The Film Daily (1918)

Thursday, December 19, 1918 Sfeg^l DAILY Vol. VI No. 72. Thursday, December 19, 1918 Price 5 Cents Copyright 1918, Wid's Film and Film Folks, Inc. Published Daily at 71-73 West 44th St., New York, N. Y. by WID'S FILMS and FILM FOLKS, Inc F. C. ("WID") GUNNING President and Treasurer LYNDE DENIG, Editor Entered as second-class matter May 21, 1918, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. terms postage free) United States, Outside of Greater New York, $10.00 one year ; 6 months, $5.00; 3 months, $3.00. Foreign $20.00. subscribers should remit with order. Aiidress all communications to WID'S DAILY, 71-73 West 44th St., New York, N. Y. Telephone : Vanderbilt 4551-2 CUTS AND FLASHES Clara Kimball Young plans to spend the holidays in New York. Frank L. Newman of Kansas City is in town. William L. Sherrill was confined to his home yesterday with a cold. "Roxy" is on his way home from the Coast. Allan Boone is now connected with the scenario department of RobertsonCole. Thomas H. Ince will occupy his new $250,000 studio at Culver City after Christmas. J. Earle Kemp, general manager of the Westcott Film Corp., Minneapolis, is in New York on a business trip. "The Heart of Humanity," Jewel production starring Dorothy Phillips, will be shown at the Broadway theater next week. "Little Women purchased by the Famous Players Lasky Corp. will be released as a Paramount Artcraft special on Jan. 5th. The Drew's have rented the Punch and Judy Theater for a week to take stage scenes for their next release, "Harold, the last of the Saxons." Miss Agnes Tait who was the model for the Red Cross poster, "The Greatest Mother in the World" will be seen for the first time on the screen at the Rivoli theater this week in "The Greatest Gift" written by Hamish McLaurin. Ruffner "Ruff" to Advertising Men Points Out Why a Lot of Their Work is Worthless to Exhibitors — Suggests They Plan Material For Small Town House and All Can Use it. What an exhibitor thinks of their work in his behalf was told by Ralph Ruffner, Manager of the Rialto Theater, Butte, Mont., to members of the Association of Motion Picture Advertisers at their regular luncheon last week. "Time after time" he declared, "I have booked features only to find that my show was doomed to failure if I depended upon the so-called 'advertising and publicity helps' you fellows had prepared for it. You have sent out illustrations that were impossible from an exhibitor standpoint. You prepared ads of from 50 to 300 words in length might contain a phrase or catch line of five words, buried somewhere in the text, which I could use exactly as you had written it. The posters, particularly the one-sheets and three-sheets, invariably pictured, in two figures clutched in an embrace, some title like 'The Deathless Woman' or 'War's End.' I have had to resort to all kinds of substitutes for posters, ad copy illustrations, text matter, publicity stories, and lobby display matter, just because you fellows back here in New York didn't know what the exhibitor needed. "I have booked big special feature productions, confident that I would have a good selection of advertising and publicity matter from which to build up my local campaign. Instead of having a set of 25 or more black and white stills to choose from, I have considered myself lucky if there were 10 of them that were worth consideration. "An an exhibitor, I know that it is just as important for me to have a strong, appealing advertising and publicity campaign on each production I show as it is for me to make certain that the productions themselves are up to standard in quality and entertainment value. "Black and white illustrations are the most important of the ad material I use. You fellows should insist that you are provided with an adequate number of worth while stills on each picture. It means a great deal to the exhibitor. "The prepared reviews printed in the press books some of you write are a decided help. The average story published in the press books for exhibitors to 'clip and hand to the editor' is worthless. There is too much bunk in it. "Trade journal advertising to exhibitors amuses me. It is loaded with superlatives and adjectives. , Every production seemingly, is a wonderful picture, a sure winner at the box office, the biggest of the year, the most stupendous ever made, a riot for action, featuring the screen's most beautiful woman, or pictureland's greatest male actor. I subscribe to eve^y one of the trade papers. I first look through the advertising sections for amusements of new pictures. I pay no attention to what '.he producer says about them. Iwant to know the title, the name of the star, or lead. Then I decide whether it is worth looking at. "The industry is fast approaching the time when exhibitors will not have a tremendous number of features productions to work with in the daily and tri-weekly change system. They will have to play their bookings to longer runs. And that means that they will be obliged to intensify their ability as shov/rnen and do better advertising and publicity work in their respective localities. When that time comes you gentlemen will find that the exhibitors will be much more dependent upon you for assistance, and that the demand for practical, beneficial advertising and publicity helps will be much greater."