“Newcomer Robin Johnson is a revelation as Nicky…”
The Campaign Pressbook from Associated Film Distribution was a promotional tool for theater owners. The first part repeated almost verbatim the biographical articles from the Press Materials folder, but supplied them in a format with illustrations that could be sent directly to a newspaper and printed. For instance, the article on Robin is the same as the one in the press kit, but the paragraphs dealing with her birthday, her home life, and her “whatever” attitude toward an acting career have been removed, and a line added for the theater owner to insert the theater name and the date Times Square opens. All of the photos in the Pressbook are ones included with the press kit.
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- Times Square AFD Campaign Pressbook (cover)
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- AFD Campaign Pressbook, page 2
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- AFD Campaign Pressbook, page 3
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- AFD Campaign Pressbook, page 4
The cover is a variation of the poster, with the elements moved to fill a 600-line newspaper ad space (four columns by 150 lines). (Most of the Pressbook, in fact, consists of pages of variously-sized ads based on the poster, all ready to be cut out and sent to your local paper with your theater’s name added in the blank space provided.)
The “Synopsis” on pages 1 and 2 is an edited version of what was given in the press kit. The accompanying photo is cropped from TS-82-30.
“‘Times Square Opens _____ at the _____ Theatre” is an edited version of the “Photo Captions – General Information” sheet from the press kit, accompanied by press photo TS-72-8A/14.
Trini’s bio is word-for-word from the press kit, illustrated with her headshot TS-11-24/5. Robin’s bio starts on page 3, and concludes on page 4 with her headshot TS-57-26/1. The Tim Curry bio has a cropped version of TS-66-28/8, and the Alan Moyle article is accompanied by TS-78-2/16, the action shot of Peter Coffield and Tim Curry.
The article at the end of page 4 is a new, punched-up synopsis intended to get you, the theater owner, excited about the fantastic promotional gimmicks on the pages to follow:
TIMES SQUARE INTRODUCTION
Nicky Marotta is tough…funny…funky… talented. At sixteen, she’s been put away and put down often enough to last a lifetime. She roams Times Square with a hot-wired guitar and a portable amp, making music and trouble.
But Nicky may be off the street for awhile. She bashed the car of an arrogant club owner with a crowbar — and now she’s in the hospital, under observation.
Pamela Pearl is the daughter of a civic do-gooder who has sworn to clean up Times Square. She is scared…shy…delicately pretty. In a recent letter to an all-night deejay, she described herself as a “zombie.”
She is in the same hospital — taking the same tests — as Nicky.
That’s the start of a beautiful friendship that leads to a wild escape in a stolen ambulance…a crumbling Hudson River pier…and back to the neon night world of Times Square where Pammy and Nicky take on a new identity.
As the incredible Sleaze Sisters.
With half the city searching for them, and the other half cheering for them to stay lost, only one person knows where the teenagers will turn up next — or what they’ll do. He is dee jay Johnny LaGuardia, the Diogenes of the all-night broadcasting.
And he isn’t telling…
Set to the beat of today’s most popular music, TIMES SQUARE is bold…colorful…exciting…imaginative entertainment from Robert Stigwood, whose hold on the youth market is now established with hits like “Grease,” “Saturday Night Fever” and “Tommy.”
Tim Curry (Dr. Frankenfurter in the cult classic, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show) is Johnny LaGuardia, perched in a soundproof skyscraper studio above Times Square, turning urban sprawl into poetry.
Newcomer Robin Johnson is a revelation as Nicky, teaching her new-found friend the ropes of roughing it and toughing it on 42nd Street. She’s also a dynamite singer, whose rendition of “Damn Dog” becomes a rallying cry for a million kids — in the movie — and is poised to zoom to the top of the charts in reality.
Trini Alvarado brings a cameo beauty and disarming appeal to the role of “Pammy,” who finds the courage to defy her uptight father — and his upright principles — by dancing in a Times Square nightery. She does it for friendship..for Sleaze Sister Nicky… and that’s all that matters.
Whether they’re creating a road hazard as windshield washing vagrants …developing a new teen-age fad, the rag-tag “look”… coming down on television…or coming up with kooky ideas to enlighten a city…the teamwork is terrific.
And the finale, atop a 42nd Street theatre marquee — where a swarm of chanting kids have gathered to hear the Sleaze Sisters play their spectacular swan song — is the best thing of its kind since “Meet John Doe.”
Kids will soon start picking up the Sleaze Sisters’ slogans (like “No sense makes sense”), their outrageous fashions and their music. But you can help that excitement get rolling by taking advantage of some sensational promotional opportunities.
Here’s what we mean….
black and white, 14.75 in (H) x 10.5 in (W), 20 pp (work)
