The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

40 MOVING PICTURE WORLD November 6, 1926 Washington Uses Double Space for Mare Nostrum interesting than the details, so he added a couple of lines and let it go through. Burns not only knows when he should use selling talk, but he knows when it is not necessary. The result is a big smash in a three sevens. You could add a couple of "'Minds of type and not do more selling. Cut Ad and Reader In a Single Space In this advertisement for Men of Steel at the Stillman Theatre, Cleveland, M. A. Malanev has achieved virtuallv two ads in one. .sti.i^.iiiii^ai A TWO-IN-ONE In one respect it is merely the announcement of star and title, plus the house signature. A great many sales could be effected from this were there no additional text. The text is so small that from one point of view it might as well not be there. But from another angle this is one of the best selling talks that Malaney has put over in a long time. He hands out three big punches, each distinct and yet related. You can read any one of the three and sell yourself. If you have to read a lot before you decide to see a picture, you have the material here. If you can be sold on sight, the cut will sell you without reference to the text. This is a lot of six point to put in a single display, and yet that is just the point. A few ten and twelve point lines would have killed the entire double effect, as Malaney knew. One large display line either above or below the cut would have flopped the entire layout. It is precisely because all of the lines are kept small that this packs a double punch. You can't come anywhere near that page without knbwing that Milton Sills in Men of Steel is at the Stillman. That sells on sight. If it does not sell, it probably interests you sufficiently to get you to read the small type and that will sell you. It's a lot to do with a two eights. Cut Helps Display In Rochester Ads This 105 by 3 from the Victoria Theatre, Rochester, gives a good display to Black Paradise and the scene cut, while no more than an attractor, makes for interest. You figure that where there is so much smoke from the volcano there must be some fire to the story. SUN. thru to WKD. VILLI AM FOX frtienii BUCK PARADISE MADGE BELLAMY -EDMUND IDWt USllt f ENTON DORIS LLOYD R WILLIAM. NULL J>reili,ci Sat. "Camille of the Barbary Coast" .i.rrlnj OWV.H MOORE ,„„ MAK Bl'SCH Next SUN. lo WED, TO.M .XIIX in "HARD BOILED" CUT IS A HELP The single selling line is not so good. This is a hand lettered italic below the stars and reads : "Wolves of Society Trapped by Love and Regeneration." This doesn't seem to mean much of anything, so much of the selling must be accomplished by the title and the players. The title is good and the players help even more. The cut is full column width so that the panel rules must be cut in above and below. In this instance it seems to work very well, but a cut that does not completely fill its width is much more useful to exhibitors. A four column cut should not be full four inches. Three and a half is much more useful. Feeling that gaudy billboard display might be in poor taste, Jay A. Hass specialized on windows for The Son of the Sheik. He got 63, which is plenty for a town the size of Little Rock, and he packed the Capitol. Has Double Space on Mare Nostrum Generally th2 Loew theatres in Washington, D. C, stick pretty closely to a space approximating a three fives, but they are not hidebound, and nearly eight inches were used for the opening of Mare Nostrum. Direct From Seven Months In New York at $2 Prices! — i-omea (h* gmltM dr*nutif thrill inmrv«l of tbcm all! A KTwn pl«y of •luzin^ power and beauty. Mor«than a yew in lb* maJcIn*. fUveslin^ IhouMods in iurast and filmed In the actual localion* abroad The picture all Wi^ini^n hai waited to m«' REX INGRAM ypX^ BYV»US (OUR SEA) tUSCO IBANU C04LCST TMUTCN NEARLY EIGHT DOWN This uses the sea-goddess which promises to become a trade-mark for the picture and carries a portrait of the lovely Alice Terry in addition. Most of the kick is the "Direct from Xew York" line, but the story and its fine production are intelligently sold. This is mostly done with press book lines, but it would he difficult to better this material, and Washington readers neither know nor care whether it is new or original. This is where some managers fall down. They seem to be ashamed to use press book lines, although these may have been done by men who are artists in just that work. That is the real value of a good press book. It gives you the services of a staff of specialists no single theatre could afford to hire. It is foolish not to use it, unless you can better the material for your own special clientele. On Wheels Capitalizing the number of children with scooters, cycles and the like, K. N. Dunn, of the Paragon Picture House, Glasgow, Scotland, devised a stiffened pennant for The Scarlet Streak and advertised for 100 children with wheeled vehicles. These were paid a ticket apiece for doing a parade through the neghboring streets, and everyone talked about the parade and the Streak. Qood Response Checking up on a mail campaign for Mantrap, Ralph Noble found that he pulled on 65 per cent of his letters. He sent out to a selected list and, knowing his patrons, was able to make an accurate check-up. A wedding ring, described as the original mantrap, was handed out in an envelope lettered "What Every Woman Craves." It assured careful reading of the remainder of the text