Year book of motion pictures (1929)

THE BASEBALL CONTEST Through the sports editor of the newspaper, offer tickets to the members of the local baseball team who knock in the winning run and also for home runs each day. Used on a baseball picture, this stunt offers many exploitation angles. BASEBALL SLANG For baseball feature. Sell the sporting editor of newspaper the idea of a Slang Contest. The contest is limited to baseball expressions only. Those sending in the greatest number of expressions receive passes to the theater. LOBBIES THE MODEL AIRPLANE Rig up an airplane of beaver board about five feet long and three feet wide. A large electric fan in the rear turns the propellers. The latter strike a piece of stiff cardboard attached close by, and this gives the droning sound of a flying 'plane. THE JUNGLE SCENE For picture with tropical atmosphere. To give necessary tropical atmosphere, install greenery loaned by neighborhood florist. By artistic arrangement of potted plants and vines, the lobby can be changed into a veritable jungle. One or two small stuffed monkeys peering through the shrubbery will heighten the effect. Makes a 'ool lobby for summer showing. COLLEGE ATMOSPHERE String pennants across the lobby, but be sure to include all the local high schools and colleges. Intermingle the pennants with cut-out football likenesses painted on ordinary cardboard, with the name of the picture, star and play dates. PRIZE RING Rig up a miniature prize ring. Fit it out with the usual paraphernalia — sawdust, towels, pails and sponges, etc. A gong is secreted near the ring, which is sounded frequently to attract the passersby. LOCAL STARS On football picture. On a 40 x 80 compo board mount stills from the picture with three large heads at the top as attention-getters. The center head is that of the star, and on each side use stars of the local football teams. Fill lobby with high school pennants. Here is a great start to interest the local schoolboys. THEATER FRONTS THE AUTO CUTOUT Large cutout of star riding in auto installed on top of marquee. Wheels are built to revolve through small electric motor in back. Colored electric lights on wheels attract attention at night as they revolve. CARD CUTTING On feature with gambling background. Have a girl seated at small card table with pack of cards. She offers a free ticket to the person who can cut the deck to an ace the first time. There are only two aces in the deck, so the number of lucky ones is limited. Used as a stunt just in advance of showing, it means quick publicity. If the girl is clever, she can talk up the picture while handling the cards. THE GIANT DICE For picture with gambling setting. Construct two large red dice made out of compo board with white spots, with seven showing in front. Place on top of marquee. In each dice place 1 00watt clear globes, attached to flasher. These can be seen for several blocks. BALLYHOOS ISPARRING CONTEST Good night stunt on feature with prize fight atmosphere. Use a truck on which is built a canvass wall or tent. At the rear of the outfit have a thin piece of cloth, directly behind which is a small electric light. Inside the wagon have two men in fighting togs spar at intervals, projecting their shadows on the screen. SIGNAL PRACTICE On football picture. Get the high school football team to use the theater street for signal practice. Have boys carrying banners announcing the show stationed m uie »treet. Good stunt (or opening day. FOOTBALL STUNT, NO. 1 Instead of distributing the regular heralds in ordinary fashion, have four or hve boys dressed up in full football outfit. The outfits can usually be obtained from the local sporting goods store, for an ad in the program or a slide on the screen. FOOTBALL STUNT, NO. 2 Announce through the local newspaper (as a news item) that at a certain hour on a certain day, preferably two or three days in advance of the opening, that footballs will be dropped from the sky with lucky prizes. On that day you drop a number of miniature footballs, made of tin or paper mache (any novelty company sells them), with tissue-paper parachutes attached. These can be dropped from the roof of a tall building, the steeple of a church, or any other high point, or, if available inexpensively, from an aeroplane. The footballs should be of the type that are hollow inside and that split in half. Inside a few of these footballs place an order for some kind of prizes, — the orders to be redeemed at one of the leading stores — this store to contribute the prizes. The balance of the footballs can contain passes to see the picture. By having the coupon in the football redeemable only when presented with a coupon or a series of coupons which are printed in the newspaper, and by having the name of the contributing store or stores mentioned in the newspaper, the cooperation of the newspaper and stores is easily obtained. FOOTBALL STUNT, NO, 3 Announce through the local newspaper (as a news item) that at a certain time, on a certain day, a regulation football, autographed by the star player on the local football team, will be kicked by him from a prominent corner. Whoever catches the football keeps it, and will also receive a pass for the theater to see the picture. A quantity of footballs can be used in this stunt, and by giving the local sporting goods store some advertising in your theater, the footballs can usually be obtained gratis, or at greatly reduced prices. FOOTBALL STUNT, NO. 4 Announce through the local newspaper, that a contest will be conducted on a certain day, for the best drop kicker in the town or the community. The contest can be limited to the high schools or the colleges, or made open to all. On the day specified, a large profile football painted on compo board with the announcement of the picture, theater, etc., can be mounted in a field or park, at about the height of the cross-bar on regulation goal posts. The starting line can be set at about a distance of seventy-five yards from the football Lots can be drawn for the order of kicking, or the order can be determined in the order of filing entry blanks at the theater. First prize goes to the one who hits the profile football first. Additional prizes will go to those who come nearest it, etc. Cooperation from the local newspaper can readily be obtained for this sort of a movement. BATHING GIRLS On any feature with the bathing girl angle, this will get publicity. An auto unloads a crowd of pretty bathing girls near a busy thoroughfare They start a game of leapfrog. A camera man takes snapshots. The chances are that the police will have to straighten out the traffic jam. This means newspaper publicity. TIE-UPS THE STAR CUT-OUT Three-cornered tie-up with newspaper, merchants and baseball team. Local merchant? come in on co-op ad on a full page spread. In each ad is picture of a player on the local baseball team, as well as a portion of the picture of the star in the feature. Contestants are to cut these out, paste them on sheets of paper with name of merchants from whose ad the portrait of baseball player and portion of star's picture was taken, identify the baseball player?, reconstruct the portrait of the film star, identify her and take the results to the box office. A free season ticket to the local baseball park, and passes to the theater are the prizes. 783