Babb, Howard

Babb was born in 1906 in Lee Creek, Ohio ^[4] (near Wilmington) ^[3] . He received his nickname “Kroger” for his work as a seller in the company of the same name ^[5] or thanks to his father, who preferred BH Kroger brand coffee. In his youth, Babb changed many works. Ripley's Believe It Or Not mentioned his name in connection with a record number of refereeing youth sports. He began with work in the field of sports commenting and, before he turned 30, was a reporter for a local newspaper. At that time, Babb had already begun to show the makings of a filmmaker, showing the "revived corpse" of "Digger O'Dell" ^[6] . The first success came to him after being appointed advertising manager at Chakeres-Warners, when he handed out two bags of food to one of the ticket holders in selected theaters ^[3] . The experience he gained in this field of activity led him to the exploitative cinema business.

In early 1940, Babb joined Cox and Underwood, which received rights to poorly shot and other unsold films on potentially controversial and shocking topics. Employees of the company often cut whole pieces from these films and added new material, in the genre of medical education, thanks to this, films received sensational advertising ^[2] . Babb began his career with Dust to Dust (a mixture), transforming it into the High School Girl movie and including the scene of the birth of a child at the end of the film. The profits earned from the film allowed Cox and Underwood to move away from the business, which allowed Babb to open his own company Hygienic Productions ^[3] . He opened it near his childhood home in Wilmington, Ohio. Babb hired sales and booking agents, unemployed actors and comedians for presentations, remade and new films ^[2] .

Babb received the greatest fame for the presentation of production films, which he devoted most of his work in the film business ^[3] . According to The Hollywood Reporter magazine, Babb was successful using topics such as religion and sex that made it easy to make a sensation. His expenses were estimated at 5% for the purchase and 7% for the distribution of films - one of the most recouped investments in the film industry ^[7] .

Babb's greatest success was the film Mom and Dad , which he himself conceived and created. Director William Bodine made the film in six days. Babb led the promotion of the film after the premiere in early 1945, often working alone ^[2] . The film, which was a morality, the story of a girl who became pregnant and looking for someone to turn to ^[5] , cost 62 thousand dollars. 300 copies were sent to cinemas across the country ^[8] along with “representatives,” later called “promotion specialists.” A week before the film appeared, the representative aroused public interest by sending letters of protest to local churches and newspapers and fabricating letters from mayors of nearby cities about the stories of young women encouraged by the film to discuss such difficulties ^[2] .

The film was the third-largest profit growth in a decade and, according to Babb, brought 63 thousand dollars to the original investors. for every thousand invested ^[9] . According to the Los Angeles Times , film profits everywhere grew from $ 40 to $ 100 million ^[4] . The success of the film generated a lot of imitations, such as Street Corner and The Story of Bob and Sally, which eventually flooded the market, and was still shown around the world decades later ^[10] . In 2005, he was included in the national register of films ^[8] .

The success of the film is mainly due to Babb’s marketing strategy to stun small towns with advertising and controversy. According to Eric Schaefer's explanation:

“Having realized that his films were“ dark horses, ”Babb spoke out for a full-blown campaign. In his simple situation - Deadwood Theater in Movie Hater, Missouri with a potential audience of 24 thousand people, Babb suggested sending flyers to all seven thousand houses in the area, which cost $ 196, and spent $ 65. on newspapers and 50 on the radio, plus an additional 65 on three hundred window, transfer cards, flags and posters. In total, he spent 400 dollars., The owner of the theater usually spent this amount for a month. Babb has always argued that with his prescription, profits will exceed investment ... ^[11] . ”

Original text

"Acknowledging that his films were unknown quantities, Babb advocated a" 100% saturation campaign. " In his sample situation - The Deadwood Theater in Movie-hater, Missouri, with a potential audience base of twenty-four thousand - Babb suggested sending tabloid heralds to all seven thousand homes in the area at a cost of $ 196, spending $ 65 for newspaper ads, $ 50 on radio, plus an additional $ 65 for three hundred window boxes, hand-out teaser cards, pennants, and posters. The total came to almost $ 400, or the same amount the theater owner would normally spend on advertising in the course of an entire month. Babb always claimed that with his formula the profit would outweigh the investment ... "

The film became so ubiquitous that, according to Time magazine, the presentation of the film “left only livestock unaware of the chance to know life” ^[8] . Babb demanded that each screening of the film follow the same rules: viewers - only adults, men and women separately, during the break - live lectures by Fearless Hygiene Commentator Elliot Forbes . Hundreds of lecturers from this organization gave lectures at the same time but in different places ^[2] (in some areas inhabited mainly by blacks, Olympic champion Negro Jesse Owens appeared instead of lectures ^[5] , continuing the tradition of working with films such as She Shoulda Said ' No '! ) ^[12] . According to actor Carl Mondor, who worked for Elliot Forbes in the 1940s and later bought the rights to the Mom and Dad film in Australia and New Zealand , Elliot Forbes' lecturers were “mostly locals (from Wilmington, Ohio) who were trained to read lectures ... It was a cross section of the male population, mostly young guys ... The whole idea would never work with a bad look. ” ^[13]

During intermissions and after the show, books related to the theme of the film were sold. The Modern Film Distributors cartel sold over 45,000 copies of Man and Boy and Woman and Girl , written by Babb’s wife, earning approximately $ 31,000. ^[10] According to Babb, the production of one unit cost eight cents, and the retail price was $ 1. While Modern Film managed to sell 45 thousand, Babb sold about 40 million, referring to the figures of the national tax office ^[10] . Joint sales became part of Babb’s usual practice: working with the religious film The Lawton Story , he sold bibles and spiritualistic literature, and during the work with the film Why Men Leave Home , beauty books ^[2] .

With other films, Babb tried different approaches. For the propaganda anti-marijuana film She Shoulda Said No! he lit up sex scenes and staged one-time nightly shows, saying his company was working with the US Treasury to release the movie “As Many Cities As Possible in the Shortest Time” as a public service. ^[2] Unlike Babb, David F. Friedman, another successful filmmaker of that time, almost did not rely on the distribution of low-quality one-time films, because of this, Babb wanted to cash in on this and move on to the next stage as quickly as possible ^[3] . Each screening of the film required the performance of the US national anthem ^[14] .

The genre of exploitative cinema was at the forefront of the fight against censorship and the Hayes code and met many challenges in the 1940-50s. According to Babb’s estimates, only for the film Mom and Dad over 400 times he appeared as a defendant in court ^[3] (he called the number 428 ^[4] ). As a defense argument, he often used the alleged educational value of films and often used this argument for recommendations to theater owners. In his producer’s book for the Karamoja movie , he wrote: “When a stupid moron tries to outwit verified facts, he should be in a mental hospital, not in a theater” ^[2] .

Despite the criticism caused by the Mom and Dad film in 1951, Babb received the first annual spectacle show of Sid Grauman, she was awarded at the Hollywood Rotary Club as a sign of recognition of his many years of achievement ^[15] .

Following the success of Mom and Dad, Babb renamed his company Hallmark Productions , continuing Hygienic Productions' marketing practices for promoting sexuality and health films. He later founded the larger company Hallmark's Big-6 ^[16]

Babb cheerfully lost the right to work, which became She Shoulda Said No!, Shortly after Robert Mitchem and Lily Leeds were arrested for marijuana use. Since the original producer opposed the distribution of the film, entitled “Wild Weed,” Babb immediately introduced it as “The Story of Lila Leeds and Her Exposé of the Marijuana Racket,” hoping the title would appeal to the audience. After his calculations did not materialize, Babb focused on one of the scenes showing female nudity. He took advantage of Leeds in a dancer’s dress and renamed the film “She Shoulda Said 'No'!”, Posted slogans such as “How Bad Can a Good Girl Get.” . . without losing her virtue or respect ??? ”(How low can a decent girl fall without losing self-esteem?) ^[2] . According to Friedman, the midnight presentation of Babb’s film, held twice a week, raised more money than the full distribution of any other film in this movie theater. Friedman continued to use the film in his own extended views of the roadshow ^[3] .

Babb’s partners agreed with his opinion that “There is nothing hopeless if the advertising campaign is conducted correctly” and said that he “can take any trash and sell it” ^[4] . In the 1950s, Babb took up the film - a play on the theme of Christ's passions, The Lawton Story. The film was shot in 1948 in Lauton , Oklahoma using Cinecolor technology. The film was shot in a very short time, the budget was low, the work was so poor that in one of the scenes behind the crucifix telephone wires were noticeable. The team was composed of local non-professional actors. They talked with such a strong local reprimand that they all had to be re-voiced by more professional actors. According to the review of one observer: “This is the only film that had to be duplicated from English to English” ^[4] . Babb edited and re-sounded the film, giving it a new name, “The Prince of Peace”. The film was so successful that the New York Daily News called it the “Broadway miracle.” ^[4]

Another film, “Karamoja,” was presented as a shocking description of the Ugandan tribe “who have no clothes other than air, who only feed on blood and beer” ^[3] . In the film there are scenes of bloodletting cattle and drinking warm blood, self-harm as a form of body decoration and a full-color circumcision scene ^[2] . The film generated less controversy than other Babb films, and had less fees. ^[2]

Babb never again managed to repeat the stunning success of the film Mom and Dad . In an effort to raise more money, he turned the exploitation film industry into a burlesque genre. One of his famous acts was the acquisition of the rights to Ingmir Bergman's film “Summer with Monica” (Sommaren med Monika). Almost a third of the film was cut, and in the remaining 62 minutes of the film, focus was placed on the naked bathing scenes. The resulting film was called Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl (Monica, the story of a bad girl). An advertising campaign was undertaken, and Harriet Anderson nude postcards were issued ^[2] .

Babb’s last film was the presentation of the European version of Garriet Beecher Stow’s book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin . Friedman described Babb's work as one of the “most unintentionally funny production films ever made” with “second-rate Italian actors who barely spoke English” ^[17] .

After the success of the film Mom and Dad, Babb talked about an unrealized project called Father Bingo, which he advertised in BoxOffice magazine as “exposing gambling in church halls” ^[18] , and described it as a comedy with the idea of ​​propaganda against games. In the story, a corrupt priest staged a night of "controlled" bingo in his church. Babb said it was “the best show of his life,” it was rumored that he never intended to do this, despite the fact that the advertisement had been appearing for years. Error in the footnotes ^? : Invalid call: invalid keys, for example, too many keys were specified or the key was incorrect . Thanks to his past successes, Babb took over as vice president and general manager of the Miller-Consolidated Pictures film company in 1959. Babb advocated enhanced advertising methods, which he himself improved. In one of the interviews, he stated: “sell appetite instead of steak” ^[19] . At this time, he wrote a column for BoxOffice . Babb gave advice on selling films, such as writing off expenses, tax deductions, and using women's clubs to cheaply expand advertising and increase taxes. He noted that there are "more than 30 thousand women's clubs" and "almost every women's club has a film projector for 16 mm films " ^[19] .

In 1963, Babb founded another Studio 10.001 distribution company based in Beverly Hills (with offices in Canada , Japan , Australia, and New Zealand ). ^[20] The company used similar methods (roadside shows) to promote television programs such as The Ern Westmore Show ^[21] . Babb also acted as a showman for hire, promoting other films that did not belong to him. Among them were the movie “Naked Cuties” of the genre “Kipling's Women”, a peep show ^[3] and a remake of the film Ru McClanahan “Five Minutes to Love” ^[20] .

Trying to convey his skills to potential representatives, Babb began to create promotion sets. He advertised these kits in BoxOffice under the name Mr. PIHSNAMWOHS ^[3] . Babb acted superficially and in other areas, opposed pay-TV and created a financial pyramid called “The Idea Factory” (factory of ideas) ^[2] . One of his ideas was the Astounding Swedish Ice Cream Diet (an amazing Swedish ice cream diet). Babb claimed that he ate ice cream three times a day and shed 100 pounds in 45 days. ^[3]

In 1944, Babb met a local critic, Mildred Horn, during the screening of the film Dust to Dust in Indianapolis . In her review, she described the film as “a cheap, incorrectly named moral play ” ^[22] . Babb started a conversation about it. Subsequently, they entered into a civil marriage. Horne wrote stories for several of Babb’s works, including Mom and Dad , as well as several books ^[3] .

In November 1953, Babb was arrested for drunken driving after driving a red light and refusing to take an alcohol test. He was released on bail of $ 250., Avoiding detention, this event received widespread press coverage since he recently released the anti-alcohol film One Too Many. ^[23]

After the success of the movie Mom and Dad, Babb had tax problems for many years. He told Press-Enterprise that his business was very diffuse, as sales of one-dollar sex education pamphlets are difficult to evaluate ^[10] . As a result, Babb sold the rights to Mom and Dad and his stake in Modern Film Distributors to Erwin Joseph and Floyd Lewis, their former partners in Modern Film . They continued to show Mom and Dad in the United States ^[24] .

In his late years, Babb suffered from various diseases, suffered a stroke ^[4] . In 1977, at the age of 70, he retired ^[25] . Babb passed away on January 29, 1980 in Palm Springs , California ^[9] , the cause of death was a heart attack caused by diabetes complications ^[9] . After him, there was a wife, a son and five grandchildren. Babb is buried at Centerville Cemetery in Lee Creek, Ohio. On his grave is written: "His travels around the world began at Centerville and ended here at Lee Creek." ^[26]

Babb has worked in various areas of the entertainment industry, both in the genre of traditional and operational cinema. He claimed to have created 20 films ^[27] and worked for television ^[28] , radio ^[29] and even for the stage ^[30] . Due to the specifics of the operational cinema genre, the list is not complete, the final names of the films are given, the early names are given in brackets ^{[1] [31]} .

Producer

• Dust to Dust (formerly Child Bride ) (1938)
• Mom and Dad (formerly A Family Story ) (1945)
• The Prince of Peace (formerly The Lawton Story ) (1949)
• One Too Many (formerly Mixed-Up Women , Killer With a Label , The Important Story of Alcoholism ) (1950)
• Why Men Leave Home (formerly Secrets of Beauty ) (1951)
• Halfway to Hell (1954)
• Walk the Walk (1970)

Screenwriter

• One too many

Movie Distribution

• "She Shoulda Said 'No'!" (previous names Marijuana, the Devil's Weed , The Devil's Weed , Wild Weed , The Story of Lila Leeds and Her Exposé of the Marijuana Racket ) (1949)
• Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl (originally Sommaren med Monika , later reissued as Summer with Monika ) (1949)
• Delinquent Angels (1951)
• The Best is Yet to Come (1951)
• Halfway to Hell (1954)
• Karamoja (1954)
• Kipling's Women (1961)
• Kwaheri (1961)
• Five Minutes to Love (formerly The Rotten Apple , It Only Takes Five Minutes ) (1963)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (1970) originally released in Europe in 1965
• Redheads vs. Blondes (no date) ^[32]

Television

• The Ern Westmore Hollywood Glamor Show , ^[33] producer (1953)
• Your Show of Shows , producer (1963)

Scene

• French follies

• Briggs, Joe Bob. “ Kroger Babb's Roadshow .” Reason , November 2003.