Boxoffice-December.17.1955

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pf the mail the other day came a letter
from a Texas exhibitor who summed up,
in his signoff, some sentiments that we
had been intending to express ourselves but
just never were able to put down so well in
so few words. Wrote J. D. Wilbanks of the
Wagon Wheel Drive-In and Fly-In of
Spearman, Tex.: "Thanks to all the wonderful
exhibitors who are helping each
other by sending in their promotion ideas
each week to Showmandiser." Yes, we
sincerely hope our Showmandiser reports
help you, and we hope you keep sending
in the kind of material that can benefit our
other readers.
*
Another pleasure-bringing item carried
in by the postman was an envelope
0/ material from R. E. "Bob" Agle of
the Statesville Theatre Corp., Statesville,
N. C. Bob, who sends in a batch
of good stuff on a regular basis, included
a special envelope with his latest
By LARRY GOODMAN
mailing. Imprinted on it was a sort of
"credo" evidently used by the Appalachian
Theatre of Boone, N. C, one
of the houses in the STC chain. Five
lines starting "It Is Our Pleasure"
were listed above the theatre's signature.
"It Is Our Pleasure— When you
have a good time at the movies" was
the first one, and the others were in
similar vein. It was our pleasure reading
'em.
*
There have been horse and wagon street
bally stunts and then more horse and
wagon street bally stunts, ad infinitum,
but we heard of one the other day we're
going to highlight here, although the
author of this one will maintain his anonymity.
For a "Ma and Pa Kettle" series picture,
which played a somewhat rural area
not too long ago, the enterprising manager
dressed up two characters as Ma and Pa
and sent them through town, you guessed
it, with a horse and wagon. But this guy
wanted to lend an air of authenticity to his
gimmick, so he loaded the wagon with
horse manure! The last -mentioned really
put the stunt over and helped get terrific
boxoffice for the film, our source professes.
No further comment.
*
A stunt used specifically for "Mister
Roberts" but which could easily be
adapted to many another big feature
attraction is the following goodie pulled
by Manager Max Knauss of the Fox
in Salinas, Calif.: As reported in Na-
FLAT OR CURVED
STEEL SCREEN TOWERS
Anir tls*, any ratio aiMclallr analiMarad for yaar
DriTa-lK. D«ljMtf far 10 lb. winj load ^la* tafttr
faclar, Qakk and aaty aracttoa.
AIM EE«aa*laa« far lahtlnf Tawan
WRITI rOR QUOTATIONS
DRIVEIN THEATRE MF6. CO. T.^JT'cT/Sr
tional Theatres' Showman house organ.
Max mounted a theatre seat on a
wooden runner and placed the unit on
the sidewalk in front of his theatre,
with a card attached to the back of it.
The card read, "What a seat thinks: '1
am almost too tired to think. I haven't
had a chance to rest since "Mister Roberts"
came to the Fox Theatre. It
seems like everybody is coming to see
it, but that is to be expected. It's a
great
show.'
*
Included in the festivities in Zanesville,
Ohio, the past few days was a little extra
special human interest touch. Zanesville,
you may have read,
won the world premiere
of Warner
Bros.' "The Court-
Martial of Billy
Mitchell" for selling
the most Christmas
Seals for the National
Tuberculosis Ass'n in
proportion to its
population. Dale
Tysinger is the Shea
manager there. The Dale Tysinger
film company and
the Shea circuit, whose Weller and Liberty
theatres were selected for the world premiere
showings, really whooped it up
around town. On Tuesday, the day before
the opening, the Rotary Club of Zanesville
had an honored guest, 85 -year -old
George Goett of the Shea Theatrical Enterprises.
This oldtimer is the legitimate
show booker for the chain, and has a
history in the entertainment business dating
back to the long, long ago when he was
only 9 years old and worked for a lithograph
house that turned out posters. In
1923, he moved into the Shea home office,
just taking some "desk room." Like the
Man Who Came to Dinner, he stayed on
and on until he's now a fixture and an
integral part of the circuit's operation.
Since he knew it so well, he was called
upon Tuesday to tell the Rotarians the
story of the Weller Theatre. Agent, advance
man, producer, booker, industry pioneer—that's
the background he drew upon
*
A visitor from abroad dropped in
during the week, and we got some insight
into the problems of exhibition in
France. For one thing, exploitation, as
we know it here, hardly exists in La
Belle France. Advertising rates are extremely
high, mainly because neiosprint
iS7i't as plentiful as it is here.
Newspapers there run far smaller than
ours, and ads, therefore, are at a pre-
— 382 —
mium. As to the chalices of hauling
doivn some free space, your Frenchman
counterpart just doesn't have 'em,
again due to the space problem. Also,
radio and television are noncommercial,
so they're ruled out. Street ballyhoos
are hardly ever allowed, either.
His one chance to get his message over
is via the billboard sign or, if in Paris,
on subway or bus signs. Actually,
therefore, he needs good word-ofmouth
from good product to sell. Sure,
we need that here, too . . . but a good
showman in the good old U. S. isn't
licked from the start when he doesn't
get it! There's always an angle to
exploit, or a gimmick to put to work
to whip up some excitement . . . and a
medium in which to do it!
*
What? Nothing from Canada? Okay,
here 'tis . . . Jack Mahon of the Orpheum
in Prince Albert has installed a simple but
attractive bulletin board in his lobby, and
on it he posts any item he may cUp from
the trade magazines which he thinks may
be of interest to his patrons, also news of
strictly local events, particularly those
which affect the theatre. The customers
line up to
get a peak at the bulletins, according
to Jack. We hke it, and we like the
part about the trade magazines best, of
course. Let's hear more!
*
The next issue of BOXOFFICE may
reach you after the Christmas holiday,
so we'd like to take this occasion to
wish all our friends a very Merry
Christinas! You're as nice a group of
guys to work with as we ever hope to
find, honest! We just loish it were
possible to wipe away the miles, to be
able to tell it to all of you face to face!
Merry Christmas! Season's Greetings!
All-Night Moviethon
On Thanksgiving Eve
Dale Baldwin's extra effort for Thanksgiving
at the Parkway in West Jefferson,
N. C, took the form of an all-night moviethon
starting at 11 p.m. Thanksgiving eve
and winding up four full-length features
later. The manager also threw in a turkey
giveaway and two free baskets of groceries
to get the holdiay off to an auspicious start
at his theatre. The prizes were awarded
during an intermission at 1:30 a.m. Baldwin
distributed a throwaway for the occasion.
Doctor on Duty at Theatre!
An usher dressed up as a doctor, complete
with white coat and stethoscope,
stood ready for action in the lobby of the
Margie Grand Theatre in Harlan, Ky.,
during the showing of a special Halloween
double horror bill. Outside the house.
Manager Tom Williams installed a "corpse
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in
a coffin" with appropriate scare copy.
Parasols Key Bally
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Three girls in Oriental dress, each carrying
parasols with playdate copy imprinted
on them, toured the streets of Salinas, ,
Calif., for "Love Is a Many-Splendored
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Thing" at the Fox. Manager Max Knauss f
used this street ballyhoo the day before
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opening and again on opening day.
BOXOFFICE Showmandiser
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: Dec. 17. 1955
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