If you were a regular film patron to Mombasa cinemas in the 1970s you may remember the commercials that played before the National Anthem and News (News Pictorial or later the Kenya Newsreel). The industry used to call these ‘filmlets’. The term commercial was not used at the time!!
The famous Rolex commercial at the Drive-In comes to mind. This is where a swimmer wearing a Rolex watch dives from a very high cliff somewhere in Cancun. This played for a long time at the Drive-In including prior to Indian films.
Yet another one that played continuously were various British Airways commercials at only the Kenya Cinema Mombasa.
Some of the commercials at this early time were locally produced. For example, the Close-Up toothpaste commercial was filmed on a busy Nairobi Street. An attractive African lady bumps into a man and the narrative starts with “suddenly you are very close to someone...will your teeth be bright? ...will your breath be fresh?....”
And then who can forget all the slides before the commercials. At the Regal the slides would whiz by without giving patrons enough time to read them!!
Little known were the companies behind the distribution of commercials. There were only 2 companies. One was Filmlets (EA) Ltd. This was associated with 20th Century Fox (EA) Ltd. The other was Pearl and Dean (EA) Ltd.
These companies would send schedules monthly with updates and a box of new 30/60 second filmlets as needed. This part of the business was quite lucrative. Advertising revenues could be anywhere from 5% - 15% of box office takings. And of course, the higher the cinema attendance the higher the advertising amounts these companies would send each month. The cinemas could not negotiate anything! This additional revenue was pure gravy as there were virtually no additional costs! At the Regal the only headache fell to Jack the rewinder who had to spend time each week splicing up all the 5-9 filmlets. Kenya cinema in Mombasa had the most commercials ranging from 8-16 filmlets each week. At the Regal we would try and boost advertising revenues by sending Filmlets and Pearl & Dean schedules of upcoming films that would likely do well.
As the years went by some filmlets were in Swahili. Later on you could see the same filmlets on the Voice of Kenya TV!
Slides were much cheaper to produce, and local Mombasa businesses would have these made up by local photography businesses. In those days slides were around 5in by 5in. The film would be set between 2 glass panes that would be manually inserted in a slider allowing 2 slides at a time in a dedicated slide machine. The projectionist had to be careful the slide was shown right side up!
Regular patrons may remember the last slide that was used for years in Mombasa cinemas that said ‘Please check your belongings before you leave. Management is not responsible for lost items.' This started after a high-profile loss in one of the cinemas in the 1960s. Regal showed this social message by way of a business card held in the palm of one’s hand, while Kenya cinema showed a man's lower body as he left the cinema!!
And who can forget the slide that played continuously at the Kenya Cinema about a Marlon Brando film on Wounded Knee. This film never arrived!
Filmlets (East Africa) Limited was incorporated in Kenya in Sept 1960 (see below)
Pearl and Dean (East Africa) Limited was incorporated in Kenya in Sept 1961 and was dissolved in April 1994 as film attendance dropped precipitously!! (see below)
Advertising in Cinemas appeared to be still lucrative by the mid 1990s. See the Advertising Rate Sheet from the Fox group below.
see Pearl and Dean logo that played at the Regal Theatre Mombasa (the actual one had a rotating globe in the middle!)
from 1.25min to 1.40min:
No comments:
Post a Comment