The film daily year book of motion pictures (1928)

without charge. The plan is for each child to circulate and get 30 signatures to a petition. The latter briefly outlines the idea of Greaater Movie Season, and winds up with : "I am a booster for better pictures and will appreciate being placed on the mailing lists of the -■ theater for their weekly attraction announcements." PAINTING AND DRAWING ■Offer prizes to school children for colored drawings of a star or of a scene. To have educational value the drawings should not be merely colored engravings, but enlarged in free hand by the children. A lobby display of winning drawings pulls attendance from all over the city. SPELLING BEE The school authorities will listen to the spelling bee idea — it is educational. Suitable prizes offered by theaters to winners of various classes. All words selected in the contest to have a direct bearing on the story of the picture. All winners of the respective classes to hold spelling bee at theater during run. SPECIAL SHOWINGS KIDS' MATINEE Stage a kids' matinee with the idea of benefiting local children's home or orphan asylum. All children under 16 are admitted free by bringing two potatoes, or two oranges, or two apples, or any other foodstuff. The mass of fruit and vegetables on display in the lobby after the kids arrive makes a ballyhoo in itself. The material is later carted off to the institution. The stunt is good for newspaper publicity. FREE KID SHOWS Make a feature of an occasional free show Saturday mornings for poor children under the age of 13. The performance starts with the children singing a patriotic song. Here is a stunt that will build a lot of goodwill in the town. ORPHANS' PARTY Secure cooperation of Rotarian Club in a "Big Brother Orphan Party." Secure donations of fruit and candy from them and local merchants. Others will loan cars for transportation of the kids to and from the show. This is always good for newspaper notice. CHILDREN'S HOUR Establishing a "Children's Hour" has been found profitable. This means setting aside the hours between 4 and 5 P. M. daily, when children are admitted for half price. Mystery NEWSPAPERS TITLE WRITING Arrange with editor to insert in his newspaper, two column scene cut secured from press book. In box above this cut, place caption: "What is the title of this picture" Below illustration insert copy telling about the story and giving little hints, to enable them to identify the scene. Manager of theater will place a large scene still in his lobby, similar to that displayed in newspaper. LOBBIES FINGERPRINTS A fingerprint stunt, playing up the fact that they are useful as a means of identification. A booth is constructed, where a masked young lady takes fingerprints after the Bertillon system. Have fingerprint cards for throwaways, showing a fingerprint and stating the management is giving the public a chance to establish identification without charge. Police department will undoubtedly cooperate. BURGLAR TOOLS For crime picture. Cooperate with police department for display of burglar tools, weapons, handcuffs, and other police department souvenirs. Secure special detailed policeman to "guard" the display. Supplement with throwaways with scare head, "Reward" or "Catch This Criminal 1" THEATER FRONTS MASKS For crime picture. Have your sign painter prepare criminal masks from heavy stock, and paint them black. Suspend these around marquee. BALLYHOOS MYSTERY GIRL Tie up with newspaper to feature stories and pictures of a girl dressed to represent the star. The newspaper offers tickets to those who recognized her at the time when they held a copy of the newspaper in their hand. The newspaper keeps the interest going for several days with stories of the girl's experiences, and hints as to where she will appear the following day. CRIME PUBLICITY Enlist the aid of the criminal court to secure a man who wants to reform and go straight. Put him to work on street b.i"yhoo. The stunt is worked by writing a letter to the judge, which is read in court. Newspaper publicity is sure to follow. TIE-UPS MASKED GIRL Arrange with department store for a masked girl to distribute special cards advertising the picture. These are distributed to the customers in the store, and also on the street. The store supplies the girl with changes of costume, which is a good piece of publicity for its dress department. The store has its ad on the back of the cards the girl distributes. WINDOW DISPLAYS MYSTERY DISPLAY Tie-up with some local dealer to make window displays of stills with poster cutouts as background and leave out all billing on picture. Offer prizes to persons who submit the best title to display, stating that window decorations represent a certain popular film soon to appear in the city. The strength of the idea lies in the fact that spectators will search for title through newspaper* and advance theater ballyhoo. SPECIAL STUNTS "WARNING" SIGNS To be used on mystery or criminal pictures. Post sticks after dark in advantageous positions in front yards of residences. On the sticks is a card with the word "Warning" in bold type. Beneath in smaller letters is the suggestion not to miss the picture. SOLVE MYSTERY A good idea to exploit a mystery production. After several reels are shown, the house lights go up and small printed slips are distributed to the audience. The slips contain a list of the cast, and opposite each character is a circle. The announcement requests the patrons to put a cross in the circle opposite the character which is thought to be the criminal. This sunt can be tied up with merchants in awarding prizes for those who successfully solve the mystery. Romance NEWSPAPERS LOVE LESSONS Use on any picture with love theme — which means practically all of 'em . Run a series of four or five "Lessons in Love" in newspaper advertising columns. These appear daily hefore opening of feature. At the bottom of each lesson in large letters run line : "Watch This Space." On final day the space is used for hooking up the showing with the series LOBBIES OPEN FAN Good lobby flash. Make a large open fan out of beaverboard. Paint it in bright colors, with a display of electric lights of various colors around the outer edges. These lights are connected to a marquee flasher. Two feet in front of the fan display place a large cutout from a 24-sheet and illuminate it with colored baby spot. Here is a very effective lobby for a picture with strong love theme. CANDY KISSES Have confectioner supply candy kisses, to be used on advance publicity. Girl in lobby passes these out to patrons. Each candy contains a neat tag reading: "Two Delights. This candy kiss from (name of confectioner), and (star) in (picture)." 709