Variety (Dec 1939)

VARIETY EXPLOITATION Wednesdajt December 20, I939 FILM SHOWMANSHIP Atlanta Nonnal Again After Ws'Tornado Premiere, State Holiday AtlanU.Dec. 19. This Dixie roetropolis ol 300,000 •ettled down Monday (18) following ■ four-day jamboree surrounding •world premiere showing of Selznick- International's 'Gone with the Wind' (M-G). High spot, of course, of four-day festival came Friday (15) night with first public unveiling, of pic to a glittering capacity (2,100) audience at Lbew's Grand theatre, front of which had been transformed Into 'Twelve Oajts,' typical planta- tion home of Old South days. Pa- trons paid $10 per seat for preem, proceeds going to Atlanta Commu- nity (Chest) Fund. There were oiv- «ral thousand applications for each ■eat available. More than 20,000 Atlantans jammed gpace irf front of Grand night of preem to see celebrities arrive for screening. Heading Hollywood co- tingent were Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, stars of 'Wind,' and Oliva de Havilland, Ona Munson, Ann Ruth- erford, Alicia Rhelt, Laura Hope Crews and Evelyn Keyes, Atlanta girl, featured players. Director Vic- tor" Fleming was on hand, as was David e. Selznick and Jock Whitney, of S-I, and Metro execs, headed by Louis B. Mayer. [ , Day of premiere was declared an official sUte holiday by Gov. E. D. Hivers, who had as his guests gov- ernors of practically all southern states. Four-day 'Gone With the Wind Festival,' officially decreed by Mayor William B. Hartsfield, began Thurs- day (14), when Hollywood contin- gent started planing and training Into city. Feature of this day was .street parade in which stars partci pated, 300,000 folk fining downtown streets to gawk and cheer. Spotted along parade route were 21 bands. Including 120-piece all-girl military band in uniform. Parade ended at Georgian Terrace,hotel, where plat form had been erected and stars and. players, including Carole Lom' bard (Mrs. Gable), Claudette Colbert and Lawrence Olivier, who came along for the ride, were introed to a milling, enthusiastic audience There followed a press cocktail party In Georgian Terrace's Grand Ball- room that assembled 250 newsmen from this section and faraway points. Climax of the first day's activities came with Junior League's costume ball at 6,000-seat City Aude, pro- ceeds going to charity. Kay Kyser's orch played and Kyser m.c.d. Kyser also played foir a dance, sponsored by Atlanta Journal, following night at .City Aude, giving' folk who couldn't get to see preem some place to go. Friday was a day of activity for Hollywood folk, they being guests of various clubs and organizations throughout the day. Parties included luncheon given by Atlanta Better Films Committee, assembling 1,000 at Atlanta Athletic Club, and cock- tail patty hosted by Atlanta Women's Press Club in honor of Margaret Mitchell, who is member of that organization. Invited guests were confined to members of club, stars, S-I and Metro officials. Preem that night was a gala and festive affair. Despite milling crowds and unbounded enthusiasm, Hollywood folk were not manhan- dled. National Guardsman, extra police, state highway patrolmen. Boy Scouts and flremein kept crowds back and event was well handled. Saturday Atlanta suffered from a municipal hangover, but no loss of enthusiasm since the regular run of *Wind' teed off at Loew's Grand to capacity biz. With two shows daily ($i.lO afternoon and $1,60 night tops) seat sale, all reserved, is well into third week. Metro plans to keep 'Wind' at Grand as long as it does business and chances are' it will stay here five weeks, possibly seven. House is scaled to gross around $5,- 000 daily, so first three weeks total looks like cinch to hit or better $100,000. •'GWTW Festival' 'came to close Sunday with presentation of At- lanta's Civic Christmas pageant at City Aude. Four-day celebration was well covered by four Atlanta radio star By John C. Flinn Entire film industry will profit from the widespread public interest which has been manifested in the initial showings of 'Gone With the Wind' in Atlanta (15) and New York last night (19). News accounts of the preriiiere in Atlanta were displayed on page one of some of the metropolitan dailies. It was smart editing. Nearly every woman in America who can read news- papers has a personal, if vicarious, concern in the lova affairs of Rhetl Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. Handling of the Atlanta opening was a slick job of promotional work, entailing an unlimited amount of dynamite which never exploded until the right mo- ment and in the right direction. Although three- quarters of a century have passed since the war be- tween the states, there are plenty of folks in Atlanta who never have .seen 'Uncle..Tom's Cabin' and it's a brave Northerner even today who mentions tfie Civil War until after he is spoken to. Of course, the Mar- garet Mitchell novel relates the capture of Atlanta from the Southern viewpoint, and therefore 'Gone With the Wind' has all the advantages of a sympathetic hearing. What actually happened, according to a sur- vey of the local newspapers, is that the premiere de- veloped into a civic event of almost national impor- tance. It was the top ballyhoo of the season. HIGH-POWERED EXPLOITATION Certain underlying causes beyond the great popu- larity of the novel itself are responsible for the high mark of anticipatory interest in 'Gone ^y^th the Wind' as a film. From the day nearly three years ago when he bought the screen rights, David O. Selznick never has permitted within or without the trade any slacken- ing of discussion on some angle of the projected pic- ture. Russell Birdwell as the Selznick p.a. kept up an unending series of press stunts. Selection of the prin- cipal players became a national game. Friends and families spilt over the issues raised by ■ comparative qualifications of differen^ artists. Then followed the casting and the producer's final decision on the selec- tion of Vivien Leigh for the role of Scarlett. The inevitable letdown in publicity during produc- tion was compensated later on by the national release on a given date of still photographs and personal por- traits of the scenes and principals. All the national angles were drawn together in the concentration of publicity for the Atlanta premiere. Howard Dietz, advertising and publicity chief of Metro, delegated the arrangements to William Ferguson, Wil- liam Hebert and E. C. Coleman. Preliminaries were laid out weeks before the opening. Principal players in the film, including Miss Leigh and Clark Gable, made the trip across country from Hollywood by plane. Atlanta's Junior League took charge of a costume ball at which the Mayor and Miss Leigh led the grand march. Loew's theatre was given a special 'fronV of Colonial design. Newspapermen from all leading Dixie dailies were present by invitation. N. Y. Times sent on its top news feature writer, Meyer Bergcr, whose two-day accounts were spread on page one and carried over with art layouts. N. Y. Evening Sun played up the Associated Press wire release of Saturday (16). The Times further-loosened up with editorial comment.oh the street parade In Atlanta which climaxed the Out- door festivities. PROOF THERE'S SOIIETHINO NEW It is likely to be the experience of 'Gone With the Wind,' as it unreels Itself in key cities and subsequent runs, that the publicity will amount to even higher peaks than reached at the Atlanta and New York show- ings. Immediately set for openings are Boston, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Harrisburg and Reading.. Interest will shift, probably, from the production and casting angles to the major issue of the length of the film which requires, with intermission, four hours of sitting at a single showing. The public's enthusiasm for Rhett and Scarlett will be soon put to the test in the New York sector. At the Astor theatre, showings are given twice daily; at the Capitol three times, the eve- ning show starting at nine o'clock. 'Gone With the Wind' is the complete answer to in- dustry apathy, expressing itself frequently along lilies that the public has lost its zest and enthusiasm for pictures, that everything has been done before, and that film business is healthiest when pictures are mov- ing modestly through the distribution channels. Quite apart from whatever merits" the film possesses, Selznick has made a constructive contribution by the showman- ship which fostered 'Wind' to its present giant com- mercial proportions. It has set new standards. HVood Style Discs (More Than Needed) Give WSMW Premiere Nashville, Dec. 19, -Nashville's WSM recorded lh» whole works of Atlanta's 'Gone With the Wind" premiere Friday (15) which stretched over a seven-hour period, and later condensed the show Into a compact half-hour recording which was twice broadcast and ijso fed to a group of southern stationa WSM's slant was that it had em< ployed the Hollywood idea of shoot- ing pos.sibTy 1,000 fis'et of film to aji sure 100 feet of usable shots. Two and one-half hours of recording! were made for the half-hour broad- cast Working from 7 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday (16), Jack Harris, WSM special events director, aided by a crew of engineers, made inter* mittent recordings of Southerns' re- actions to the picture, critics' vie'w^ etc., oyer a three-mike pickup from the lobby and inside Loew's Grand theatre. Approximately 25 first nlghters^ including Margaret Mitchell spokt for WSM. They Shall Not Pass Metro is taking no'chances on losing a single admish from 'Gone With the Wind.' It has sent out notes to all censor boards, for whom the film must be screened, asking them not to invite any strangers in for the showing—a fave practice by the o.o:ers when a good picture comes along. Exchange man- agers have also been instructed to allow only their own salesmen and staffs to see the film when they screen it in their projection rooms. tions. WSB (NBC Red), WAGA (NBC Blue), WGST, CBS outlet, and WATL, indie, which fed to Mutual chain. Parts of celebration got onto nets. SUffs of WSB and WAGA en- tered into spirit of occasion by wear- ing befo' de wah' costumes, some of them going so far as to sprout chin whiskers. Three Atlanta papers, Constitu- tion (a.m.) and Journal, and Hearst's Georgian-American (now defunct), got out special 'GWTW: editions and celebration was covered by all news services and newsreel photogs. Local critics went into raves over tWind.' Dudley Glass, Georgian- American critic, writing his last re view for his paper, which folded Sunday (17) wrote: '...In all sincerity, permit me to say: I think David Selznick's 'Gone With the Wind' Is by all standards the greatest motion picture .1 ever saw. I think it Is the most ably written of all the 'big' pictures I ever saw. I am not writing here of Miss Mitchell's book, but of Sidney Howard's screenplay—a marvel of expression and compression. I think the new technicolor is the best I ever saw.. .1 think 'Vivien Leigh is the perfect Scarlett O'Hara. I think no other actor , (Clark Gable) could have been so fitting a Rhett Butler.' Margaret Mitchell, shy ex-news- paperwoman who authored 'Wind* 12 years ago and then hid it away until three years ago, made her first public appearance Friday night at the premiere. Miss Mitchell (Mrs. John R. Marsh in private life) was escorted to the mike down front in Loew's Grand theatre by Gable and Miss Lombard, and voiced her ap- preciation of Selznick's treatment of her. story. Mayor Hartsfield, -who acted as m.c. in presentation of the Hollywood contingent after first screening of 'Wind,' paid high tribute to work of flattie McDaniel, colored actress, and asked that Selznick and others from Hollywood take back to her a tribute of praise from Atlanta. Pitt Mgr. Permits Customers to Vote On Pix They Want Pittsburgh, Dec; 19. Charles Shannon, manager of WB's nabe Brookline theatre, which oper- ates only three days a week, is trying something new that's getting a lot of attention. He's permitting the pa- trons to book the house, labeling the policy 'You Name 'Em and We Play 'Em.' Each week a poll is taken by Shan- non and a couple of aides through- out the Brookline district, and the pictures that receive the greatest number of votes are booked. Theatre also furnishes regular ballots to Its patrons and has a regulation voting machine installed in the lobby. Prominent Brookline civic leaders are assisting in the judging. Four films that won the opening- poll were 'Four Daughters,' 'Hurri- cane,' 'Stand Up and Fight' and 'Rose Marie.' Double-Talk Elmer Rice, who for several years has been trying to get his Playwrights' Co. associates, Rob- ert E. Sherwood and Maxwell Anderson, together over a lunch- eon table with their 50-50 name- sake, Sherwood Anderson, last week picked up a volume of the latter's plays in a second-hand bookstore. He sent it to Sherwood with a phoney inscription about 'how I enjoyed your play, 'Young Mr. Lincoln,'' and signed it 'Maxwell Anderson's aunt, Elsa Maxwell.' WTW' CASUALH, KESSNICH'S FALL Atlanta, Dec. 19. Charles Kessnich, southern divi- sion manager of Metri, was sole casualty of four-day celebration sur- rounding the world premiere of 'Gone with the'Wind.' Kessnich attended junior League's 'GWTW' costume ball for charity Thursday (14), tripped and fell, suf- fering severe head lacerations. He was rushed to Grady hospital, and later taken to St. Joseph's Infirmary. B'klyn Bingo Conviction Keversed; Test Case Conviction of a Brooklyn theatre manager last June for operating a bingo game in his; house was re- versed last week by the appellate court in Brooklyn. Manager was James May, of the Atlantic, who was arrested under''the lottery laws last Feb. 23. Before sentence was passed, an appeal was taken. Court of Appeals ruled that May will have to be retried. It was said that Chief Judge Bayes, of Special Sessions, who convicted May, had no power, as three judges must sit .on this type case. May was represented by Mel Albert, Independent Theatre Owners Association of l ew York, which was using this case as a test SPOT 'SWANEE RIVER' ON KATE SMITH HOUR Twentieth-Fox's Technicolor mu- sical, 'Swane^Biver,' will be given a nationwide air preview from New York on Kate Smith's program over the Columbia network on Dec. 29. Don Ameche, Al Jolson and Nancy Kelly will come to New York from Hollywood to guest-star on the pro- gram. This will be the second tieup be tween 20th-Fox and the Kate Smith hour, first having been broadcast of 'Drums Along the Mohawk.' Pot 0' Passes San Antonio, Dec. 19. Francis Vickers, manager of In- terstate's Austin, Austin, Texas, is varying a familiar gag to make patrons read his newspaper ads. On various days he calls a number of housewives in the theatre's vicinity, and asks them if they can tell him the name of the picture now playing at the Austin. Those giving the correct answ get a couple of passes. 'er I DIME ADMISSIONS OUT IN MU.\pKE£ Milwaukee, Dec. 19, Dime admissions, the cause of ex< hibs' headaches for many a day, art out in all the nabes after Dec. 31, This was the unanimous decision and agreement of the Independent The- atre Owners' t>rotcctive Association at a iull and determined meeting Friday (15). Houses that opened early at re- duced admission prices for first- comers entered into a solertin pact t9 discontinue this practice and start - shows at a later hour at prices that are to continue for the evening, and in consideration of this pledge thil 10-centers agreed to raise their mini- mum to 15c. A feW' houses that p/o- neered a price tilt even before any' agreement was entered into foiind it. so helpful to their grosses that it was . not difficult for the others to see th» light and fall into line. The chains had already agreed to Join in whatever action the indies could unanimously agree upon, so th» . effect of the decision made Friday will be city-wide. Exhibs are all enthused, not only by this action It- ■ self, bu't because it is one of the few occasions on which there has been such absolute unanimity among them. French Pic Preems A la Paree in N. Y. Typical Parisian premiere is sched- uled for tonight (Wednesday) when 'Last Desire," French-made feature, opens the Belmont theatre again, with a new group of backers taking over the house for six months. Besides the customary floodlight^ the premiere Is patterned after thos« held in Paris, where the debut of • new picture is held at 11:30 p.m. to permit other actors to attend. An- other premiere twist is the serving of champagne. 'Last Deslr^' Is a Transatlantic re- lease featuring Ralmu ■ and Jacque- line Delubac. House will use a re- served seat policy for the mezzanine- Opening attendance is by invitation only. HRST WIS. MOTOR CINEMA Milwaukee,' Dec. 19. First open-air automobile theatre In this area was assured this week with the leasing of the old dog track properly on the Blue Mound road to an operating group headed by M. Murphy Weiss, of New York. Loca- tion is just outside Milwaukee, in the town of Brookfleld whose town board is drawing up its first theatre license ordinance to give it control over the project. The 20-acre tract is being graded in terraces so that each row of cars may have an unobstructed view of the screen. 'Oomph' Goes Mustang Hollywood, Dec. 19. Tag on new Republic film, 'Tn«^ Oomph Girl and the Cowboy,' is pected to draw a protest from War- ner Bros. WB has built a publicity campaign around Ann Sheridan on the 'oompn angle. Tough Guys Gn Tout Hollywood, Dec. 19. Little Tough Guys of P''-'l"7,'; Harris Berger, Jack Moran and Ha"? Chester, open a three-month person- als tour in Cleveland. Bert Lawrence wrote the act