brian cassidy bookselle

25.
[Marketing]: [Film]
[Collection of Photographs Documenting
Marketing Campaign for CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF]
(Bridgeport, CT), [ca. 1958]
41 gelatin silver prints, including six duplicates. Each measuring
10" x 8" approx. Minor edge-wear. All prints curling a bit at edges.
Some slight toning. Very good.
Collection of photographs documenting a local marketing campaign
for CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF at the Loew's Poli Theater in Bridgeport,
CT. The bulk of the photographs reveal various storefront businesses,
approximately two dozen, featuring an advertisement for the film
in their windows. The posters feature various stills, all with “Advertised
in LIFE” printed at the top, suggesting an additional promotional
deal between the magazine and the film. Cross-promotional
efforts are also seen at a Ford dealership (where a car out front has
a sign in its window reading “This is the car that Elizabeth Taylor
used in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF”) and at the theater itself (where a
Polaroid Land Camera photographer takes pictures of theatergoers
posed with standees of Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor).
Though a by-product of this advertising blitz, the images document
another form of marketing as well: the signage and window displays
of various Bridgeport businesses. From George's Shoe Shop to Neisner's
Five-and-Dime, Scanlon's Luncheonette and Broadway Pet Shop,
an overview of how Bridgeport businesses presented themselves at
street-level, including quintessential mid-century typography, neon
signage, product displays, and building architecture. While the exact
purpose of the photographs remains opaque (agency?), the images
nevertheless document a variety of mid-century marketing efforts.
-600-
37