Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
CHESTER FRIEDMAN<br />
EDITOR<br />
HUGH E. FRAZE<br />
Associate Editor<br />
SECTION<br />
PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR SELLING SEATS BY PRACTICAL SHOWMEN<br />
J> ncenlwei f til<br />
Twice each year, five outstanding<br />
Century circuit showmen are<br />
guests of Fred Schwartz, vice-president,<br />
at his Timberdoodle lodge.<br />
Lake Placid, N. Y. In the winter<br />
pilgrimag:e last week were Schwartz,<br />
Joe Springer, general manager; Bill<br />
Applegate, district manager; Mike<br />
Siegel, publicity director, and Charlie<br />
Call, L. W. McEachern, Bill Mc-<br />
Devitt, Fred Brunelle and Dick Tretler,<br />
theatre managers.<br />
IVIr. Schwartz made the mistake<br />
of inviting us to be in the company<br />
of these distinguished showmen. We<br />
accepted. That was our mistake.<br />
There's a fall guy on every trip.<br />
If you think we were brought<br />
along just for laughs, you're right.<br />
We expected to break an arm or a<br />
leg during our first try at skiing and<br />
other winter sports. But we never<br />
anticipated the misfortunes which<br />
befell the other portions of our anatomy<br />
d.uring such harmless indoor<br />
sports as eating and sleeping.<br />
Aside from the horseplay, Timberdoodle<br />
lodge is fabulous. The food,<br />
the modern conveniences, the natural<br />
beauty of the place, isolated in<br />
the woods, and the graciousness of<br />
the host combine to give every visitor<br />
a feeling of rare privilege. The<br />
feeling is intensified, when one returns<br />
to the humdrum routine of<br />
daily livelihood.<br />
No doubt it is the desire to be<br />
among the fortunate group elected<br />
for the next Timberdoodle excursion<br />
which motivates Century theatremen<br />
in their efforts throughout the<br />
year. The high standards of showmanship,<br />
the high morale and. the<br />
low turnover among Century managers<br />
during the past decade are<br />
undoubtedly due in great measure<br />
to Timberdoodle.<br />
Whatever other incentive inspires<br />
that extra individual effort stems<br />
from the fact that Schwartz and<br />
Springer and, one presumes, the<br />
other Century executives, are simply<br />
members of one big family. There<br />
are other circuits which operate<br />
along similar lines. They, too, benefit<br />
at the buxoffice from such a relationship.<br />
At the moment, we are filled with<br />
impressions and memories of Tim-<br />
( Continued on next news page)<br />
Variety Promotion Technique Sells<br />
Variety Vaudeville at RKO Albee<br />
Sandwiched in between the campaigns for<br />
three picture houses in Cincinnati are some<br />
excellent tieups which Nate Wise, publicity<br />
manager for RKO in the city, puts over regularly<br />
to sell headline variety shows at the<br />
Albee Theatre.<br />
Wise, whose exploits are well known to<br />
readers of this section, produces a wealth of<br />
free publicity via various media to keep his<br />
shows out front. They provide valuable data<br />
for every exhibitor, particularly those who<br />
play live talent either regularly or on special<br />
dates.<br />
The King Cole-Penny Edwards combination<br />
recently gave Wise an opportunity to demonstrate<br />
how radio and the recording companies<br />
can be utilized with excellent results.<br />
Before the show opened, every disk jockey in<br />
town was playing King Cole Trio recordings<br />
and giving the Albee dates prominent notice.<br />
Through the cooperation of the Capitol records<br />
distributor, 5,000 stuffers were distributed<br />
by music and record shops throughout the<br />
city. Some 300 cards were placed on juke<br />
boxes after Wise had the operators put the<br />
Trio records in every machine.<br />
When Penny Edwards arrived in town,<br />
Wise set up interviews and guest appearances<br />
on WKRC, WSAI and WCKY. The<br />
Enquirer went for an interview with Miss<br />
Edwards as did the Times-Star. All three<br />
dailies used special art layouts.<br />
For incidental ballyhoo, Wise put a juke<br />
box in the Albee lobby in advance and<br />
plugged King Cole records continuously. Spot<br />
announcements were used on all radio out-<br />
—779—<br />
lets and a flash front helped the current<br />
showing.<br />
The Dick Haymes show received a heavy<br />
selling job which was topped by breaks in<br />
44 small town newspapers in Ohio and Kentucky.<br />
Each paper received a scene star mat<br />
of Haymes, special photos and stories and,<br />
exclusive of the metropolitan papers, reached<br />
a mass circulation of 125,000.<br />
Two stunts were cooked up by Wise, one<br />
with the Times Star, the other with the Post.<br />
The former sponsored a mass high school<br />
editor interview with Haymes. The stunt<br />
rated a gigantic pictorial spread and an<br />
eight-column streamer. The Post tieup was<br />
keyed to an annual football banquet with<br />
Haymes pictured posing with some of the<br />
stars and the paper's personnel.<br />
Three free broadcasts were promoted from<br />
WKRC, WSAI and WCPO via backstage interviews<br />
with Haymes. Disk jockeys plugged<br />
his recordings and Jenny's, Cincinnati specialty<br />
store, featured a large cut of the star<br />
in a newspaper co-op ad which included<br />
theatre mention.<br />
27
Change language