Friday, October 23, 2015

Frank Raiter in North Carolina


Double click to read this long 1978 piece on LET'S GO FOR BROKE's villain, Frank Raiter. Later a Broadway star, at this time, he had settled in as a local stage favorite in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Newly Discovered Broke Ad


Proving what I've said all along--that LET'S GO FOR BROKE played for a full 2 weeks rather than the 4 days alleged by the TV documentary and picked up by others since--here's a variant ad highlighting the appearances of Raiter (who had headlined at the UC Repertory theater just a couple of years earlier) and Egan (who barely appears). Tickets for the run were $2.50 each, an increase of at least a dollar over standard pries at that time. For reasons I can't figure out, THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER did not review the movie at all in spite of its exclusivity to Cincinnati, nor did they cover the stars' appearance in town at all. The latter may be due to the fact that both Jack Benny and local TV legend Paul Dixon died that same weekend. Or possibly the fact that the CINCINNATI POST had promoted it in advance with a contest...although I don't believe they ended up reviewing it either!