The Moving picture world (January 1920-February 1920)

February 7, 1920 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 885 Slide Down a Rope to the Front Page Albright Is Happy Because He Made The Front Page of Butte Newspaper GETTING on the front page of a newspaper with a top-of-column story, with two inside stories for the following days, at the cost of some nerve and $12.80 in money is the stunt which is making H. A. Albright, of the American, Butte, feel good all over. Ever since he was promoted from advertising sign man to manager, Mr. Albright has had his eye on that front page space. Ralph Ruffner made it several times, and Albright wanted to get there, too. But the front page is not to be had for the asking. There are seven columns to the page and each of those columns is supposed to carry some real news of the day. Butte newspapers have self-respecting editors who refuse to sell that position. It must be won. It is a sort of D. S. C. of press agentry — only less common. Because it was difficult to attain, Mr. Albright wanted it so badly that it hurt inside of him. And to make it complete he picked out the hardest boiled editor in town; the man who runs the Anaconda Standard. The Idea Came Slowly. He thought of a lot of good stuff, but it did not seem to measure up to the editorial standards. It got space, but This Is the Place. Front of American Theatre, Butte, with M. Albright's painting-. it did not crowd the front page any, and it was the front page he was keen to disarrange. He though the better part of 1919, but the coming of the new year brought a change, and he put on his best clothes and went over to interview the man with the big blue pencil. He felt none too certain, for time and again he had shoved in what he describes as "a perfectly Christian reader," only to find the accursed "Advt." stuck onto the end of the copy, with the sinister suggestion of a bill from the advertising department presently. With a man who kept that "Advt." on a rubber stamp right on his desk, Albright was making no bets even with himself, but he wa^ game for a try. Sitting on the edge of a chair he broke it gently to the editorial person that a veiled lady was going to slide down a rope in front of his theatre and paint a picture on a canvas just above the electric sign. Did the editor not think that this was a really nice piece of news ? The editor so far unbent as to admit that a lady upholstered in red velvet, sliding down a rope and painting a picture of Bill Hart's mug on some hitherto unblemished canvas sounded pretty fair to middling. He looked at a permit from the mayor to tie up traffic on the street for a couple of days, asked the lady's name, and looked disappointed when he was told that the lady was bashful, and then he had a hireling write a story that ran llj-^ inches overall, including the head, on the second column of the front pag:., and the next day there were l3j^ inches on page three, and 4^ inches on page four the third day telling that the lady had completed her stunt. And he did not stamp "Advt." on the stuff, either. And outside the cost of the paint the bill came to $12.80. Here Are the Figures. Mr. Albright did not charge the costume, because the head cashier made the "dress" for him out of an old box curtain. He did not charge for the lady's services, because he was the lady, which is the real reason why the lady was masked. It was also the reason why she climbed a rope from the roof instead of coming out of the front door and climbing a ladder. The bill runs : 3 2x4s $1.08 3 Cornell boards 6.48 96 feet lumber 1.44 7 staple bolts 2.80 10 toy balloons 1.00 12.80 The ballons were not for the purpose of holding Mr. Albright up. They were the common air baloons, and five were blown up and tossed to the crowd each day, carrying a pass for two. As the balloons were almost as light as air, they were difficult to capture and their chase made things interesting. When Courage Fled. Mr. Albright climbed into his rig each morning about 11 :30, shinned down the rope and painted on the picture. He did half the first day and completed the job the second, making the story good for a three day run and the crowd good for two days. The painting was stopped at one o'clock about the time the doors were opened, and there was nothing to prevent you from going right inside if you had the price of admission. He was an artist before he became a manager, so the painting job was easy, but Mr. Albright admits that he felt a bit shaky the first day when he looked down into the crowd and saw a wellknown undertaker in the very front row of the police lines. The man looked too blame eager, and he was glad when the planter was swallowed up by the crowd. He did not mind the ambulance waiting on the far corner. That was a detail he had planned himself, but the undertaker looked positively hungry. It made a lot of talk, and it got a big crowd in front of the house at opening time for two days in succession. It was good work, but we wish Mr. Albright had had the nerve to pose to the photographer in those red velvet bloomers. That was the one point he overlooked. Postcards Help to Advertise LOEWS Garden, Kansas City, sends in some postcards sent out to advertise the personal appearance of June Caprice, 20,000 of which were mailed out with a handwritten message from the star. The same card, in two colors, is also supplied patrons who desire to postcard their friends. This is a good idea for a permanent stunt for a large house. It gets advertising to an absolutely authentic list of addresses at small cost. So well does this work that in some vaudeville theatres and many restaurants the cards will be stamped and mailed free. The back of the card shows pictures of the house, the front being reserved for address and message. Try it some time — and copy off the addresses for your own mailing list. Another Publisher Wakes Up BONI & LIVERWRIGHT, publishers of the Modern library, have seen the light and are going to push their film title books with the same thoroughness as the music publishers have shown. The Goldwyn Company has produced their "The Paliser Case," and the publishers are arranging to boom the book while the play is being shown in any city in which they have representation. They have obtained the list of bookings and will make a drive on the book just ahead of the play showing' on the style made familiar by the song sheet men. Goldwyn will cooperate on thi spublicity with a supply of window cards and stills, and the two concerns will work together for the benefit of the exhibitor — and themselves.