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National Guard Goes<br />
All Out to Promote<br />
Thunderbirds'<br />
National Guard week proclaimed by the<br />
mayor of San Francisco, and a tremendous<br />
supporting campaign from the 49th division<br />
of the National Guard launched the west<br />
coast premiere of "Thunderbirds" at the<br />
Golden Gate Theatre. Top ranking officers,<br />
pressured by Manager Mark Ailing and publicist<br />
Bill Blake, persuaded Republic Picture<br />
officials to bring John Derek, John Barrymore<br />
jr., Eileen Christy, Ward Bond and Rex<br />
Allen to the city for the opening. The stars<br />
were flown in via National Guard plane and<br />
were met at the airport by a guard of honor,<br />
which escorted them to the city in a calvacade<br />
of military vehicles.<br />
The Hollywood visitors were guests at a reception,<br />
a luncheon and were interviewed on<br />
all radio and TV stations and by the press<br />
with notable publicity breaks for the picture.<br />
The theatremen aroused wide interest by<br />
screening "Thunderbirds" for military brass.<br />
A local girl was selected as Miss National<br />
Guard of San Francisco and made city art<br />
breaks in the daily papers.<br />
The PIO officer alerted some 300 units of<br />
the Guard concerning the Golden Gate booking<br />
by mail. He had 500 posters plugging<br />
recruiting and "Thunderbirds" put up<br />
throughout the city. He got evei-y important<br />
columnist to devote special stories to the tie-in<br />
and radio commentators and disk jockeys devoted<br />
special salute programs to recruiting<br />
and the picture.<br />
School officials set up National Guard assemblies<br />
with unit personnel appearing to<br />
make personal pitches for enlistments and announcing<br />
the Golden Gate attraction.<br />
An exhibit of lethal weapons and the latest<br />
in military equipment attracted big crowds<br />
to the theatre a week prior to opening and the<br />
big event was a parade to the theatre opening<br />
night in which the stars, military units, vehicles<br />
and bands participated.<br />
Advance Screening Cues<br />
'Stars' for Disk Jockeys<br />
Norman Levinson, assistant manager of the<br />
Poll Theatre, Hartford, Conn., arranged a<br />
.screening of "Stars and Stripes Forever" for<br />
radio disk jockeys and got all of them to<br />
plug the score of the picture on their respective<br />
programs. Music store owners and<br />
clerks also attended the screening and produced<br />
attractive window displays to promote<br />
the sale of records and the picture playdates.<br />
Levinson contacted the director of the public<br />
school system and obtained permission to<br />
post bulletin boards in all schools with notices<br />
advertising the theatre attraction.<br />
Marquee Display Gets<br />
'Rose Bowl' Attention<br />
A dramatic display piece, placed flush<br />
against the building facade and spot-lighted,<br />
drew attention to "Rose Bowl Story" for Lee<br />
Thompson, manager of the State Theatre.<br />
Menomonie, Wis. Thompson created the display<br />
from a 24-sheet cutout of a football<br />
player in passing pose. Over the marquee,<br />
two loud speakers were rigged to play the<br />
Big Ten school songs.<br />
Nightie Cutouts in Four Poster<br />
Stimulate Kansas City Business<br />
A large window display, featuring nightgown<br />
cutouts of Rex Harrison and Lilli<br />
Palmer in a four poster bed, in Keith's, one of<br />
Kansas City's leading furniture stores, was<br />
part of an extensive campaign used by Manager<br />
Herb Carnes of the 500-seat Kimo Theatre<br />
in promoting "The Four Poster."<br />
The window display was used for two<br />
weeks, beginning a week before the film<br />
opened. Large display ads were in the<br />
morning and evening paper the day before<br />
the Christmas debut of the picture.<br />
Co-op art and window cards were placed<br />
In several downtown stores and a hotel lobby.<br />
Carnes also used the theatre's 6,000 patron<br />
mailing list to send postcards promoting the<br />
film. The Public Service Co.'s monthly bulletin<br />
to riders also gave considerable mention<br />
to the picture. Some 100,000 copies ot the<br />
pamphlet are distributed each month.<br />
About 1,000 single sheets plugging the<br />
picture and the cartoon, "Madeline," were<br />
Chewing Gum Flavors<br />
'Line' Promotion<br />
Merle Hallford, manager of the Martin,<br />
Thomson, Ga., promoted several thousand<br />
sticks of chewing gum for the Beech-Nut<br />
packing company for insertion in envelopes<br />
to exploit "Hold That Line." The envelopes<br />
were imprinted with copy, "This gum will put<br />
and so will the<br />
a smile on your face . . .<br />
Bowery Boys in etc., etc."<br />
Hallford promoted free radio spots on station<br />
WTWA and used advance lobby displays<br />
to stimulate interest in the film.<br />
Plymouth Dealers Co-Op<br />
On 'Adventure' Ballyhoo<br />
Fifteen Plymouth dealers in the San Francisco<br />
area tied in with Boyd Sparrow, manager<br />
of the Warfield Theatre to ballyhoo his<br />
booking of "Plymouth Adventure."<br />
Each dealer used a showroom and window<br />
display, prominently mentioning the theatre<br />
attraction. New cars, carrying models dressed<br />
in Puritan costumes, toured the busy downtown<br />
section for four days in advance of<br />
opening and current.<br />
given to nearby .siures lor distribution, while<br />
others were mailed out and distributed in the<br />
lobby. Cross plug trailers were shown at the<br />
Glen and Dickin.son theatres, two other Dickinson<br />
circuit situations.<br />
Several special .screenings were held. Seventy<br />
different women's groups were represented<br />
at one ofternoon session, while local<br />
foreign consuls were invited to attend<br />
another screening.<br />
As part of the tieup with Robert Keith's<br />
furniture store, five pieces of living room furniture<br />
were displayed for a week in a roped<br />
off part of the Kimo's lobby.<br />
Columbia exploiteer Jules Sercowitz was in<br />
from New York to work on the picture's<br />
promotion.<br />
Carnes believes that the extensive buildup<br />
and the popularity of the two stars were<br />
reasons for the great 300 per cent opening.<br />
Lines at the boxoffice and a filled auditorium<br />
were in evidence during the first week.<br />
Bond Bread Jamboree<br />
Is Teaneck, N. J., Winner<br />
In cooperation with a national baking firm,<br />
Murray Spector, manager of the Teaneck<br />
(N. J.) Theatre promoted a Bond Bread<br />
Jamboree on Saturday before Christmas. The<br />
kid show consi.'ted of a western feature, a<br />
comedy and ten cartoons.<br />
The Bond representative had the Hopalong<br />
Cassidy ranch foreman on hand to distribute<br />
free gifts to every child who attended. In<br />
addition the company's float which participated<br />
in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving day<br />
parade -visited the community and helped to<br />
promote interest for the show.<br />
Teaneck school children were dismissed<br />
from their classes to they could inspect the<br />
float.<br />
DIT-MCO DIRECTIONAL LIGHTS<br />
RAMP LIGHTS -RAMP IND WIT tlGHTS-<br />
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WAY AISIE IIGHTS-RESTROOM llGHTS-40"<br />
ENTRANCE » EXIT IIGHTS-DOUBIE OR SIN-<br />
GlE FACE-20" ENTRANCE A EXIT LIGHTS<br />
DRIVE-IN THEATRE MFG. CO.^»K\:-'^:,';.'Sr<br />
BOXOFFICE Showmandiser Jan. 10. 1953 — 9 — 37
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