Boxoffice-December.17.1955

—
: December
—
EASTERN OKLAHOMA
By ART LAMAN
XKTe are right at the time when everyone remembers
everyone else with a card, pencil
or some other token of peace and goodwill
and then proceeds to forget each other for
another 365 days.
It's the wonderful time in the year when
the TV and radio, plus full page ads, tell
you that you can buy Mamma a new ice box,
or a fur coat, with just one buck down and no
payments till after the New Year. But just
miss one of those after the New Year payments—and
you'll find the mail full of insulting
reminders that your account is past
due. There's a lot of fun to it all, and it's
a treat to pass through the cities and towns,
most of which have been gaily decorated
with sparkling devices, tinsel and lots of colored
lights.
T-Town decorations are the most beautiful
ever;
they were created by Dallas Mead, who
is the greatest when it comes to street decorations
and parades. This year's Santa parade
was also handled by Dallas. It was fin^
even if this writer and the Mrs. nearly froze
waiting for it all to pass by.
Besides all the beauty of the holiday season,
theatres all over the land feel Christ-
the regular
mas in a way that's not good—it's
fall-off of cash customers at the boxoffice
during the last few weeks before the great day
—but all in all, it's a wonderful time. It's
too bad that its good cheer and warm feelings
cannot continue every day during 1956.
« * *
Here is a story which we feel proves that
gimmicks bring in the customers, even when
pictures sometimes fail. Back some eight
weeks this writer was asked by Oscar May. at
the Meadowbrook Drive-In in Fort Worth, to
come down and help crank up some extra
traffic. One of the stunts introduced was a
new angle of the Magic Key Lucky Treasurechest,
with the following steps worked into
a climax of huge crowds on each Sunday
night during November. The treasure chest
A policeman "guards" treasure chest In
the concession stand of the Meadowbrook
Drive-In at Fort Worth (top photo). Bottom,
a young miss holds a prize won at
one of the six Sunday night giveaways.
was set up in the concession stand, with a display
of gifts to be awarded to lucky recipients
of keys that open the lock on the treasure
chest.
One key was given to each car for a full
week before the first Sunday Treasure Chest
night. Each key was inclosed in a small envelope
with a space for the holder to sign
name and address. The envelopes were
dropped in a hopper and a drawing was held
i Thanks ^
p and a i^
^
Merry Christinas
S* to our Friends in the theatre business
^
^ * * * ^
|» Success and Happiness to you in 1956 m
% HERBER THEATRE EQUIPMENT CO. I
JlT "Fair Treatment and Adequate Service for 30 Years" **
j^ 408 S. HARWOOD DALLAS 1, TEXAS ^
^
during the second intermission. More than
800 persons tried out their keys on the first
Sunday night. The concession stand was full
of people from opening time until the drawnig
took place with brisk buying the entire
time. There were between 40 and 60 winners
each night of the six-week campaign.
After 3 weeks of the Sunday night Treasure
Che.-it, the final test came November 27
the coldest night of the year, with high winds,
and plenty of dust in the air, very bad weather
for drive-in theatres. Still the people
came out to try their keys given them during
the week, and to win the fine gifts offered
by May to the lucky key holders. Which
once more proves that gimmicks properly
staged with worthwhile rewards will pull the
customers regardless of weather, or the age
of the pictures being shown.
* * *
In Fort Worth there's a very sharp tabloid
paper, the Fort Worth Press. Working on this
sheet is Jack Gordon, a very sharp writer.
Jack likes to write about show folks and
comes up with some great angles. In the
November 25 issue he comes up with some
lines that are positive proof about what we've
said before—young people aren't interested
in sticking it out with the show business.
Gordon comments on the birthday of the
Parkway Theatre 20 years old this year in
running down the records of the former ushers
and other help, many of whom would
have made good showmen. Most of persons
he mentions lost interest in show business
and went to other jobs. Gordon lists in his
column many names and where they now are
making the bread money. It's a funny business,
this show business, which fails to create
a desire in young people to stick with it.
• • •
At Fort Worth, we took in the gi-eat Shrine
circus. It's billed as the "Greatest Indoor
Show on Earth," and lives up to that billing.
We have seen circuses of all sizes, but this
one puts most of them back in the class of
the oldtime gilly shows. To those fellows
who think that entertainment comes out of
tin cans we have this to say—take a night
off and see a wonderful show. The Fort
Worth Shrine circus is staged each year in
the beautiful Will Rogers Auditorium.
The show is presented in three rings and
on two stages. Every type of act is presented
during the two hours, all with brilliant lighting
and stage effects. The proof that people
like it was apparent in the faces of the
happy thousands who attended each performance
during the entire ten days—ten days
during which thousands of TV sets are deserted
in Cowtown, U. S. A. People are still
show-minded when the show is good—and
they still like to watch those clowns and acts
in person.
• • *
Alex Blu, manager of the Admiral Twin-
Drive-In at Tulsa who underwent an appendectomy,
is recuperating at his home, 7406
East Third street. Alex did not mind his
stay at Hillcrest Hospital, where the only
drawback was he could not get his umteen
cups of coffee each day. Lowell Maxwell Is
holding down the managerial chores until
Alex gets back on the Job.
All reports coming in to this reporter confirm
what we said about the Plaza Art Cinema
under the direction of Bill Donaldson being
a much needed attraction for Tulsa. "I Am
a Camera" broke all house records for an art
picture presentation in Tulsa.
Warren "Bud" Patton. longtime city manager
of the Downtown Theatres, has been
very ill with the flu.
SW-6 BOXOFFICE
:
17, 1955