward Halpern presentations, Zeldman productions and Derr-Sullivah features,. St. Louis. Morris Plessner, who handled nabe hOuse advertising for local p.ni; paper, has succeeded Al Zinibali^it, resigned, as head of adv.and publicity dept. for St. Louis Amusement Co. Joseph . Deltch, who was with A. H. Blank -Circuit In Iowa, has been appointed chief booker for St. Louis Am-usement Co., succeeding Bessie Schluter, who will be supervising head of two of co.'s nabie chain. Appollo Theatre Corp.; headed by Joseph Lltvag, has incorporated with 200 shares of no. par value and SIO.OOO in paid-in capital. OrgHnl"i zation is erecting .nabe house In "West 'End apartment house district. Enlarging Device Some years agO an exhibitor, Albert Nadeau, then of Anaconda, kicked in with an enlarging device for small theatres. It Is simple and can' iJe worked with the stereoptlcon lens from the projector, if economy is essential. Better results can be had from a. -variety of lenses, but the' stereoptlcon lens will do. It works on the , principle of the baloptlcon, to be seen In any toy store. [nany fairly large room a box Is made, , virtually a booth, large enough to fake a 3-sheet. In the front center of this booth a hole is made for the lens, which <Jarrles a tube which in the original was made from a milk can with the bottom cut away. It can be made of other material, the sole purpose being to shield the optical path from side lighting from the illuminants. These latter are two strong nitrogen lamps, place one in either front corner of the box. In line with the lens and exactly parallel to it Is a movable easel for the copy, preferably upside dowii, to yield an upright image. 'Tracks made of roofing .slats win permit the easel to be moved backward or forward to determine the ■ size of the . reflected picture. The closer to the lens, the smaller the reproduction. The light from tlie* picture is gathered by the lens, reflected by a mirror at an angle of precisely 45 degrees,, from which it is reflected to' the sign material which is at right angles to the lens. The room must be completely dark to perml the proper projection of the attenuated light rays. The result will be a faint Image on the sign material which can be traced In pencil and liater filled in under full light. It requires a room approximately.. 30 by 20 feet, but Mr. Nadeau suggests that the apparatus can be made demountable and used In the theatre after show hpurs, Npt ais handy as a direct stereoptlcon, but It does not require a slide and dispenses with the purchase of special apparatus. Where only an occasional, blow up is required, this will glye gpod service. Crack Sown on Banners Birmingham. No more banners, and flags, for exploitation .purposes across the city streets. A city ordinance has been passed turning thumbs down on the practice which had been taken up by automobile dealers, utilities and so on. Nutty Exploit Washington, Bally artists are always pulling stunts with critics but both Warnor Bros, and Loew ofHces turned tables last -week with gags alhied at critics,...Ideas. .gay©... s.crlbes.. Plenty, of. pariaigraphs and, In one stunt, at least,, tangible profit.^. ■VVoi-ners began bombarding crlks with postcards with Inscriptlpna which carried Tfho'ilghfs *IlWo' ""Xt "is slated for the Academy Award. Watch for It . Dec. B,' Cards, each hand-drawn and with critic!^ name, mentioned no pic on theatre. Had boys guessing: for three days and even after they caught on-they kept up the mystery. Cards went but dally over period of week lind got mention In print dally, 'Pic was 'Grime aiid Punlshnient.' Loew's plan begaii with delivering bag of almonds to each scribe with note reading. 'Nuts to You fromUs.' Scrlb.es suspected gag . b^ntured around Marx Bros, and '^Ight dt the Opera,' but their speculation took several sentences. Sahte Idea was repeated dally for five days with brazil nuts, walnuts, peanuts and mixed nuts. One columnist took three Inches to 'explain he. ca,\;ght a Lp€w usher putting the ni^tis bn hls desk. Circus Stuff with a cpuple pf circus pictures In the pfflng it might help ; tp remember an old-timer whl<;h can gtill work if the lobby Is npt tpo Close to the auditorium. This is, the calliope gag, with the box ;oflace built up with pfhaihental 'plpea similar to an . organ front .. with the. dummy pipes. Lower part, of the structure Is masked .in yflth. vermilion and gold painels. Pipes are against gauze, .back' " of '^whlch . a phonograph plays a callloRf j-Hcord. Working in time may ifskt this record on order from the factory. It prObably will not be carried in stock these jazz days. There is also an occarina record which is better for the top Of ithe marquee unless It is played with a fiber needle. It Is exceedingly shrill. The pipes can be made of pasteboard tubes gilded. They should be tapered at the lower end with a slot for the reed space. It will give a better circus atmos-. phere than red lemonade, In another Operation the manager, whose lobby was large, let a ladies* aid society set up a cane rack in the lobby. Winners drew tickets to the show. Even paying full price for the ticket prizes, the women still nettled a handsome profit. Tha,t cane -tossing stiint isn't as easy as it looks, so there Is plenty of coin In the operation. Peanuts and popcorn are-'poor accessories, buif all right at the. exit. In one recisnt stunt the maker of caramel popcorn,' operating a store close to the theatre, was permitted to distribute glasslne . bags with a half a dozen kernels. Created a taste for more; which was quickly gratified, and the stand" sold out for three nights as well as building a good trade. But no samples to incoming patrPns. Bad fpr the carpets. Local An jles Comparatively few exhibs seem to realize the value of the local angle. Possibly this }s because there are so many circuit owned houses where the. managers do not stay put long enough to become part of the town. This does »ot always hold good. A great deal depends upon the man. Edgar Hart used to make the local rounds his first order of business when he was shunted into a new town, and in a couple of weeks he was. a leader in community spirit. Most chain mfinr : agers,. however, seem to feel that it is nO' use wasting time, Some years ago Gerald Gallagher pulled a nl.ce one in.conncction 'v^'ith a' local movement.' To wners ' bewailed their inability to obtain an audience to listen to details of a new municipal project. 'The papers did hot seem to be ableto put It over. Gallagher offered to get a new picture at least .a month in advance of Its regular local snowing, and project it at a meeting without Admission charged. Admission was had by ticket, however, to hold the attendance to those m<*st desired. He not only got the. crowd for the localities, but he sold a. feature a month In advance. Comparatively few managers in recent years have reported leader.shlp in local Christmas celebrations, and fewer still seem to connect 'with other local movements, . and yet there is no better advertising for any theatre than participation in public projects. That doesn't mean a money contribution. It means the more important contribution of showmnnly Ideas to the amateurishly fr med local angles. The whole business of pictures is selllnsr the public. 'Town movements can he sold on precisfrlv the same lines, and hooked to tleke* sales at the same time.