im

guitar was played by Marlon Brando.
When the announcement was made, the
disc jockey controlling the contest said,
"Get set now. Listen carefully. Win a Kay
guitar by telling us which guitar is played
by Marlon Brando, star of 'The Fugitive
Kind,' coming to the Odeon Carlton Theatre
next Thursday." Then the No. 1 guitar
recording was put on, then No. 2 and No. 3.
The winner was announced on opening
day. The radio station also made it clear
to all listeners that in case there were
many correct answers to the Brando playing—then
a special guest would be asked
to di'aw one name from all the correct
answers. In this contest we received over
50 free plugs on the radio station. CHUM
was so thrilled with the number of entries
made, that they felt it essential to
keep announcing the winners after the
film opened.
GUITAR CONTEST BIG SUCCESS
"The Strum with CHUM Contest' was
a decided success.
At the theatre we made announcement
of the contest and had a showcase in our
main lobby, displaying the two Kay guitars
which could be won by listeners who
sent in the correct answer.
Six leading music houses in the city who
handle the Kay Guitar were approached
weeks in advance and from these big
stores we received wonderful cooperation
and excellent window space.
A special book tieup was made with the
Sinnott News Co., which distributes the
pocketbook edition of "The Fugitive Kind."
We started this tiein by selling the novel
in our confections stands one month in
advance. Sinnott News provided window
cards and streamers in all bookstore outlets.
In the main large downtown stores
we supplied special displays, using stills,
one-sheets, 22x28s and art work to play up
the film along with their attractive pocketbook,
which featui-ed stars and title on
the front and back covers, plus an inside
spread of eight pages of scenes from the
picture.
BANNERS ON DELIVERY TRUCK
Thirty-five banners were used on Sinnott
delivery trucks which covered all parts
of the city on their daily delivery routes.
Slide-in banners were used, size 41x28,
covered with a plastic material for protection
against the wet weather. These were
placed on the trucks two weeks in advance,
then sniped "Now Playing" current.
Drugstores, bookstores, variety stores, department
stores, even supermarkets carried
copies of the Signet novel, "The Fugitive
Kind," on their special novel racks,
bearing a display poster on the film.
Sinnott News which has a radio program
twice weekly on CKEY gave us 100
per cent cooperation, devoting two entire
programs to a review on the book and
a talk about the film.
How to 'Cop' Attention
For "Carry on. Constable," Gordon
Gotts, of the Odeon Palace, Hamilton,
Ont., dressed a chap in a London Bobby
unifomi and got permission from the police
department to let him direct pedestrian
traffic downtown and at a shopping
center. It was a great attention-getter.
Cost: $1 uniform rental, 75 cents an hour
for the "policeman."
Industry Goodwill Angle Is Injected
Into Promotion for 'Wind Cannot Read'
The winners in a preview contest staged to "inject goodwill for the industry as whole" in o campaign
arranged by publicist Louis Orlove, for "The Wind Connot Read" at the Palace Theatre In Milwaukee,
are treated to a dinner at Dutch's Suki Yaki restaurant. Guests remove their shoes, and sit on the floor.
"It's time," says 20th-Fox Milwaukee
publicist Lou Orlove, "when we should inject
a little goodwill for the industry as a
whole in our promotions." With this
thought in mind, Orlove whipped up an exploitation
on "The Wind Cannot Read."
He sent out requests to all radio stations in
the Milwaukee area, suggesting that the
station program managers run a contest
over the air waves, asking listeners to write
in 25 words or less why they'd like to attend
a movie at least once a week, the
writers of the 100 best letters to be invited
to a special screening.
The gimmick brought in bags of mail to
the point were the Milwaukee Fox people
decided to send samples to the New York
office, explaining the effectiveness of an
approach of this sort.
From the heap of responses, Orlove and
Bill Bramhall of station WMIL selected
100 of the most appropriate, and sent out
invitations to a screening of the film at
the screening room in the Varsity Theatre
building.
Frederick G. Storey, operator of the Rhodes Theatre,
which has been a subsequent-run house on the rim
of the downtown district of Atlanta, maps out a
campaign on "Can-Can" with Jerry Rafshoon, 20th-
Fox publicist, and Tom Jones, Storey vice-president
and booker. Storey remodeled the theatre in addition
to installing 70mm equipment for the opening
of roadshow attraction.
At the screening, the audience was told
that the next step was to have each and
every one present write a short review of
the film. And that during the following
week, ten of the most interesting reviews
would be selected, and invitations sent to
the authors to a sukiyaki dinner at
Dutch's, a favorite local restaurant.
As might be expected, of the 100 who
attended the screening, 100 reviews were
received. Once the job of weeding out all
but the ten finalists was accomplished, the
winners received their invitations and
naturally turned out for the unique suitiyaki
dinner with all the trimmings.
To add to the contestant's delight, Orlove
passed out a number of inexpensive
gifts, courtesy of Stone Jewelers, The attending
publicity, says Orlove, naturally
rubbed off effectively at the Palace Theatre's
boxoffice, where the film appeared
later. It was comparatively an inexpensive
promotion, considering the tieins, but one
which can be duplicated practically anywhere.
Saturday Free Shows
For Persons Over 16
The State Theatre at 110th and Michigan
in Chicago is enjoying capacity
crowds eveiT Satm-day. Henry Stevens,
manager, is presenting a free show every
Saturday morning during the summer.
The shows are sponsored as a community
service by the neighborhood merchants.
Tickets are available only to persons over
16 years old at the participating business
houses.
Pickets 'Tall Story'
Ozzie Pence came up with something unexpected
in a ballyhoo at the Ritz Theatre
in Malvern, Ark. He lined up a pint-size
basketball player, 8 or 9-year-old Courtney
Bollinger, to carry a sign reading, "Jane
Fonda Unfair to Short Basketball Players,"
in front of the theatre, during the run of
•Tall Story."
BOXOFHCE Showmandiser : : Aug. 29, 1960 — 137