Exhibitor's Trade Review (Aug-Nov 1925)

September 21, 1925 Special Exploitation Section Page 23 Bass Drums and A Cop 1 UST like a circus, the outside ballyhoos ^are often the whole show. That's the secret of exploiting a newsreel. Newspaper readers and lobby cards are the foundation; but the bulk of the attraction will have to be the "side show" material. WHAT do the side shows of newsreel exploitation consist of ? Well, for one thing, there is an element that will appeal to every red-blooded individual in the country, and that is the great dangers often encountered by the camera men to take the shots. As the reel is flashed on the screen, just a few seconds, perhaps, of a street battle where men are shot down, or an automobile accident on the race track, it hardly occurs to the audience that to take that shot the camera man had to be within the danger zone. Or take a shot of a motor boat race. Very often the audience is kept apace of the winning boat. That means the camera man is in a boat that is going almost as fast as that racer, perhaps at a speed of fifty to sixty miles an hour. That's dangerous procedure. Not only must he be wary of keeping his own balance in the speedster, but he must look to the camera besides. More Exciting Than Reporting When you come right down to it, the work of the newspaper man is WET PAINT Put a sign in front of your theatre "Wet Paint, Don't Touch," and then count the number of persons going by who will touch it to find out. That is a peculiar strain in human beings. Show them something out of the ordinary, expose them to just a little bit of danger, and they will go in for all of it. Look at the popularity of football games, of prize fighting, horse races. They are dangerous pastimes, and the American public glories in them. Show a flash of horse racing accident on the screen and your audience will be absolutely thrilled. Tell them later, either directly from your stage or through the newspaper columns how the camera man who caught the accident was almost swept into it himself, for he was only seven feet away, and the audience will gasp and talk about it for days. There's a thought for you to play with. child's play in comparison with the work of a newsreel camera man. And yet look at the pages and pages of newspaper copy that have been given over to exploiting the work of these newspaper correspondents. There are even novels that concern themselves with the glorification of these men. Glorification Will Pay You don't need a better break than that to start your own little system of glorification for the men who make up a valuable and entertaining fifteen minutes of your program. Your audience is all set to hear anything you will have to say about them. THRILLS Part of this exploitation section is devoted exclusively to the special release, "Life's Greatest Thrills." It's a humdinger from start to finish. Turn this page for a brief resume of what newspapers have had to say about it in the various cities where the reel has already been shown. Read also what some of the best known exhibitors in the United States have had to say about it. Don't you honestly believe that in the face of those comments you are entirely justified to start one of the most extensive campaigns your house has ever had — just to put over a newsreel. The more people you play it to, the greater will be your attendance every time you show International in the future. It takes but a second, and then it's all over, and the jockey is carried off the field, never to ride again. Only a second, and yet the International Newsreel camera man caught every little phase of the accident. This scene is one of the many thrillers in International's "Life's Greatest Thrills," a free two reeler given out as part of the service.