Exhibitors Herald (Oct-Dec 1920)

December 25, 1920 EXHIBITORS HERALD 175 "Branding Iron" Window Typifies Joint Display THE windows of the nation have come to be, in a sense, the property of the exhibitor, his billboards, his advertising space, and it cannot be said that the real owners of the windows have lost because of the new arrangement. The co-operative window display, it must never be forgotten, is always co-operative. The book window used in connection with the exhibition of "The Branding Iron," the Goldwyn picturization of Katharine Xewlin Burt's novel, at the California theatre, Los Angeles, is a representative example of the window type of advertising. There is no more effective window co-operation than that which brings the motion picture version of a story to the attention of a patron who is prone to give book stores his attention. It is a general rule that the person who stops to read carefully the titles of books displayed by dealers is not the person who supports most regularly the motion picture theatre. The conversion of that person is more important because eventually more profitable than that of any normal patron for the individual occasion. In converting this class of patronage to steady support of the theatre the industry, as a whole, is benefited because of the hitherto unforthcoming revenue yielded by their increased admissions. Though the use of co-operative window displays has become general in motion picture exploitation, it is largely due to the fact that the method is cheap and involves comparatively little effort. More exhibitors make the necessary arrangements because it seems "the thing to do" than proceed to the work because of a genuine understanding of the subject as a whole. There are many phases of the proposition that merit the study of every exhibitor who advertises. The present story serves to point out the fact that different purposes are served and different results accomplished by use of different types of windows. Every mercantile institution presents a similar distinctive aspect. Give the matter careful consideration every time you use a co-operative window. Weigh the chances of good or better results, there are no other -varieties. But the choice of windows frequently determines the value of the whole enterprise. STUNTS The information that Billie Cotton, appearing in | the Goldwyn production, "Earthbound," was a I Minneapolis, Minnesota, child was communi | cated to the newspapers with the result that j the Blue Mouse theatre, where the picture was | shown, received the benefit of special stories j and photographs in daily and Sunday editions | of three newspapers. | | J. B. McNally, manager of the Newark theatre, | Newark, N. J., already has announced his spe j cial performance for 11 :15 p. m., December 31. | The prices charged will be 60 cents and 75 | cents, and the regular performance will not be augmented. Every exhibitor in the nation should take advantage of the same opportunity and make his announcement in due time, providing advance ticket sale accommodations where advisable. j J. W. Goodspeed, manager of the Isis theatre, Grand Rapids, Mich., offered prizes aggregating $50 and free admissions in a cooking contest advertising: "Married Life," the First National production. Housewives contributed so readily that show cases containing the "entries" constituted a lobby display which resulted in merchants handling gas stoves and cooking materials basing their advertising upon the event. The matinee at which a domestic science teacher and two newspaper men judged the confections upon the stage broke house attendance records, brought about big I newspaper publicity and provided for the single performance a better prologue than the most expert stage director could have developed. | Harry S. Lorch, Chicago exploitation representative of the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, utilized four Jewish newspapers in a special exploitation campaign for "The North Wind's Malice," the presence of Vera Gordon, the the mother in "Humoresque," in the cast inspiring the effort. The Barbee's theatre run of the attraction was extended to two weeks to accommodate the patronage resulting. | When Grace Kingsley, motion picture critic of the "Los Angeles Times," prophesied in her laudatory review of First National's "Nomads of the North" that the picture was "in for a run at the Kinema." that theatre replied with a two-column display advertisement starting with the following copy: "We are sorry. Miss Kingsley, but the Kinema's established one week run only policy cannot be changed even j for 'Nomads of the North.' " | Prize pound boxes of candy are being used by H. Mate of the National theatre, Newark. N. J., in a drive to' build up Wednesday matinee business and thus distribute patronage evenly over the week.