The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

Celling the Picture to the Public J Ofiis Department Was SstabLbfted September 23, 1911 bt^ Us Present 6dUor^ Spes Winthrop Sargent Interested Front Page For His Tramp Qirl Donh Overlook Your Potato Matinee As Part of the Thanksgiving Stunts POTATO MATINEES have come t before Thanksgiving; generally the if you have passed this over in prev find it a splendid factor in making good Originally the Potato Matinee was just that. Children were admitted on presentation of potatoes to be given to the poor, but with the growth of the idea it has become a much more important stunt, and from a single potato the donations have grown to anything that will help the needy to give thanks. Last year one manager offered a small cash prize for the largest potato presented. It not only increased the donations, but it made for a rivalry that helped to work up considerable juvenile excitement. However, the best plan is to offer a special show with any donation of food accepted. In a small town, where there exists no organized charity, it is common to make the local orphan asylum or old folks home the beneficiary. In larger places organized charity, the police or the Salvation Army takes care of the distribution. Parents Appreciate The big idea is that the stunt serves to give emphasis to the spirit of the season. It wins the approval of the class of persons whose good opinion is of most value to you, and it does a practical good, while serving as an advertisement for your house. The best plan is to book back some old release that made a real hit with the children when it was first shown ; something they will wish to see again. This will give you a strong attraction at small cost and leave your regular bill to catch the afternoon admissions. o be fixed events in many houses just Saturday morning before the iioliday, but ious years, try it out this time. You will will. The chances are that your exchange manager will make you a special price and possibly throw in a couple of good comedies A chat, not more than five minutes long, on the spirit of the season, will be a decided help. Hook the Newspaper If you act quickly the probabilities are that you can get your newspaper interested to the point of co-operation. In any event it should be good for special press notices. Make a short, strong campaign and you'll put it over with a whoop. Don't be in a hurry to clean out the lobby. Tidy up after the morning performance, but leave the donations for the inspection of the later patrons. You should have piles of stuff, and this will give you a lobby display that will excite favorable comment. Careful Distribution Have it announced in advance just what disposition will be made of the donations, and if there are more than one institution, share around. Don't favor one at the expense of the others But if you can get the Salvation Army or organized charity to take this off your hands, you will be relieved of much of the task and avoid any possible criticism. Some theatres have made the potato matinee a regular event in the past dozen years. They find that it pays them for the slight expense and extra trouble. If you've never tried this, get into line this year and you'll be one of the regulars, too. Steve Farrar got five front page stories for his Tramp, Tramp, Tramp stunt and also hooked nine stores and a political candidate on a co-op page. More than that, he had a sort of perpetual parade, and if you saw someone with a worried look taking careful steps along the business district, you were careful not to interrupt. You might spoil the count. We like Steve's idea the best of all of the stunts sprung on the Harry Langdon comedy because it had a basis of interest that was longer reaching than the usual tramping contest. It lasted five days. He announced that on the day before the comedy opened the Tramp, Tramp, Tramp Girl would go on a shopping trip to the stores of the advertisers on his co-op page. She would wear a pedometer to register her step and all you had to do was to cover the route she would take and figure out the mileage, making due allowance for her trips into the stores. That was what made it interesting. Anyone could cover the route and get the approximate mileage, but Steve told just what she would do in each store. To come closer to her mileage you had to do the things she did; go to the counters she was to patronize and add that to the general mileage. Figuring Footage Estimate blanks were printed on the page and could be had at all the stores. All you had to do was to get the correct mileage, reduce it to steps of 27 inches and. collect the prize. While this is particularly good for a walking title, it can be worked for any mystery girl to gain added interest in the co-operative page. As usual Steve comes through with a real one when he fakes his pen in hand. IT TOOK THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO PLACE THIS SIGN IN BIRMINGHAM, ALA. Raymond Willie, of the Lvric. with the aid of a Fox exploitation man, obtained the services of the fire department to place this 75-foot banner, which imrroived the exploitation values. The other cut shows the advance for Three Bad Men in the Lyric lobby. A prairie schooner was used for a perambulator and doorknobs wmrned to keep all doors locked as Three Bad Men were comine to town.