Exhibitor's Trade Review (Mar-May 1922)

May 6, 1922 EXHIBITORS TRADE REVIEW 1651 Pulling Wires To help put over Her Husband's Trademark, at the Palace Theatre, El Paso, Texas, Manager J. M. Edgar Hart pulled a couple of wires and had the director and some of the stars send him wires about the picture. These were posted in the lobby on a nice background, and copies were used in the El Paso papers. It was a gnreat advance-stunt. The fact that many of the scenes were made near El Paso, and the fact that some of the Fort Bliss, troops appeared in the rescue scenes, were great drawing cards, and these were played up for all they were worth. During Miss Swanson's stay at Fort Bliss and El Paso when the scenes were being made, she had been very much feted, and all who had been interested in her visit were doubly interested in the picture. The papers played these points up big, and 2000 heralds telling about the troops were distributed where they would do the most good. Amateur Rider When he started the Charles Hutchinson serial, Hurricane Hutch, in the Tremont Theatre, Galveston, Tex., Manager Charles E. Sassen started it off with a flourish. He had a daredevil (a native of Galveston, who was no amateur) to perform daring stunts on a motorcycle before the theatre, and gave the people to understand that daring as his stunts were, Charles Hutchinson's were even better. A large sign over the box-office read: "Hurricane Hutch does many thrilling stunts on a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, at this theatre NOW, TODAY." This secured a nice little cooperative stunt from the Harley-Davidson dealers in Galveston, who lent fourteen new Harley-Davidson motorcycles for a motor parade. Each man in the line carried a large letter, the line forming H-U-R-R-IC-A-N-E H-U-T-C-H. Lobby and Cards For Fool's Paradise in the Quitman Theatre, Quitman, Ga., Manager S. S. Smith constructed a very attractive lobby display and used an effective, inexpensive stunt that can be used to advantage anywhere on any good picture. For the former, he built a trellis for the front of his lobby on which were fastened in cutout letters "F-O-O-L'S P-A-R-A-D-I-S-E" and below "E-N-T-R-A-N-C-E." Potted plants stood at the base of the trellis on either side and poppies and red lillies were entwined in the structure. Mr. Smith sent to the Atlanta hotels for picture postals of their establishments, which were furnished to him free of charge. He wrote on them "Saw 'Fool's Paradise' at the Howard. This is a picture I can rave about. It is absolutely marvelous. Don't miss it if it comes to Quitman." He signed these messages with all the girls' names he could think of and sent them back to Atlanta for mailing to get the Atlanta postmark. He had everybody in Quitman guessing who had v^rritten and of course when the billing for the picture went up it was greeted with considerable interest. Three ghosts, each phantom having an eye in the middle of the forehead that glared down on; the crowd and a small banner beneath them announcing that Paramount's "Three Live Ghosts" was the attraction at the Lyceum Theatre, Bayonne, N. J., was thel only display used by Manager Rosenblatt for this picture. The middle eye was an electric light. "Tell it three Ways" sang Manager Whitehall of the Empire, Syracuse, N. Y., in putting over First National's "Polly of the Follies," and that is what he proceeded to d» with this "threeway" sign, hung underneath the marquise of the theatre. It mattered not from what direction yon approached the Empire, you were bound to see some of his advertising on the way. Getting the co-operation of a florist enabled Manager Cowles of the Rex, Sparteuiburg, S. C, to arrange a most attractive lobby display for Metro's "Peacock Alley" by using flowers in front of the stills and posters. Nine human beings out of ten love flowers, and when they see a display, they cannot help but stop to admire them.