Associated First National Franchise (1921)

First National Franchise Semi-Monthly Made in Michigan JVhere they appreciate the Leone Bracker Art Posters We hadn't heard from Harold Heffernan, commander of the Michigan destinies of Franchise, since about the time " The Kid " cast his first vote. But all of a sudden he laid down a barrage of pictures and publicity that has taken us three weeks and two pages of Franchise to catalogue. Therefore, on this page and the next, you may learn a few things about the way they are doing it in Michigan, especially in Lansing, where Roy Tillson handles the fate of Butterfield's new Strand. Tillson rented the framed lobby display on ' Man, Woman, Marriage" and decided that the Bracker reproduction of " The Dance of Folly " was so striking that it should be given extra prominence. So Tillson got some rich black drapes with tassels and threw them over one corner of the frame. The effect, as shown in the photograph, was far more striking than the main frame would have been. His Lobby Decoration A series of five steps, leading from his lobby to a turn either way in the mezzanine stairway, gave Roy a wonderful opportunity to make a striking display on "Man, Woman, Marriage." He used the platform between the stairways for a background painting of a hills and dales effect. Before this, tilted at the proper angle, he placed a sign post, with the words, " ManWoman-Marriage " on each cross pillar. A smaller card with the inscription, " A Mighty Milestone of the Ages," also had a place on the platform. The most effective part of the display, however, is lost in the photographic reproduction. This was the fresh gravel effect used by Mr. Tillson. The gravel was scattered along the lobby and up the steps to the platform and together with the background painting produced a landscape scene that arrested every person's attention entering the Strand Theatre. For " Peck's Bad Boy " On " Peck's Bad Boy," which Tillson played for a full week, he duplicated the grocery store scene that plays such a prominent part in the feature. First he obtained cases of canned goods from wholesale dealers in Lansing, who charged him nothing for the rental, and then he made racks and suitable signs that would strike the eye. Lastly, he placed wax images of Jackie Coogan and the old storekeeper before and behind the counter, with the net result that he had one of the most striking displays yet seen on the feature. Tillson also put on an ice cream cone matinee for children and besides special heralds to advertise the stunt, he rigged out another lobby display with a second wax image of Jackie Coogan, with a dog cut-out, standing beside a freezer full of "Hunter's" ice cream. This ad caught the eye of every youthful patron who entered the arcade lobby and as a result the matinee was a capacity success. Recently Tillson received a short notice wire from his booking manager, stating that the First National attraction, " Twin Beds," starring Mr. and Mrs. Carter DeHaven, had been set in for the following Sunday, three days away. Knowing that he would have no paper to work on for at least 24 hours, Tillson hurried over to a furniture dealer, got the use of two twin beds and then put some wax figures in them. By the use of a silk hat and a moustache he obtained almost a duplicate of Carter DeHaven. It was so good, in fact, that he sat the figure upright in the bed. It was fast work on Tillson's part, but it attracted just enough attention to whet the public appetite and tease them along until the rest of the paper arrived from Detroit. Another Blackstone Idea The pertinent question, " Shall Jew Marry Gentile?" formed the basis of the huge front displayed on " The Oath," by Jacob Schreiber, manager of the Blackstone Theatre. Schreiber's large banner was made from the regular 24sheet on the attraction, together with lettering from the six sheet. Flashy signs are Schreiber's best bet, he says, because he caters to a hurrying class of people who have to be sold quickly or not at all. Schreiber's theatre, open from 7 a. m. to 11 p. m., is situated directly across the street from Detroit's city hall. In the Heart of Detroit The Blackstone Theatre, Detroit, is directly across the street from the city hall and depends for patronage strictly on cosmopolitan audiences, zvho zvant to be literally "hit in the eye" before they go into a theatre. Manager Schreiber's special front on " Scrap Iron " took lots of time and paper, Schreiber using Ray in every possible fighting pose, starting him far above the marquise, carrying him down the sides and out into the sidewalk. Wasn't that letter of Maugans' a whale? You said it!