The film daily year book of motion pictures (1937)

lively. They team up as a jazz band, consisting of a piano, drums, clarinet, trombone and sax or cornet. A Ford truck can be gotten from the dealer in return for a banner on the truck. The music store furnishes one of those miniature pianos. The truck parks occasionally in front of the music store. If the attraction has a musical number, they feature this in their repertoire. During selling hours, the truck plays in front of the theater. Easy to enlist the boys for this, as they play after school hours, and get passes for the show. Picture Float if A motor truck is secured to cany a float ballyhooing a scene from your coming feature. The scene can be duplicated with a few props and the work of a carpenter. A man and girl are used to pose the scene the same as the featured players do it. The stunt can be adapted to a variety of subjects, and only requires a little ingenuity to make it an outstanding ballyhoo. And the expense can be kept nominal. Newspaper Girl if One of the stunts that never fails to attract attention. Have a girl dressed in a costume composed of newspaper headlines, with all of the heads bearing some reference to your feature, whether it be scandal, society, mystery, etc. The newspaper clippings are mounted on a cloth foundation, and the ballyhoo more than shouts the idea you are trying to get over. Sprinkle a few adds for the attraction in among the headlines. The girl can wear a small white mask, which emphasizes the novelty. Beach Competition if If you want to give the summer beaches something to think about, hire a sound-truck, equipped with good amplifiers, to visit each beach and stay for about an hour or so. During the stay, records are played and in between records, announcement is made of the films playing your house. When a musical is scheduled, play the numbers from the picture and announce them as such. Few beaches provide music for the swimmers and many couples like to dance on the beach. Do this on Sundays and watch the jump in Monday and Tuesday business. As a variation, play some old-time records for community singing. For Men Only if A teaser gag that never fails to click. It can be used on any strong attraction with a big appeal for the women. A girl is appropriately dressed in a costume that fits in with the atmosphere of the picture. She travels the main thoroughfares, with a small box attached to a wide ribbon strung over her shoulder. She passes out envelopes to the men, on which is printed: "For Men Only." Inserted slip reads: "Be sure and fake HER to see (picture, theater, play date). It's the kind of motion picture all women adore." This stunt arouses the curiosity of the women, as the girl ballyhooer can be very mysterious about just selecting the men to hand them the envelopes. Candid Cameraman if This hits the femme vanity angb. The candid cameraman stunt is pulled on as many girls and women as you care to photograph. Caught on the street of course, the women shoppers between 16 and 30 are lensed by the cameraman. He hands them prepared postcard for their name and address, which when mailed to the theater brings them their photo, which is sent to them with the compliments of the star in your current attraction. This lends the stunt a personal touch. The angle here is that the women show the pix to their friends, with resultant advertising for the feature. Patron Pictures if When the crowds are coming in on a pop feature, you can use this to advantage. A local cameraman takes a movie of the crowd in the lobby around 7:30. He rushes it through the works, and has it ready for screen showing the next evening. You may be able to find some 16 m.m. camera enthusiast who has his own developing outfit. This is good only for the smaller houses, where the projection can be hit up to a 15-foot picture. Where the stunt goes over big, you can run the local film the following week, announcing that you are showing it again "in response to the tremendous demand." It will bring in the same people and their friends who want to see them on the screen. Curiosity-Builders •k Learn to capitalize on natural human curiosity. One outstanding example is the undated 24-sheet which is permitted to stay up while people wonder to which house it is coming. Another is the trick painted sign. Put in a few letters at a time, with the letters being scattered about so that the clue to the title is kept obscure as long as possible. Perambulators if Always effective at the summer resorts, the old perambulator will get attention for your picture. The trick auto is the best, and is easy to construct. Use the stripped chasis of an old car on which to build a temporary framework. The locomotive is standard stuff, as well as the land ship. The latter can be anything from a Chinese junk to a submarine. The structure can be compo board, but easier construction can be had with cloth and split bamboo, heavy wire or split saplings. These are bent into the required framework, and covered with cloth. Mail order houses frequently offer remnants of sheetings, and dry goods jobbers may have a bolt or two of some brand no longer stocked. Fire sales of fabric damaged by smoke and water are particularly good, as the cloth must be painted over. 882