
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 20, 1993                   TAG: 9308200180
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LARRY HACKETT NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

MARKETING FILM IS A `MYSTERY' FOR TRISTAR

Last year, when the imbroglio over Woody Allen's personal life was at full boil, TriStar Pictures tried to seize on the publicity by hurrying the release date of his film "Husbands and Wives," in an attempt to capitalize on the film's breathtaking similarity to real events.

It didn't work. The movie earned just over $10 million, barely making its cost back. "We don't know if it helped or hurt," one Tri- Star exec said about the free publicity attending "Husbands and Wives."

Twelve months and innumerable tabloid headlines later, a chastened TriStar has used a softer sell to push "Manhattan Murder Mystery," which opens this week. The challenge, observers say, is marketing a picture that many believe is Allen's most enchanting in years, yet comes on the heels of a year of bruising negative publicity for him.

With the decidedly more entertaining "Mystery," TriStar has decided to sell the film, not the filmmaker. To overcome any bad feelings that potential audiences may harbor for Allen, TriStar "sneaked" the movie - previewing it at theaters the Saturday before last. Confident of a winner, TriStar sources believe that sneaking the film, as well as screening it for a wide media audience before release, has created enough of a buzz about the film to help neutralize any resistance some moviegoers might have about Allen himself.

It also helps position the movie in the marketplace in what has been a phenomenally lucrative, but very competitive, summer schedule. "Manhattan Murder Mystery" is being released now - most Allen films debut in the fall - because TriStar believes its comic whimsy is better suited to the summer.

Will it work? "That's the question," says one industry analyst who spoke anonymously for fear of offending the brass at TriStar. "It's a tough spot to be in. Audiences like the picture, but the problem is, he's always been an (East) Coast star."

But one TriStar insider believes that the company will have real trouble building beyond the loyal Allen audience: "You're not going to get new people into the theater."

by CNB