What's New? (Sep 1968)

ee ee —— WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE The best posters and marquees get their message across at a glance. Experts tell us that a good poster, regardless of size, should have no more than eight words in the message. The theatre manager who is not familiar with poster psychology tries to ‘tell us’ in as many colours as possible and the more and larger the lettering the better. He’s under the impression that the passerby is going to search out his sign and stop there for several minutes reading the message. They're in a hurry, so we must say only as much as necessary in the least possible time. The theatre manager must determine which elements are most important for his poster, whether the feature title or star name. Let us take Sophia Loren in MORE THAN A MIRACLE. The star or the title? Which element sells tickets at a glance? The a. EA ZiBs BY BUD BARKER PAUL wi Y¥Mam aS COOL HaND RESKKE tecunicotore 22.447 NOW answer of course is Sophia Loren. How about Warren Beatty in BONNIE AND CLYDE? or VALLEY OF THE DOLLS with Susan Hayward. In both instances the feature title deserves the emphasis... the SELL. Occasionally we must sell the star AND a much publicized title. Even in this instance we treat it as a single element. ..PAUL NEWMAN in COOL HAND LUKE. If the main element ...thesell... is as large as possible there will be no room left for distracting elements. Your message will be loud and clear. COO OHH OHH HOH HHO HOH OOO S LEN BISHOP COMMENDED FOR SUPER SERVICE One evening during the run of ROSEMARY'S BABY, when every performance was a complete sell-out, Len Bishop was checking the line-up when he noticed a gentleman on crutches timidly approach the box-office to see if perchance he could purchase tickets for the next performance without having to stand in line for an hour or longer. Len noticed this man, who incidentally had lost his left leg in the service of our country during World War 2, and immediately asked if there was anything he could do. The gentleman explained his predicament, and despite an overflow house, Len ushered him and his wife into the theatre and managed to get them seated. This gentleman was so pleased and somewhat surprised at the sympathy and courtesy extended him that he immediately wrote a note of thanks and appreciation to our president Mr. Bolstad. He just couldn't say enough about the kindness and consideration extended him and his wife, and asked that his appreciation be passed on to the manager in this case Len Bishop. This is what we mean by courtesy and service and humanity. We also thank you Len, because this kind of P.R. reflects on all of us in Famous, and don’t think that the word won't spread. This is the kind of treatment that patrons fave learned to expect in Famous Players theatres, and we hope that some of our newer and younger managers will take a leaf out of Len’s book and continue to make FAMOUS PLAYERS synonymous with courtesy and service, as well as the finest in entertainment, from one coast to the other. ees 1 por boks IN Cee. The other day | drove past a theatre that had just one word in large letters on the marquee ... ELVIS. Can you suggest any additional words that would improve the message? | cannot. Study the posters, marquees and window cards in your town. When one of them catches your eye ask yourself what attracted your attention. Was it the colour scheme, the message, the illustration or a combination of all three. Next time your sign man drops in for your poster copy, remember this ss: | have four words I'd like to share They are my best Of friends. Most important to You, too, they’re WHO and WHAT And WHERE and WHEN © OO G6 OO CONGRATULATIONS CLIFF AND WIN Cliff Mills, manager of our Capitol theatre in St. Thomas and his charming wife Win celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary on August 2nd. Congratulations Folks, and all of us in Famous hope you'll spend many, many more happy years together ... and have a real bang-up celebration on your fiftieth. MANAGERIAL CHANGES IN TORONTO Effective on July 23rd the following changes went into effect. Bert Brown from the University to the Golden Mile. Art Grover from the Golden Mile to the Nortown. Henry Marshall from the Nortown to the University. Lots of luck in your new assignements, fellows.