The Moving Picture Weekly (1917-1918)

24 ■THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY NEVA GERBER.. |OYS and girls, here is a chance to make a hundred dollars, and make it more easily and more pleasantly than you ever made a like amount in all your lives. The Universal Film Manufacturing Company discovered, when it read the end of "The Mystery Ship," the great Universal serial which stars the noted trio of artists, Ben Wilson, Neva Gerber and Kingsley Benedict, that at the end of the seventeenth episode, the ending was just as much of a mystery as it was at the end of the first. This is an extremely unusual thing for so long a story. It was suggested that here was an opportunity for millions of people who are sure to become absorbed in the unravelling of "The Mystery Ship" serial, to exercise their dramatic ability and suggest an ending of their own. If they started to see the serial with this in view, their interest in it would be all the more absorbing and interesting to them. As this idea grew and took form, it was decided that it would absolutely swamp a contest committee if it were thrown open to the entire theatre-going public. For that reason it was decided to hold a Best Ending Contest, limiting the contestants to boys and girls under fifteen years of age. In order to encourage saving, thrift and economy, and to implant these principles in the youth of America, the prizes chosen are all in the denominations and legal tender which the United States government is issuing at the present time. That is. Liberty Bonds, war certificates and thrift stamps. In all, a thousand dollars is to be given to the lucky winners of the contest, and 388 awards are to be distributed, for some of the prizes are Best Ending" Cc in "THE MYi $1,000 In Liberty Bonds, War Certificates and Thrift i Who Can Supply the Best and Most Logica as low as two dollars. The first prize is a hundred-dollar Liberty Bond, the second a fifty-dollar one, the third twenty dollars made up of four fivedollar war certificates, the next twenty are five-dollar war certificates, and the others range down to two-dollar war certificates or thrift stamps, the new form of bond which the United States government is issuing to enable those who have very small amounts to invest to help the government, and save their money besides. As an added incentive for the contestants the photograph of one of the stars, whichever one he or she wants, will be mailed to every person sending in an answer, whether they receive an award or not. So much for what you get. Now for what must be done. "The Mystery Ship" serial starts on November 26th. The contest opens on December 1st, and closes at noon March 30th, 1918. The conditions have been made as equitable as it is possible for them to be in order that the widest possible advantage may be taken of this contest, and as many people as possible represented. All one has to do is to devise a logical and probable ending for the serial after the seventeenth episode has been reached. Of all the answers received those will be adjudged winners who in the opinion of the judges supply the most logical or best ending of the serial, and by best ending is meant the most logical and probable outcome from the consequences of events which have gone before. Literary style doesn't count in the answers, but the awards will be made solely in accordance with the ideas presented. Answers should not be above three hundred words in length, and may be written with pencil, ink or typewriter, and on any kind of paper. The idea that they contain is the only thing which matters, except that they must not be over three hundred words in length. The judges who have been chosen are all well-known newspaper people. They are Bide Dudley, whose column will always be found on the back page of the New York Evening World; Louella Parsons, film critic of the Chicago Herald, Harriette Underbill, photoplay critic of the New York Tribune, and T. E. Oliphant, editorial and feature writer of the New York Evening Mail. If the judges are unable to decide between the merits of the two leading contestants — in other words, if there is a tie — both of the contestants will receive the full amount of the first prize. This is in the discretion of the judges, and their word is absolutely final in the matter of the awards and the order in which they shall be made. Every precaution has been taken by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company to safeguard the interests of all who enter the contest, and if the judges discover any unfairness in any possible way, it is within their Here Is a Form which contains all the necessary information. (You can cut this order out and use it; you can write to the Best Ending Contest Dept., 1600 Broadway, New York, and receive a blank by return mail, postage prepaid; you can get a blank by applying at any theatre running "The Mystery Ship"; you can make your own blanks, but be sure to answer all the questions in this blank.) Best Ending Contest Dept., Universal Film Mfg Co. 1600 Broadway, New York City. (Your answer, not more than 300 words.) Name _ Address City State _ _ Name of theatre or theatres where you saw "The Mystery Ship," or, if you did not see the serial, the name of the moving picture theatre nearest you.