BOXOFFICE Showmandiser: The exhibitor’s ready reference for the best in ballyhoo and bombast

For decades, Boxoffice published a section devoted to “better booking and business-building” called the Boxoffice Showmandiser. In addition to reviews, release charts and booking guides, Showmandiser featured stories from the front lines before studios and distributors reduced film promotion to trailers, one-sheets, standees and appearances on Letterman. The nuggets presented here are from 1960, and though they may seem quaint and quirky, they are nothing more or less than the viral marketing campaigns of their day. Imagine what William Castle could have done with the internet.

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FROM BOXOFFICE / 1960 >

Beatnik trio in lobby, other hard-sells

The public is more entertainment conscious than ever before, remarks Art Sills, now managing the Capitol Theatre in Jackson, Mich., for Butterfield Theatres. But it must be told and told hard—“super-promotion on every picture is the only answer to empty seats.”

Sills, who won a Boxoffice Showmandiser Citation in December 1958, reports how he carries out his formula on attractions at the Capitol.

The Beat Generation—Had three live beatniks in the lobby, lounging in a special display area. One painted, one read and one meditated … around small table with a wine bottle and candle. Radio stations plugged Louis Armstrong records.

The Bat—staged a “Screamiere” opening night. Served fried grasshoppers, smoked eel and baked ants to patrons. Free-passed anyone turning up in monster costume. Had a coffin display with manikan in lobby, also peepbox with card, “Beware of the Bat.” Inside was a baseball bat. During tense moments in picture had a stooge scream, two attendants rush down aisle and pick up disguised manikan. Then they carried her out in two parts!

John Paul Jones—Navy display in lobby. A-boards carried poster on movie with credit lines.

Have Rocket, Will Travel—Tied in-store display of toy space rockets and equipment with stills and plug for picture.

Sign of the Gladiator—Tied in with two dime stores on bracelet counter with stills mounted on a sign proclaiming, “In Days of Old These Were Fashionable Jewelry—Now Get the Newest.” Sign in sweater shop with stills of [Anita] Ekberg in sweater.

Tamango—Had a seven-foot-tall palm tree in lobby surrounded by paper on the feature.

Oregon Trail—Tied in with Woolworth’s for special cowboy counter with banner overhead proclaiming, “Official Oregon Trail Trading Post.” One-sheet was spotted on counter.

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Nudist film clicks

Hideout in the Sun, a picture made in Florida by Martin Caplan, owner-operator of Varsity Theatre in Miami Beach, and Doris Wishman, has broken all records in the 14-year history at the Varsity. It’s a nudist film with “an exciting plot” according to the Miami Beach Sun. Dolores Carlos and two female co-stars were featured on the stage nightly during opening week at the first of the year, and in newspaper and radio advertising. A special marquee by King Display Co. of New York featured the title in 18-inch cutout letters and silhouettes of two nudes.

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Glamor girl emcees Goliath contest; Muscle boy shows stuff out front

It might have looked corny to some people, but so-called feats of individual strength are of the first order of interest the world over. Jack McDougall, manager of the Fox Oakland (Calif.) Theatre, had Louis Goegan, one of the muscle boys in Goliath staged at the theatre, display his strength in front of the Fox with horses, children and pedestrians, all for Goliath and the Barbarians.

McDougall got a pretty model to emcee the Goliath contest to add a bit of glamor.

A lavender jeep with a fringed surrey top was promoted for use as a street ballyhoo. Flags and special setpieces livened up the front. Valances were used in advance as part of the lobby and foyer flash display, which included a large wall layout. The valances were divided into three sections and after picture opened were hung in normal manner on the marquee.

Steve Reeves, star of the film, hailed from the Oakland area, so McDougall used the local-boy angle in all copy.

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Tingler stimulates writers of columns

The Tingler, which opened at the Lyric in Minneapolis and the Riviera, St. Paul, received fine publicity from columnists of newspapers in both cities.

Will Jones of the Minneapolis Tribune wrote that he hadn’t heard such screaming “since the last Elvis Presley movie—and they do it without wires.” Jones was referring to the boxes which were placed under the theatre seats which, he said, “provide carefully timed fanny massage …. That’s where the screaming reaches its worst.”

“They’re having a screaming ball at the Riviera these days,” was the way Bill Diehl started his Look ‘N’ Listen column in the St. Paul Dispatch in describing The Tingler.

“St. Paul girls have passed their scream test,” he declared. “The yells that have been filling the Riviera match anything ever recorded on wax or film.”

Diehl also reported that Arlo Van Syckel, manager of the Riviera, hired a girl to run screaming from the theatre at certain performances. At one show where the girl was not on hand, a gal came yelling out of the auditorium. Van Syckel couldn’t figure out how come she was working at that show. The girl proved to be a real case of hysterics and wouldn’t even go back into the theatre for her coat.

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Crow in cage talks ’em in for Gazebo!

Don Gates, assistant manager, forwards a “talking” crow gag he says really worked when used on The Gazebo at the LaVista Theatre in Pampa, Texas.

The film did 44 percent above average, and Gates credits a great deal of the increase to the crow gag.

First he put a crow in cage on top of the box offi ce, which extends toward the street at one side of the front. This was hooked up with the theatre’s intercom system. The idea was to make the people think the bird was doing the talking, and it seemed to Gates, who was doing the actual talking, that most of them did.

He would remark, “Have you seen The Gazebo?” and other things of that nature to attract attention. He cautions not to overdo the talk and spoil the effect. Keep the talk within the parrot range.

Gates reports he held a crowd in front nearly every day.

“This may sound funny,” he comments. “But it really works, and you can have a lot of fun doing it.”

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ALSO FROM 1960 >

Passes to Hell for nurses - Virginia Setzer, manager of the Sparta Theatre in Sparta, N.C., gave passes to the first seven nurses attending Five Gates to Hell

Tickets oncharge accounts - Ben-Hur tickets have gone on sale at Dayton’s big department store in downtown Minneapolis although the film will not open for some time at the Academy Theatre there. The purchases can be “charged.”

Kisses from Sheba - For Solomon and Sheba at the New Theatre in Baltimore, an appropriately clad girl traveled the downtown district to hand out among holiday shoppers envelopes imprinted,“A Kiss From Sheba,” with credits, etc., and containing a silver-wrapped chocolate kiss.

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‘Exploitips’ for Exhibitors

Real promotional ideas from the pages of BOXOFFICE

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond - Ask police for a display of crime prevention equipment for lobby use. Put your doorman in a policeman’s uniform a week in advance of playdate. Two days before opening, dress an usher in a convict suit for street use.

The Hypnotic Eye - Have a hypnotist in theatre for an intermission show prior to the film’s opening and also have him go on local TV and radio shows to plug the film. Have a local doctor write an item about hypnotism for papers. Put a giant eye above theatre …

Visit to a Small Planet - The space ship in the picture should be easy to reconstruct for a lobby display—any type of flying saucer should suffice. A girl with a space hel-met could be a good street ballyhoo. Set newspaper ads as an invitation to visit a small planet. “You are cordially invited, etc.”

Time of Desire - The sole selling angle is the sensational theme, which suggests, although it doesn’t pinpoint, lesbian-ism. Plaster the theatre front with pictures of the two girls bathing in the nude and the ad copy: “Call It Passion … Love Sin!” Mention that the author also wrote Erotic Love in the Film.

Othello - Stress the fact that this version of Shakespeare’s great tragedy is spoken in English …

Beast from Haunted Cave - Have a kids party to explore any caves near your area and have movie tickets hidden in them as prizes …

Solomon and Sheba - Stress the pageantry and DeMille-like revelry and orgies by using stills and blowups of Gina Lollobrigida in her scanty costumes and her bathtub scene.

Toby Tyler - [I]f possible, borrow or rent a monkey to attract passersby …

The Pusher - [P]lay up the title by sending a ballyhoo man around the neighborhood dressed in a dark raincoat, slouch hat and collar turned up and carrying a sign saying, “I am a Pusher, the Most Vicious Criminal Today” …

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