Motion Picture Magazine (Feb-Jul 1919)

$300.00 CASH PRIZES A Great Mystery Story TO BE SOLVED BY OUR READERS The mysterv that baffled the Scotland Yard Detectives to be solved by our readers, and half of the prize money to go to their friends who fought at the front. A contest that will tax the ingenuity and imagination of our readers for months to come. READ the wonderful story, "The Crimson Iris," by H. H. Van Loan, and you will agree with us when we say that, not since the days of Sherlock Holmes, has a story been written that so holds the interest and excites the curiosity of the reader. It is a detective story and you are to be the chief detective. A great film magnate was producing a feature film in London, with his entire company there, when he was suddenly found dead, under the most peculiar and baffling circumstances. All of his employees, friends and players were closely questioned by the Scotland Yard authorities, but they could make no head nor tail of it. As you read, you think surely this person is the murderer, then you are just as sure that some other person is the guilty one, and so on. We are quite sure that the mystery will baffle you just as it bafHed Scotland Yard. At one point in the story, you will say. "Oh, I see; this person did it — well, the cat is out of the bag — the mystery is solved." But in the next chapter you will find that you were wrong. And in the next chapter you will again change your mind, and not till the very end will you know for a certainty. This mystery story will be read around the hearthstones of a million homes and it will help to pass &v/-"r many a thrilling hour. When the soldier boys get home, some of them will have a little extra cash to start hfe with again, because one half of the prize money is to go to hem. We shall award $300.00 in cash prizes to those wl:: send in the best solutions, and we wish these solution: sent in monthly. Your first guess, and even your second, may be wrong, but that may not prevent you from winning first prize. All solutions must be sent in on postal cards, postmarked on or before the 20th of the month preceding the date of the magazine. For example, you will receive the January number about the first of December, and on or before the 20th of December you should mail your postal card addressed "Crimson Iris Editors, 175 Duffield St., Brooklyn, N. Y." Do this every month and write on the back of the card in as few words as possible, who you think committed the crime, or the motive, or anything which will guide us in determining whether you have grasped the situation and guessed how the story will unfold. You may write ten words, or any number. You can say anything you wish on the first one, two or three cards, but, after that, you must be very careful not to make a bad blunder, because it will count against you when all of your cards are finally collected, even if your last card should be correct. We shall award the prizes on all the cards, not on the final one only. Each card should be numbered, thus : your first card should read "The Crimson Iris, No. 1 ;" your second card should read "No. 2," and so on. If, after reading the first instalment, you see no clew to the murderer, your card might read something like this : "Motive not yet apparent. Guilty one has probably not yet appeared. Perhaps a rival film producer did it ' Or, "A woman did it; motive jealousy." Or, "The murdered man was at heart a villain and was justly killed by a person as yet unknown." After reading the second instalment, you may change your mind, but that does not matter, so long as your second caid states clearly what you then think. We expect you to be wrong in one or more of your guesses — perhaps in all but your last ; but so long as your deductions were logical, or probable, or possible, you have a chance for first prize. Your last card must contain a solution. It must contain a very brief synopsis of what the last instalment will be. The last card will count for more than all the others put together, but it will help you greatly in getting a prize if you have mailed a card every month, even if some of them were poor guesses. The prizes will be as follows : 1st prize $100.00 2nd " 50.00 3rd " 40.00 4th " 35.00 5th " 25.00 6th " 20.00 7th " 15.00 8tb " 10.00 9th ' 5.00 One half of this will go to the winners and one half to any enlisted soldier or sailor designated by the winners. For example, the winner of first prize will receive $50.00 cash and a certified check for $50.00 payable to any soldier or sailor he or she may name. • The only conditions are that no person can win who has been previously informed of the solution. We add this because there are about twenty persons in this country who know this story and one or more of these might have inadvertently mentioned it to others, not knowing that it was to be a monthly contest. All such, of course, will be barred from the contest. Neatness will be considered in awarding prizes. The judges will take everything into consideration. If any two are considered equally meritorious the prize will be divided. No coupons are necessary— only postal cards. We may publish portraits of one or more of the winners, if they will permit it. 1 IAS£