Variety (May 1930)

Wednesday, May 21, 1930 PICTURES VARIETY 13 Very Lively Week in Duluth Over 9th AnnL of Lyceum-Many Stunts DaOy Duluth, May* 20. Lyceum, pioneer playhouse here, on its 9tli birthday, staged one of the most unique and comprehensive exploitation campaigns ever kno^vn jn the Northwest. Lyceum held legit for 30 years, and was sdld last year to Publlx. Morris Kosenthal, manager, arranged a ^picturesque campaign for every day of the week. After carrying newspaper adver- tising and stories with tie-ups with- merchants In every line of business, the birthday party opened Monday Blcht, with the cutting of a huge Sirthday cake by Mayor S. F. Snlvely, who spoke when the house iwpencd nine years ago. The cake bontained $50 In gold Und other coins. This bait was a lure to young ind old. The coins Inside were kept gecret until Monday morning so as hot to damage business over the week-end. The box office wag mod- eled into a birthday cake, also, with" biff candles, and Inside the lobby was a latticed bower with birthday candles. ' . .... 'Tuesday, candy matinee with the first 500 women attending getting a box of chocolates; ■ Wednesday, flower matinee, first 400 ladies re- ceiving cut roses; Thursdsiy, auto- graphed photo matinee, first 500 ladles receiving autographed photo of George Bancroft, on the bill in ••Ladles Love Brutes"; Friday, Fit- ger's day, 1,000 ladles receiving bottle of Isle Royale, ginger ale. ■ Among the scores of features of music and the cuckoo disc were used at enrtance to lobby, '•cuokon seeds" were distributed, an auto that stands up on end ballyhooed, and an ambulance vas sent around with an interne and the sign, "Thoy Laughed Themselves Sick at 'The C'ut koos.' " were special trailers in all Publix theatres of the city. Souvenir pro- grams week in advance at the the- atre, also distributed by merchants and placed in Sunday papers at newsstands. Daily lobby trim with lattice trim and flcral decorations. Three-sheet board in lobby a week in advance. Special Postal Tele- graph wire in lobby, and on mother's day telegrams sent from the lobby for all patrons. Special co-operative page In newspapers with nierchtint tie-up. Special tie-up with leading men's furnishing store for man's free tuxedo. Tie-up with the Duluth "News Tribune" with Kiddie Club with free show for kiddies Satur- day forenoon. Tie-up with bakers to have heralds wi-apped in all par- cels sent from stores. Display of great cake at leading downtown restaui*ant window week in advance. Newspapers carrying all features of party for the week. Candle burning contest to deter- mine how many hours it takes to burn a .andle. Stamps for all napkins in 0-10 stores, restaurants, hotels, lunch counters, etc. Boards in all hotel lobbies. Two hundred heralds con- taining tickets' for free admissions. Can'dy stores donating boxes of candy for 12 lucky numbers. Twelve stands'donated free by General Out- doors Display company. In addition unique ads were run in the daily papers, all out of the usual in originality and form. Milwaukee. The Alhambra publicity depart- ment hooked up with the ■Walgreen drug stores for "Ladies Love Brutes" as follows; Arrangements were made lo have a prominent window in each store full of George Bancroft's pictures. Drug stores sold the picture frames to the girls for 69c. and gave away a Bancroft likeness free. In each window was an announcement of "Ladies Love Brutes" at the Al- hambra. You 'couldn't miss the window pictures—there were so many of them. Girls fell hard. And even if they hadn't, it was good advertis- ing for nothing. Paul Short of the Publix-Tampa with a merchandise broker on syrup. Improvised counter was put in the- atre lobby with two good looking girl attendants. Additional effec- tive bncksi'ound for counter was cut-out showing samples of syrup in cans with copy about the film vividly displayed. tfijin read: " Nancy Carroll —' Honey '— 100<;o Pure Gold—Oh, Boy, What a Pic- ture." Attendants passed out 5.000 free sample cans of syrup to cus- tomers and idea was pushed along by stores selling syrup with window and counter displays that gave the film a break in copy. Quincy, 111. Advertising "The Rogue Song," the Washington theatre, Publix house, had out eight-page tabloid, all over city, with, pictures, resume of show and much interesting read- ing matter. Show for Z days. Behind the Keys Barrio, Can. R. G. t;arrett, owner of Dream- land, secured an injunction restrain- ing the lessee of the theatro from installinf; permanent talker onuip- ment. I-ater the owner agreed to the Installation on the assurance that tho theatre would be restored to its original condition at the ter- mination of the five-yoar lease. Providence. Probably the most expensive bal- lyhoo stunt ever conducted by a film house in this city was put on here last week by R-K-O people. A talk- ing picture of interesting spots in Rhode Island with many of the local residents as background has been taken. Shots were also taken of city room of the "News-Tribune" show- ing how reporters slam out stories. Picture will be shown shortly at R-K-O Albee. Sight and Sound Corporation did the camera work with a couple of New York stars figuring prominently In general theme of feature. Cornwall, Can. When the Daylight Saving quos- tion came up before the City Coun- cil May 16, many opponents of the measure invaded the council cham- ber and proceedings became hot. The aldermen divided evenly on the vote and an uproar developed when Mayor Horowitz cast his deciding ballot in favor of summer time. Press Stunts New York City. Details of the first May Movie MardI Gras campaign staged by the N. Y. Slate Division of Fox The- atres were made in thorough style. Harry Goldberg is general man- ager of the Fox division. Under his direction each theatre was supplied with canvas banners and drapes with "May Movie Mardi Gras" im- printed. In addition was a tie-up with the Postal Telegraph and ice cream makers. Tire covers, sod» fountain strips and parked car tags were utilized and even Biimmed. stickers and facsimile railroad tickets. All phone operators were trained to use the campaign-phrase, for J opening talks with callers. With much other matter. Toledo. O. Contest conducted in Toledo "Blade" by State theatre to deter- mine type of talkers preferred in Toledo most inexpensive yet sig- nificant. Small prize given writer of best letter and a few passes. Vote showed following percentages on types favored: Musical comedy, 33%; comedy. 17%; outdoor action, 16; drama, 9.3; mystery, 8; melo- drama, B.3; variety (unusual and unclasslflable), 9.3; tragedy, 1.3. George Kroetz, Jr., manager of theatre, and C. J. Ward, district representative of Fox, two of judges. Results being sent Fox officials and could be watched with profit for playing Toledo. Toledo, which never went much for road or legit attractions, did stand for anything in vaude for years and Is one of best key cities In which to figure on what a picture will do elsewhere. Much pre-release stuff shown here to get average town angle, outside New York, and generally. pretty reliable ' indicator. Toledo, O. Good gag worked out by Ken Ben- son, asst. mgr. under Jack O'Con- nell at Vita-Temple, to get business girls in during slack hours. Busi- ness Woman's Club organized, local firms employing girls co-operating. Membership costs 25c. per week, with ticket to show every week, which ordinarily would cost BOc. Many clerics in stores going for it, and over 5.000 figured eventually to sign tip. Will be tried through hot months, and if clicking retained. Scranton, Pa, W. J. Cosgrove, of the Strand, had tie-up with Scranton "Republican" on "Ladies Love Brutes." Paper each day carried characteristic poses of George Bancroft, to have readers tell what the role in other pictures were. Contestants wrote essays about what role they liked most. Prizes of |5 and $2.50 in gold, and 10 pairs of tickets were offered. Minneapolis. Instruction In cai^ting by an ex- pert fisherman la one of the fea- tures of an "outdoor exhibit" on the mezzanine floor of the Minne- sota theatre here. The exhibit, typifying summer activities, in- cudes all sorts of paraphernalia, such as fishing tackle, camping equipment, etc.—things that people take along on vacation trips. Minneapolis. J. L. McCurdy, R. K. O. district manager here, is trying all stunts in his desperate effort to put the R. K. O, Orpheum, ace R. K. O. Twin City theatre, into the winning column in the face of tough opposi- tion and generally depressed busi- ness conditions. Amont his latest is College Night every Friday. It's a bid for the T. niverslty of Minnesota and other schools. Various campus dance or- chestras play for dancing on the theatre's mezzanine floor. For 50c. (or 25c. if you happen to nave a two-for-one ticket) patrons may see five stage acts, talker and sound news, and then dance for a f-ouple of hours. Al.^o Saturday Kids' club. Mem- bers admitted for 10c. at 11 a. m. Saturdays to see a special program of western talkers for two hours and may remain' over for the regu- lar three-hour show without addi- ti nal charge. They also a e pre- sented with such gifts as bicycles, kiddy cars, dolls, etc. All this for 10c. For the initial Kids' club Satur- day, 1,800 free tickets were dis- tributed in the public schools. Six rooms in one school chartered a bus to take the kiddles to the theatre and return them to their homes. More than 1,600 children signed up "membership cards" on the initial Saturday. The entire 1,800-seat balcony is turned over to the youngsters. Hitherto there l as been no balcony patronage at the Orpheum on Sat- urday afternoons.- Another is "future stars' night" every Tuesday, otherwise amateur talent the Twin Cities. Prizes Kearney, Neb. "Honey" (Par) got nice hook-up when Manager Forrester of the World theatre tied-in with the Sun- lite baker on a "honey" bread loaf. Scheme was inserting 7,000 pieces of advertising in loaf wrapper with which there was also enclosed a contest letter. Within ea<Si wrap- per was an announcement of the film and one of the letters that make up the word "honey." Of the 7,000, however, only iOO contained "y's." Object was for the bread purchaser to get the full comple- ment of letters in the word. Lucky winners got free admission. Bakery also provided special window dis- play cards in shops and groceries for contest. Beatrice, Neb. "Young Eagles" (Par) got break in an idea put forth by Manager Max Tschauder,.of the Rivoll. Four planes were made of com'po board and built about six feet high ahd of similar length. These were plant- iRient . me a.,Yi.i ^''"'^f ■, *ed in convenient spots on principal and the promises of possible R. K. ,,i leading into city O. routes are the lure. o j o Beatrice, Neb. "The Vagabond King" (Par) got advance plugging by a novel stunt pulled at the Rlvoli By Manager Max Tschauder. -Consisted of stage presentation shaped in huge rose with voice singing "Only a Rose" from the coming film! Mammoth rose was eight feet° high aad four feet wide from which only the singer's head was visible. While song Was being sung three lookers would dish out roses to every woman in audience. Flower? do- nated by a local florist. Council Bluffs, la. "Young Eagles" (Par) provided logical lobby display at the Broad- way by Manager R. K. Fulton. He acquired two miniature planes for display from a local department store which had recently conducted a contest among model plane mak- ers. Planes were those adjudged winning modeLs and attracted much attention. Lobby and marquee was strung with pendants and banners. New Orleans. "Young Eagles" (Par) was used for a banjo contest tie-up with the Vega Banjo Co., by Manager Bert WInstanley, of the Saenger. Over 2,000 amateur banjo players participated. Contest was run in theatre and handled on stage by Lew Breese, m. c. Newark, N. J. Frank La Falce, publicity direc- tor for WB here, tied up with Tap- pin's jewelry store and has a dis- play of jewelry on the mezzanine of the Branford. Trailer calls atten- tion to it Tappin had a full page in "Star-Eagle" and "Ledger" with a, large part of the ad devoted to the Branford show. Coats WB price of the trailer. "The Plane News," four-page advertising organ of tlie Plane Furniture Co., carries the Branford show on the front page for 50,000 copies and offers passes as prizes for a contest. Cost: passes. All three companies li^lped with window ads. Earl Wadge, manager of Proc- tor's, gave much advance publicity for '■Cuckoos." The Victor rfCord.-> Jacksonville. "Ladies Love Brutes" (Par) in- spired the half-and-half plan which Manager Al Weiss, Jr., of the Pub- lix-Florida employed. A man, clothed in apparel half of Which was composed of dress clothes, full dress shirt and all—and other half, laborer's clothing—both knitted to- gether, idea was to show con- trast and on back of the clothing was a sign reading: "Girls—Which Do You Prefer? 'Ladies Love Brutes'—Now Playing at Florida Theatre." Anniston, Ala. "Wcstera Stars" (Par) provided an idea properly utilized by Man- ager G. E. Hoffman of the Ritz; Plan took In lobby and marquee. A log cabin was constructed from pine tree veneer otit to the edge of the sidewalk In front of the theatre and extending from one end of the marquee to the other. There were two side entrances with doors and one front to permit customers to pass thpough. Front also had win- dows. "Hammond Ranch'* from the name in the film.was imprinted on the front doorway and a huge star on top of the marquee. Denver. "Puttin* on the Ritz" (UA) Im pelled a men's fashion show at the Publlx-Rialto put on by Manager M. D. Cohn with the co-operation of a class men's store featuring Kuppenhelmer Clothes. Students from Denver University were used as models and the show arranged free. New York City. • J. P. McEvoy, noted author, put in a personal appearance at the Winter Garden one night last week as a plug and b. o. magnet for "Show Girl in Hollywood" (F.N.), based on the McEvoy story. Last night (Tuesday) Robert L. Ripley made a personal appearance at the same house, where his short, "Be- lieve It or Not" (Vitaphone) is also current. New York City. Paramount Publix decided to Is- sue courtesy passes for the Para- mount, RIalto, Rivoli and Brooklyn Paramount to the Gold Star mothers who will vlstit their sons' graves In France. This gave them free access to the four P-P houses while in New York. -« Winnipeg. The National, historic picture liou.se here, is being torn down to make way for an ofllce building. A AVinnlpeg syndicate has aiTanged for the erection of the Academy, atmospheric house, to cost $150,000. Lincoln, 111. The Lincoln theatre, swept by $7o,000 fire three months ago, has reopened, Steve Bennls Is owner. Grundy Center, la. With towns nil over this state answering, to pressure of merchants and bushicss men to junk the ante- dated Sunday closing Laws, Grundy Center voted 430 to 223 against pro- posal to open Sunday. The special election costs were paid bjc P. A. Igo, manager of the RIalto. Toledo. Envelopes marked "For Men Only" passed out among 2,000 fight fans at weekly bout in Civic Audi- torium. Inside dodger, "If You Want to See a Knockout,, See the Funniest Picture Ever Made—'Hold Everything' at the Vita-Temple." Toledo. Resemblance contest, to pick To- ledo boy and girl most resembling Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor by State theatre (George Kroetz, managed) in tie-up with "News- Bee" (Scrlpps-Howard) on "High Society Blues" (Fox). A natural and low cost. Milwaukee. "Pleasure Car Night," brain-child of Manager ohn Scharnberg and P. A. Harold Knudsen, pulls plenty at R-K-O Orpheum Tu-sday eves, sometimes dull due to first-half bill closing. House buys used buggies at low-down price from local dealer with screen notices for latter. Stubs pulled from hat between evening shows by female artiste. College boys go for it heavy; also good possibility for building up family night. : Uniontown, Pa. As a novelty attraction in con- nection with the showing of "Roar- ing Ranch," at the Penn, May 8-10, house arranged for personal appear- ance of Shorty Sutton, rated as one of the most daring doubles for hard riding. He will do his vaudeville act on the stage. Buffalo, May 20. With the acquisition of the Rivera theatre. North Tonawanda, to the Shea chain, the Shea-Publix in- terests lakes over its 9th theatro in the Buffalo metropolitan district. Theatre was formerly operated by Zimmerman-Buss. Houston, Tex. Little theatre movement seems destined to stick in Texas, due to growing scarcity of road shows. Beaumont Is how building a Little Theatre at cost of $13,000. Galves- ton Little Theatre has had Its own building for several years. Pittsburgh. Jack Sharkey, manager of the Co- lumbia exchange hero for several years, has been given the territory including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Wa.<ihington, Baltimore and Pitts- burgh. - New Philadelphia, O, New. Philadelphia's Sunday pic- ture fight apparently ended when F. L. Bowers, manager of Union theatre, announced no more Sunday shows. Bowers was held for grand jury twice for Sunday shows.. Now York City. National Confectioners Ass'n. Is back of "Box o' Candy" week, work- ing in conjunction with Bert Adler and Eddy Eckels of Fanchon & Marco. "Box o' Candy" is the title of a Faochon & Marco Idea. It opened at San Diego Where Mayor Harry Clark issued a special proc- lamation, calling the public's atten- tion to "Box o' Candy" week. Superior, Wis. Old time minstrel show angle suggested by "The Grand Parade" fPathe), utilized by Manager G. W. Carlson, of Publix-Peoples theatre. Street parade of local Boys' Band was held nightly and teaser ads shoved out In advance announcing the event, playing up minstrel end of the film. Band was clothed in minstrel costumes and paraded In return for three theatre parties and carfares. Banners included and boys were In blackface. San Francisco. L. R. Scamahorn, with Par-Publlx since 1916 when he Joined tlie Los Angeles branch as an ad sales clerk, has been, transferred here to the Publlx Theatres division on opera- tion. M. C. Buries, selling Southern California territory, has been trans- ferred to Scamahom's former zone In Arizona. Nelsonvllle, O. Theatre operators have cut out Sunday shows. Charges will be dropped, according to the Rev. C O. Pridgen, leader of anti-Sunday film campaign. London, Can. Work has started on the con- struction of a new $45,000 talker houde in Goderlch, town north of London. H. J. Sutherland, of this city, owner of other theatres, build- ing. Capacity, 900. Hornell, N. Y. The Strand here, operated f(jr several years by Rels & Smith, proprietors of the Shattuck, has passed to owners of the building, heirs of Mary Donnelly. Floyd E. Peckham will manage. Miami. "Isle of K.scape" fVVB; at the HippodroiiKr was glv(-n a ,lobby playup byMan;)(;<''r It. M, Hvv.in.ion. I'alni twigs to give South Se;i I.-iland elTf-ct were spnicfii ovr-i- marquef, b. o., and Hiipixji-tiriir pil- lars. Looked like hut and acroHs top huge cutout Ictt'.-rs ."-pi-llln;;: mit title of film. Superior, Wis. In conjunction with showing of "Seven Days Leave" (Par), Man- ager G. W. Carlson of the Publix- Peoples theatre put 6ver a good ■Win stimt. He had the Evening Tf-legram, local paper, host at show- ing of film to Gold Star Mothers of city. I'icture, theme, and playdate at house got front vni;c ni.'ilcrial tliis w'ly. ■\Varri'T.s' Hollywood theatre Is conducting a radio contest over Its own station, KFWB, for the best flelinltion of "Dumbbells in Kcniinf." It urg'-s eafh entrant to review Die T'lMip'i, I !)!''(nre firf-t. "Honey" fPar) advanl.'iici-d hy a I'l-izos are durL-itccl by in'.-i-i liaii).- neat tie-up arranged by Mariuuer ■ in it;lurn foi-air plugs. Minneapolis. Closing of the Lyndale has shift- ed James Eshelman to Unique, re- placing A. Jahscn. Latter now manager of Palace. Danville. III. Harry Ellis new Publlx city man- ager here. Ellis' former and simi- lar po.st at Rockford going to Kudy A. ]^orn. Salisbury, N. C. New Publlx manager for the Victory Is 11. T. La.shley. A. ('.. Kincey is manager of the Qiiet-n, Hendersonvllle, N. C. I'.'.iria. 111. I'roMiolion of C. L, \S'iM,iiis to distriet , iiiaiiaLfi.'r has sent L. (', \S't)r-|cv lii-te iiy- '-iw iii-in-(-""r for Publix. . J';.!iii H-f li, • CUifinti of i'alm liea' h IMi-uimniiit frjr summer lia.s s'-nt A\'alter Mori 111 t!"- Kiorld'i tliealr", .St. l»en-r>- i huri^, l!-)>lafe~ Di.\'>n Williams, Jr.,