Motion Picture News (Jul-Aug 1923)

908 M o t i o >i P i c I u r c N c w $ Ways to Exploit "Black Shadows" New Display Ideas and Stunts Put Into Practice on South Sea Picture Told on METHODS used by exhibitors of the country in advertising their showing of " Black Shadows," conveniently grouped together, are presented here. When the picture played at the Cameo theatre, Pittsburgh, snap was the keynote of the theatre in building its lobby. Cutouts from poster sheets, lent attractiveness to the upper portion of the lobby front. Unusual stills were placed in all available space, in trout and inside the lobby, and were also mounted on either side of the box-office. Artistic punch was added to the already elaborate exploitation, in the form of a native dancing girl ballyhoo. Arrayed in true South Sea costume, the girl sat in the lobby and beat upon a tom-tom. For a background was a collection of South Sea curios furnished by Pathe. Publicity Extensively I sed Moss's Broadway theatre, New York, offset the handicap of a record hot weather wave by giving its run of South Sea " Black Shadows," some very effective exploitation. The theatre used its regular advertising, but elaborated on its publicity. Many advance stories were carried by the New York dailies, explaining in detail how the picture was made. A special advance herald throwaway, 10 x 18. was distributed by theatre attendants. Ten days prior to the showing of the picture, a collection of curios, borrowed from Pathc and belonging to Captain E. A. Salisbury, were placed in the lobby and also decorated the front. A shadow box, a novelty idea gotten up by the Broadway, and displayed in the lobby a week in advance, contained a beautifully colored South Sea layout. The box-office was disguised to' give the impression of a bamboo hut, and spanning the full length of the entrance directly above the box-office reaching to the Marquee, was an unusual painting depicting the South Sea Islands. Poster sheets, stills, and special lobby cards helped to complete the lobby dis play. Exploitation by Contract Recent Pathe booking records are reported to reveal a successful new idea in picture exploitation, "exploitation by contract." said to be working out to advantage on " Xanook of the North " and " Black Shadows." Heports from several Pathe branches say that showmen got the idea from the widely published coincidence of. these two screen epics of aboriginal life having been filmed at the same time and representing the extreme antic and tropical limits of human existence on this planet. Newspaper Contest Staged on "Enemies of Women" Eddie Carrier. (Joldwyn Cosmopolitan exploitation man. obtained a valuable tie-up with the Cleveland Press in exploiting " Knemies of Women " at the Stillman theatre in Cleveland. The Press received more than 300 lists of the ten worst enemies of woman's beauty, during the ten days that the contest was run. Mr. Carrier prepared a sample list of what Alma Rubens, who is feat u led with Lionel Barryinorc in the production, thinks are the most dangerous enemies of beauty. These were: Lack of • sleep ; worry: over-eating; alcoholic stimulants; fat; lack of exercise; too much jazz dancing in unhealthy rooms; lack of interest in facts outside one's own occupation; lack of interest in wholesome amusements; too much and too manv cosmetics. The Cleveland Press asked its woman readers to prepare their own lists of the ten worst enemies of feminine beauty. They were also asked to send, if possible, a photograph of themselves to be used in connection with the publication of the best of its lists received. Lobby display on "Hunting Big Game in . Ifrica " by 6. M. Butler and Beverly Griffith al the Patln-Cinema, Barcelona, Spain Gives Novels to Aid "Thorns and Orange Blossoms" Seattle, Wash. — As a means of increasing his early morning business and getting the show off to a good start with tins women. Manager John Hainrick of the Blue Mouse theatre here recently gaye a copy of the book to the tiist .'i.")ll women who attended the performances of "Thorns and Orange Blossoms." The stunt was put over by Mr. Hainrick in cooperation with Al Hosenberg of the De Luxe Feature Film Exchange, who handled the picture in this territory. The exchange furnished the copies of the book, which were the photoplay editions, including several Mi nes bom the picture. The idea of the free book was advertised in the papers, and as a result brought quite a number of women to the theatre for the Brat ( arl\ performance. An attractive lobby display was arranged for the show by Assistant Manager Floyd Wesp. The general idea of the lobby was to portray the conflict between the two women for the love of the man in the story. Tins was accomplished by the use of electrically lighted cut-outs at each side of the lobby, one featuring the leading man with his fiancee and the other showing him with the Spanish prima donna. The idea was so well worked out that it instilled in passersby the desire to ( liter the show and see how the " triangle " rinallv turned out. Appropriate lobby display on " The Blacksmith " used by W. E. Drumbar, manager of the Ri-tAcra theatre, Kno.v-cillc, Tcnn. Effective Display Put Up for "Black Shadows" In advance of the showing of "Black Shadows/' at the Columbia theatre, Portland, Ore., the management paved the way for the opening with an especially appropriate newspaper campaign. A concise lead story, followed by publicity photos and a two-column ad, and then by two quarter page ads made up the theatre's advertising, in which it emphasized on the native dancing girl angle. An effective billboard campaign around town used 100 one-sheets and a number of twenty-four sheets. Black and white photographs, and also a liberal supply of 22 x 28's decorated the shop windows in the downtown business section. A monster cut-out of a beautiful dancing girl, standing more than a story high, alongside of which was a large electric sign announcing " Black Shadows," graced the marquee, making an elaborate display. To complete an attractive lobby, black and white stills, special lobby cards, a one-sheet and a novelty shadow-box featuring the dancing girl were used.