Motion Picture News (Mar-Apr 1923)

April 28 , 1923 2049 MAE 4 MURRAY MAE MURRAY t " lazsmania " lobby display, with excellent use of stripes, prepared by Manager Ollie Brownlec of the Palace theatre. Muskogee, Okla. 'Safety Last" Fremier Showing Is Well Publicized Palm Beach, Fla. — Manager Stanley C. vTarriek, of the Beaux Arts theatre, who gave " Safety Last " its world premier showing, through an arrangement with Elmer Pearson, general manager of Pathe, made while Mr. Pearson was on a short vacation at Palm Beach, put an extensive publicity campaign back of the picture. Manager Warrick began his " Safety Last " publicity in the Palm Beach newspapers on the day that his contract was signed. It made an exhaustive " front page story." From that day on, the Beaux Arts theatre program contained an attractive announcement. It was used also on cards sent out to the Beaux Arts mailing list, together with other descriptive matter. The " Safety Last " campaign book's best examples of display ads were placed daily in the local papers, and the news columns of the Palm Beach News and Post told of the great coming event under such headings as : " Palm Beach Has Honor of First Showing ' Safety Last.' Warrick lands Lloyd Premiere for Palm Beach Over New York." " Warrick Praised for Getting Movie." Manager Warrick scored a special Ht in Race Track Front Is Built on "Garrison's Finish" GALVESTON, T E X A S— Manager Charles E. Sasseen turned the entrance of the Tremont theatre into a miniature race track for " Garrison's Finish," by boxing in most of the space with beaverboard cut and painted to represent a race track with the grandstand packed with people and through an aperture in the beaverboard which acted as a sort of shadow box could be seen horses racing past. The front was striped in yellow and green and the title of the picture and the stars name were painted in black and stood out plainly on the yellow background. newspaper display advertising when he caused to be inserted a nearly full-size facsimile of a telegram from Pathe General Manager Pearson advising him of the shipment of an original print of " Safety Last," and adding: " Do not neglect to arrange with your bank for storage in their vault during engagement when not in use. Refund any patrons' admission who does not declare ' Safety Last ' the funniest and most thrilling entertainment ever witnessed." " Bella Donna " display in Gillette service station ivindozc, San Francisco, arranged by Wayland H. Taylor, exploiteer Shop Girl Popularity Contest Used on "Only a Shop Girl" Madison, Wis. — A newspaper contest for the most popular shop girl in Madison was arranged by the Wisconsin State Journal and the Parkway theatre to exploit " Only a Shop Girl." Prizes were given. Girls were nominated not only from all the department stores, but also from some of the factories. Daily cuts were run showing new entrants, runnersup, leaders, etc., and interest grew tense. The contest ran two weeks before the show began. In order to stimulate more interest in movies in general and to encourage reading movie news, the Capitol Times is running a movie title contest. A daily prize is given for the best short continuous story made up of titles of motion pictures strung together. Much ingenuity is used in telling good stories made of titles, and the page is eagerly rend. Department Store Tie-up Made to Boost "Bella Donna" New Haven, Conn. — Mendel's department store, which recently tied up on " My American Wife " with a style show, again cooperated with Poli's Bijou theatre on " Bella Donna." This time they tied up Pola Negri and the Egyptian angle of the picture with the present wave of publicity given the very late King Tut-ankh-amen. Lewis Garvey, publicity man for Poli, and Russell B. Moon, Paramount exploiteer, got out 5,000 cards each with a small sample of voile with Egyptian design attached. The cards read : " And now, here is a reproduction of the beautiful Cleopatra voile as worn by the characters portraying Egypt and its tombs of kings with the beautiful, fiery Pola Negri in the Paramount Picture, ' Bella Donna,' " etc. These were distributed by the theatre and the effect was that every woman naturally saved the sample for future consideration. Mendel's also prepared a window in which cut-out mannikins with the star's heads taken from the Paramount posters were used. These figures were life-size and the voile and paisley silks were draped around the figures. The window also contained a big display of the Curtis stills, art-photographic studies of the big sets used in the picture. Old "high wheeler" and modern motorcycle in lobby display on " Heroes of the Street " arranged by Xorman Johnson, manager of Hunt's Auditorium and the Logan theatre, Philadelphia