Shea's Buffalo Invites Betty Clark To Invite Her Friends
You might on one hand call bally like this a
forfeiture of privacy, or better put, Shea Buffalo management wresting privacy
away from "guests" whose names will appear among want ads in
the local newspaper. I'm guessing Betty Clark submitted ten of friends to the
theatre and each got a pair of tickets provided they spotted themselves in
print. Question arises: What of those who don't enjoy being publicly exposed? It's an issue that is still relevant, for what is Facebook but a most
epic invasion of privacy since Rome marched on Carthage? Betty's guests
evidently had to drop by the Times' office to claim free ducats, and maybe get
a hard sell to subscribe while there. There were always schemes at work between
theatres and brother merchants. Any price for this program would have been a
bargain, of course. Not only the feature, but "Hollywood's Own Monte
Blue," a star by 1932 no longer a star, but who would remain Hollywood's
Own to extent of small parts he'd have right up to the sixties, and his
seventies. The town often did take care of its discarded, knowing an actor like
Blue could rise to dramatic occasion even if no longer a celebrated lead man as
in silents long past (he is fine, for instance, in 1948's Key Largo).
I'm guessing Betty Clark won a previous contest which allowed her the privilege of picking ten names, so this was a two-stage promotion. The cynic in me assumes she was asked not to say who she picked, so everybody who knew Betty Clark -- ANY Betty Clark -- would read the want ads. And I'd be surprised if all the tickets were claimed. In the fine print of modern contests, there's usually something about a second-chance drawing for unclaimed prizes; back then it was probably a saving for the theater or a freebie for somebody at the newspaper.
Publishing the names of winners is a long-standing tradition. it was the heart of the Publisher's Clearinghouse campaigns. But yes, publishing names of people who might not have even entered is pushing it. Dialing for Dollars picked numbers at random from sliced-up phone books (talk about long odds), but the people they called weren't identified (or heard, as I remember) unless they actually won.
Recalling the old gag of a fellow going to make an embarrassing purchase and finding himself OUR TEN THOUSANDTH CUSTOMER with attendant press and ballyhoo.
Note that Annette's win-a-phone-call contest published kids' names and hometowns: https://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-era-of-annette-mouseketeers-used-to.html
My feeling is that many liked seeing their names in print. A fellow said, seeing the press I've gotten over the years for the quality of my work, "My name was in a newspaper too." Then he showed me an article about a bungled bank robbery he'd been in in which the getaway car was wrapped around a utility pole.
He was proud to see his name in print. I refrained from saying, "It's not quite the same."
Your marquee features a drawing of fetching Julie Bishop, all five feet four inches and 110 pounds of her, who would be appearing in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "The Hard Way," or so the caption said. I first became acquainted with her as "Jacqueline Wells," her original professional name, when she gave a most effective performance in "The Black Cat," as a young newlywed caught in a game of life and death. Reportedly, Warner Bros. insisted that she change her name when she signed a contract with them, and the two pictures listed were to be products of that studio. They were made, of course, but while Julie Bishop has an uncredited role in "The Hard Way," she doesn't appear in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" at all. Was she ever intended for this one, or was the name more or less selected at random for the publicity heralding a new contract player?
Julie Bishop, aka Jacqueline Wells, also played the title role in the Laurel and Hardy version of THE BOHEMIAN GIRL! I also caught her recently as Bob Cummings' girlfriend in MY HERO (the first of Bob's many tv series) on one of the online tv/movie "channels". Her daughter is Pamela Shoop, one of the loveliest tv series/movie actresses of the 70s and 80s.
Have not seen the movie. Kirk Douglas holds that glass like he would like to ram it into her face. Is that an accident? Is that the emotion of the scene?
I've been systematically watching films which Hal Wallis had a hand in making, and I've just seen 'Cabin in the Cotton' - I hope those Southern "planters" and "peckerwoods" have come to some workable and satisfactory arrangement by now, ninety years later. The US South seems to be quite the place. That aside, this film is the first time I've ever seen Bette Davis both looking and acting truly hot - I simply had no idea she was so very beautiful as a young woman; I had a similar experience with Katherine Hepburn - both actresses were still active but geriatric and almost hag-like while I was a child, and that was my picture of both until I started watching these old films of the 1930s - by which time I myself was middle-aged.. Seeing how they had aged was a lesson in the nature of the passage of time for me, and both of these fine actresses proved to have had talents beyond their looks - but what looks they both once had! This isn't nostalgia - I'm not remembering anything from my past - but the permanence of film, and indeed photography in general, allows for this sort of thing, for the present appreciation of beauty that has long since faded and vanished. It is also an experience previous generations could not have had, as enough time had not yet passed - and the tech allowing it simply wasn't available anyhow.
8 Comments:
Holy smokes! Monty Blue? I love spotting this guy. ACCROSS THE PACIFIC, KEY LARGO, etc.
Thanks.
I'm guessing Betty Clark won a previous contest which allowed her the privilege of picking ten names, so this was a two-stage promotion. The cynic in me assumes she was asked not to say who she picked, so everybody who knew Betty Clark -- ANY Betty Clark -- would read the want ads. And I'd be surprised if all the tickets were claimed. In the fine print of modern contests, there's usually something about a second-chance drawing for unclaimed prizes; back then it was probably a saving for the theater or a freebie for somebody at the newspaper.
Publishing the names of winners is a long-standing tradition. it was the heart of the Publisher's Clearinghouse campaigns. But yes, publishing names of people who might not have even entered is pushing it. Dialing for Dollars picked numbers at random from sliced-up phone books (talk about long odds), but the people they called weren't identified (or heard, as I remember) unless they actually won.
Recalling the old gag of a fellow going to make an embarrassing purchase and finding himself OUR TEN THOUSANDTH CUSTOMER with attendant press and ballyhoo.
Note that Annette's win-a-phone-call contest published kids' names and hometowns:
https://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-era-of-annette-mouseketeers-used-to.html
My feeling is that many liked seeing their names in print. A fellow said, seeing the press I've gotten over the years for the quality of my work, "My name was in a newspaper too." Then he showed me an article about a bungled bank robbery he'd been in in which the getaway car was wrapped around a utility pole.
He was proud to see his name in print. I refrained from saying, "It's not quite the same."
Dan Mercer considers today's banner subject:
Your marquee features a drawing of fetching Julie Bishop, all five feet four inches and 110 pounds of her, who would be appearing in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "The Hard Way," or so the caption said. I first became acquainted with her as "Jacqueline Wells," her original professional name, when she gave a most effective performance in "The Black Cat," as a young newlywed caught in a game of life and death. Reportedly, Warner Bros. insisted that she change her name when she signed a contract with them, and the two pictures listed were to be products of that studio. They were made, of course, but while Julie Bishop has an uncredited role in "The Hard Way," she doesn't appear in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" at all. Was she ever intended for this one, or was the name more or less selected at random for the publicity heralding a new contract player?
Julie Bishop, aka Jacqueline Wells, also played the title role in the Laurel and Hardy version of THE BOHEMIAN GIRL! I also caught her recently as Bob Cummings' girlfriend in MY HERO (the first of Bob's many tv series) on one of the online tv/movie "channels". Her daughter is Pamela Shoop, one of the loveliest tv series/movie actresses of the 70s and 80s.
I take it that the drawing of Julie Bishop is from Feg Murray's "Seein' Stars" comic? And whose legs are those at the bottom?
"Cabin in the Cotton" is remembered for Bette Davis' line "I'd like to kiss ya but I just washed my hair."
Have not seen the movie. Kirk Douglas holds that glass like he would like to ram it into her face. Is that an accident? Is that the emotion of the scene?
I've been systematically watching films which Hal Wallis had a hand in making, and I've just seen 'Cabin in the Cotton' - I hope those Southern "planters" and "peckerwoods" have come to some workable and satisfactory arrangement by now, ninety years later. The US South seems to be quite the place.
That aside, this film is the first time I've ever seen Bette Davis both looking and acting truly hot - I simply had no idea she was so very beautiful as a young woman; I had a similar experience with Katherine Hepburn - both actresses were still active but geriatric and almost hag-like while I was a child, and that was my picture of both until I started watching these old films of the 1930s - by which time I myself was middle-aged..
Seeing how they had aged was a lesson in the nature of the passage of time for me, and both of these fine actresses proved to have had talents beyond their looks - but what looks they both once had!
This isn't nostalgia - I'm not remembering anything from my past - but the permanence of film, and indeed photography in general, allows for this sort of thing, for the present appreciation of beauty that has long since faded and vanished.
It is also an experience previous generations could not have had, as enough time had not yet passed - and the tech allowing it simply wasn't available anyhow.
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