The film daily year book of motion pictures (1932)

TO a certain number of words, and are judged by their journalistic and critical value. The best are given space in the newspaper columns. This in itself is sufficient reward, but passes to the theater can be added. □ — Dog Show One the kids always go for. The paper builds this up with some good human interest stories about certain youngsters and their dogs — how they acquired them, etc. With pictures of the kids and their dogs snapped by the cameraman, the contest is all set for success. And when the parade of kids from the newspaper office to the theater starts, the whole town will know about it. □ — Airplanes The modeling of airplanes is always surefire with the kids, and it is not difficult for the newspaper to arouse interest in a contest. It can be made a three-way tieup with a sporting goods store. The models are placed on display in the theater lobby, and window of the sport store. Also do not overlook co-operation of an airway company if in your locality. They will cheerfully loan airplane photos and models, motors and special equipment, which all makes a swell display for the lobby. The stunt interest the fathers as well as the boys, and this one properly handled can be played up big. □ — Love Talk A novelty contest for the newspaper, always good for the women's page. A cut is made of the heads of the two players featured in a love story. Above the heads are two blank ballots that are mortised into the cut. The readers are invited to fill in the ballots with their conception of what the two stars are saying to each other. This is run in advance of the feature. The newspaper gives an outline of the theme, so that the readers can approximate what they really say to each other in the feature. □ — Married Sweethearts In rural communities, this one brings them in from the adjoining towns. It is a natural for the newspaper, which runs articles scouting for the oldest married couple in the territory. Each neighboring town can put forth their contestant. A box party is given for them, merchants donate gifts, their photos and stories appear in the paper. This one stirs up a lot of old timers reminiscing about the good old days, and creates a lot of favorable publicity. It brings a load of friends and relatives to your house on the night of the party to cheer their candidates. — Amateur Detectives To meet the urge of the amateur detectives, this one is always a winner. The newspaper prints a photograph of a man every day during run of the feature. Each day the man covers a prescribed route, as indicated in the paper. Those who successfully identify him are given a pass. To qualify, they must have a copy of the newspaper when they accost the man. □ — Dialogue Writing Select from the stills dramatic situations, and have cuts made. These are run in the newspaper. Readers are asked to send in dialogue to fit the action pictured in the photo. A brief synopsis is run to indicate how the scene fits into the story. Those submitting the best dialogue receive a pass to the theater. The newspaper builds up this contest as a practical lesson in dialogue writing. □ — Ad Critics A good booster for the classified section. The newspaper asks readers to select from the classified section one ad each day for three days which they consider the most attractively worded. In submitting their selections, they state briefly why they consider these the best. The merchants can be promoted to offer prizes for this, as they all benefit. □ — Smart Dressers Here is a two-way tieup, including a fashion shop, as well as the newspaper. The paper plays it up by announcing that a photographer will snap the most smartly gowned women for several days in the downtown shopping district. The dealer presents the women with a pair of advertised hose, identifying her from the published photo. It's a good plug for the newspaper, as it keeps all the women and girls scanning the sheet daily for the run of the contest, to see if their photos appear. □ — jumbled Ads One of the old reliables on the co-op page that never fails to create interest. Ten merchants come in on a co-op page, with each ad showing a line of jumbled letters. When properly arranged, each line spells the name of one of the actors in the cast of your coming attraction. Contestants are required to work out the ten scrambled lines correctly, receiving free tickets as their reward. □ — Parade of Pets A gag that always enlists the enthusiasm and interest of the kids. Announce a parade of pets through the newspaper. The contest will 683