The Moving picture world (July 1923-August 1923)

July 14, 1923 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 145 A Paramount Release PASCHALL'S LOBBY ON PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS IN EL PASO The manager of the Palace Theatre and his staff artist, Guiterrez, evolved an original layout for the Swanson picture including hand painted cutout and special posters. The latter are particularly good. Built Up Trailer Adding a 200-foot sequence from the play io the trailer on Daddy, the Temple Theatre, Hamilton, Ont., stopped traffic by showing this on an outdoor screen. The sequence of scenes was added in the belief that a straight run of action would add to the appeal of the disconnected scenes. It also served to prolong the picture to a more inviting length. Business clubs were tied to provide automobiles for the institutional children at a special matinee and shops were tied to signs suggesting that : "It is time the whole family subscribed for a present for Daddy." This let in a lot of stills and window cards where they otherwise might have been denied. Here's a Good One In this season of open-air band concerts, the stunt used by Guy A. Kenimer, of the Arcade Theatre, Jacksonville, for Robin Hood will be a winner on any picture with a plugger song. Kenimer worked it on the score for Robin Hood. He persuaded the local band to play the operatic selections at the concert prior to the opening of the Fairbanks picture, the band soloist explaining that the numbers were played in response to the interest occasioned by the coming of the play to the Arcade. It was only one of a score of special stunts worked by Kenimer, who was handicapped by the weather and who yet made a good financial showing. Cheap Treasure Looking around for a lobby ballyhoo for Monte Cristo, Oscar White, of the Rex Theatre, Sumter, S. C, achieved a good effect at small cost. From the local express agent he borrowed one of the small iron strongboxes used for the shipment of valuables. A shallow tray was fitted in the top and filled with jewelry borrowed from the tencent store with the understanding that anything not returned would be paid for. Under strong electric lighting the stuff looked like the traditional million dollars, and while the receipts did not quite reach that figure, they were away ahead of the hot weather average. To make it interesting, the box was partly buried in a sand pile. Made More Friends Because the Franklin K. Lane Junior High School, No. 85, of Brooklyn, N. Y., won the prize for the best turnout in the recent Decoration Day parade, and felt all hopped up about it. the Colonial theatre clinched several thousand friends by suggesting to the school committee that the presentation of the prize be made at the theatre. A special morning showing of a picked program was made, and the presentation of the coveted prize was a part of the proceedings. The matinee was complimentary to the school, but it will bring in many tim :s its cost, for the pupils think of the Coloni 1 when they think of pictures. Made Safer Because he thought Jack Holt and the tiger were entirely too close together on the 24-sheet for the Tiger's Claw, Thomas G. Coleman, of the Galax Theatre, Birmingham, Ala., cut them apart and put Jack on one side of the lobby and the tiger on the other. It was more effective than a solid cutout, and sold more tickets. Don't wait for an inspiration to come to you. Go out and look for it and hustle it in. That's the way to exploit. A Daddy Contest Is Big Space Grabber Something really new in Coogan contests is the contribution of the Eastman Theatre, Rochester, which won two columns a day in the Rochester Times-Union for $35 and a few passes. In its essence, the Times-Union offered three cash prizes for the best hundred word letters from children under eleven telling why their own daddy was the best in the world, but they were also permitted to tell what daddy did they did not admire, and more than one head of a household got a hot tip while the rest of the town enjoyed a laugh. Passes were sent to all whose letters were published and $20, $10 and $5 given the three adjudged the winners. It gave real reading for the picture, and as it ran the week the show was on the screen, it was a direct help to business. There was no requirement to see the picture. You wrote about your own daddy. Billed Blackboards Using his hypnotic eye, H. B. Clarke, of the Garing theatre, Greenville, S. C, talked the school authorities into permitting "Harold Lloyd in Safety Last at the Garing" to be written in the corner of the blackboard in each class room. This was one of the reasons the Garing played to 1200 children duting the engagement. We don't know that argument was used but the stunt was a whizzer. In the same line, "permitting" a local insurance agent to write laugh policies on the patrons pleased him so well that he took newspaper space to advertise that he wrote this and all other forms of insurance. Looks as though Clarke were able to sell spectacles to a blind man. Hit the Trail Building his own miniature for The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, W. A. Doster, of the Strand Theatre, Montgomery, Ala., got a very effective display for the picture. He marked off a space six feet square in the center of the lobby and built this up with stand, into which he thrust branches of pines to make small trees. The sand was covered with moss, except for the trail, which was left blank and bordered with small stones. A painted sign to one side put the title over. It cost very little and kept the cashier busy. A First Sational Release HOGGING BUSINESS DOWN IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA This is the way Frank H. Burns, of the Beacham Theatre, put over Daddy and got good business even with the weather hot enough to roast the pig without the intervention of a stove. It leaves the lobby open and inviting and it gets the eye.