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mk VOL. 1 ~ NUMBER i 5 SELL AND pRorit SEPTEMBER 7, 1956

THE REWARD OF EFFORT

l SERVE » sy a SHOWMANSHIP;

I cantt think of anything as completely satisfying as having one's efforts unexpectedly rewarded, Recognition is the stuff of which ambition is fashioned ... and it works both ways, The ambitious man will spare no effort, will minimize every obstacle, will try every trick in the book and invent a few new ones, to gain that recognition, and the rewards both material and spiritual which accompany it.

At a special sitting of our Awards Panel a total of five hundred dollars was distributed to twenty five managers ,.., men and women ,.. for their outstanding showmanship, To date, since the inception of our BALLYHOO, several thousands of dollars have been Similarly allocated, This is not actually a contest ... or if it’ is, then it certainly is the most novel in the history of our bus- iness, Each manager is actually in competition only with himself, and has only his own past record to beat, The judges make their selections on the basis of the content of each individual submission, and not in relation to other entries as is the case in the standard type of contest. There are no budgets and no limit on the amount of prize money, Your efforts as determined by your entry are the sole and deciding factor,

The idea has finally begun to catch on, and the seed planted in these pages many months ago has blossomed to fruition, The quality of the entries improves with every judging, I have never seen Rube Bolstad our Veep and chairman of the Awards Committee so overwhelmingly enthused by the many evidences of individual effort and aliveness, and just plain terrific showmanship in fact, as he was at this last session, It's a great feeling to sit by and listen to our top execs give out with such honest and generous praise of jobs well done, where such praise is justly’and honestly deserved, It's a good sign and a symbol for our future, ip not

Of the hundred-odd entries submitted twenty five were judged worthy of reward, and that's a pretty good record, You'll find the names of managers of large theatres and small theatres, in large cities and small towns from Halifax right across the country to Vancouver, in the prize list, I feel good about it, I know wetve finally found the pattern, Let's stay right on the beam, Let's all be winners, Let's’ all get our share of recognition, Let!s all of us be real showmen ... F.P, Showmen,

DEK, FAMOUS PLAYERS CANADIAN CORPORATION 1200 ROYAL BANK BLDG., TORONTO

00.00 IN PRIZES

These are our winners and they aré certainly deserving of our very sincere congratulations, Mr. Bolstad and the members of the Awards Committee thought so highly of the entries that I have been asked to reprint some of them in this issue ... even’ though they had been described’in detail in previous bulletins. That I shall do, with pleasure, In the meantime ,., I tips me topper to the following for a grand job of Showmanship,

okoXoXeXoXo

$50.00

Bill Burke of the Capitol in Brantford

for his ingenuity in using his own dog

to pack his theatre for three days with an ancient LASSIE pic,

$35.00 « Zara Ellwood who parks her galoshes at the Capitol in St, Thomas, for one of the most comprehensive campaigns on MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT it has been my pleasure to see,

$25.00 - Len Bishop, maestro of Sheas in Toronto for his clever and novel use of Cardiac machines in connection with a press pre- view of MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.

$25.00 - Hilary Howes head man of the Capitol in Halifax for a great job of selling on D-DAY SIXTH OF JUNE,

$50.00 = Gordon Garson of the Fort in Fort William, and Frank Sabatini of the Lake in the same city split this down the middle for the truly amazing job they did in combining on a series of mid- week childrens! shows in addition to regular Saturday matinees on which they also work together,

$25.00 - Claude Smith of the Paramount in Chilliwack for one of the finest promotions on the ELMER deal we have yet come across,

$25.00 - Jim Cameron, our old pal at the Capitol in Fort William, for his excellent ROCK 'N ROLL shows, as well as his excellent promotion of books of children's tickets,

$20,00 - Charlie Doctor, skipper of the Capitol in Vancouver for two outstanding selling jobs, MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT and THE KING AND I,

$20.00 - Ralph Mitcheltree of the Capitol in Calgary for an outstanding campaign on WEE GEORDIE, and his Satayem Junior Quarterback Club,

PRIZES ~ CONTINUED

$20.00 - Olga Frenette, the gal in the Soo, at the Orpheum that is - for a really splendid selling job on both THE LEATHER SAINT, and ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK,

$15,00 - Jack Pyngente, the leather-jacket kid at the Green-Acres Drive In in Brandon, for a truly eye-catching, full-page newspaper co-op, and his ingenuity in saving lots of dough by repairing his own sump pump.

$15.00 - Otis Bowes of the Capitol in Moose Jaw for a really fine job of selling on MAN IN GRAY FLANNEL SUIT,

$15.00 - Bill Novak, skipper of the Capitol in Winnipeg for an amazingly complete promotional campaign on WEE GEORDIE,

$15.00 - Les Mitchell who hangs his hat at the Capitol in Welland, for a terrific news-~ paper co-op campaign on FLANNEL SUIT,

$15.00 —- Will Harper our book-ticket salesman at the Paramount in Kelowna for the clever manner in which he gets his customers’to return their covers for a weekly draw, Gives him a swell mailing list as well.

$15.00 - Michael Hall, Will's assistant in Kelowna, for a terrific job of organizing the ELMER deal while Will was on vacation,

$15.00 - Murra Summerville, newly appointed manager of the Algoma in the Soo, for a splendid job of selling MAN IN GRAY FLANNEL SUIT, while he was still at the Capitol in London,

$15,00 ~ Vern Hudson of the Capitol in St. Kitts for an unusual and very novel personal endorsation type of newspaper ad which brought plenty of extra business on WEE GEORDIE,

$15.00 ~ Fred Tickell, who calls the Roxy in Medicine Hat his home, for the clever manner in which he utilized newspaper space to call attention to his children's books of tickets ees and sold plenty of them,

$15.00 = Freeman Skinner of the Paramount in Halifax for a truly excellent newspaper promotion and no-cost selling on THE PROUD ONES,

PRIZES - CONTINUED

$15.00

- Russ McKibbin, head man of the great big Imperial in Toronto for one of the finest. all around selling jobs we have ever seen, on his date on D-DAY SIXTH OF JUNE,

$15,00 —- Paul Valliere whose heart belongs completely to the Capitol in Quebec City, for a fine selling job on MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT,

$15.00 ~ Bill Trudell of the Capitol in London for a’ fine job of concentrated selling on a short, DEVIL TAKE US.

$15.00 ~ Art Cauley whose home is in Peterboro where

he directs the destinies of the Paramount, for an outstanding job of merchandising his MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT engagement,

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So .e. that's our prize list chappies ... and chapettes ... if there is such a word ,.. if not, well, you know whom I mean, Pretty impressive, huh? Every one of the entries listed by the prize-winning managers was absolutely tops ... well, that's why they wound up as prize winners, I have never seen the members of our Awards Committee as impressed as they were with this bunch of submissions .., and it didn't take them too long to vote the five hundred bucks, To the winners ... my own very sincere congratulations ... and if your name just didn't happen to be listed this time, perhaps because you were too. busy to bother with such a small detail as sending in evidence of your showmanship ... well, this is a continuous deal, and the committeé will be sitting again within the next two or three weeks ,.. Need I say more? Let's see YOUR name in our next listing, eh fellow?

One very important résult of our BALLYHOO activities which thrilled us all is this, Finally, after hammering away at you guys all these months, about the value of picking up ideas reported in these pages for use in your own particular situation ... it has become an established practice, and you're actually doing it, After all, if a manager develops a selling angle which brings customers into his theatre in Halifax ... there is every reason to believe that the same deal is good in Chilliwack, or North Bay or Hamilton, or any other town where we operate a theatre,

That's the main objective of our BALLYHOO ,... to disseminate information ... but that's of no value unless YO MAKE USE OF THAT INFORMATION,

SO e+. keep BALLYHOO alive, guys ... by reporting all of your ticket-selling activities, and the results of such activities to this department, And ... if you pick up an idea which was used somewhere else ,.. tell us about that too, huh? Well ... Happy Ballyhooin',

WHY THEY WON

If you read BALLYHOO at all, you must have read accounts of the

ticket=selling activities of the managers listed in this issue

as winners of our special prize awards. At Mr. Bolstad's suggest~ ion I am reprinting three of them ... just to refresh your mem- ories ... and maybe prod you a little into similar action, So,

here's the trio we selected.

CAPITOL ~ BRANTFORD

Bill Burke had two adult pictures booked end to end, which meant that in theory at least, his kids biz was shot for the week oe. Willie however is a guy who never says die ... and in addition

45 somewhat of an expert at the art of injecting a touch of the unusual into his selling activities ... so wha hoppen? Just this.

Bill arranged to book an old LASSIE picture for his three week-end matinees, He happens to have a collie pup with markings almost identical to those on Lassie ... and the lads on his local daily are pals of his ... so, he arranged for his pooch to make personal appearances in his lobby, and advertised it in every one of his ads, The Expositor came through with a three column cut of the canine, wearing a necklace of U.N. flags ... with the end result being that Bill packed out each of the three matineesS cece playing to thous ands of small fry and several hundred adults,

Instead of taking a beating he came out with a handsome profit on the engagement, That's what we call real Showmanship, and that's why Willie wound up with our top prize,

oreoXeXorXore FORT AND LAKE - FORT WILLIAM

Two heads are better than one, especially if they're the heads

of Gordon Carson and Frank Sabatini, Those two lads certainly aren't jealous of each other, and dontt mind in the least working together for the common good ... and that's just what they did ~ to build up a terrific mid-week kids! matinee during the summer,

Both theatres run a regular Saturday matinee ,.. natch, but they felt that the kids could be intérested in turning out on one other afternoon’ during the week ... so, they organized ~ what they call their 1-2-3 Club, Membership cards are printed, different colours for each theatre, and the young tuns are handed one at the first theatre they attend. On each successive week these cards are punched, and a perfect attendance entitles thé holder to a free show on the fourth week, Don't get excited ... seems that many of the small fry fall by the wayside; and not as many of the free cards are redeemed as you'd think oa BUT , the Wednesday matinees were jammed’at both theatres all summer and talk about confection sales ... Wow}! simply terrific, :

That's only one item now let!s tak i

: oo8 e a look at thei fore deal .., and a pip, Seems that the opposition house a . own managed to corral the entire Roy Rogers series for showing

FORT and LAKE ~ FORT WILLIAM (cont'd, )

at the Saturday matinees during the summer months 3,. What to do? Well, Gordon and Frank knew what to do, and did it, They recalled an old Durango Kid series’produced by Columbia many years ago, and made a deal for the works, They plastered the town with effective advertising ,,. jammed both their theatres for four Satmats, and Continued it for’four more, Kinda stole the thunder right from

under Mr, Rogers,

That's good thinking supported by practical action ... and like I said ... Two heads are better than one, Are there two or more theatres in your town flying the F.P, banner fella? Well, so do I have to draw pictures?

oXeoXoXeXeXo

SHEA'S ~ TORONTO

As is customary in key runs, when an unusual attraction comes along, the people who can do the most good, publicity-wise, and

I naturally mean the lads on the newspapers, radio and T.V. are invited to a special screening, To prevent this from becoming too commonplace, Len Bishop occasionally injects something just

a little bit different, and usually winds up by scooping the town,

In advance of his showing on MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, Len invited the publicists to a special screening, and were they shocked to find a couple of doctors in attendance, and an array of the very latest in Cardiac equipment, on loan from a local medical supply house, The lads, including world champion wrestler Whipper Billy Watson were wired for the duration 6f the screen showing and the readings recorded on the machines, Naturally a shutter-bug was on hand to get pictorial evidence, and guess what ... the press was most generous in its coverage of this stunt and a build up of the pic, and Dick McDougall used it on his popular T.V. show,

’ How important is this kind of hokum? Hokum he calls Tite yt «55-5 Well, Len played MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH for five full’ weeks to the best business the house had enjoyed in many a moon,

oXeKXsXoXeXy

So there you have it ,.. and it wouldn't be too difficult to write similar accounts about every one of our prize winners, but naturally, due to space limitations and the fact that we have already reported their activities we had to call a halt somewhere,

ef Pub I want to bring out is this eee YOU TOO can do exactly € same things in your own town, to equall ood result i don't mean for you to rush out and buy a collie Be pes I'm te talking about an idea and how it was made to pay off, As far as the kids Shows go, and the Cardiac 848 «.. both are items vee can jot ae mecca. Seweae book and make use of when the Occasion presents itself, They are proven ,.. + i All you have to do is follow through, pe are oes,

Read your BALLYHOO fellows ... but what is more impoftant

REMEMBER WHAT YoU READ, and then try it out on your customers ?

VACATION'S OVER Well guys, the vacation season!s practically over, and it's high time we settled down to some plain and fancy planning of Our Fall and Winter selling activities, It's never too early to begin, so how about RIGHT NOW?

And remember ,.. your customers are back from their holidays too, so how about doing something to interest them in paying a visit to your theatre ... for EVERY change of program? That means the kids too ,.. and what have you done about pepping up your Saturday matinees so the kidstll beg their folks to let them go to the movies? :

Don't wait for the first snow to fly fellows ... start laying’ your plans now, and back up those plans with some real action, It'll show in your results, believe me,

eX eXoX—eXoXe TO HOLD OR NOT TO HOLD?

That's quite a question, and sometimes you're the only one who

can give us the answer, During this current quarter particularly, we have had a number of terrific attractions, most of them warranting extra playing time. I refer particularly to WEE GEORDIE, MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, KING AND I etc.

We at this end can watch the results of those theatres which wire in their receipts, but there are many who are not on our wire service, and we have no way of knowing how they!re doing until their box office statements come in ... and sometimes that's just a little too late,

In one instance WEE GHORDIE in three days did nearly two weeks! normal business, but the manager didn!t say a word and let it get away. We booked it in a few weeks later for an additional two days, to equally good results, but still no word from Mr, Manager, The same thing happened in another situation, this time with MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, Makes usS wonder at times what the manager's doing ... or thinking about,

Fellows ... let's be sensible, Good product isn't quite as plentiful as it used to be, and we!ve got to get every single day of playing time out of every attraction, Certainly we have no business dissipating the really outstanding ones, YOU!RE the MANAGER of your theatre, How about managing it the way you would if you owned it, and had your ovyvn dough tied up in it?

You know how an attraction is’doing before anyone else does ... so dontt keep secrets from us, If your business is so far above normal as to make a holdover practical, wire at once, or «+, we'll even forgive you if you phone, But, let us know and let's talk about it, huh? ,

Pe ee aaned eu eee this is your business, and your living we're talking about, Treat both gentl and they!11 in kind, Need I say more? 2 ie zi See apes

PEGBOARD DISPLAYS

Several months! ago I commented on the very attractive front j displays developed by Al Hartshorn in Oshawa, through the sensible use of pegboard ... 4 not~too-expensive product, On my recent trip through the North country I noticed that Bob Harvey took the hint and is also using this pegboard in his displays.

It not only gives you a somewhat different, and certainly attractive display fellows, but saves you the recurring expense of filling your frames with seasonal changes of mats, With this pegboard, all you do is repaint it in keeping with the seasons, and it is flexible enough in its use to make use of any number of plain or fancy displays,

If your mats are getting 4 little shabby, and you're considering replacements ... use your imagination and a little pegboard, huh? I think you may get quite a surprise at the effects you can create,

eXeXoXeXeXe THEATRE FUNDS

You probably have by now on your desk a copy of a memo sent

out by Roly Darby, headed THEATRE FUNDS. Don't just sluff this off fellows, and then one day find yourself in the same predic- ament described by Roly,

Tt seems that quite recently two theatres suffered break-ins, and in both cases funds were stolen which are not recoverable under our insurance coverage ... and the reason is simple ... THE FUNDS WERE NOT IN THE SAFE, Why they were not in the safe I don't know ... but the fact remains that we have to ~ pay the shot, Incidentally, even if your funds are in your safe, but the safe is left unlocked ... we ARE NOT COVERED.

I think it important enough to reprint Roly's suggestion for the safeguarding of theatre funds 4...

(1) All funds should be kept in thé safe, and the safe fully locked at all times,

(2) The Boxoffice should be cleared at régular intervals during the time it is open,

(3) Theatre funds should be checked in a locked room, and no unauthorized person bé permitted until these are locked in the safe,

It's much better to be safe than sorry, guys oe. SO make sure that you take at least as good care of your theatre's funds as you do of your own, huh?

aXeXoXeXoXe

CONGRATULATIONS DOUG

Doug Mickleboro, assistant manager of the Tivoli in Hamilton, and his wife Mary became proud parents a few weeks ago, The little newcomer, Louanne, doing well thank you... and so's her mom,

Doug still hasn't got over the shock ... but he's coming along,

BOILER INSPECTIONS

At the end of every heating season, the Travellers Insurance Company makes a complete inspection of your heating plant, and submits its recommendation to this office, These are analyzed ; and sent on to the manager for action, and where extensive repairs are indicated, the manager is asked to obtain local tenders and send them along to our Maintenance department for approval,

We have had several instances where our managers just didntt think this important enowgh to merit their attention, and Simply ignored the instructions, JI know a couple of spots where the original instructions went out in late June, and as of now we still haven!t had any action from the manager, He may wake up one day to find zero weather and’his heating plant still out of commission ... and then brother ... will the fur really fly.

Fellows ... we think that you're pretty good business men, so how about acting the part, huh? If you're one of those who has neglected his heating plant all summer ,,, get on it, will you? RIGHT NOW I mean, Dig into your’ files ,.., find those instructions, and let!s get a little action, Don't get caught short,

oXeXeXoXoXe ABOUT REQUISITIONS

First may I remind you that we have a standard requisition form for the ordering of all supplies, Secondly ... when you do place an order, make sure that ALL THREE COPIES of the form are forwarded to your District Manager for approval, In this way you will have a record of your’ order with the proper signature on it for a reference purposes, If you don't send in the copy marked ‘manager! then you have no way of knowing whether or not your order had been approved, Simple, eh?

oXeXeXoXeXo

TOM McKNIGHT MENDING

Our old friend Mac was relieving Les Mitchell in Welland for a couple of weeks, One change night Mac was watching the marquee boy doing his job ... stépped off the curb, and wham ... got smacked by a passing car,

We're glad to report that in spite of a slight concussion and broken arm Mac is’now as good as new, and will be up’and about in a week or so, Take it easy Mac, and in future .., Look

before you leap ... or step off a curb, huh? Glad you're feeling well, and that it was no worse,

eX eX p.XeXoXo

MURRAY SUMMERVILLE PROMOTED

—_—

Murray Summerville, erstwhile assistant to Bill Trudell at the Capitol in’ London has been named manager of the Algoma theatre in the Soo, Incidentally, while on his holidays a couple of weeks ago, Murray took unto himself a bride, Congratulations on both counts Murray .,, and, welcome to the Soo,

CHECK YOUR MARQUEES

In one theatre where we have a very effective marquee and front, and both are kept in absolutely tip top condition by the manager, we had occasion one day to make a complete physical check, and discovered that the marquee, in spite of annual clean-up and repainting by the theatre crew, had rotted all the way through, and constituted a very serious hazard, After further checks and professional advice it was decided to renew it,

In another theatre, due to water seepage the electric sockets had been shorted and the metal strips deteriorated to the point where one could shove his finger right through them. These also are in the process of being replaced,

Keep constant check on your physical property fellows, and at the’first sign of a breakdown notify your maintenance department. That!s what the monthly maintenance reports are for, You can save yourself a lot of trouble, and quite possibly a Jot of unnecessary expense, Properties do age, and on occasion must be repaired or replaced, You can cut down the cost of such repairs by being constantly vigilant and reporting the obvious signs when they first become apparent,

oX eX eXeXoXy MATRONS

According to the Theatres Act a matron must be on duty at all times when children are permitted to attend our theatres, This applies to Saturdays, holidays and of course the school vacation period,

Now that school is back in session it is not necessary to keep a full time matron on your payroll, but it is obligatory to bring one in for your Saturday and Holiday matinees. Check it eo. huh?

eoXeKoXKoXecXo

ADVERTISING STARTING TIMES

In spite of the numerous reminders in these pages, of the importance of advertising the starting times of your features, both in your newspapers and somewhere on your front 3.. it still seems to be too much trouble for a number of our men, I receive all kinds of tear sheets, and perhaps one out of thrée contains the starting times in a prominent location in the ad, Three

out of four theatres fail to show these times at the boxoffice or some other spot on the front, and the cashier is kept busy giving with information instead of tickets,

Let's smarten up guys ... Most customers like to come in at the start of the show, and certainly at the beginning of the feature, Many make a spécial effort to get down town just in order to catch the beginning. Make sure that your starting times are published in EVERY at .., and, just as important’... make sure that the times you publish are the correct ones, It GAN result in added ticket sales, ean

MORE PRIZE WINNERS

I see a bulletin from Jack Fitzgibbons announcing the cash prize Winners in T.C.L.!s recently concluded popcorn-week contest ees Jack tells us that this is one of the most successful contests he has run, from both the number of participants and the quality of the entries .., as well as the end results ... sales-wise,.

Only one thing puzzles Jack ... and me too, In spite of the many reminders ,,. two special bulletins from T,0.L. and even a couple of mentions in these pages, several entries arrived a full weék after the announced deadline, and were not eligible for judging, You guys reading your mail ,.. or just filing it intact? Anyway ... FIVE managers wound up with the’dough, and here they are e.. Congratulations, and keep punchin',

Ist prize $30.00 - Bill Burke, Capitol = Brantford 2nd _ prize 25,00 = Mel Jolley, Century - Hamilton

3rd prize 20.00 - Ken Garbigg, Century-Lindsay

4th prize 15,00 = Joe Paul, Paramount ~ Brantford 5th prize 10,00 ~ Zara Ellwood, Capitol - St, Thomas

Jack sez that he has more contests coming up, with more dough for the winners, Let's give him something to really talk about huh? I mean by a record 100% participation, T'tain't so tough ee. all you have to do is send him a report of what youtre doing, supported by pictorial evidence, YOU TOO CAN BE A WINNER,

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THOSE 20¢ DRINKS AGAIN

I dontt have to remind you just how important your confection business is tO your overall results ... by this time you certainly ought to know, Just about a year ago T.C.L. introduced the giant size 20¢ drink cups, with a dozen or so suggestions as how to best make use of them,

Some managers went after them ... some simply didn't take the trouble, The ones who did reported phenomenal’sales ,.. and the others simply kept quiet about the whole thing.

While in Rouyn a couple of weeks ago I happened to notice the very high percentage of 20¢ cups sold by Benoit Lehoux! ae confection attendants, and asked Benny to send me some figures ... In a little over three weeks this theatre rang up 1356 sales, Not bad, huh? In fact, mighty good, Can you equal that record?

Benny tells me that his customers are sd used to it now that he doesn't even have to usé the punch line ...'Large?t’.... they simply take it for granted. This is one of those high~profit items we keep talking about fellows ... What are you doing about increasing your sales? Nice going Benny,

oaXeXeXeoXoXe Many a theatre is kept out of the 'tred! by the volume of its

confection sales, This business has become very important to us and deserves your personal attention, Is it getting it?

WITH OUR DRUMBEATERS COAST TO COAST

Sorry I'm a little late with this issue, gang... but I've been visiting our Northern theatres for a couple of weeks, and only got back to the office a few days ago. Our lads in Timmins , Rouyn and Noranda, North Bay, Sudbury and the Soo all wish to

be remembered ... and so does Olga. They run good theatres in the North country, and my visit was a most refreshing one ... in spite of the near zero weather ... or so it seemed to me, Don't you guys ever get summer up there? Next time I'll be smart, and wear a fur-lined parka when I visit you.

In spite of the imposing prize list which appears earlier in this issue I am still somewhat disappointed at what appears to’ be a lack of interest on the part of far too many of our managers. Don't get scared ... I'm not going into a lecture ... only it's a little disappointing, and gets a little discouraging to find so many of our men ‘among the missing! week after week, and this in spite of the many letters I receive telling me how much they enjoy the pages of BALLYHOO.

Try to remember fellows ... YOU are BALLYHOO, and you're

the guys who are supposed to make the news, I can't pick it out of thin air,

Let!s really get together on this, huh ... and let's see more and more reports of activities in each issue, Who knows eee you may find yourself among the winners ... and if not, well, at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you tried,

So now let‘s get on with our Drumbeaters, oXoXoXokXerXe CAPITOL ~— CALGARY

I have a report from Bert Bauer who is pinch-hitting while Ralph Mitchéltree is away on vacation, To give added impetus to KING AND I, Bert arranged with all the deejays in town to not only plug thé music from the pic, but to support each with good local credits, G@FCGWN devoted a full hour to selections from the

mus ical, with excellent plugs.

A tie-up with Capitol Records resulted in one of the most effective window displays ever seen in down town Calgary ... and the record people pleced good attraction cards in the windows of all their dealers throughout the city,

In advance of HIGH SOCIETY, a special screening was arranged for members of the press and radio, as well as all local record dealers, Comment cards were distributed, and the more complimentary ones were mountéd and used as a very effective display in advance of opening,

Every record dealer in town was provided with attractive displays, and Bert advises that they all used them, assuring the theatre of some dozens of windows around town,

BROADWAY - TIMMINS

Bob Nelson has become quite an expert at staging Beauty Contests, and we have at hand a report of his latest one ... this year's Search for Miss Timmins who will compete with other beauties from Northern Ontario for the title Miss Northern Ontario,

I have at least a dozen tear sheets here, each loaded with details of the contest, pictures of the contestants, entry forms etc, etc. and in each story is mentioned the fact that the Judging will take place on the stage of the Broadway theatre...

C K G B came through with 28 individual air-reports, and covered the entire show from the theatre. CFC IL also gave terrific

air coverage, The new, local T.V. station really co-operated, but good, They presented, live, every contestant ... over a period of a couple of weeks, carried pictures of the loads of prizes which were promoted for the event, and interviewed Bob on four separate occasions, On the night following the contest they aired a half hour live show built around the girls who participated, and ... but Natch ... our Mr. Nelson,

Bob did his usual terrific job on this deal, and needless to say, his theatre was practically mobbed on the night of the big 'Do! .,. They certainly know Bob Nelson and the Broadway in Timmins, Nice going Bob,

Behe eck giKig

CAPITOL ~ FORT WILLIAM

To get WEE GEORDIE off to a good start, Jimmy Cameron's assistant, R. Yasenik arranged for a full dress parade of the Fort William Pipe Band, led by two youngsters carrying a banner 'We!re on our way to see WEE GEORDIE! ,,, Naturally this got the town talking. On arrival at the theatre the band performed for half an hour before entering ... and gathered quite a crowd, many of whom followed them in ... aafter purchasing tickets, naturally.

On the Saturday preceding opening, it so happened that there was a Kinlock Highland gathering in town, which drew some 5,000 spectators, For a couple of ducats the C.O. in charge of the P,A. system gave out with generous plugs for the pic,

oXeKoXeX. Xo

NORANDA ~- NORANDA

I have a note from Sam Korman, with a tear sheet attached, of a really terrific double-truck co-op promoted by Johnny Tomlin, manager of the theatre, on MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT, Each of the ads on the two pages ,.. all of which were sold by the boys on the sheet ... carry cuts of Gregory Peck and generous mention of the attraction at the Noranda,

I believe that this is the first time that a co-op of this type has ever been successfully planted in a Noranda paper, and Johnny deserves a lot‘of credit for the missionary work he aid OR Se ae possible, Keep it up, and let!s have more of

CM ece uns

CAPITOL - VERNON

Walter Bennett is a real community-minded citizen .., and when his activities add up to many extra dollars at the old B.0., why it's that much better,

For many years ... ten, as a matter of fact ... Walter has been staging a Miss Vernon beauty contest, with the winning entrant assured a trip to Vancouver plus many valuable prizes ... In Vancouver she represents Vernon in the PACIFIC NATIONAL EXHIBITION, and three years ago, the Vernon gal copped top honors as Miss P,N.E. and the $1,000.00 prize which goes with it,

Until this year Walter has been staging these contests on his own, but they have proven so popular that this year the local Board of Trade climbed on the bandwagon, and even kicked in $100.00 as spending money for the winner while in Vancouver,

The whole deal takes about six weeks of planning and promotion, which is quite a job’... but ably handled by Walter. Entry forms provided by the P.N.E, are available at the theatre and must be filled in by every aspiring Queen, The Vernon News is 100% back of this deal, and supports it with good stories and pics of the gals all the way through. The contest proper is held on the stage of the theatre, with the mayor in attendance, and the paying customers doing the voting on ballots provided by the theatre, Naturally the house is jam-packed on that evening.

In addition to the money provided by the C of C, Walter was this year successful in promoting nearly $300.00 worth of" wearing apparel, luggage, jewellery etc. from local merchants. This year's contést was held on August 6th, and from all accounts was the best yet. Well ... the B.O, results would seem to indicate that. Nice going Walter,

ekXeXeXeXeXo ORPHEUM ~ S00

Olga had MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH booked, and really did a job on it .e. in spite of the fact that she was at the time handling the Algoma in addition to her own house.

She started out with one of her usually very effective special false fronts, which really wowed the natives, In addition she used the old peep-box gag on the sidewalk, with stills and copy on the inside of the box, and reports that it's amazing just how many passers-by will stop to take a look, Quite obviously they rot only looked ... but bought tickets too,

Three leading ladies! wear stores co-operated by devoting their front windows to excellent displays, which were naturally dressed up with good display material, and tied in with Doris Day.’ C K C Y plugged the two song hits continually during the playdates, with good pic and theatre credits, The Sault to Sudbury press came through with an excellent story on the pic,

The local T,V, outlet which carries the Alfred Hitchcock series plugged the attraction at the Orpheum for the two weeks preceding her opening. A well rounded campaign,

CAPITOL - BRANTFORD

Bill Burke reports another 'first! for Brantford ... and it!s a good one, When he opened with D DAY SIXTH OF JUNE, Bill invited members of the 56th Regiment, who had participated in the landings to be his guests, He arranged to seat them in the front row of the loge section, At the exact moment when the landings were taking place on the screen, an Expositor photographer, unknown to the spectators, took a long shot of the men,

The Expositor, smelling a good news item, ran this pic, four columns across, on the front page of Saturday!s paper oe, and brother, beat that if'you can ... with the cut line simply being 'What do they see? ... you'll see by turning to page 5,!

On page 5 appeared a reprint of the picture, PLUS a good cut from the pressbook, PLUS an excellent story. This is the first time, Bill reports, that the Expositor has ever published anything with even the slightest tinge of commercialism on its front page, and, it didn't cost the theatre a thin dime,

In addition, the men paraded to the theatre in full dress led by their trumpet band which attracted a lot of attention erate The unit also, in advance, set up an eye-catching display of uniformed dummies and weapons in the lobby, with N.C.0,'s in dress blues in attendance at every performance,

‘A great stunt, and one I am sure you can promote in your own town, Try it, huh? Incidentally ... business was GOOD,

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CAPITOL - LONDON

Cantt be ... but there it is right in front of me, The identical stunt as reported by Bill Burke was pulled by Bill Trudell in the London Free Press, except that the picturé didn't appear on the front page and the men weren!t in uniform, However, Bill reports the fous excellent reaction as in Brantford, and that's what counts,

Did the two Bills get together on this one, or is it possible that their thought patterns ran parallel, and each one dreamt up the gag independently of the other? Be interesting to know, so how about letting us in on it, huh Bill ... and Bill?

. oXeoX eX eXeoXy PARAMOUNT ~ HALIFAX

Each year during the city of Halifax's birthday, the city puts on a giant parade which includes decorated floats from various Halifax firms, a parade of service personnel, bands etc, which draws more than 60,000 Haligonians down town, The committee in charge frowns on direct commercialism, but Freeman Skinner did a little fast talking and wound up with a'car in the parade completely bannered with FASTEST GUN ALIVE copy, Car, signs etc, were supplied by a local car dealer, An usher and usherette, Suitably dressed added a little life to the float. In addition Freeman had his Lobby decorated with weapons supplied by the local militia, and also’ promoted four excellent down tow windows for display purposes,

TIVOLI -—- HAMILTON

While Don Edwards was on vacation, his assistant Doug Mickleboro stepped out and did a whale of a promotion job on MOBY DICK ... Strange ... but seems to me this is the only account of any promotional activities to have reached me from this situation in many months, Let!s see what Doug did.

Doug contacted the lads over on the Spectator, and between them they went to work on Hamilton Motor Products, local G.M. dealers, They used as their catch line ... 'A Whale of a Deal! and here!s what Doug wound up with.

Three days before opening, an 875 line ad on the sports page of the Spec, ‘Two days before opening, a 250 line ad in the classified section, On opening day another beaut .,. this time a 760 line ad on the sports page, All carried good MOBY DICK copy. For the full two week run, thé dealer bought a 250 line ad each day in the classified section, The total lineage promoted, at no cost to the theatre ... 4,885 lines, Not bad, huh?

Hamilton Motor Products also paid for 100 special 11 x 14 silk screened cards which were placed on used cars on their lot for all prospective customers to’ see, These had a picture of a whale on them with the same copy’... "A Whale of a Buy! ... with good selling copy for MOBY DICK,

Doug also arranged with O'Brien News Company to banner their four trucks, and send out circulars to all their dealers in the entire Hamilton area, urging them to publicize the’ picture by boosting the sale of their pocket editions of the book,

A nice selling job Doug ... keep it up. eoXeXoXoXoXo

CAPITOL ~ CHATHAM

I don't hear from Harry Wilson nearly often enough ... wonder why? However, he sends along tear Sheets to prove that he!s still around, and the coverage is excellent, In one I see a good photo of Harry presenting a local resident with $900.00 which she won as the result of being in the theatre when her name was called on’Foto Nite, May enoourage other citizens to attend this prize night,

; Then I see a full page co-op tying in Harry!s Fall Festival of hits, and a very attractive one it is, Down the center are listed Harry's coming attractions, and surrounding this are ads placed by local merchants, each tying in with one or more of the pics listed, The merchants paid the shot, Nice going Harry .,, but, keep us posted on ALL of your activities, huh? :

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CAPITOL - ST. THOMAS

Zara Ellwood just couldn't get an i i

: yone in town to go for a window ay CATERED AFFAIR, So rigged up a pretty cute gimmick in the’ form of a small wedding cake on a turn-table .,, with’ good copy which she placed on the counter of the boxoffice, ia

ORPHEUM ~ VANCOUVER

Well, Ack!s back in the news ..e this time with an extremely ° successful tie-up he arranged with the B.C. Fur Association we. Each year this association holds its annual fur show at the local Pacific National Exhibition ... but Ack's glib tongue, and some statistics he brought to their attention resulted in it being moved to the’stage of the Orpheum ... and that's all that guy really wanted,

He dressed it up in typical Ackery style ... with the Fur people even going for a fifteen piece band .,. and titled it tEntertainment with Fashions." The show received terrific coverage in all of Vancouver!s newspapers as well as on radio and 1T,V., and you may be sure Ack!s emporium came in for plenty of good mention,

To really dress the event up, Ack arranged for the furs to be delivered to the theatre in armoured trucks, and the bevy of beauteous models made their grand entrance at 8,00 o!fclock sharp in front of the theatre,

To quote Ack ..."Our patrons liked the stage show oo. the men liked the beautiful models ... the women liked the furs oo. the teeners liked the orchestra and entertainers ..,. AND I LOVED THE ADDED RECEIPTS .., a packed house on a very hot night,"

oXeXeXeXoXo CAPITOL ~ MOOSE JAW

For his WEE GEORDIE date Otis Bowes arranged for the St, Andrews Highland Band to march down to the theatre on opening night, and they further obliged by giving with the pipes in front of the theatre from 6.00 to 7.15. For good luck they tossed in a few Scottish dancers who performed on the sidewalk, This created quite a stir, and sold plenty of tickets,

Unable to get a print for advance screening, Otis did the next best and invited the local press, heads of the Scottish societies and the staff of radio station C H A B on opening night. As a result he wound up with some excellent newspaper stories, and every program director on C H A B came through with excellent air coverage, Business was GOOD,

oXeXeXoXeXo CAPITOL - WINDSOR

Joe doesn't believe in keeping me abreast of his activities .,. and it's a good thing that Gene Fitzgibbons drops me a note now and again telling me what's going on in that Metropolis,

The Essex and Kent Boys Golf Tournament has become a very important annual event in Windsor, drawing many hundreds of avid golfers and spectators, This year Joe thought hetd cash in on some of the publicity and had special guest’tickets printed for MOBY DICK which he presented to the winners, For three days both ¢ K L W radio and T.V. carried stories crediting the Capitol, and the Windsor Star ran a good story at the conclusion of the tourney,