Jimmy Stewart’s latest film, The Man from Laramie, was set to premiere in San Antonio, Texas, on July 13, 1955. To help promote the film, Columbia Pictures initiated a “Call Jimmy Stewart” telephone campaign. Small ads like the two below began to appear in newspapers in select cities around the country:
The June 22, 1955, edition of Motion Picture Daily called the promotion a success:
Three days later, the Motion Picture Herald carried this article touting the success of the program:
This story from the June 27th edition of The Independent Film Bulletin even gives a hint as to what Mr. Stewart had to say in one of his messages:
In the New York City area the promo initially caused some problems as reported in the July 2, 1955, edition of Motion Picture Herald:
A few days later (July 25), Motion Picture Daily reported on how this problem was fixed:
The July 10, 1955, edition of Motion Picture Herald carried this feature on the Columbia Pictures promotion:
Miss Bower, in her column for the Detroit Free Press, reported on the success of the project on July 27, 1955:
Even after the film opened, the phones remained in operation as evidence by this ad from The Ogden Standard-Journal, Ogden, UT, which ran in its’ July 31, 1955, edition:
Although there is quite a bit of information surviving about this project, none of Mr. Stewart’s messages appears to have survived.
