Exhibitor's Trade Review (Mar-May 1922)

1418 EXHIBITORS TRADE REVIEW Volume 11. Number 20 This big banner over the entrance to Ascher's Merrill, Milwaukee, for Goldwyn's "Come On, Over" had a punch in it that attracted wide attention. A baby spotlight, connected to a flasher, was placed in the torch of the Statue of Liberty and acted as a beacon to gMide patrons to the! entrance. The Haymarket, Sydney, Australia, arranged this lobby display for First National's "The Sign on the Door." It is described in the adjoining column and would be a curiosity getter even in this country where every conceivable, and some inconceivable, things have been done in the way of exploitation. Only one objection. The still is not working. If it had been, there is no telling how many (thirsty) patrons this display, arranged by Manager Hill, would have drawn into the Arcade, Jacksonville, Fla., to see Paramount's "A Game Chicken." Reaching Women A new medium for reaching women and building up matinee trade has been discovered by Jack Retlaw, director of advertising for the West Coast Theatres, with headquarters in Los Angeles. Each Saturday, the day on which the Kinema changes its show, advertisements for this house, which has all the First National bookings, appear in the weekly "Come with Me to the Markets" section of the Examiner. This is strictly a woman's section. The Kinema takes space for a picture of the star appearing that week and for "liners" scattered through the page. The "liners" read "After luncheon, the Kinema nriatinee." "Relieve shopping afternoon by the Kinema matinee — etc. Not everyone reads the motion picture columns, and advertising in this medium reaches the woman who otherwise might not have thought of taking in a matinee. Extremely Novel Again the Haymarket Theatre, Sydney, Australia, comes to the fore vdth an effective piece of theatre front exploitation used in connection with the showing of Norma Talmadge in The Sign on the Door. The stunt was a curiosity getter and is novel even for this country, where exploitation on the picture has been done in every conceivable angle. The calico sign on the front of the theatre measures 65 feet long and three and a half feet deep. In addition to this sign and electric lights, the doors of the house, which stand back of the street, were tagged with the motto "Do not Disturb Me." The idea of a mysterious scene inside was carried out by means of silhouette figures. Then, to play up the mystery, a spotlight was flashed on the shadow box type of display at the left hand side of the lobby. Every flash revealed an attempted struggle between a man and woman. At every twentieth flash the scene changed to the big query : "What Happened in This Room Just Now?" It brought out the theme of the picture and aroused interest in the mystery. Kisses an' Everything Oscar White, manager, Rex Theatre, used kisses, a pretty girl and a telephone booth to sell Paramount's Don't Tell Everything to the people of Sumter, S. C. To several thousand candy kisses he attached small cards, reading "Take a kiss but "Don't Tell Everything" and distributed them through town. Everybody ate the candy and most of them had their curiosity aroused about the "Don't tell everything." Across the front of the lobby were huge signs giving the name of the picture and the name of the star. A telephone booth was lent by the telephone company and was placed in the lobby to make the boxoffice into a pay station. The cashier was in here. _ He also rigged up a miniature exchange in the lobby, and two desk 'phones were kept busy by a young lady who called people and asked them how they liked the picture. Miniature poles, wires and crossbars were erected in the lobby by" the telephone company.