The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

Celling the Picture to the Public J ^/us Department Was SstabibhM September 23. 1911 bif Us Present Siiior^ Spes Winthrop Sargent Harry Storin Qets Valuable Presswork Through Using Boy Scouts As His Staff H ARRY F. STORIN, of the Leroy a success of his toy matinee last fied the idea and is getting twi Theatre, I'awtiicket. R. I., made sucli >t December that this year he has ampHice the kick and several times the pubHcity from the idea. It's a combination of the old benefit idea with the Boy Boys' Week when, in many cities where :s for the day to the rising generation. Scout executive stunt borrowed from the public officials gave over their desk; This year the Boy Scout organizations of Pawtucket organized a drive to obtain toys and clothing to be given the poor on Christinas Day, and Storin naturally tied in to that idea by offering the Leroy for a benefit on the morning of December 18. At that time the entire house will be staffed by boys selected from the Scout body. The regular stafif will stand by to render aid, if required, hut an effort will be made to let tlie boys do it all themselves. Boys will sell the tickets and other boys will take them. A staff of ushers has been recruited and scouts will aid the stage hands in making the sets. There even will be a boy manager, though Storin probably will keep the passes locked up until he gets the job back. The entire proceeds will go to the Boy Scout Fund and provide the money with which to augment the usual donations of used clothing and toys. Papers Give Space The local papers are heavily behind the movement, and are giving daily front page stories to the drive. Storin hooks into these and not only gets the publicity, but is thanked by the grateful reporter who has the matter in charge. Rehashing the same story day after day for several weeks is a tiresome assignment, but Storin lightens the work by giving something new to talk about. Sketches of the various boy officials who will replace the theatre's workers will give plenty of fresh ma terial, and provide variety, all of which is as good for the newspaper as it is for the Leroy. In addition to the boy staff, there will be a vaudeville show, supplied entirely by child volunteers, and this, too, will bring its own presswork that is of direct domestic interest, while the Kiddie Revue is always a big winner. Storin points out that this stunt will enable him to bring to the attention of the public various departments that as a rule are ignored in the public prints. He ran dilate on the projection room, the service and a lot of other matters that generally ari ignored by the papers, and he can make it interesting because it concerns some well known local boy. Incidentally he figures that he may be able to locate some child entertainers who may be useful in some other offering. Starting in on the idea merely with the idea of helping out a local movement, S*orin finds that the house is reaping a rich reward. A Y. M. C. A. Prologue When The Strong Man played the Majestic Theatre, Shreveport, La., the Y. M. C A. gynmastic team of sixteen members put on a show three times a day just to aJverti'-c the Y' and they put up a smart oerformance that was a real treat. Qood Stunts Were Used on Kid Boots R. R. Rogcss, of the Tivoli Theatre, Chattanooga, got out a novelty card for Eddie Canton in Kid Boots. In the upper right hand corner of a card he printed a green circle and cut out the centre. This was headed "A hole in one, the shining dream of every golf fiend." Then it went on to sell the golf angle in Kid Boots. On the same line a sporting goods store dressed a w-indow with golf equipment and a glass bowl of balls. Tickets were offered to all who could estimate the number of balls in the jar, blanks being given all applicants. More than 3,000 blanks were filled out, but only 32 persons were correct. Each received a pair of tickets to the picture. For the house front a 32-foot figure of the star was used, making a splendid flash. Not a little business was brought in by a special postal to the 1,400 members of local golf clubs. These were signed by Eddie Cantor. Several window displays of sports suits and dresses and a preview \vhs given on Sunday for those who could go out and sell the picture to the rest of the town. In Correction Hal H. Carleton, of the Prince Edward Theatre, Sydney, Australia, writes that it was John E. Kennebeck, acting for Paramount, who imported the Indians so successfully used in the campaign on The Vanishing Race: the Australian renaming of The X'anishing American. As it was Mr. Carleton who sent the story in he was given more credit than he asks for, and he is passing it along to Mr. Kennebeck. He assisted in putting the stunt over after the Indians were landed. PUTTING OVER THE BLACK PIRATE IN CLEVEL\ND FOR A THREE WEEKS' RUN The treasure chest in the foreground vas a hook-in to a savings bank business drive, and was guarded by n life size cutout of Fairbanks in real costume. The paintings are enlargements from photographs. The box office was dressed to suggest an old ship cabin. The other cut shows one of the several book displays. A stunt man made frequent appearances.