TS-C-22/27

Posted on 17th January 2017 in "Times Square"

Robin Johnson and Trini Alvarado as Nicky and Pammy dance down 42nd Street

I’m going to have to temporarily abandon my mostly chronological posting order, because I’ve recently obtained a few items that If I’d had them previously, they’d have already gone up.

Although, in all honesty, I don’t know where this would go. It’s a publicity still from AFD, in the fashion of the items from the US Press Material folder, but it has a copyright year of 1981. AFD was the company EMI and ITC had created to release films in the US, and it was in dire financial straits at the time and Times Square wasn’t helping. Times Square was long gone from US theaters by 1981, so there should have been no need to produce more publicity materials. Of the stills released in the UK, some are credited to ITC, some from Columbia-EMI-Warner, and the ones in the UK press kit had no information on them but the kit itself was credited to EMI. Why did AFD print this up in 1981? But since it’s American, I feel that chronologically it should have come before the items produced in the UK.

My copy here has crop marks; someone intended in cutting off the very bottom and an inch off the right to make it fit, but what they were making it fit into, I have no idea. There’s probably a magazine or newspaper out there with this photo, cropped like that, in it. If that should turn up, it might give us an idea of why, when, and where this was made.

The back has some writing on it as well, but I don’t think it’s significant. The same green pen from the front has written “58”, crossed it out, and then written “57%’. A different pen has added “172” and “25” in black.

If this looks familiar, it’s because I’ve posted a color version twice previously, which was originally scanned and posted by Cineplex; I don’t actually have a physical copy, but if you’ve been following me here you know it’s one of the images I believe to have originally been UK lobby cards.

Karen (DefeatedandGifted) has this photo without the crop marks, along with four more AFD stills from 1981. Up till now I was assuming that they were produced for the Australian market, but Times Square was released in Australia by EMI-ITC, so why AFD made any publicity materials at all in 1981 is still a mystery.

 

 

TS-C-22/27
black-and-white photograph : AAT ID: 300128347 : 20.2 x 25.7 cm : Associated Film Distribution, 1981 (work);
TS-C-22 auto_1080px.jpg
849 x 1080 px, 96 dpi, 319 kb (image)

 

©1981 Associated Film Distribution
Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

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Tiger Beat Vol. 17 No. 2, November 1980

Posted on 2nd March 2016 in "Times Square"

Tiger Beat Vol 17 No 2 Nov 1980 coverFull page "Times Square" ad from Tiger Beat Vol 17 No 2 Nov 1980 p 29

 

 

 

The November Tiger Beat also came out before Times Square’s October release, judging by the full-page teaser ad that ran on page 29.

 

"Times Square" soundtrack review from Tiger Beat Vol. 17 No. 2, Nov. 1980, p. 59. Text: Various Artists: “TIMES SQUARE” SOUNDTRACK. AFD’s new movie, “Times Square,” is perfect for a soundtrack, since it’s about three people trying to make it in show business! The music is New Wave and artists include Suzi Quatro, The Pretenders, Gary Numan, Joe Jackson, The Ramones, Desmond Child and Rouge, and many more. One single, “Rock Hard” by Suzi Quatro, has already come from this album, with “Help Me!” (from Marcy Levy and Robin Gibb) another one due out soon. There are too many good songs to name outstanding ones—hear them for yourself! (RSO)

 

In fact we can narrow down the date it came out to sometime between the releases of the first two singles from the soundtrack, as that’s stated explicitly in the scarily enthusiastic soundtrack review found on page 59, which was apparently written by someone with a third-hand synopsis of the movie that had come from someone who’d given the film’s publicity materials the most cursory of glances.
 
Previously.

 

 

Tiger Beat, Vol. 17 No. 2, November 1980, pp. 1, 29, 59 (detail) (work);
Tiger Beat Vol 17 No 2 Nov 1980 cover crop 1080.jpg, 1080 px (H) x 806 px (W), 96 dpi, 609 KB;
Tiger Beat Vol 17 No 2 Nov 1980 p 29 manual crop 1080.jpg, 1080 px (H) x 784 px (W), 96 dpi, 568 KB;
Tiger Beat Vol 17 No 2 Nov 1980 p 59 crop 1080.jpg, 1080 px (W) x 536 px (H), 96 dpi, 475 KB (images)

Tiger Beat ©1980 The Laufer Company

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

AFD Campaign Pressbook (pages 7-20)

Posted on 12th August 2015 in "Times Square"

The remaining 14 pages of the AFD Campaign Pressbook consist of the poster reconfigured to fit every imaginable size of newspaper movie advertisement. I’m not posting all of them (because webspace is neither infinite nor free), just enough to give you an idea.

The back cover gives a contact at AFD where you can get additional promotional tools: the movie poster and insert card, the press kit and photographs, and television commercials and the theatrical trailer. I don’t remember anyTV advertising for Times Square (which doesn’t mean it didn’t happen). The trailer, though… I never saw it in a theater, but HBO ran it in 1981 to promote their broadcast of the film. I know because I remember vividly the “lost” shot of Pammy and Nicky splashing in the Hudson, and closely scrutinizing the film trying to catch that scene, long before it became common knowledge what had happened in the editing room.

Why Anchor Bay put a different version of the trailer on the 2000 DVD is still a mystery. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

 

AFD. “Times Square” Campaign Pressbook. Los Angeles: Associated Film Distribution, 1980, pp. 7, 9, 13, 14, 17-20;
black and white, 14.75 in (H) x 10.5 in (W), 20 pp (work);


 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

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AFD Campaign Pressbook (pages 5 & 6)

Posted on 3rd August 2015 in "Times Square"
“TIMES SQUARE. It’s a movie. It’s a musical. It’s a way of life.”

 

The photos on Page 6 of the AFD Campaign Pressbook are a cropped version of TS-104-17A/7, and TS-28-28/7. There, now that’s out of the way…

Pages 5 and 6 breathlessly present all sorts of fantastic ideas for events you can host at your theater and in your town to promote Times Square and make it the unforgettable standing-room-only box office blockbuster it’s destined to become! None of this has anything to do with Robin, but I can’t help it, I have to present the full text of these articles. Did any theater actually do any of these things?

The “Sound Investment” article mentions “special TIMES SQUARE posters, mobiles, racks and bins” for record store promotion. I’ve only seen posters. Did any of the other items survive… did they even really exist in the first place?

Also, “Trash With Flash” mentions “a layout for a herald” and “Wildpost With Pizzazz” describes “the form of cartoon speech bubble as shown below.” Neither actually appear in the Pressbook. The articles on the previous pages were taken largely from the Press Materials folder; it’s possible that these two pages were similarly adapted from material in another promotional package that contained those illustrations. If there was such a promotional package, however, I have not yet come across it.

Page 5:

A SOUND INVESTMENT

TIMES SQUARE. It sparkles. It sizzles. And it rocks with the hottest music around today!

From the defiant rhythms of The Pretenders, The Talking Heads and The Ramones — to the slick sound of Lou Reed — the picture is packed with tunes to turn-on young America. But that’s not all!

RSO Records is releasing the TIMES SQUARE soundtrack — as a special double album. That means powerhouse promotional support for every engagement from record stores and radio stations nationwide.

To spotlight the TIMES SQUARE soundtrack RSO has created special TIMES SQUARE posters, mobiles, racks and bins which will be supplied to major record stores for eye-popping album displays that say one thing: TIMES SQUARE is today’s most dazzling entertainment event!

Your regional RSO Records publicity representative is as determined to send the TIMES SQUARE soundtrack to the top of the charts as you are to pack every performance. So contact your market’s RSO rep and begin a double-barreled effort to spread the sparkle of TIMES SQUARE everywhere.

Let him know your promotion plans. Find out what he’s doing with radio stations and record stores. Then join forces to make sure that every dee jay and music programmer who reaches the youth market is included in your screening plan —and to implement the record related promotions you’ll find in this pressbook.
 

TRASH WITH FLASH

There are as many ways to wear garbage bags as there are lights on TIMES SQUARE!

You start, of course, by slashing the plastic to accommodate your head and arms. But from that point, you’re on your own!

Add glitter. Add studs. Wrap silver links or thonged leather belts around the waist. Combine the bags with bandanas, scarves, ribbons or leotards. All it takes is a little imagination…and a 16¢ trash bag.

Below is a layout for a herald which illustrates some of the approaches to this funky fashion. Reprint this layout — spotlighting your playdate information on the reverse — and distribute it all over town, to introduce moviegoers to your engagement and the trash bag “look” in one fell swoop!

Ideally, plan to have the herald given out by people wearing garbage bag fashions. It’s certain to spur a lot of excitement, and start a wave of word-of-mouth that’ll make a big splash at your box office!
 

AN INSANELY INSPIRED PARTY

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you gotta bust out! And when Nicky and Pammy make their move in TIMES SQUARE, they do it in style!

They “liberate” a New York psychiatric hospital ambulance, and drive like crazy until they’re out of reach and have made their getaway.

That explosive scene is the thought behind this radio promotion which will rev up word-of-mouth about your engagement while it “tries the patients” of your community. Here’s how it works.

Invite a leading rock station to salute your opening by sponsoring an on-air contest — using a format from this manual or the station’s favorite contest gimmick. The unusual aspect of this promotion is the prize: The winners will be taken to an opening night performance of TIMES SQUARE…by ambulance!

The idea is to have an ambulance —driven by a team of the station’s most popular dee jays in hospital orderly uniforms — pick up each winner at their door, and whisk them to your theatre to see the picture.

As each of the lucky listeners boards the ambulance, they are presented with a basic black garbage bag — suitable for wearing — as well as a TIMES SQUARE button, tee shirt and the two-fisted soundtrack album. Then, as the vehicle cruises toward your theatre, serve soft drinks and hors d’oeuvres to your guests, and blast their eardrums with an 8-track recording of The Pretenders, The Ramones, The Talking Heads and Robin Johnson’s gravelly rendition of “Damn Dog!”

Unlike the wild ride the girls take in the picture, however, your ambulance should obey all speed limits and should not utilize its emergency privileges. At least not until it pulls into your parking lot, when the flashing red light and whooping siren will cause quite a commotion. Especially when the “doctors” open the doors and a half-dozen happy “patients” wearing garbage bags walk into your theatre! And that’s part of the fun!

It’s a perfectly outrageous introduction to a perfectly outrageous motion picture. But even the dazed winners are bound to agree — getting there is only half the fun. The other half is experiencing TIMES SQUARE’S energy exploding on your screen!
 

WILDPOST WITH PIZZAZZ

TIMES SQUARE. It’s a movie. It’s a musical. It’s a way of life. And it’s packed with catch-phrases that could become a rallying cry for an entire generation.

Take advantage of these phrases with this approach to a wildposting teaser campaign.

The idea is to create a selection of self-adhesive stickers imprinted with some of the outrageous quotes from the “Sleaze Sisters” in the picture. For example:

“No Sense Makes Sense!” or

“I’m A Damn Dog!” or

“Your Daughter Is One!”

Slap these pearls of wisdom anywhere and everywhere a youthful audience is likely to see them. That includes record stores, stereo shops, youth hangouts, nightclubs and boutiques catering to the wild fashions of the new generation —as well as traditional targets like lampposts, fences, construction sites and public telephone booths.

For an extra kick, arrange for your printer to die-cut the stickers in the form of cartoon speech bubble as shown below.

It’s a plan that’s certain to build spirited interest in your engagement, with a message that’ll stick in everyone’s mind!
 

A STYLISH PROMOTION IS IN THE BAG

“If they treat you like garbage…wear a garbage bag.

If they treat you like a criminal…wear a mask.”

Those defiant sentiments are from the notorious “Sleaze Sisters” — the two young rockers in TIMES SQUARE who refuse to be treated like refuse. And to make their point, they slip into black plastic bags and paint dark masks across their eyes!

It’s a fashionable display of youthful exuberance — which explodes at the film’s climax when thousands of kids flood TIMES SQUARE, wearing garbage bags to celebrate the Sleaze Sisters’ farewell performance.

Use this funky fashion as the inspiration for a rainbow of terrific promotions for the picture! Start by stocking up on trash bags. Then duplicate the dress-up all over town. For example:

•Arrange displays of made-up mannequins at prominent record stores to show customers all the different ways to wear garbage bags — accenting the basic black plastic with glitter, studs, leather straps and sequins! Invite the store’s sales personnel in the rock and new wave departments to “hop in the sack” to get the message across to shoppers, boppers and TIMES SQUARE soundtrack buyers.

•Likewise, a rock station participating in your TIMES SQUARE promotions could create a display of mannequins in garbage bags at the station. Then dee jays can invite listeners to come down to the studio to see the style and their favorite dee jay — perhaps offering garbage bags or TIMES SQUARE bumper stickers as an incentive.

•Put the personnel at your theatre in big black bags, reflecting the film’s spirited demonstration of unity in your lobby.

•Turn your radio sponsored screening of TIMES SQUARE into a “Garbage Bag Gala” by asking the preview audience to arrive in the unusual fashion.

•Finally, grab attention all over town by organizing a team of young people in bags to pass out heralds announcing your engagement. Then send them to record stores, stereo equipment shops, youth hangouts, nightclubs, concerts and shopping malls.

TIMES SQUARE takes an ordinary household object and transforms it into a message from the new generation. So boost this avant-garde aspect of the film, and you’ll bag a winner!
 

DO IT ALL NIGHT LONG

In TIMES SQUARE, the glow of the neon and the pulse of the music are an all-day/all-night affair — spurred by the spirit of Johnny LaGuardia, midnight to dawn dee jay at WJAD. Reflect this non-stop energy with a TIMES SQUARE marathon to kick-off your engagement!

Celebrate the first day of your run by showing continuous performances of TIMES SQUARE non-stop for twenty-four hours. That’s something special all by itself. But here’s the twist.

Contact the all-night dee jay at the leading rock station in town and ask him to join you in hosting the event, and live-cast his (or her) all-night program direct from your theatre lobby! After all, there are scores of people who take their entertainment in the wee hours. And like Johnny LaGuardia in TIMES SQUARE, your all-night dee jay is plugged into their unique lifestyle.

Invite the air personality to plan a playlist for the livecast which spotlights the hits from the film’s soundtrack. Then, between the double disc’s dynamite cuts, the dee jay can give live coverage to the action in your lobby — interviewing late-night moviegoers, and getting their enthusiastic comments about the film.

The participating station will appreciate the extra pizzazz this stunt will pump into their all-night show. And there couldn’t be a more energetic opening for TIMES SQUARE than this nonstop celebration in your lobby!

Page 6:

TURN ON YOUR THEATRE

In TIMES SQUARE, the faint glow of the stars is outdone by the dazzle of a million winking bulbs …the fluorescent glow of neon…and the hard, brilliant shine of glitter. Reflect the light show that is TIMES SQUARE in your lobby decor, and make every display a beacon for explosive entertainment!

Start with your marquee. Reproduce the TIMES SQUARE title treatment in giant, glittery letters. Then point a pair of powerful floodlights at the marquee and let the sparkle grab the eye of every passerby.

Inside your lobby, pick up the theme by accenting the box office and concession stand with sequins and strips of glittered ribbon. Mount an enormous plywood panel near your entrance with the provocative message:

“No Sense Makes Sense!”
— Nicky and Pammy,
The Sleaze Sisters.

Then surround the slogan with colorful stills from the film and blow-ups of the TIMES SQUARE ad look.

Include your employees under the heading of theatre decor. Have your ushers and usherettes wear big, black plastic garbage bags as featured in the film. But, to distinguish your employees from the moviegoers who may arrive in similar costume, print a message in white ink on every “staff bag,” along the lines of: “I’m Great In The Sack.” or “Official Drastic Plastic Put-On!”

(This is one occasion when your employees won’t mind getting the sack!)

In keeping with the picture’s exciting locale, contact your community’s city fathers and arrange to temporarily rename the street your theatre fronts to: “42nd Street.” Better yet, if your theatre is in a shopping mall or similar enclosed location, rename the entire complex TIMES SQUARE. Then invite the media to be on hand for a gala re-christening ceremony. There’s nothing like the sight of a pretty girl in fetching “Sleaze Sister” fashion, climbing a ladder to change a sign, to grab the interest of news and feature reporters!

Finally, don’t forget that one of your most important theatre decor items will be AFD’s spectacular TIMES SQUARE trailer! Book it now, and order extra prints for every screen in your circuit. There’s no better way of turning on your current patrons than exposing them to this radiant pre-sell sensation!
 

THE ‘DINOSAURS OF ROCK’ QUIZ

In TIMES SQUARE, Sleaze Sister Nicky Marotta dedicates her music to the spirit of Brian Jones — a man she refers to as a “dinosaur” of rock ‘n’ roll.

What are rock ‘n’ roll dinasaurs? Nicky defines them as the people who found the sound. They are the heavy talents… the cornerstones of rock… part of the explosive process that made the music come alive. And though many of these “dinosaurs” left their mark, then faded away or died young, their music lives on.

They had a special genius that couldn’t be contained.

They were a lot like Nicky.

And that’s the inspiration behind this quiz, which spotlights the wild sound and youthful spirit of TIMES SQUARE by recalling those real-life “dinosaurs” who shaped today’s music.

Use this quiz as a newspaper or radio contest, and offer passes to your engagement to those musically-minded people who remember these rock ‘n’ roll relics….

1. While the Beatles chirped about holding your hand, the Rolling Stones suggested a lot more. A key member of the group in the early days — who charmed teeny boppers with his blonde Prince Valiant pageboy, and shocked mothers with his seductive snarls — drowned in his own success at the height of his career. Remember? (BRIAN JONES)

2. The first time many people heard rock ‘n’ roll, they heard it from this bespectacled singer/ songwriter from Texas. Along with his band — The Crickets — he destroyed the “color barrier” to bring a black R&B influence to mainstream pop music. When he was lost in a tragic plane accident, it was referred to as “the day the music died.” (BUDDY HOLLY)

3. Known as “The Lizard King,” he wore black leather pants onstage while he mixed the erotic and the violent into rock’s most compelling theatre. Fans expected a violent end for this performer — but he disappeared gently in a Parisian hotel suite. (JIM MORRISON)

4. To this ratty-haired, raspy-wailing chick from Port Arthur, Texas, rock ‘n’ roll was a ball and chain. A fifth of bourbon and performing were the only things that made her life meaningful — but in the end it took a piece of her heart. (JANIS JOPLIN)

5. Known as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” his undulating hips caused as much of a sensation as his “rock-a-billy” rhythms. The first rock artist to cross-over into a successful movie career as well, his records sell faster today than before his untimely death…over three years ago! (ELVIS PRESLEY)

6. For this Englishman, a performance wasn’t complete until he demolished his drums and set them ablaze onstage. His parties on the road ended with crushed hotel walls and Cadillacs in swimming pools. But the pace of his madness took its toll, and this manic percussionist went out with a bang. (KEITH MOON)

7. One of the hottest musicians ever to make the “Fillmores” sizzle, he was experienced when it came to turning on audiences with acid guitar riffs, he first came to public attention in the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival, but he is probably best remembered for his explosive version of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the birth of the Woodstock Nation. (JIMI HENDRIX)

8. They were the bad boys of Britain’s late seventies punk movement. Both members of the notorious band — The Sex Pistols — they rarely performed without causing riots. As part of their musical ritual, they adopted violent nicknames. Remember?
(SID VICIOUS & JOHNNY ROTTEN)

 

 

AFD. “Times Square” Campaign Pressbook. Los Angeles: Associated Film Distribution, 1980, pp. 5,6;
black and white, 14.75 in (H) x 10.5 in (W), 20 pp (work)

 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

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AFD Campaign Pressbook (pages 1-4)

Posted on 25th July 2015 in "Times Square"
“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.

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….

 

 

AFD. “Times Square” Campaign Pressbook. Los Angeles: Associated Film Distribution, 1980, pp. 1-4;
black and white, 14.75 in (H) x 10.5 in (W), 20 pp (work)

 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

Robin Johnson’s Times Square Headshot, “TS-Spec.3”

Posted on 10th June 2015 in "Times Square"

Publicity headshot of Robin Johnson for publicity for "Times Square" (1980). This photo was distributed with a caption sheet identifying it at "TS-Spec.3." [Inscription] "TIMES SQUARE" AFD ©1980 Associated Film Distribution

TS-Spec.3
Robin Johnson makes her motion picture acting and singing debut after being discovered by chance at her high school in Brooklyn for the co-starring role with Tim Curry and Trini Alvarado in “Times Square.”


 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Robin, appearing for the first time not in character. I agree with DefeatedandGifted that it wasn’t part of the US press kit, even though it’s designed identically and even came with a folded-over caption sheet, just like the the photos in the press kit. However, none of the press kits I’ve seen contained it; I think if a press kit turns up with one of these in it, it’s because someone has recently inserted it thinking it belonged there.

Also, it has a different numbering system. “TS-Spec.3” sets it apart from the press kit photos, whose numbers imply scene/shot numbers. “Spec.” seems, well, special. And the “3” implies to me that there are a “1” and a “2” somewhere — headshots of Trini Alvarado and Tim Curry, perhaps? — but I’ve never seen anything like that. As far as I know, only Robin got a photo from AFD as herself.
 

The full caption sheet accompanying the "Times Square" publicity headshot of Robin Johnson. Text: TS-Spec.3 "TIMES SQUARE" Robin Johnson makes her motion picture acting and singing debut after being discovered by chance at her high school in Brooklyn for the co-starring role with Tim Curry and Trini Alvarado in "Times Square." ©1980 Associated Film Distribution Publicity Department, AFD, 12711 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA. 91604 "Times Square," a contemporary drama with music starring Tim Curry, Robin Johnson and Trini Alvarado, is a Robert Stigwood Presentation, produced by Stigwood and Jacob Brackman and directed by Alan Moyle from Brackman's screenplay, based on a story by Moyle and Leanne Unger, with Kevin McCormick and John Nicollela the executive producers and Bill Oakes the associate producer. The EMI Films motion picture will be released on Friday, October 17 in the U.S. and Canada by AFD (Associated Film Distribution). ©1980 Associated Film Distribution Publicity Department, AFD, 12711 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA. 91604

 

 

TS-Spec.3
black and white photographic print, 8 in (W) x 10 in (H) (work);
1080 px (W) x 859 px (H), 96 dpi, 178 kb (image)

1980
inscription:
(on border) TIMES SQUARE
AFD
©1980 Associated
Film Distribution

 

[TS-Spec.3 accompanying caption sheet]
7.3 in (W) x 6.5 in (H) (work);
856 px x 757 px, 96 dpi, 136 kb (image)

 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

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Times Square Press Material folder (post 4 of 5)

Posted on 23rd May 2015 in "Times Square"
Robin Johnson as Nicky Marotta, holding her Rickenbacker guitar in the WJAD studio.  Publicity still from the "Times Square" US Press Materials folder.  Text:  (on image) TS-69-34A/4  (on border)TIMES SQUARE AFD ©1980 Associated Film Distribution

TS-69-34A
Robin Johnson is a runaway teenage product of the streets who dreams of becoming a rock music star and lets nothing get in her way to make it to the top in “Times Square.”

Publicity still of Trini Alvarado and Robin Johnsonperforming "Your Daughter Is One" in the WJAD studio, from the "Times Square" US Press Materials folder.   Text:  TS-72-8A/14 TIMES SQUARE AFD ©1980 Associated Film Distribution

TS-72-8A
Robin Johnson (right) is determined to become a rock music star, Trini Alvarado is her fellow teenage runaway and their wild, bizarre escapades in New York make them minor media celebrities when reported by an all-night radio disc jockey in “Times Square.”

 

On the left is the same photo as this one, cropped differently and of course without the autograph.

On the right is the photo that may be the one used the most to promote the film. We’ll have a better idea about that once I’m done with all this stuff. Until just now, I always thought it was a cropped version of this photo (that version of which I’ve only seen on the Web and believe to have been cut from a UK lobby card), but now I realize they were taken a second or two apart. Look at their arms.

Publicity still of Trini Alvarado in the Cleo Club, from the "Times Square" US Press Materials folder. Text: (on image) TS-113-4A/6 (on border) TIMES SQUARE AFD ©1980 Associated Film Distribution

TS-113-4A
Trini Alvarado is co-starred as the troubled teenage daughter of a New York politician whose lack of attention turns the girl into a teenage runaway and a try at becoming a dancing attraction in a sleazy nitery in “Times Square.”

Publicity still of Peter Coffield and Tim Curry in the WJAD studio from the "Times Square" US Press Materials folder. Text: (on image) TS-78-2/16 (on border) TIMES SQUARE AFD ©1980 Associated Film Distribution

TS-78-2
Peter Coffield (left), ambitious New York politician and widower, confronts disc jockey Tim Curry when the all-night performer encourages Coffield’s runaway daughter to continue her rebellion against authority in “Times Square.”

 

 

As always, there is no shot in the film that matches up either of these two photos. Mr. Pearl does throw Johnny into the table as at left, but the shot cuts from a close-up of Pearl grabbing Johnny and pushing him to a close-up of Johnny landing; there is no shot of the two of them. Also, Johnny’s hand never touches the mic stand as it does in the photograph. There is nothing even close enough to bother with a frame grab.

We see Pammy looking in the mirror fairly clearly in the film, but just like these photos, in the film we see it from her father’s perspective, and she’s not quite in the same pose as in the photo. Here’s the closest frame from the film:

Pammy Pearl experiments with her look in the Cleo Club - frame grab from "Times Square" (1980)

 

 

TS-69-34A/4
1080 px (H) x 862 px (W), 96 dpi, 297 kb (image)
TS-72-8A/14
1080 px (H) x 856 px (W), 96 dpi, 311 kb (image)
TS-78-2/16
1080 px (W) x 856 px (H), 96 dpi, 289 kb (image)
TS-113-4A/6
1080 px (H) x 862 px (W), 96 dpi, 257 kb (image)
black and white photographic prints, 8 in (H) x 10 in (W) (works);

1980
inscriptions: [on photos] TS-69-34A/4; TS-72-8A/14; TS-78-2/16; TS-113-4A/6;
(on borders) TIMES SQUARE
AFD
©1980 Associated
Film Distribution

 

vlcsnap-2015-04-12-11h40m58s217.png
853 px (W) x 480 px (H), 72 dpi, 872 kb (image)
frame capture from Times Square (1980)
captured 2015-04-12

 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

Times Square Press Material folder (post 1 of 5)

Posted on 26th April 2015 in "Times Square"

The US Press Kit for "Times Square" (1980); outside front cover of the folder  Text:  TIMES  SQUARE PRESS MATERIAL
Generally referred to as The Press Kit, this is the big-ass promotional package AFD released in North America. Since they didn’t have a table of contents, I can’t be sure what all was in it, not without examining all of them… which is impossible because I’m afraid most of them have been taken apart, the text pages tossed, and the photos sold off individually, because, hey, more money that way. But I have seen four of them, and although two are missing items the others have, the most complete ones contain:

  • 1 8″ x 10″ sheet of “PHOTO CAPTIONS GENERAL INFORMATION”
  • 16 8″ x 10″ black and white photos with accompanying caption sheets affixed to their back and folded over their fronts
  • 8 information packets, totaling 37 8.5″ x 11″ pages:
    • SYNOPSIS (5 pp.)
    • ROBERT STIGWOOD Presents “TIMES SQUARE” (8 pp.)
    • PRODUCTION INFORMATION (8 pp.)
    • ROBERT STIGWOOD BIOGRAPHY (3 pp.)
    • BRITISHER TIM CURRY ACTING RARITY–SKILLED IN MODERN AND CLASSIC (1 p.)
    • “TIMES SQUARE” STAR ROBIN JOHNSON IS A NATURAL IN SCREEN BOW (4 pp.)
    • TRINI ALVARADO–SHOW BUSINESS ‘PRO’ AT 13 (2 pp.)
    • FILM DIRECTOR MOYLE KEEPS HIS COOL ON FIRST MAJOR FILM (3 pp.)
    • MUSIC FROM ‘TIMES SQUARE’ NOW TWO-RECORD SOUNDTRACK ON RSO RECORDS (3 pp.)

I also don’t know for sure what order the items originally went in. Except for today, I’m going to post the images in the order the scenes they represent appear in the film, and not with their caption sheets, although I will include the text from them in their captions (as you can see below). I don’t have unlimited server space, so two copies of each picture is kind of out of the question at the moment. I’m also only going to post the texts that mention Robin, unless, say, I get several dozen requests clamoring for the biography of Robert Stigwood.

So, to start with, here’s the U.S. Press Kit version of the picture we saw here, with and without the caption sheet.

This version is more tightly cropped than the previous one, but it’s lower contrast, so we can read her “I Am Anonymous – Help Me” button. The other version has a tiny number “36” on it, which is cropped out of this version and replaced by the longer number consistent with the rest of the AFD publicity stills.

By this time they’ve settled on the trademarked logo for the film title. The caption sheets all omit the last digit of the number printed onto the photographs: this photo is TS-57-26/1, but the caption sheet identifies it as TS-57-26. As I said before, I also don’t know what the numbers signify. “TS” is obviously “Times Square,” but the rest… scene-shot/take, maybe? This particular photo is just a publicity glamor shot, as well. So, I’m waiting for someone who knows more about it to tell me.

The bottom of the caption sheets, which are on the backs of the photos the way they’re folded, are all identical:

"Times Square," a contemporary drama with music starring Tim Curry,  Robin Johnson and Trini Alvarado,  is a Robert Stigwood Presentation,  produced by Stigwood and Jacob Brackman and directed by Alan Moyle from  Brackman's screenplay, based on a story by Moyle and Leanne Unger, with  Kevin McCormick and John Nicollela the executive producers and Bill Oakes  the associate producer. The EMI Films motion picture will be released on Friday,  October 17  in the U.S.  and Canada by AFD   (Associated Film Distribution). * Publicity Department, AFD,  12711 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA.  91604 AFD ©1980 Associated Film Distribution

And, just for kicks, here are the pages from the credits packet that have Robin’s name on them.

Funny, I never noticed before, even in 1980 David Johansen’s publishing company was called Buster Poindexter, Inc.

 

 

TIMES SQUARE PRESS MATERIAL
folder: 9 in (W) x 12 in (H) (work);
1080 px (H) x 888 px (W), 96 dpi, 386 kb (image);
left pocket contains: 1 8 in (W) x 10 in (H) sheet: “PHOTO CAPTIONS GENERAL INFORMATION”, 16 8 in x 10 in black and white photos with accompanying caption sheets affixed to their back and folded over their fronts;
right pocket contains 8 information packets, totalling 37 8.5 in (W) x 11 in (H) pages: SYNOPSIS (5 pp.), ROBERT STIGWOOD Presents “TIMES SQUARE” (8 pp.), PRODUCTION INFORMATION (8 pp.), ROBERT STIGWOOD BIOGRAPHY (3 pp.), BRITISHER TIM CURRY ACTING RARITY–SKILLED IN MODERN AND CLASSIC (1 p.), “TIMES SQUARE” STAR ROBIN JOHNSON IS A NATURAL IN SCREEN BOW (4 pp.), TRINI ALVARADO–SHOW BUSINESS ‘PRO’ AT 13 (2 pp.), FILM DIRECTOR MOYLE KEEPS HIS COOL ON FIRST MAJOR FILM (3 pp.), MUSIC FROM ‘TIMES SQUARE’ NOW TWO-RECORD SOUNDTRACK ON RSO RECORDS (3 pp.);

1980

 

TS-57-26 [with caption sheet]
black and white photographic print, 8 in (W) x 10 in (H) (work)
1080 px (H) x 857 px (W);
96 dpi, 279 kb (image)

1980
inscription: [on caption sheet:] TS-57-26
“TIMES SQUARE”
Robin Johnson, 16-year-old Brooklyn miss, makes her feature film singing and acting debut as Nicky Marotta, an uninhibited product of the streets who sets New York City on edge as a wild runaway from authority in “Times Square.”
Publicity Department, AFD, 12711 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA. 91604
AFD
©1980 Associated Film Distribution

 

TS-57-26/1
black and white photographic print, 8 in (H) x 10 in (W) (work);
1080 px (H) x 861 px (W), 96 dpi, 306 kb (image)

1980
inscription: [on photo] TS-57-26/1
[on border] TIMES SQUARE
AFD
©1980 Associated Film Distribution

 

[Back of US press kit caption sheets]
[full caption sheet, not pictured:] 7 in (W) x 6 in (H) (work);
858 px (W) x 364 px (H), 96 dpi, 104 kb (image)

 

ROBERT STIGWOOD Presents “TIMES SQUARE”, pp. 1, 2, 7
8.5 in (W) x 11 in (H) (works);
1080 px (H) x 835 px (W), 96 dpi, 128 kb (image)
1080 px (H) x 835 px (W), 96 dpi, 196 kb (image)
1080 px (H) x 836 px (W), 96 dpi, 244 kb (image)

 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

Times Square Press Folder

Posted on 30th March 2015 in "Times Square"

At least that’s what it was called when I got it. It’s only a folder though in the sense that it’s folded, not that it contained something else like the press kits which have pockets to hold papers and photos. This is just a big piece of heavy glossy stock, folded over.


It’s not really a “press” folder, either. It looks like promotion to theater owners, to get them to book the film. I’m not an authority on film publicity; if you know a technical term for this kind of object, please leave a comment!

One thing is for sure, though — this was created, like the articles in my last few posts, before the advertising campaign had been designed. The outside is an extremely cool yet rather anonymous collage of Times Square by night, and most of the photos inside are not the ones used later for publicity. The background image is a collage of the collage with a photo that will turn up in black and white in the press kit. The last image at the bottom right is a cropped version of the one I talked about here, which got used a lot. The shot of the concert in Times Square and the close-up of Nicky will both later appear in the Songbook, I think. The close-up of Tim Curry looks like it was taken a second before or after the photo that was printed in black and white in The Aquarian and Prevue. The other pictures may be unique to this folder.

Ironically, the image of the girls with the “Times Square-42nd St.” sign superimposed over them was, as we’ve seen, taken on the corner of 8th Avenue and 50th Street.

The text… well, judge for yourself. It misspells Nicky’s name “Nikki.” Lots of people do that, sure, but, but, no. She spells her first name “Nicky.” The film isn’t even out yet, and it looks like someone may be worried she’s not girly enough.

ROBERT STIGWOOD
PRESENTS
TIMES SQUARE

AFD
Associated
Film Distribution

Robert Stigwood, whose multimedia touch produced such movie-record super hits as “Grease”… “Tommy”… “Saturday Night Fever”… and “Jesus Christ Superstar”… will now usher in a new wave of youthful excitement:
TIMES SQUARE

Set in the neon nerve center of young New York. Crammed with colorful, careening characters. Ablaze with the light of a million midnight suns. Tuned to a furious rock beat… amps up… full power on. The new wave. It’s called:
TIMES SQUARE

It’s about the most rollicking runaways since Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Pammy Pearl… bright… pretty… shy of love… from a Fifth Avenue penthouse overlooking the park. Nikki Marotta… tough… funny… hooked on dreams… from the mean streets of the east Village.

They’ve ridden a wild river called 42nd Street. Now, they’re hiding on the exciting, eccentric, busy dizzy, dangerous island that’s Times Square.

Half the city is hunting for them. The other half is cheering for them… to stay “lost.” The only one who knows their whereabouts is all-night disc jockey Johnny La Guardia, perched in a skyscraper studio, playing their song. And he won’t tell.

Because any moment now… Pammy and Nikki will reappear as the spectacular “Sleaze Sisters”… to stop traffic… live their dreams… and turn on the whole town.
TIMES SQUARE

It’s a dazzling youth-market-musical that will pack theatres this October… like TIMES SQUARE on New Year’s Eve.
Get in on the action…
TIMES SQUARE

©1980 Associated
Film Distribution

By popular demand (meaning Deb asked), here are close-ups of the inside pictures. Their actual size is pretty close to the thumbnails below, so the gallery will give a good view of the individual pixels.

 

 

“Robert Stigwood presents Times Square”
12 in (H) x 18 in (W) (folded) (work);
1080 px (W) x 718 px (H), 96 dpi, 525 kb (outside image)
1080 px (W) x 721 px (H), 96 dpi, 647 kb (inside image)

 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

Post edited on 4 April 2015 to add the detail image gallery.