Boxoffice-May.03.1952
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Florida Theatre Puts Up a Flash<br />
That Stops Miami Traffic<br />
Facets of the campaign for "The Greatest<br />
Show on Earth" at the Florida Theatre in<br />
Miami were of a spectacular nature, in keeping<br />
with the scope of production. The theatre<br />
front designed by Manager James Barnett, the<br />
mechanics of which were worked out by Jack<br />
Clem of the Florida State Theatre art department,<br />
was an eye-catching flash that<br />
stretched across the entire facade of the<br />
building.<br />
The title of the picture appeared above the<br />
marquee in letters six and one-half feet tall.<br />
Lifesize cutout figures of the stars in full<br />
color, animal cutouts and dozens of bright<br />
hued balloons produced a circus atmosphere.<br />
The marquee attraction sign was covered<br />
with panels and painted with Dayglo paint.<br />
Large cutouts of clown heads were placed on<br />
either side of the marquee. Across the front<br />
entrance to the theatre, a typical circus banner<br />
on canvas was suspended.<br />
The glass doors across the main entrance<br />
were treated as one continuous space, with a<br />
a 24-sheet pasted on the doors to create the<br />
Cartoon Projectionist<br />
Okays 'Heart' as Best<br />
Herb Rubinstein, manager of the Center<br />
Theatre, Miami, Fla., distributed heralds<br />
which featured a comic illustration to promote<br />
"With a Song in My Heart." The cartoon<br />
illustration depicted a projectionist with a reel<br />
of film wound about his body and the copy,<br />
"Polks, in the past 23 years as a movie operator<br />
I've seen thousands of pictures . . . The<br />
best one yet is 'With a Song in My Heart."<br />
etc., etc." The heralds were distributed house<br />
to house.<br />
Scout Council Aids<br />
Carl Dickerson, manager of the Colonia in<br />
Norwich, N. Y., had the cooperation of the<br />
county Boy Scout council in promoting "Room<br />
for One More." Every Scout leader received<br />
a printed notice for posting on bulletin boards<br />
where troop meetings are conducted. The<br />
Cold<br />
illusion that people were actually walking<br />
directly into the "big top." Carrying the circus<br />
idea a bit further, a man in flamboyant<br />
costume performed as a professional barker.<br />
Two weeks in advance, the lobby was decorated<br />
in real circus tradition. A miniature<br />
model of Ringling's circus, 15x4 feet, was<br />
placed on exhibition where it attracted large<br />
crowds and resulted in extra newspaper publicity.<br />
The "circus" was borrowed from a<br />
hobbyist in the city who<br />
of modeling all figures,<br />
made a life-work<br />
wagons, animals,<br />
cages, etc., to exact scale.<br />
Strong radio publicity sold the picture<br />
locally, and disk jockeys throughout the area<br />
gave the booking an abundance of gratis<br />
plugs. Five cab companies in the city used<br />
bumper cards. Newsstands were blanketed<br />
with placards tieing in the feature layout<br />
which appeared in Screen Stories magazine.<br />
Barnett took advantage of the national<br />
tieup with the Libbey glass firm to promote<br />
colorful window displays with 26 dealers, including<br />
prominent theatre credits.<br />
Scouts staged a presentation at the theatre<br />
entitled "The Clock," depicting a day in the<br />
life of a Boy Scout. The Norwich daily newspaper<br />
ran several stories, with generous theatre<br />
credits.<br />
Peanut Guessing Event<br />
Ties in Four Markets<br />
Four supermarkets in Berkeley, Calif., and<br />
the adjoining town of Richmond tied up with<br />
A. Erickson, manager of the Berkeley Theatre,<br />
in a ticket-selling tieup for "The Greatest<br />
Show on Earth." Each of the stores set up<br />
extensive displays consisting of circus peanuts.<br />
A large glass jar fUled with peanuts<br />
was placed in the center, and customers were<br />
invited to guess the number in the jar. Free<br />
theatre tickets went to those submitting the<br />
most accurate estimates. Centered in the<br />
display was a poster advertising the theatre<br />
playdates.<br />
Kentucky Theatremen<br />
Set Merchant Deals<br />
And Giveaways<br />
City Manager Bob Cox and Manager Tom<br />
lean of the Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., developed<br />
a number of tie-ins for "The Greatest<br />
Show on Earth."<br />
Cox located a member of Merle Evans' circus<br />
band and got the Lexington Dally Leader<br />
to interview the musician and do a special<br />
story.<br />
A clown costume made by members of the<br />
staff was donned by an usher, artfully made<br />
up, who strolled through the streets, rode<br />
transit lines and sauntered through stores.<br />
He wore a card lettered with picture title and<br />
theatre dates.<br />
The local Ford dealer contributed a flatbed<br />
truck which Cox had transformed into a<br />
circus bandwagon, decorated with pennants<br />
and balloons. On opening day, a seven-piece<br />
band, promoted for a few theatre tickets, got<br />
aboard the truck for a two-hour tour of the<br />
city, playing circus music as they rode along.<br />
The clown was on hand to distribute balloons<br />
and heralds to people on the streets.<br />
Window tieups and free radio time completed<br />
the campaign.<br />
When "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"<br />
played the Kentucky, Cox sold the back page<br />
of a special herald to the local Kresge store.<br />
A coloring contest mat was imprinted on the<br />
herald, with instructions for contestants to<br />
take their entries to the crayon counter at<br />
the store. Winners received free theatre<br />
passes.<br />
The local Bendix dealer donated a "Snow<br />
White" washer as a door prize during the picture's<br />
engagement, and used two co-op ads off<br />
the theatre page to promote the giveaway.<br />
The dealer, in addition, paid the cost of imprinting<br />
and distributing several thousand<br />
special heralds and used an animated window<br />
display on the tieup.<br />
School teachers were circularized with letters<br />
inviting them to bring their classes to special<br />
morning shows. Music stores tied in<br />
with elaborate displays on the music score.<br />
Directional Map Used<br />
On Drive-In Program<br />
Burton Clark, manager of the Boulevard<br />
Drive-In, North Miami Beach, Fla., is using<br />
a variation of a layout he recently saw in<br />
BOXOFFICE as the front cover of his weekly<br />
house program. Clark saw the layout, liked it,<br />
and made a few changes—and intends using it<br />
throughout the outdoor theatre season. The<br />
back page of his program illustrates a directional<br />
map of how to reach the Boulevard<br />
from all locations in the Miami area.<br />
Table Place Mats Boost<br />
Theatre's Anniversary<br />
The first anniversary of the Roxy Theatre<br />
in Port Stanley, Ont., was observed with a<br />
month's booking of outstanding attractions<br />
published on place mats, which were supplied<br />
to all local restaurants and luncheonettes by<br />
Manager Nan Robinson. Congratulatory messages<br />
from friendly neighborhood merchants<br />
were placed around the theatre program<br />
which listed the bookings for the entire month<br />
of April.<br />
34 — 106 BOXOFFICE Showmandiser : : May 3, 1952
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