Boxoffice-11.11.1950

Outdoor Ballyhoo Does Successful Job of Local Selling
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Sid Kleper, manager ol the College, New Haven, Conn., pulled all
the established exploitation stops to sell "Devil's Doorway" and
"Champagne for Caesar." He supplied home owners with signs
calling attention to garage driveway and advertising his
playdates. The Indian in center photo covered shopping and
residential areas. At right, directional arrows caught attention of
motorists and pedestrians. Kleper imprinted place mats and menus
for downtown restaurants; distributed oversize heralds promoting
the show and offering the public a chance to win free passes by
guessing Saturday football scores, imprinted shopping and hosiery
bags and promoted free radio time. The outdoor type of promotion
proved effective for the Connecticut theatre manager.
Glassblower Draws
'Menagerie' Trade
Jim Barnes, manager of the Downtown
Tfieatre, Los Angeles, located a sensational
attraction which helped "Tlie Glass Menagerie,"
and he had the satisfaction of knowing
that liis alertness accounted for extra
sales.
Barnes got in touch with George Hammesfahr
jr., the man who made all the glass
set pieces for the film. He then suggested an
arrangement whereby the glass artisan would
receive special publicity by using the theatre
lobby as a temporary workshop. For a week
prior to opening, Hammesfahr sat at a specially
created workbench in the theatre lobby,
making glass objects.
Crowds of curious bystanders watched.
Safety Tiein Provides
'Faust' Flash in England
For "Faust and the Devil" at the Cinema
Theatre in Detroit, Manager Neil Tailing had
a man dressed in brilliant scarlet devil's costume
drive a flashy car through the main
streets of the motor city, bamiered with signs
reading: "Don't drive like the devil . . . Save
a life." Copy included feature title and
credits for the theatre. Civic officials commended
the stunt because of its relationship
to a local traffic safety campaign.
Mammoth Display Aids
For "The Petty Girl," Russ Bovim, manager
of the State Theatre, St. Louis, set up
a 30x30-foot lobby piece over the exit doors
leading to the street. The lower half of the
display was a colorful design bordered with
autumn leaves lettered with the title and
.star names. The upper half was a tremendous
color cutout of the Petty girl against a
background of an artist's palette and brushes.
^'°^^ ^®' ^""^ '^'°^^'
Leonard Tuttle, manager
Editor Commends
of the St. Albans
dollars.
to patrons. The stickers carried a courtesj
— Chester Friedman imprint and urged the public to read more ol
IN. Y.i Theatre, created a special lobby display
representing a stage setting to exploit Booking of Opera
"Summer Stock." The set was built from
miscellaneous materials found around When
the
Matt Saunders, manager of the
theatre and was completely draped with
Poll Theatre in Bridgeport, Conn., received
borders, valances, etc.
notice that he would present the San Carlo
Opera Co. in Verdi's "La Traviata" during
f
the first week in November, he contracted
the editor of the Bridgeport Post and sug-'
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