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I<br />
Tadi( adio Contests Spark<br />
New Haven Premiere<br />
Of 'Yesterday'<br />
Two radio contests plus special radio pro-<br />
motion and merchant tieups helped exploit<br />
"Born Yesterday" for Morris Rosenthal,<br />
manager of Loew's Poli Theatre, New Haven.<br />
Station WNBC conducted a quiz in which<br />
listeners were invited to submit as many<br />
words as possible composed from letters in<br />
the title of the film. Station WELI sponsored<br />
a song identification contest on the<br />
Toby Baker disk jockey show.<br />
Station WYBC and WBIB used gratis spot<br />
plugs and the transcription record five days<br />
prior to opening. All stations plugged the<br />
song heard in the film, "I Can't Give You<br />
Anything but Love." Trailer spots were purchased<br />
on WNBC-TV and the station devoted<br />
several free plugs to the picture.<br />
Outside exploitation included displays by<br />
25 merchants retailing Ronson lighters. The<br />
Redbook tiein produced displays on ten<br />
downtown magazine stands, and the Zenith<br />
radio distributor arranged for still displays<br />
in five retail stores handling their product.<br />
The Gamble-Desmond company provided<br />
a<br />
full window display with stalls, and a co-op<br />
newspaper ad plugging the picture.<br />
All juke boxes in the area featured recordings<br />
of "I Can't Give You Anything But<br />
Love," with stickers calling attention to the<br />
theatre playdates. Two thousand candy<br />
kisses were promoted and enclosed In imprinted<br />
envelopes. These were distributed in<br />
the downtown area by an attractive girl, during<br />
the luncl) hour.<br />
Five hundred post cards from a New York<br />
hotel, carrying picture copy, were mailed to<br />
New Haven theatre patrons. Two thousand<br />
imitation theatre tickets were imprinted and<br />
passed out as special dodgers, a week prior<br />
to opening.<br />
A teaser trailer and the regular trailer<br />
plugged the picture at the Poli. Two affiliated<br />
theatres in New Haven used cross<br />
plug trailers. Lobby displays included several<br />
attractive setpieces and a board featuring<br />
quotes by New York film reviewers.<br />
Additional exploitation included display<br />
cards in hotel lobbies, parking lots, garages,<br />
downtown restaurants and the bus station.<br />
Fashion Show Includes<br />
Coat for Door Prize<br />
Gil Scouten, manager of the Van Wert<br />
(Ohio) Theatre, arranged with a local department<br />
store for a style show of Easter<br />
fashions. The show was booked Sunday night,<br />
February 28, with the store giving away a<br />
woman's coat as a door prize. The store supplied<br />
models and advertised the show via<br />
newspaper ads and radio plugs. Scouten tied<br />
up with a florist for floral stage decorations<br />
and a rose for every woman who attended.<br />
The event attracted a capacity house.<br />
\D Runs 'Bonzo' Sneak<br />
Jim McCarthy, manager of the Strand Theatre,<br />
Hartford, got column breaks in the local<br />
newspapers, following a sneak preview of<br />
"Bedtime for Bonzo" a week prior to opening.<br />
Drama editors used the comments of the<br />
preview audience.<br />
Display Animation Is Intriguing<br />
Here is an eiieciive display that intrigued patrons and helped stimulate interest<br />
in "Mr. Music" for Archie Adams, manager of the Florida Theatre, Vero Beach, Fla.<br />
Adams used his daughter's miniature baby grand piano and life-size doll as the feature<br />
of this setting. A magnet motor was connected to the doll's hands to keep them<br />
in motion over the piano keys. Each time the hand came down, a red light blinked<br />
on the overhead 22x28. The stunt was so attractive, the local paper ran a threecolumn<br />
cut of the display. Art work in the small towns is too expensive and hard to<br />
get—so Adams contrives his displays simply, with stock paper and accessories obtainable<br />
from National Screen Service.<br />
National Guard Co-Op<br />
Assists 'Steel Helmet'<br />
The cooperation of national guard recruiting<br />
officers helped to publicize "The Steel<br />
Helmet" for Ray Boyer, manager of the Mohawk<br />
Theatre, Amsterdam, N. Y. A recruiting<br />
booth was erected in the theatre lobby,<br />
attended by two guardsmen. Posters and<br />
pamphlets advertising the picture were distributed<br />
throughout the area by the local<br />
unit.<br />
A full company paraded to the theatre<br />
opening night where the mayor officiated at<br />
swearing-in ceremonies on the stage. This<br />
was covered by a local radio station.<br />
Advance lobby displays were created from<br />
headline newspaper clippings and decorated<br />
with steel helmets and army rifles. An illuminated<br />
display created additional interest<br />
prior to the picture's opening.<br />
Boyer's assistant, Tom Holden, promoted<br />
five window displays by tieing in the national<br />
guard recruiting posters.<br />
Previews Dinnerware<br />
Dave Kane, exploitation manager for the<br />
Palace in Passaic, N. J., arranged a preview<br />
of a new dinnerware set, recently started as<br />
a business stimulant. Invitations were imprinted<br />
and delivered to householders in the<br />
neighborhood, inviting the womenfolk to a<br />
free matinee performance at which time they<br />
could inspect the hand-painted crockery. As<br />
an added Inducement to encourage attendance,<br />
a complete set of the dinnerware was<br />
given away as a door prize at the preview.<br />
Sad Sack Celebration<br />
Promotes 'At War'<br />
Dave Dallas, city manager for TEI theatres,<br />
Manhattan, Kas., used his official capacity<br />
as chairman of the American Legion<br />
post entertainment committee to put over a<br />
clever exploitation ballyhoo for "At War With<br />
the Army."<br />
At a dinner given by the Post, Dallas presented<br />
a "Sad Sack Celebration," representing<br />
a takeoff on the picture and getting several<br />
important plugs in for the theatre booking.<br />
Dallas had all guests at the dinner wear<br />
their castoff and outgrown uniforms. The<br />
menu featured GI beans. Prizes were awarded<br />
to the most unsoldierly ex-soldier in attendance.<br />
Preceding the dinner, Dallas planted a<br />
front-page story in the Legion weekly newspaper<br />
which was picked up by two daily<br />
newspapers, thus getting "At War With the<br />
Army" additional publicity.<br />
Uses Marquee Quotes<br />
George Kraska, manager of the Beacon Hill<br />
Theatre in Boston, used his theatre marquee<br />
and front to exploit "Bitter Rice," a 13-week<br />
holdover engagement. Provocative copy on<br />
the attraction sign, and front created from<br />
color blowups, stills, and comments of nationally<br />
known newspaper and magazine writers<br />
were used to supplement a strong newspaper<br />
and radio campaign.<br />
BOXOFTICE Showmandiser : : March<br />
10, 1951 — 55 — 35
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