Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (Sep 1935 - Aug 1936)

%detoendea€ EXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN AWAKENING THE 'SLEEPERS' The purpose and plan of this department h to bring forcefully to the attention of theatre-men those pictures which are ordinarily overlooked or neglected in their advertising. Mr. Wolfe-Smith, prominent theatre publicity expert, aims to point out the latent exploitation angles in these "Sleepers" with the view to having you SELL them to the public in a manner that will bring you the best possible returns. Follow these "Sleeper" campaigns for bigger grosses! By Wolfe-Smith "THEY MET IN A TAXI" . . . Columbia . Chester Morris . . . Fay Wray 69 Minutes Lionel Stander . . . Raymond Walburn Boys, here's a whopper! Imagine you're a cab driver. You are parked outside a swell estate that is the ne plus ultra — or sumpin — but, a real mansion . . . the society 400. When who comes tearin' across the close cropped lawn right at you but the niftiest dame you ever saw, trailing a wedding gown behind her! Into your cab she lams and yells at you all excited like, but in refined manner, to beat it the hell outa there as fast as you can make the old wagon fly. You're thinkin' fast and figure she must be a society deb slated to be married to one of those phoney dukes or counts or sumpin, and that she's taking a run-out powder on him right at the altar. So you don't ask any questions, but step on the gas and head for as far away from the joint as possible before you get inquisitive enough to ask just where she wants to park that gorgeous frame of hers. Imagine your surprise when she ups and asks you for help, big, sad-eyed like, and you know you're just toying with dynamite when you take her to that hole you comically call your "apartment" and put her up for the night. Boys, we hate to leave you out on a limb like this, but you'll have to dig into the press sheet for the rest of this story. Sounds screwy, something on the order of "It Happened One Night," doesn't it? Well, that's just what the coast critics are saying about it . . . it's a little daffy, but it's great fun, the kind people love to enjoy. But, to get back to our first crack that this is a "whopper." When we first heard that title— THEY MET IN A TAXI— we said we didn't give a hoot in a hot place about what the picture might be like — you'd have to be deceased to fail to recognize it as one of the grandest ballyhoo titles ever concoc ted ! So now, guys, get yourselves taxicab conscious! You have an opportunity here to pull some of the sweetest stunts on record — easy, cheap, effective exploitation gags that will get you a flock of extra dough and make it worth your while to extend your playing time on TAXI. COUPLE IN CAB Before we go into this one, let's mention this simple fact: your local cab company will probably be tickled pink to cooperate with you, lending you a cab or cabs in return for a plug on your screen. The title of the picture is a natural business booster for all taxicabs and the outfits that operate 'em appreciate it. So, don't hesitate to pull any of the stunts the Columbia boys give you in the press sheet or the couple we give you here merely on the alibi that it will cost you too much. Now, here's a gag that ANY theatre can work and we consider it a darb because it costs a fishcake. Get yourself a cab. Put a nice-looking couple, attired as bride and groom, in it. Tie a flock of tin cans, old shoes, baskets to the back of the taxi. The big, roughly lettered card fastened on the back should read: "THEY MET IN A TAXI — And Look At Them Now! Their story at the GEM Theatre Starting Friday." With the cabbie tooting his horn all over town and with the pleasure people get out of seeing newlyweds taken advantage of in that way — this should be a lulu. Use it! NEWSPAPER STORY For the boys who like to go in for the more sensational type of stuff we have this to offer: Bribe a couple who are planning to marry soon, or one who just recently eloped, to tell a sympathetic male reporter or sob sister on the local rag how they met in a taxi and started the romance that culminated in their marriage. It will make a good heart inter (Con tinned on page 10) I JJwutiu miHuuf ire ihiA. !