The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

November 6, 1926 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 37 Two Contests Worked Well on Three Bad Men Two Contests Worked With Three Bad Men At the Regent theatre, Rochester, N. Y., the two newspapers each carried a contest for Three Bad Men at the Regent theatre. Both of the contests were taken. from the press book. The Times-Union took the "Scrambled" contest, which was merely the sectional cut of George O'Brien. The fifteen pieces were carried over a four-day run, and the sections had to be pasted together, neatness and originality being the deciding factors in awarding the 25 prizes. The Democrat-Chronicle took the hundred word essays on the history of horses, tying to the horses used in the Fox picture. Stories from which the facts could be obtained were run for three days. Here there were 25 more prizes. A good co-operation was obtained from the stores handling Over the Border, the story on which the picture is based, and the cold firearms display was also used to advantage. Production Hints from Edward L* Hyman Managing Director, Mark Strand Theatre, Brookljm Men of Steel Came When he had Men of Steel at the Rex theatre, Spartanburg, S. C, James H. McKey told the shop repairmen of the railroad that he would be glad to see the men at a certain performance. They marched in a body, 223 strong, to the theatre, getting more attention than the usual newsboys' parade. It proved to be a fine investment in passes. Frances White was billed as the principal stage attraction on the show which had Milton Sills in "Paradise" as the feature picture. Owing to sudden illness of the star, however, a switch was made at the last minute and two other presentations were inserted in place of Miss White. One of these was the Mitchell Brothers, singing banjoists, and the other was a violin solo by the concert master. The complete performance ran 1 hour and 53 minutes, of which time the Milton Sills production took up 1 hour and 14 minutes. The only other film subject was the Topical Review, which was given its accustomed 8 minutes. The musical presentations, of which there were four, required 31 minutes. The overture by the Famed Mark Strand Orchestra, with Willy Stahl directmg, was Kelerbela's "Hungarian Lustepiel, which took up 8 minutes. This was lighted as follows: bridge lights of purple covered the fabric cyclorama, which was closed across the small production stage, from one side of the proscenium arch to the other; X-ray foot lights of blue; 4 steel blue floods on the cove ceiling, light scarlet Mestrum flood on the orchestra from the dome, and blue stars in the sky of the sounding board above the orchestra. Following the overture came the Mitchell Brothers, singing banjoists, who did a very nice line of selections with interpolated instrumental numbers especially arranged. They took up 10 minutes to good advantage. Following the Topical Review came the violin solo by Sascha Kindler, concert master. The selection was from the opera "Aida" and required 5 minutes. The solist stood in front of the orchestra under an amber spot from the dome. Subdued green floods on the musicians and drapes constituted the balance of the lighting eflfects. The final presentation preceding the motion picture was "Orientale," featuring Vlasta Maslova, the ballerina and her partner, assisted by the Mark Strand Ballet Corps. The set was full stage of an Indian motif. It included a legdrop of arches with a balcony running across, this drop being placed about 4 feet in front of a neutral 'backdrop. Flood lamps of green shooting from the floor upward lighted the backdrop, while bridge lamps of rose-pink were thrown on the legdrop and augmented by floods of a similar color from the dome. The number opened with a dance by the ballet, after which Vlasta Maslova and her partner came up for their specialty. The finish was by the entire company. This presentation required 8 minutes. Kress Sold Rudy with a Variety of Appeals Milton H. Kress, of the Strand theatre, Memphis, Tenn., was not permitted to do advance advertisng for Valentino in "The Son of the Sheik" since the Palace was running it the week before he did. He had to do some blind advertising with reference to "Our Surprise Program" and urging all readers to watch for the Sunday advertising. He had boys out all Saturday night distributing 15,000 heralds to the houses, and ♦ he crowd that went out to the flying field on Sunday were confronted with a huge banner ofifering tickets to the first 25 persons to make a flight. As an air circus drew a crowd of about 5,000, it was remarkably cheap publicity. He used the linoleum mat for the front of the house, lettering a strip 9 by 15 feet. As his competitor, only three doors away, was using the same star in The Conquering Power, he felt that the stunt was well worth while. Keeping a man and boy in Arab dress on the streets further helped him to clean up with the advertising the Palace already had done. Kress is a Publix School graduate and knows both his apples and his onions. Tw^HcRESS' STUNTS FOR THE SON OF THE SHEIK-NOTE THE LINOLEUM MAT TKi. oilc'oth 9 bv 15 feet, wa. lettered for the play a^id all patron, of hi. own and an opposition house had to L„.. the mat The banner in the other picture announce, that the fir.t 25 per.on. to take an airp ane tnp with a p^oretlional flyer w^ld «t ricket.^o the Strand. The ticket, paid for a banner for the entire week.