Variety (Apr 1936)

Wednesday, April 15, 1936 P ICY E S VARIETY 21 EXPLOITATION By Epes W. Sargent Hostesses for •Ziggy* .Detroit. Plastering the town' weeks in ad- vance,-. W. G. Bishop, of the local M-G-M office, put over one- of the most extensive and costliest cam- paigns in recent years on 'Great Ziegfeld,' playing a two-week stand at the legit Oss, Covered almost everything from A to Z and Included transformation of the house's lobby, marquee and front into something to write home about. Besides dominating the daily press With ait and stories, Metro used five jumbo 24 sheets, 1,000 ones, 260 twos, 2C0 threes, 100 sixes, 1,000 window cards, '6,000 Western Union, blow-ups, 1,000 posters and 50 billboards. Wanted 100 of latter but had. to. be satisfied with half because of the seasonal demand. Had tieups with distributors, 200. .newsstand displays, 16 window dis- plays, numerous tieups with stores, radio arid about 70 newf^ners in this territory. . Lined up 10 trucks, plugging 'Ziegfeld' pic, and the story in Redbook. Ten-day contest, giving' away tickets,, was held in conjunction with the Free Press, flicker gaining about 160 inches of display ^adver- tising. Secured special rates with bus lines £ r nearby cities, getting lot of free advertising in return. Opening was the nearest approach to a Hollywood or Broadway opener In many a moon here; Besides changing .the entire outside appear- ance and lobby of the theatre by means of glittering stuff and fea- tured by a huge oil painting of a girl atop the marquee, Bishop hired six pretty hostesses for oponer to hand out flowers, etc., to women patrons. Went Wild on Rhodes Baltimore. Herman Blum's loop Little is only local house that by any .stretch of Imagination might be termed an arty. Small spot has in past chiefly centered its exploitation on stunts aimed at adult and conservative plcturegoers, but for 'Rhodea' (GB), current at spot, manager-p.a. Max- well Weinberg, has let down the ballyhoo bars and gone blast-and- blare with a vengeance that appears long pent-up. In lobby, an exhibit of African spears, drums and skins; had tieup lyith Postal Tele for distribution of 3,000 blotters and circulars with all bills and messages rendered by wire company, plus posters • on windows of all Postal offices. The special exhibit of the GB Diamond Train came down from N. T. with motor trailer toting paste reproduction of the, world's most famed diamonds; car. studded on outside with photos and copy. ; An exhibit was spotted in a win- dow of downtown Public Library that- contained blogs of Rhodes and also some more African, background display stuff. Another exhibit was lodged in show window of burg's biggest jewelry store that contained more replicas of; far-famed dia- monds. Tieup with Am. Express Co.-on the African travel , idea. Yellow cabs carried plugs inside vehicles. WFBR ran a pic guess- ing contest two weeks in advance of playdate, plus spots on show during run of film. Heavy on 'Kid' • Indianapolis. With one picture to concentrate on instead of the customary two. Bud Sommers ahd Don Wright of the Indiana theatre opened up a few sweat pores letting the town know that A1 .Tolson had arrived in 'The Singing Kid.' , Stammers' persbnality scored on the ad tie-up angle, with Marrott's Shoe Store running 750 lines on Sybil Jason in children's shoes; Em Roe Sporting Goods running 200 lines on Lyle Talbot on a bicycle: 100 lines from Blocks plugging Al Jblsori dark: colored shirts; hair dress ad with Ayres, and a ladles' hat ad from Strauss picturing Win- nie Shaw. Don Wright handled the angle end of the campaign and turned In a sports window at L. Strauss and ^ompany, three music -store win- flows. 10,000 heralds distributed with Bond Bread, counter cards in all Department stpre music counters, music shops, and 10c. stores. P. a. system was - installed in front of ineatre playing recorded tunes from Pic. and WFBM and WIRE £i ared . °1<3 Calloway records plug- ting his connection with the picture. Polite Cutout eri^y' 3 State - N - Paying 'Mod- afmni es/ has aa effective, yet simp e, animation for the lobby. Mb* . Df Chap"" about eight feet oflw ? ncls 1,1 f, ' ont °f the box line pL1™ Pdffe of th e building th« ^„ i Br it - forearm ' which carries Whin, r - ,v ' is wo rked on a device the HH aus t s him to raise and lower eno\. , < Wy nt «e action, yet 011 11 1° set attention. Kidding 'Kid? ■St. Louis. Grabbing 2,600 lines of free space in town's only morning rag which has a circulation of 250,000 was. one of many angles that. Homer H. Har- man, p.a. at Shiibert-RIalto Theatre used in a swell exploitation cam- paign for Al Jolsori opus, 'The Sing- ing Kid', current at Warner Bros.' midtown-house, Harman hired six blondes, dressed them in flaming red uniforms and bell boy caps, supplied them with samples of a popular gum and sent them through downtown office build- ings distributing the chewing wax in small envelopes on which was printed, 'Easter was meant for hap- piness, Dentyhe and Al Jolsoh at Shubert-Rialto Theatre.' The gals were nearly mobbed by stenogs, etc., arid managed to dis- tribute 15,000 samples Without suf- fering bodily harm. Harman also tied up with Walgreen's chain of 27 retail drug stores in promoting an Easter week 'Jolson and Jason' sun- dae and all stores posted one-sheets of two principals bri back bar. . Famous-Barr Dry Goods Co., larg- est downtown department store, co- oped in featuring frocks worn by Sybil and shirts and suits worn by Mammy Singer. 5 and 10 stores fur- nished window space for sheet music from screen feature and books of 'The Singing Kid'. WIL's studio ork, conducted by Alllster Wiley, plugged feature song hits via the air for sev- eral days before pic opened and. dur- ing run.. Station also used four spot transcriptions from sound track ori two days before run started; Big- gest downtown sporting goods store was persuaded to donate half of huge window for blowup of Jolson and his golfing togs for a very at- tractive display. To Wailie Helm, his assistant, Harman delegated job . of contacting 16 weekly nabe papers with a com- bined circulation of 300,000 and go- ing ir.to almost every home in the burg. Helm crashed theatre copy of 'Kid*- In' every one and half of them used pics of stars of screen feature. Culture for Kids There is more or less dyriamlte in an idea worked in one of the kid clubs, unless a strict neutrality is preserved, but as now being han- dled It is clicking not only with the children but it's getting high ap- proval from the parent-teachers or- ganization. It is nothing more than a topic of the moment talk at the Saturday morning meeting. The danger lies, in the possibly partisan attitude of the-commentator. Speaker riiust be able to talk sim; ply and understandably, to reach the mental age of the members, but it should not be made too kinder- garden. Speaker tries to explain the hap- penings in the day's news. As a re- cent example he dwelt ori the Rhine affair, sketching first the original provisions for a demilitarized Rhine- land, telling why each of the other signatories to the pact objected to the move.. Hitler was not riientioned by name nor were there any dis- paraging comments about either side, The children were put in pos- session of the simple facts and left to draw their own conclusions. At another session the recent floods were taken up, their origin, their ordinary prevention and their results. In 10 minutes the kids knew more about, the matter than their Immature . minds would have gleaned from the page after page of newspaper reports. No dry statistics are ever offered, the chats treatirig the various mat- ters too broadly to require docu- mentation. Chats are given by the civics teacher from orie of the local schools, but the manager checks her as carefully as radio does a 'dan- gerous' broadcast. Industrial Lobby Rochester. First of lobby displays of home town industries installed at the RKO Palace. Ritter Dental Manufacturing Com- pany has reconstructed its Chicago world's fair exhibit. Manager Walter Risley merely provides the space arid the company does the rest. Aims to provide interest and education for theatre patrons; Unexpected angle was. theatre party arranged by the company with block of 300 tickets sold to employes. Boiling Eyes Warners has a clever novelty for 'The Singing Kid' in the shape of a black balloon with attached eyes with rolling pupils £md the Jolson features sketched in whUe on the black rubber. Rolling eyes will make holders show.it off and gain Imw circula- tion for a cunii>*;.Uive! ' limited number* Early Hitch Hiker Louisville. Johnson Musselman, manager of Fourth Avenue .Amusement Com- pany's Rialto, exploiting 'Sutter's Gold,! conceived a stunt that in- duced the Courier-Journal, long time opposed to theatrical promo- tion tieups, to lean over backward in cc-operation arid space. Paper offered, in co-operation with the theatre, 100 free tickets and $30 in cash prizes for the best adaptations of the classified ads of 1849 to the opportunities, or aspira- tions, of modern times, Whole Idea was based on a classi- fied, .'advertisement which appeared in the March 6, 1849, issue of the Louisville Journal: 'To California From St. Louis. The subscriber is now preparing to convey a large party by the. over- land route to. California, and ar- rive there early in July. Persons who wish to go in a cheap arid com- fortable manner may have the op- portunity with this party* who Will all be carried through, furnished With good provisions, for the low charge of 1170 each. The quantity of- baggage to each must riot exceed 150 pounds weight *N. B>—Will depart from St. Louls about the 20th of March. A remit- tance of $20 will secure conveyance. B. CORWIN, Main Street, St Louis.' Rules were that contestant was required to write a classified ad to accomplish some purpose compara- ble to that set out in the 1849 ad- vertisement, arid the participants were urged to make full use of their originality and imagination. $250 Worth of Ams Seattle. Neptune theatre, ir the University district, opens a nine-week amc.teur variety contest, with finals coming June 12. The entire city being scoured to find suitable ams. Near- ness to campus Of 'University of Washington should bring out stu- dent talent and the fraternities and sororities are being contacted, arid the student press used for adver- tising this feature. Don Edwards will do the Ma lor Bowes emceeing every Friday night. Winners in adult and child classi- fications are selected via applause and judging each week, these belrig paid" reg. vaude salaries. They go into the finals where cash prize for tops l? sro. About $250 will be used for the salaries and prizes. Audition* are held first before Manager Lloyd Mlller-and Edwards, so the ams will know how to take a bow before they step out. Underfoot and In the Air Los Angeles. Number of novel exploitation gaars worked but'for opening here of 'Lit- tle Lord Fauntleroy.'.. Footprints of Freddie Bartholomew, juve star of picture, imprinted Tn the cenierit of the .Chinese forecourt, were photo- graphed and sent oyer wirephoto for national release. Another gag was a plane vs. pigeon race from Chi- nese forecourt to San Diego, exposi- tion, with pigeon winning thrpugh having an hour handicap allowance, Akron, O. . Loew's 10-year-old parrot got a clean bill of character When' a jury decided the bird was not the agres- sor in allegedly nipping a piece of flesh from the forefinger of a visit- ing Cleveland dentist. Dentist sought $10,0000, but profited only to .the extent of publicity. Rochester, N. T. Cameo, nabe, will be auctioned on the Courthouse steps April 30 in foreclosure action brought by J. M. Ulmer of Cleveland, trustee for bondholders under a first mortgage. Judgment against the Norton Amus. Corp.. present owner of the building, signed by Justice Clyde W. Knapp. Mrs. Katerlne Tompsori is manager, and part owner. Inquiries indicate there Will be no lack of bidders at the isale, * ' Newark. Changes in the Warners staff in- clude Spltzer Kohen, manager of the Capitol, takes the Lincoln. Kearny, while Syd Bratter leaves Kearny for the Millburn, Millburn. M. Brenner, from Millburn to the Well- mont. Montclalr. The Wellmont. is left by R, Clark for the Claridge. Montclalr. Al Barber, Claridge, goes to the Cameo, South Orange, while R. Cohn goes from the Cameo to the Hollywood, East Orange. W. Waldron goes from the Hollywood to the Hudson, Kearny, which M. Ingram gives up for the Rltz. The Ritz is left by J. Lecy, who takes the Capitol. The-Cranford. Cranr ford, has been left by Edward Kane, who resigns to take a position with Roth Bros,, Summit. Newell Stepp. assistant to. the Rltz, Elizabeth, re- places Kane. Los Angeles. Warners Forum. (nabe) closed for remodeling and renovation, plus in- stallation of new sound system. Im- provements will cost around $20,000. Cullen Espy, one of three Fox- West Coast Los Angeles area dis- trict managers, copped first prize, in latest 13-week business drive over circuit. Thornton Sargent .L.' A. de luxe house chief, was second; Earl Rice arid B. V. Sturdivant, L. A. district managers, . third and fourth, and Art Miller, of Sart Fran- cisco Peninsula division, fifth. Run- ners up were George Bowser. Dick Dickson. Dick Spier. Nick Turner and Will Steege in that order. Variety, new nabe picture house, opened April 11 by Jim Quinn and Ray Robbins. House, a 600-seater, will have subsequent run policy, with 2Cc. top gate. Galveston. Work on D. P. Rathbone'a $30,000 theatre, Pasadena, Harris county, near here, under way. Giosue Martini, nephew of A. Martini, city manager for Interstate here, now manager of Queen the- atre here. Hall industries, Eeevllle, plans erection of new 600-sdat air-condi- tioned theatre at SInton, near Cor- pus Christ!. Jack McCollom man- ages the Rialto at Sintori for the Hall interests which will have two theatres at Slntbn with completion of new unit Denver. Glenn Genoway, former manager of the Mission theatre in Grand Junction, now manager of the Kiva, opened by Westland Theatres, Inc. Fox theatres have transferred two Western Electric sound jobs: that of,the closed State at Boulder, Colo., to the Empress at Laramie, Wyo., and that of the old Curran, also at Boulder, to the Strand at Provo, Utah. Fire in the booth of the Engle- wood theatre caused $2,500 damage, destroying: most of the equipment and twd feature films. Only a few persons were in the theatre and no one was Injured. B. P. McCormick and his son, George, are building a new house at Hot Springs, N. M., to replace the Rialto now operated by them Open about July 1. Fine Arts Center theatre, being constructed at Colorado Springs, Colo., will open about April £0; Detroit. Clifford White, owner of the Beechwood nabe and the Pine. Grove cafe, has taken over the Granada nabe, operated for three years by Krim Theatrical Enterprises. Sol Krim now has Only the Kramer, west side nabe. Syracuse. Mayor Joseph Sternberg of Boon- yille will erect a new 800-seat pic- ture house in that village with work schedule to start about May 10. Plans being completed by Architect Harold G. 'Rise provide for a stage sufficiently large for stock and vaudeville. -Sternberg already op- erates the Avon, acquired 10 years ago. Investigation of a reported at- tempt by yeggs to enter Sehlno's State theatre, Cortland, N. Y.. led local police to attribute the 'rob- bery' effort to drunken celebrators who were seeking a place to con- tinue their spree, A gas station at- tendant, his suspicions aroused by the actions of a. motor party shortly before daylight, gave the yegg alarm. Portland. Ore. Frank Newman, Jr., now bossing the Orphcum for Evergreen under city manager Al Finkelstein. This Is Frank's second trip here from Seattle. Formerly he came to man- age Evergreen's 1'ardmount. Jim Schiller of MG tripped back to L. A. from these parts. Jim left a bunch of friends in film alley awaiting his return. J.- J. Parker is belter after a re- cent illness. Now back doing busi- ness as usual at his olflce in the Broadway. Portland. Orr\ Newest thing In theatres in Port- land, even to Its name, is tin' St. Johns in the district which gives it Its name. The housei formerly the Venetian, reopened last week, after intensive renovation. Jesse E. Jones is the owner. Booming Convention Portland, Ore, An ingenious device to make Portland merchants aware of the golden stream of dollars which con- vention delegates pour, into the city's stream of business will be tried out "next week. Each of -the visitirig members of any association will be provided with art envelope, one side ot which will be. transparent cellophane. < Into this the delegate will be asked to slip the flr,st .dollar bill, which he spends in the city. On the. reverse side of the enyeiope appeara the following legend. 'This Is a convention dollar. It came with a.delegate.-Attending the convention of the association arid,is designed to demonstrate the natural flow of convention dollars through the regula'. channels of business' Space is also provided tor the visitor to ■ write his name and th» four successive, recipients are usUe4 to dp likewise. The fifth person ti». handle the 'envelope is. asked to withdraw the dollar and mail the empty envelope, with its complete record of the dollar's travels, to th Chamber.. The stunt ;was devised by Charles T. Haas, chairman of the Chamber's convention, as a means of hoistlngr the city's interest in attracting con- ventions. Two from N. H. New Haven. Ben Cohen tied iri with local greerihouse on a lobby -display for 'Next Time We Love' at the College. Lobby was decorated With, shrub-, bery and had a 'Lover's Lane' sign posted prominently. Park bench in midst of greenery carried a sign, 'Reserved for Margaret Sullavan arid James Stewart.' Harold Maloney worked a good Idea for a stunt on .'Small Town Girl' at Poll's. Night before open- ing he carried on a lobby air inter- view with outgoing patrons of pre- vious show. Questions were .along various 'small town', angles. Yale studes from large, cities were asked to" compare girls from their home cities with small town - girls they knew. Local femmes were asked 'Would ""you marry a wealthy man, without love, just so he would take you-out of a small town?' Flock of similar queries drew interest both in lobby and on air and g2gr was a perfect plug for next day's opening. Word Play Lincoln. Tying strongly in with the elec- tion talk which is going the rounds at this time, City Manager Milton Overman with the Varsity. West- land acer here, gagged the showing of 'Mr. Deeds' with the film's trick word 'pixilated.' He got out window cards, ban- ners for theatre help, and calling cards which were passed out In pro- fusion. AH asked that the vote be cast for 'Mr. Deeds' 'the pixilator.' and stated that 'the polls would open any day during the week of April 10 at the Varsity.' Called the world premiere of the film, Jack Thoma, Columbia's midwest stunt man, helped start it off. Missoula, Mont. Wilma Theatre, nearing com- pletion, expects to open 'within the month. Marquee Display Most theatres' regard a vertical sign as necessary to a picture the- atre as a screen, but or.e small towner who was rather startled at the Cost worked but some-thing that seems to ylve a better drag than the usual electrical Ovvlco. It consists of a tubular framework set atop thf rnar(juoc and rising 30 feet, braced- with wires to the Hour corners. The Uprights, made from ordinary iron piping, are spaced three and a half feat apart. These support toothed wheels from bid bicycles two at the top and two r.t the bottom, the latter having an .fid-, dltlohal wheel which is connected with a sinall, slow geared motor. Ordinary link chain, such as is used In automobile gears work on these wheels. Every three feet the chains are held by steel rods instead of.the usual, pins and on theze rods metal sheets, loof-oly connected to the rods, are fastened. These sheets-carry sales messages, and so lonif as tiu 1 house Is opened are In continuous motion, being flood lighted at nigh... The result is a constant movement of about 18 distinct messages, traveling up one side of the structure and down tho other. It gets over the messages smartly, provides- the 'always de- sirable move r-nr and the upkeep is comparatively plight. With the 'exception of. the con- necting rods and the panels, it is all stock stuff, put together by a lo- <-al steamfltter, and the first cost Is far below that of even the sim- plest electric sign. Might not work well for a big house, but the idea has Its possibilities even here In 'modification for a lobby display with changeable signs. .4 ii h m