Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1938)

SUGGESTIONS FOR SELLI NG THE PICTURE AD AIDS ZxpLoitip* SELLING ANGLES: “Mr. Moto's Last Warning" The “Mr. Moto” character is by now well-known to detective-picture fans and should require little selling. Use the Oriental style of lettering in newspaper advertising, lobby cutouts and throwsheets. Plant stills with chop suey houses. Obtain a quantity of old Japanese or Chinese newspapers, tear them into small squares and imprint picture billing in red ink. For giveaways use Chinese “cash” — coins with holes through them — attached to cards bearing picture billing. CATCHLINES: Mr. Moto Takes a Hand to Trap a Renegade Who Wanted to Blow the World Into the Inferno of Another War. Spine-Tingling Adventure With That Ace of Sleuths . . . Wily, Likeable Mi*. Moto. SELLING ANGLES: “Garden of the Moon" This story was widely read as a Saturday Evening Post serial. Prepare a giant Post cover for lobby display with stills from the picture super-imposed on it, and arrange with magazine distributors to stuff the Post with heralds. Tie up on the radio angles — the presence of Joe Venutl and his orchestra, and Jimmy Fidler, air commentator. Plug the songs in the film with local radio stations and dance bands. Give marquee play to Pat O’Brien, John Payne and Margaret Lindsay. CATCHLINES: A Behind-the-Scenes Comedy of a World-Famed Dancing Spot . . . And the Lives and Loves of Those Who Run It. It Twinkles With Stars . . . Music . . . Comedy . . . And Romance . . . Warner’s Best Musical. SELLING ANGLES: "Give Me a Sailor” Martha Raye, Bob Hope and Betty Grable should prove a winning marquee combination. Dress attendants in “gob” costumes and string a series of “signal” flags above the marquee. Have a group of pretty girls go about town “recruiting” men to “join the navy” by attending the picture. Use stills of Miss Raye with a mud-pack over her face in beauty shop tie ups. If the locality is not too prudish, hold a “beautiful legs” contest — winners being those whose legs measurements come closest to Miss Raye’s. CATCHLINES: Oh-h-h-h . . . Boy! That Swingin’, Singin’, Comedy Sensation Is Here Again ... In the Maddest Mixup Martha Ever Managed. She Was So Stuck on a Sailor That She Almost Joined the Navy to Make Him Fall in Love. SELLING ANGLES: “Marie Antoinette" Teeming with exploitation possibilities is this historical drama. Sell, primarily, Norma Shearer, returning to the screen, with Tyrone Power and John Barrymore in support. Use the famous “Let ’em eat cake” phrase, supposedly from Marie Antoinette’s lips, as the basis of an essay contest for high school students, on French history of that period. Have local hairdressers feature a “Marie Antoinette” coiffure. CATCHLINES: The Tragic, Romantic Story of a Queen Who Wanted Love . . . And Grasped at It . . . While Her People Starved. Turmoil . . . Intrigue . . . Romance . . . Revolution . . . The Story of France in the Days of Louis XVI . . . And a Queen Who Met Death With a Smile Because She Had Found Love. SELLING ANGLES: "I'm From the City" Penner, who stars on the Coco-Malt radio program each week, is good for plugs with all broadcasting fans, and tieups should be made with grocery stores on the food product and the picture. Promote a special sale in which purchasers of the product are given rate-reduction tickets to the picture. Sell Penner to the kid audiences by holding Penner “imitation” contest for youngsters at matinee performances. CATCHLINES: It’s a Laugh-a-Minute . . . Chuckle-a-Second Comedy . . . With Joe Penner at His Funniest. One Long Howl From Start to Finish as Joe Stumbles From One Panic-Making Situation to Another. SELLING ANGLES: “Boy Meets Girl" Sell this as a behind-the-scenes-in-Hollywood comedy and plug it heavily as the filmization of the successful stage play. Use the title as the basis for a special invitation to newlyweds and newly engaged couples to see the film at special rates. Persuade drug and grocery stores to tie up on a display of soaps, cosmetics, deodorants, etc., on the “boy meets girl — boy loses girl — boy wins girl” theme. Snipe the town with posters bearing these three sentences. CATCHLINES: It’s a Celluloid Brainstorm . . . The Story of Two Crazy Writers . . . Running Wild in Hollywood. Boy Meets Girl . . . Boy Loses Girl . . . Boy Wins Girl . . . With Two Screwy Screen Writers Playing Cupid. SELLING ANGLES: “The Chaser" Sell this as an expose of the activities of ambulance chasing shyster lawyers and quack doctors, and invite local physicians, lawyers and insurance men to see the feature. Dennis O’Keefe and Lewis Stone rate the marquee credits. Tie up with drugstores on displays of first-aid equipment and use the title as an advertising tieup for soft drinks — “chases thirst” — and pain-killing medicines. CATCHLINES: He “Fixed” Accidents in Which Nobody Got Hurt . . . And Collected Fat Fees for His Dishonesty. Framed at His Own Game . . . This “Fixer” of Fake Accidents Finds the Price for Revenge Is Too Great. SELLING ANGLES: “Outlaw Express" Promote a Bob Baker safety club among the youngsters. Giveaways could consist of autographed “glossies” of the star or Safety Club membership buttons. Tie up with merchants in a “Treasure Hunt” for passes. Arrange to have heralds included in copies of western magazines sold on the newsstands. Have barker or doorman attired in Indian costume. Plant pictures of Baker in as many situations as possible. CATCHLINES: Danger Along the Pony Express Trail . . . But the Mail Must Go Through. Bob Baker in a Whirlwind Action Picture. He Made the Rough Men Shiver and the Senoritas Sizzle. 4 ARE YOU USING THE PICTURE GUIDE FOR HANDY FILING OF THESE REVIEWS? 32 BOXOFFICE :: July 30, 1938