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IN
THIS ISSUE:
• AOLINES & EXPLOITIPS
• FEATURE RELEASE CHART
• REVIEWS OF. FEATURES
'i\ • SHOWMANDISING IDEAS
THE GUIDE TO' BETTER BOOKING AND B U S I N E S S • B U I L D I N G
Patronage Up With
Aggressive Selling
Business at the Pantheon, a neighborhood
theatre in Chicago, increased 20 per
cent the first month after S. L. Hutchinson,
a newcomer to the city, took over.
His secret—if any—is that he went after
patronage aggressively with the stock ideas
available to all showmen. He started out
with such elementai-y procedures as joining
civic groups, the PTA, and making
contact with the elementary schools in the
area. Since inaugm-ating a concentrated
effort to boost attendance with school-age
cliildren four weeks ago. 400 kiddies' names
have been logged with their addresses, ages
and birthday dates. Consecutive attendance
over a four-week period makes them eligible
for membership in the Pantheon Birthday
Club. Tlius far 400 badges have been
issued.
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Hutchinson sends birthday cards to
Nf» ) each, and periodically there are birthday
parties in the theatre foyer. Entertainment
features at all the special Satm-day morning
shows for children include contests
with prizes, treasure hunts and song fests.
This initial try for young fry business has
brought a 25 per cent increase in popcorn
and candy business.
Hutchinson is also planning features to
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get fathers and mothers interested in attending
the theatre. Cm-rently he is working
up arrangements with one of the larger
department stores in the neighborhood for
a weekly fashion show to be given in conjunction
with the feature attractions.
Since setting up a program change in
screen fare three times a week, overall
business has increased 20 per cent in a
month.
Drug Envelope Handout
On Kansas City 'Vertigo'
For "Vertigo," Manager Harold Lyon of
the Paramount in Kansas City devised a
handout for downtown shoppers—a 2x3-
inch druggist's envelope labeled "Sure Cure
for Your Ills," and the directions read:
"Dissolve contents in a glass of water and
let stand for two hours while you go see
Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' at the Para-
Theatre. At the end of that time
take the glass in your hand and pour contents
down the sink—you won't need the
medicine!" The envelope contained a
candy red hot.
Editor Invites Newspaper Employes
To Pet' Screening; Fine Results
This fine display festooned the staircase of the Herber Theotre in Oklahoma City, which leads up
from the narrow lobby to the balcony.
When a glance at boxoffice receipts
shows figures high in the black, a showman
is justified in feeling that his campaign
was a success, for even a blockbuster
will fail unless patrons are informed
when and where it may be seen.
Farris Shanbour, manager of the Harber
Theatre in Oklahoma City, experienced
such a feeling of success following his
promotion of "Teacher's Pet." His conception
was simple but sound: It's a newspaper
story so get the local newspaper
industry alerted.
One week in advance, Shanbour arranged
a screening for employes of the
Oklahoma Publishing Co., which puts out
both the morning and evening papers in
the Sooner capital city. The interesting
thing is how he put this over. He succeeded
in getting the managing editor of
the company to inform employes of the
screening. Carl K. Stuart, the editor, sent
all employes the following on the Oklahoma
Publishing Co. letterhead:
The Cooper Foundation theatres will open the
Plaza Theatre Sunday afternoon, May 18, for a
privote showing at 2 p.m., for Oklahoma Publishing
Co. employes only, of the newspaper picture
"Teacher's Pet" storring Clork Gable and Doris
Day. This reputes to be a really authentic representation
of operations in a newspaper office.
There are 684 seats available in the Ploza, and
this letter is an invitation to you and your wife or
husband to attend. Since the capacity of the theatre
is limited, admittance must be on a first-come
first-served
basis.
I hope you will be able to be there. Please bring
this letter for identification at the door.
The results were extremely gratifying.
Two days after the screening there was a
fom'-column writeup on the film in the
Times, and on the Sunday, June 1. the
amusement section featured a full-color
cover picture of Clark Gable and a story
on page five, which was headed "A Genuine
Film Praised."
Three weeks in advance, a striking lobby
display featuring mounted 24-sheet cutouts
of Gable and Doris Day was put up.
Crowd in 'Happy Feeling'
As Coins Fly From Hotel
Throngs gathered around Hotel Statler
in Detroit when a young man in a second
floor window began throwing money out
the window—dollar bills and coins. Two
policemen and an assistant hotel manager
rushed up to the room to check such unusual
goings on and found it was Dick
Richman. U-I exploiteer, giving dramatic
expression to the way he felt about "This
Happy Feeling," opening at the Michigan
Theatre.
After receiving some of his donations, a
lot of iJeople in the crowd felt that way,
too, while others were stimulated by
curiosity to go over and see the show.
Scene II was down on the sidewalk under
the window. Richman moved down there
and mounted a trash receptacle like a pulpit—and
began tossing out more money
to the crowd—till $1,000 in all was gone.
BOXOFFICE Showmandiser June 30, 1958 — 142 — 1