Universal Weekly (1933-1935)

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Here is the patrician Patricia Ellis, playing opposite Letc Ayres in “ Let's Be Ritzy.” HOW TO EXPLOIT "LET'S BE RITZY” T N exploiting this picture play up youth, romance and laughter! Stunts, tie-ups and catchlines should all be in keeping with the “Let’s Be Ritzy” angle. Kid the young pretenders who wanted to make believe they were rich. Beware of moralizing or treating the theme dramatically. Put it over for what it is — a light, semi-serious, comedy drama of everyday newlyweds. Sell the cast — it is all big box-office. Lew Ayres — sell him heavily — his youthful personality is at its best in this role. Patricia Ellis — a charming, sparkling, pretty and talented ingenue with a string of successes. Isabel Jewell and Frank McHugh, two swell comedians who control a pile of votes. And there’s that delightful old crab, Robert McWade — he’s a riot in “Let’s Be Ritzy!” The best exploitation title ever offered a live-wire showman for tie-up possibilities. Prove this by tying up with local merchants for a “Let’s Be Ritzy” week. Get them all in on the stunt, with a prize for the best dressed window as voted by local citizens. Suggest to the newspaper that they sell a co-operative ad section in connection with the week. The idea has unlimited possibilities as it can be extended beyond the merchants to civic officials for a town clean-up, etc. UNIVERSAL WEEKLY = Mar. 17, 1934 'LET'S BE RITZY'' READY FOR RELEASE NEXT week theatres that enjoy a good human comedy-drama will be shaking their sides and counting their dollars. "Let's Be Ritzy" will be released then. It has passed its preview tests with flying colors. It knocked the sales force for a loop. Exhibitors are going to eat it up; audiences are going to come back and see it twice and tell their friends to go and see it. That is the kind of a picture "Let's Be Ritzy" is. "Let's Be Ritzy" was made from a play by William Anthony McGuire. Its dialogue is as human, as rippling, as funny, as any play on Broadway today. It has the advantage of some of the best acting which has been seen on the Universal City lot in years. Lew Ayres never was better since "All Quiet on the Western Front." Robert McWade gives undoubtedly the best individual performance in the picture. Patricia Ellis, a newcomer to Universal, played so well in this picture that Carl Laemmle, Jr., immediately signed her up to play the feminine lead in "Alias the Deacon." Isabel Jewell, who made such a hit ( Continued on Page 28 ) A scene from “ Let’s Be Ritzy,” with Addison Richards, Lew Ayres and Patricia Ellis. Isabel Jewell and Robert McWade in “ Let’s Be Ritzy,” which stars Lew Ayres.