Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1938)

SU GGESTIONS FOR SELLING THE PICTURE AD AIDS i-xpLoitip& SELLING ANGLES: "Delinquent Parents" Interest parent-teacher organizations and similar groups in the subject matter for a discussion. Get their endorsement, if possible. A topic to plant in your local paper for an essay contest is “Are Parents Delinquent in Their Care of Children?” Play up the moral tone sounded in the picture through religious and educational circles. Exhibitors catering to a family trade would do wise to play it straight and avoid the sensational in exploitation. CATCHLINES: A Burning Page Out of the Book of Life. Should Parents Sacrifice for Children? . . . See “Delinquent Parents.” SELLING ANGLES: "I'll Give a Million" For a street exploitation stunt, dress a man in trampish attire and have him mingle with downtown shopping crowds. In advertising sponsor an “Identify the phantom millionaire” — who is a tramp. Those guessing his identity receive free passes. Conduct a “What would you do for $1,000,000?” contest. As throwaways use bank “checks” made out to “bearer” for “$1,000,000” — “payable in enjoyment at the Blank Theatre.” CATCHLINES: A Bored Millionaire . . . Changes Clothes With a Tramp . . . And Throws a Continent Into an Uproar. The Milk of Human Kindness . . . Turns Sour . . . In This Comedy Riot About a Millionaire Tramp. SELLING ANGLES: "I Married a Spy" Your campaign probably will center about your lobby. Prominently displayed on easels should be timely newspaper headlines pointing to the current wave of spy inquiries being conducted by the government. Large cutouts and a generous assortment of stills showing typical war scenes are other “musts.” You might be able to stimulate enough cutouts to represent a firing squad of soldiers at one side of your lobby with a blindfolded woman at the other side. You may be able to borrow from your local library pictures of paintings of famous women spies, these to be supplemented with their case-histories. CATCHLINES: Branded a Spy . . . With No Escape But Death. To Save His Country He Married a Spy . . . Then Fought to Save Her Life. SELLING ANGLES: "Port of Seven Seas" Sell this picture as a romantic story of the waterfront; as the story of the love of a father for his son; as a drama of unusual and finely acted characterizations. The title suggests tieups with travel bureaus, railroad and steamship offices, luggage stores. Cite the past performances of Beery; stress the grand acting of Morgan. The French setting suggests tieups with French perfumes, French restaurants. CATCHLINES: Lovable, Laughable “Bad Man of Brimstone” . . . In the Season’s Most Heart-Stopping, HeartWarming Romance! Red-blooded Drama . . . Love’s Triumphs and Tragedies . . . Life’s Laughter and Tears. Not Every Sailor Has a Girl in Every Port. SELLING ANGLES: “Love Finds Andy Hardy" This is the fourth in the “Judge Hardy’s Family” series, which by now should have built up a substantial fan following. Handle exploitation along “family” lines. Invite all families named Hardy to view the picture at reduced rates and address special direct-mail advertising to them. Tie up with photographers on “family group” portraits, with automobile agencies on the “ideal family car,” and with other merchants in similar fashion. CATCHLINES: Three Loves Had Andy . . . The 15-Year-Old Casanova of the Hardy Family. Your Friends . . . The Hardys . . . Are Back Again ... In Another Laughable, Lovable Episode of Real, Human Family Life. SELLING ANGLES: "Professor, Beware" Boxoffice conditions generally and the long drought of plain, pure, unadulterated straight comedy suggest an unusually intensive selling campaign. Provided it is directed in the proper channels it seems sure to return handsome rewards. Plenty of emphasis should be placed on the fact that this is Lloyd’s first effort since 1936. Another strong point is the grand comic support, whose names deserve prominent mention in lights and advertising. Your lobby can contain many typical museum relics, with a gag atmosphere. This angle can also be profitably developed in heralds. The professor angle is also worth playing around with. CATCHLINES: Hold Everything. Harold’s Back in the Lloydest and Funniest Picture of the Year. That Lunatic Lloyd Is Loose Again. SELLING ANGLES: "Little Tough Guy" Listing the “Dead End” kids on the marquee should draw in your action fans. Sociological angles in the story are also worthy of consideration and exploitation for more serious-minded patrons. Tie up with school sociology classes by promoting an essay contest on slums and means of cleaning them up. Have the classes see the picture, at reduced rates, as part of the contest. Get endorsements from juvenile court judges, ministers, police officials and women’s clubs for use in advertising and exploitation. CATCHLINES: Hard, Ruthless Killers . . . Yet Only Children in Years . . . Products of the Slums. The Six Sensational “Dead End” Kids ... In a Story of Vigor and Violence . . . That You Won’t Want to Miss. SELLING ANGLES: "The Affairs of Annabel" Appeal through exploitation and advertising to film fans everywhere who have been eager to i catch a glimpse of Hollywood behind-the-scenes. Spot stills, showing on-the-set activity, on the movie pages of local newspapers. Jack Oakie has ) gained nation-wide prominence in columns and radio broadcasts through his successful reducing diet. Tie in with druggists and health centers on j weight-reduction formulas. Print throwsheets as small pamphlets, titled “The Affairs of Annabel,” aping the “Police Gazette” format. CATCHLINES: Annabel Was a Movie Star . . . And Oakie Was Her Press Agent . . . Who Boosted Her Back to i the Heights . . . With Plenty of Lowbrow Stunts. A Falling Star . . . And a Stalling Press Agent . . . In a Rollicking Comedy of Hollywood. ARE YOU USING THE PICTURE GUIDE FOR HANDY FILING OF THESE REVIEWS? 26 BOXOFFICE :: July 16, 1938