The art of sound pictures (1930)

210 THE ART OF SOUND PICTURES point of view. Mr. Frank Whitebeck of the Fox West Coast Theaters explained this aspect in a speech given at the annual motion picture luncheon of the Los Angeles District, California Federation of Women’s Clubs, May i8, 1929: There are many little matters of psychology in our advertising game. Do you know the word mother cannot be used in motion pictures if we are to expect success of that motion picture? Another word that we cannot use in advertising is marriage. Think of a picture that was a success with marriage in it. Another one is liquor; and you can thank goodness for that. Mother Knows Best (I am going to quote that for instance) was a failure, and we changed the title and called it Sally of My Dreams, and it was a success. Red Wine was a failure. We changed the title and called it Let’s Make Whoopee, and it was a success. There is your problem as well as our problem. While the original writer, therefore, may expect to have very little to say about the final choice of title for the picture, he may materially improve his chances of selling the story by selecting a striking box-office title. Occasionally, a story is bought for the title alone, and a new story is subsequently written to fit it. At one studio, a story was purchased for the sake of its title, and no fewer than ten stories were subsequently written by staff writers and free lance writers under special contract to attempt to utilize the title which had thus been purchased. At last, a story was found which was acceptable. The original writer received $1,500 for the use of the title alone, the entire story being thrown away immediately upon purchase. Another instance occurred when a picture was ready for release. The title was pronounced unsatisfactory by the publicity and sales department. An original story