Variety (Jan 1937)

EXPLOITATION -> B, EK^ W Sar^™. Pluggin' a TJnit Artbiir Cohn; ot the Queen, Wil- mingtoo, Pfl.. put on the heat for NT G; and his girls and steamed up • campaign that resulted in three riot calls being turned in opening: night to handle the turnaway. He started a trailer campaign threes iveeks in advance^ \vith trailers On the screfehs of four associated thea-; tres for eight days in sidyahoe o* the opening, AdyiMice PuWicity. Mfas started. two v>«eks. ahead and ad-: vance. advertising Ydn for two; days: ' bin Sunday; tifite opening day, Cbhn promotied a full .page co-op, with three of the cbopeiratoris in on special 'Stunts, ^is meant additional ady^r^ tising i away from the special page; One stunt .was the purchase aihd disr tributioh' of 25 tickets by a v drug storfe to promote-Max Factor makert up, which the girls endorsed, a visit to'a night club and a style , show for a dry goods store. GranlUhd acted as m.e. 'at the latter eyeht;; piitting in heavy . i»liigs' for ih'i show,. while Melis,' Kirk and' ;Martih - contribute^. ,-.comedy«' Played to aboxnt a tfadusand '■,people;''-^i ■ , : ' .Hbiise'conducted a beauty contest,' di^termined four, days .after, the sttirt, with N.T.G. pieking; five girls to be presented at each of the two nite shoMirS; with cash, prizes; There were many window displays and plenty of radib.work. Black ink. Thiii tbpai An^:l . ^Winnipei^'\- biijiiina Durbin and 'Threie SmaH i'vGiTls; CU) wferje' a pushover for the - locals^ The fact that Deanria camie from this neck of the woods helped Plenty, but that wasn't allf ' .Getting off to an early start, Sim 'Rost,: manager of .th6 , Garrick, splashed three-color ads in the daily» with the Durbin lass istandihg out in full color in middle of the ad. This hiipi:! up 8^ Xecprd, it is the. .first . time i-thBt, tnreercolbF advertisintl^has ! beiiiiu^eO'l^y ahy! theatre in Winhi> ■ V and pp^lbly ;tl^e .Wm^^^ • Biggesti ■ ll)6l^>^, wag i the special screening; arranged iby, Freie Pres^ theaitre critiCi Frank Mqrriss: Morriss, armed' ,>^lth .:ah' excli|sive Interview . the jjsrar(c(mbthl^r, of Miss Dur in, myiited the Dunbin clan to a pri ' y6^ 1 scr^einihg 't'wb' diayis ahead; of - the opiening date. On' hand also was Press photbgrapher Nick Morant and /' '• caiidia camera,'who' took shots dur- ing the running of the' film.' Story broke on following,day oh page' three (second front page) taking up best . part of the page, the candid shots of ■ ! grandmother: and ;Miss.-.Durbin hit- ting high C taking half the ^pace. Pictures of the. family and: relations overlapped oh . to other pages. . .This, combined With rave reviews from other critics around town, plus t>lenty of good wbrd-crf^-rnouth ad ;.,.vertisiiig, .nave practically, over shadowed the strong op|]fosition .ad' vertising of other hpusei; Audiences •: building strong • andholding, with possibility that, picture may stay .for three:or four weeks. Hbuse. already holds town long distance' record with nine wefeks on 'Deeds.' Trick Light -'■■One of those good stunts that flashed-up and was • forgotten was the blow light designed a long time if go by L. W. .(^arroll, pstehsibly jit was one of . those carnival • devices m which the ambitious try Out their , lung • jE»oy;«rV by bloviHnjg |into a tube ... ttndtlig^tiiig one oi; 'moi'e,lamp^ jln f i i.thi': Ciarrbil'lamps W^re lighted by'mesihs' oiE a sVrttcih worked from the box office and those Who succeeded in . lighting: the lan^p gbt free tickets; ' which was why Mr' Carroll kept his hand on the switch ; This is even'better, stunt for a store wjndpyv:,. with an attendiant ■ Vbehind; a . scrim isc'reen tb watch the efforts 'by those' Outside. There ?hoUld be some ostensible bonhec'^ iphi from the tube, outride • to the . (de.Vice.:' thev yfSm^mfM^^^ t^o^- of ijghts sdt hbpked Up -that by .ad- vancing the switch , the lamps go on in succession, firsts 4 couple of ■white lights, with no! payoff, then OQcasibnally polored lamp, red Plue, green and amber, wi^ one, , , br three: tickets a^ . the; prizes and a month's pass for lighting the ■.last-lampj'.-; ' ■'■■■' •' -;It should be onerated by a re liablfe^ persbh with some idea of comedy, who. can get a laugh liy giv ing a flat-chested contestant a col ored lamp while a hlisky, blow as he .will, can not. do better, than tHe flrst or second rioh-payoff bulb. It can have a small town batty for. a lew days; and Can work just as wel" m .the biggies. . Somewhat similar is a 'How strong js your magnetism.?' stunt, with a circle Outlined on the glass facing a lancy wire device iside. The person places his hand against the. glass arid apparently sends a current: of ^^liec tricity to operate ah indicator dial, in reality worked by tlie hidden Pperator, It looks even more rriys .lei'jousi. Qaniered 'Oarden' . Jjouiis. ♦ . Tieups with Postal;Telegraph Goi, ;wO big downtown dept.- stores; large grocery, store, chain; radio station;: Weeklynewspaper; 3 aiid 10; store; weekly /magazine; , bank, pay en-:: velbpes; drug store: chain; i-etail cigar stores; every local rag and dis-'| ribution of theatre' in Apartment lotels and :dOwntowh office buildings: | were accbmplishihehts bf. Manager ^ la^old 'Chick' Evens and Jimmy : lar'ris, p.a. at: Loew's, and .Mike I Cavanaugh; UA exploitee'r Irom New York, in attracting; public attention to current double bill, 'Garden 'of Allah- and 'Gay . Desperado/ The telegrapii CO. distributed 5,000 stickers, cariying- theatre.-copy, bn" all wires: deUyered ; and . provided space in windows iii downtown and< branch bffjces.fojr. 'Garden, bt Aufth'f arid 'Gay Desperado* di^liajrs. A.na- tional hbokui) bit Van Bibber ,cigars. carried Loew's copy into •cigar and'' drug stores. Bbok depts>; in retail dry I ;bbd9' and ,booki stores ^e^j^ited; pi}t hrough :^le of popk ana brie dept.; stbre featured. 'Garderi '"of, Allah', robes, :pattefned .after those used in f eature; in-cb-.op adsv Badib station MrMy, Ibcipited, in ] Sast. St. Jjouis, iised transcriptions, on picture in advance , of shbwirig.' and luHrig run: 3,000 special colored fblders 'wer^ distribute to apart- ment hbtels, arid 50.000 9x12 circulars were, placed in: all. outgpuig paircels in. KStWs grocery stpres. These Stbri^s also fUrniished wiridpw space! 'of 40x60 dfsplay^ : bn desert dates arid bther trbpical food, etc.j 5,000 special .teaser cairds with copy alo^g. liriesi' 'Allah ■ B^' Praised* v^ere dis- tributed aimorig . femme . workeirs in downtdwn bffice bldgs.; 10,000. heralds, were given away in McCrory's 5 and 10; 10;000 exchange her;alds were placed in all Liberty magazines Sold in tbwn during run of pix; ja serial Story of big feature was planted, in 'Observer,' a local .weekly with a- guaranteed eirculation of 50,000; 5^000 aay. envelopes distributed l>y local jank bore attractive copiy and siz-i ] zling campaign was topped off by use of 50 24's. ■ . ' ' • Free to Sonjas iibcal booiking bf ^Oth-Fox's 'One in a Million,' at Andbrson, Iijd-. came sriiack iri the midst of the autbrijbtive strike which threw 12,0P0 people put of work'in this town of 45,000, but manager Harry VanNoy bf the Para- mourit went to town in selling Sbnia Henie and the nic to the populace, Tie-ups were arranged with the riia- jority of idowntown drug stores for Sonja Henie suridaes and window displays bf Don Ameche and Cam- pana; house got a break With a timely display in town's mairi de- partriient store, featuring a huge blow-up; of Miss Henie for . winter sports wear; tie-iips were arranged with.spbris editors on the local ra;^ for special publicity, ori. ,the, ice skater; and 1,000 autographed photos bf Miss Henie were doled but prior to opening. Also got a laugh by advertising a bouquet of flowers and passes to see the show for all girls named Sorija.i Another feature of the'campaign was the placing of two large signs in front of the theatre,^ reading 'Only- Days Until 'One in a Million/ fea- turing the girl in a mlUibn, Sonja Henie/ Exolbitation was augmented by a teaser campaign iri the papers, personal notices 'T.o $onja from: Don/ extri newspip'er reviews ahd extra adspace. _ ■'■ \ Exhib' also; Scheduled' a postrcard carripnigri. With .1,000 cards ..sent to meri iexclusively, reading " a wo rriari's' hand-writing: •Darling: 'Meet me at the Parari»ount : thea ire Sunday night. If I'm .still one i ,a million for. you, you-11; be there. .':■■'■'■ Sonja/ Result was a packed house; Nice (or Toronto Toifpnto, Jan. 19. New high in theatrical advert tising here with. 95,. theatres spreading propaganda over four 'pages. LoeVir's using; top: space- Goes all .the; way from! ama teurs' to burlesque. Belated Santa : : Norfolk,. . Norfolk kids .rubbed their'eyes' arid opened; their mpuths in a dither oh Jan. 8 .'wheri they saw SaritaJ Claus ori tl^e bity's chief -stireets^ .. Mothers" were hard piit'^.tb' it to. exiplain :the ianiazirig:'; signt until the gay 1^^ vOn his-back^was the legend'I Stubk Around to . See -Maei ,West: in 'Go West;' ."YQurig Man/ at . the . Nbrya Tli^atrfii Beginrimg Today/.' - Proved'fine b;o. I Wre, togetheriwith usual .exiplbitatibh: methods. <' *Bia«k^IiejBi(n^ Shjow: . .... ■■..Detroit,-' /Black •Legibri'i (WB) was -given; « special •ipreyieiw;^ last i we?k at thq Michigan ' State Pnsbri in Jacksbri, where four members of the Detrbit hooded cult are serying terms for Leitioriu.criiriea: '' -.' . . . ; ..^ ' \ >^%, warden^ Harry H; Jaickson said the re'quest fbrtthe Black; Legiorinaires to see the, ftlrti brid pbss on Its authen- tjicity: tame Irbnf Chicago-AJrii pffi cials.); ■ ■ ^ A Pi*i8ing 'Allak? Los Angelesi Selzriick-Iriterriatibnstl's publicity department interested Mrs. Richard R. Russell, Coast chairriiari of the Daughters of the American.Revolu- tion/in the high riiotal fiber of 'The Garden-of Allah/ " Finally- she: eri-. listed five women .start a chain phone campaign for • the pic. Each called ac quintet of fenuries. and asked therii to continue the link. Anbtber stunt was a conteist tie up with the L. A. Downtown Shopping: N^ws, 400,000 giveaway cireulation seriii- weekly; offering a free trip to Al- geria, locale of. 'Garderi.: Van l^cer^s Ekpl<utation . icagb, Jan. 19. . Arnold Vari^ Leer, now bf, Cowan;| & Van Leer, ^idvertising. eri .route tO North Bay, Canada, arid while..her,e, landed the Great States and Essaness Circuits of Theatres with h.isuLekr trblite • Glow, leavinfi%>ver 200,000. GlbwliPhts to be rised.lls giveaways^ N Van Leer left. Chi to^promote the. Diqrine / quintuplets- With his new Acoustieori- silent radio, Personal Bnirot Harry oBodie. bt the. Warner Sixth St. theaitre, Coshocton* ;is; a former associsite: of Frank McHugh, sd 'when the. latter. .y^as, due In itb^rn with rrhree Men/on a Horse,*. ^ sent Bodie a phbtograph alluding to the picture 6rid^ hoping; the people of Cbshbctbtt would enjoy, it. .; fibdie lost hd. time in traiislating. it' into a twb coluinn cut; arid, better than/a columri. of type, .imd. it,:4*d' not ..hurt the hpss iengagemen,t! ill ■ thb,- 'ledst: /' C^imeTacraft Taking adviantage of a locial cele- bration, sponsored by a civic organi- zation, a manager: persuaded the committee it ,^hbuld have a parma- rierit record of the ,proceedings and offeired to provide. a • set of photo- graphs fi'ee if given.proper facilities fbr making the shots, He :^,oontacted; a photographer with a large camera, and riiade; shots bf the platform, of the crowd from va- rious angles .and of the statue, which ■Was the heart Of . the . Celebration. Large signs announced that there would be a isplay of, these; pictures in. the Ibbb^.' of the theatre two days later, addinii...'.come arid see if you cari find' yourSeU ilt ther picture.' The bait ivorkedy'.for practically fitveryone' who'- hiad /.attended the event'sw&rmed iritb-the lobby to'iri- spect tlfe'^pictures.: No'.faces; vwere ringed,v'nor weir©; theipe other ticket angles.'- It'was' just'.a' Charice to see. the;.pictUreS;;''/'.< .■ in, spite Of the. fact: th$t no, effort was ijriade vtp sell copies T<irders Were taken at the reqwi^^'.Jbf the"visitors and >the photographer sold a .-suffl- cient niimber to showi^.a^ proflit eiven after he had: made up three hstnd-» some albums for >ther' clUb'^ archives, the prwiderit' and the ispbrisor. \ *All it cost the theatre'was a' little shoe leather arid some'brairiwork, arid'the general ticki^- s^es Were: helped^ by those who, having reached: the lobby; di^cided to ^tay :and seb the show. Prbbably a linbtibri; Iplcttirb^ wb.uld • hav^ .brought in riiibre :cpin, , but the |ihouse W^=:tbp sriiaU^t^^^^ •;;NoW ttle nriariager is"-plaiiuiirii to fepeiat!' the! jsturit.-county fair; Wbek. Id ibis irikt^nbe. the theiltre impririt wilii^jMpipear iri one cprnbr pf the pic-- ^ ture^- conserve , as'a penris^^ Hisement;'-^ :;■.'-' "' ^/.:•; -V- Doings for.Aliiii Detroit. Two broadcasts front the stage, a kids', party, yiaude, and other special features are beirig used this week by tJriited DetrbitTheatres to celebrate the Regent nabe's first anni as mem ber of the chai ■ Visual broadcast of 'Junior Mati- nee' show over WXYZ will be made Friday afternoon. With 40 juves tak- ing' part, Saturday a kids* party, With a solid hbur of cartoons and vaUde, will start at'noon. - .Suriday afternoon 'Children's Theatre of the Air/ comprising .about 50 ybUng per- forriiers, will celebrate its first anni. on the Regent istage, broadcasting over WXYZ, New ReBemblance Oag New .Haven,' ob Russell cashed in on publicity fot Asta, hound in'After Thin Map,' by adniittirig free anybody who could produce a dog resembling, the ptirp. ' Charlotte, N. C. R. a' jStallings; N. C: theatre, who was' transferred there only a few weeks ago frorii'the CharWt^^ irtg'bffice to'riniariager Of the Ala- iriance, promoted ■ to managership: of the Palace, Baleigh. John: Knight, assistant mariager of the Carolina in Greenisborb/ ripw mansiger of the Alamance. Gaiiipoli^, O.. ; Schine /Theatre Co. has pUrchas^ a-large" dbwritown site from Col. H. B. Eclcer iri the heart of the business section for the erection of a modern theati:e; ifiridlay, , Contracts will be ia,warded imme- diately fbr a new $75,000 theatre on a dbwritown site here, Homer W, PoWeU, president of the Quilna The^ ater Co., has anriodnced. r Detroit. Mendle i Siriithv fojrmerly. ,With i Ess- aness^^ in Chicago, has joined United Detroit Theatres as assistarit-nianager at the Madison.: Also added to UD. staff ' past week is Donald Drinn, formerly manager of ,the Madison, State; Paramount and Adariis under the Publix regime. Pittsburgh. Ayith resignation of John McCurdy as manager of the Enright, War- ners' big deluxe house iri East Lib- ertyj George Brbrison .has been ubped to that post irom Sheridan 'Square. Othet WB . riianiagerial changes, as - a result "of this shift, send Lyle Hardirig from Regent to Sheridan Square and Sam Gould frorii the; Gameraphbne to the Rcr gent. Sam: Kleeban, formerly as- sistant managbr at the Regal iri Wil- kinsburg. has- been assigried to the rinanager's post at the Cameraphone. - Because of Bob Newkirk's illness. LoeW office has dispatched Robert Kail froiri . Columbus to fill in tem- porarily,: as assistant tb :M. J. 'CuUen; mariaging director; ot Penn. HeU ^Stitk? rfrbuH* Uittil NeWfcirk-recovers; Walt Frariier, radio broadcaster aiid'foririer free-lance publicist,, has 'been-nairied tb do city exploifation bri -air United Artists flickers. It's not a full time job. Spartanburg, S.: Holly wood at York to reopen soon, following closing due to $2^000 fire.- So iar no action Iri general assem-? bly -ori proposed law to''bar Ushers and doormen Under 18; .working in South Garoliria theatres. Would aiffect 1 75% of Such emplbyees. ■ - ; A compromise- verdiict has been reached in the case of J. Lpuis Schrum and J. W. Abernathy, guards iaris, vs. G. G: Mitchell: theatre oper- ator, arid Carl W.'Ervin, cbritractor,- to preverit Mitchell frbrii changirig the Imperial theatre building into an enterprise nbt connected with motion ■pictures. Mitchell recently. opened , is new State arid closed the Imperial Plain- tiffs, insisting the show must go on at the iriiperial, took over MitcheH's Imjperial lease and^wer® paid.$100 for 1 alt<ri:ati6hs?|,^ h9d>^guri,N<xw-they'll probably -operate the Imperial as COiripetitibn for the State. :Scrairitori, Pa. Coirierford organization last Sat-; urdsiy (16> closed, the Ritz, dowritowri: house which has beeri playing^ pic- tures arid stage shows. Closing said to be for extensive: itnprovements.. House was. biiilt, by : Z. Poli. and' kriown under hiS' name for mariy,- years. The Comerford iriterests also' announced taking an bptiori von the Providence Auditorium, one of the city's landmarks in North Serantori* where .^new theatrie is to be built. Ik>s Angeles,: James Edwards, . Mo.nterpy . Park operator, is building a 650-<seater: In Wilmar for April • opening. ; Glenn Harper, at preserit sbloing, in Cbrona; is openihg a new:hbuse in Foritana. Omaha. Charles Schlaifer. leaves 'his pdst< ias: advertising and publicity: chief fo'lir thte Ti-i-iStates Thearci Omaha, di?- trictvto beconfie publi^^ alnd advert tisirig directiH* for tfe(«ii7riited Artists, theatre in Sari Fraribisco. : A. M. Avery, mariagbr of the Omti- ha ,RKO exchange^ arinburiced :the' additiori of W. .Wi}; "froxell to the Omaha sates staff.. ' Jack Anderson, who has held trie position of pbster clerk in the Omaha MGM exchange, now copywriter at the Buchanan Thbriias' Ad. Agency, Charles Rachman takes over. :• T^^ Pant Cln^v; / ■ :^I"i"v'^^^^ M-'G-M: working' .with tiib'news- paper Intransigeant tbbk. adVantiage. of Christmas to collect a'good load of pdblicity I6r Its :Laurel ari^ Hardy ■«lub: arid . please 4»000 kids the ..proce'ss.'- ■ tisirig thb,. Club a$ a base, with the lAtrati$ige{|rit ballyhooing the event, M-G-M- gave A' Christmas, party for the kids at the SnUe Wagram where they saw pri hour show duririg the morriirig;; ati^ Ayere gi^en presents. Arifibriil' othbr : ihings, the young- steirs received a special Christmas edition Of 'Crl-Cri,^ the Laurel and Hardy club paper, toy a^tompbilesi boxes of candy,, funny masks of the two comefdians' and miscellariebus jplaytl^irig'sv ' The ^hoW, riiade -up of acts to please the children^ included , the orchestra of Marcel Mazelin; the . Salvadbr br<>thbrs; - the blowns ' George and Mistral; the Three Marcelles;; acro- pats, and Gabriello and Grail i Laurel and Hardy iriiltatlons. TJie. WindUp Was 'a . contest ambrig:. the kids'thiemselves as'to who looked : the most like thfe '|lollywood fun makers. Spokane.: The Alpine, lieW $20>000; theatres- Was opened this Week at Cojlville,' 50. niiles north of here. Atlanta^ ■ Williariii K. Jenkins, vice-pr«E and :trea.surer of Liicas & Jenkiris.' Inc^^ has been: m'ade a colonel on Gov. .j D. Rivers' staff, ' Charlotte, Ni C. W. H. Vebb, at Shelby, haa iriade hispJWel)brt>v|ai^^»^ a.,s«eqndMP)UV hbUse'^ and'.reduced admissipris.^^ -'<16: ,arid 15/cents, -ftii new-I'Ha r:tre-wtll be first run-.Jibuse.- - ' ' Ducatt fot Voliodyi ' 4*eenville^!S. G. Ritz, ; here, playing. Jane Withers* 'Little* Miss^ Nobody,' brok^ out last Week with novel .exploitation gag to blick; uiE>' b.o.. Manager Fred Ciirdts . had staff man Bill Jennings patrolling side streets on lookout for femme. urchins of abbut Withers' age#arid uriaccom- pariied. Jennings, fortified with fists full bf Oakleys, presented-each girl he. encountered alorie one of the dt^icats Vi)^ith a spiel runnirig on this ord^f: Heire, :tLittl0 IRflss Nobody/ is a ticket ^ thb Ritz but first go: home and ask your people if you may go. Result: ;Many an .extra waif came albrig with the pasteboard, holder arid bought, in. Worcester.' Ed Meye'rsori of Boston .has suc- ceeded Nate 'Goldberg as miathager of Fariiily theaitrb.: He served :the Lowe thektres^ iri Hartford; • the»^past' two. years.,- ' " '[ "New-York, Sidney Lehman, formeriy attached to the United Artists* Wafihirigton exchange; ' has been; promoted to branch manager's chair for UA in Buffalo. His Washington Successor not yet chosefn. ;. Tom" Spry, . Boston branch man agej for more: than, 20 years,; for merly with First National: and since the merg:e'r With Warner Bros, has resigned: and may retire from pic- turess. He js Indepfendently Wealthy. Nat Furst. manager bf the WB NeW Haven: office, succeeds Spry in .Bos- tori, While John Pavone rripves up from the sales staff in NeW: Haven to the top chair., Atttpiareritly' thie-: lake, summon^ is stttl' pbteritf*- It: roUed up a: good gross for- the Lido .theatre;- Bronx^ laist We^kf on 'Libeled Lady/ Front page was a good reproduc* tipa of a regularxbiirt summons^ but' the; inside departedVfrotri the Usual phi^asebidgy''for a riiOre frankly ad- J^ertising appeal/^ though' 'the general brm Was retained. The summons, if:riot too often used, still packs the wallop.^ ' ^ , ' Picked Good Ones Ci^rolina, here,, receritly installed: equipmient- for th«J hard-of-hearing iri: 16 choice aisle seats. In inaugurating the use of the ear phones Manager Dick Lashley s^nt. every semi-deaif •person that he krieW of ^here a letter concerning the event ericlosing^ducat. Fred'i Giirdt's, Ritz, Was first with hard-df-hearing erjuipmeht here but: all of his seats tKus Wired are ori a; back row.