Motion Picture News (Jul-Aug 1916)

1216 MOTION PICTURE NEWS Vol. 14. No. 8 An Original Design for Single Sheet Herald or House Organ Cover "FLORENCE TURNER" has returned to America and is waiting to welcome you in "DOORSTEPS," a Mutual Masterpiece, at the PALACE THEATRE, ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30th, 1916 Note. — Original designs and advertising suggestions will appear in this department e€u:h week. Contributions are cordially invited. NEAT ENTRANCE IMPORTANT IN SMALL THEATRES One of the San Francisco exchange men says he notices many theatres in country towns which have very unattractive fronts. They look dusty and uninYiting, although the interiors may be very comfortable. Surely the front of a theatre counts more than anything else, and it is suggested that anyone that contemplates building a country theatre should have, first, a neat entrance, then a small room through which all patrons must pass before entering the hall. This little room, perhaps narrow, taking up as little space as possible, should be effectively lighted and furnished. If a pretty and inviting entrance and ante room greet the patrons as they enter they will care nothing about the main hall. It can be plain and cheap as a barn, but they will be proud of the theatre just the same and give it credit for being strictly up to the times. NOVEL STUNTS USED TO EXPLOIT "SHERLOCK HOLMES" Notable among the efforts of exhibitors to lend atmosphere to the showing by them of feature films is that of the Alhambra theatre, Cincinnati, recently, when " Sherlock Holmes," the seven-part Essanay photodrama, was exhibited with great success in that house. C. E. Holah, Cincinnati branch manager of the V-L-S-E, which distributing organization is releasing the big Gillette feature, arranged with the manager of the Alhambra to have placed in the lobby a glass cabinet with a black velvet background, containing the following miscellaneous paraphernalia : Handcuffs, gaiters, pipe, wigs, Sherlock Holmes cap, revolver, hypodermic needle, false mustaches, etc. A placard before the cabinet read : " Various Disguises and Equipment of Sherlock Holmes." The doorman of the theatre appeared as a London " bobby." The display attracted nearly as much attention as the film. "MIDNIGHT MATINEES" DRAW BIG CROWDS A. H. Hilton, of Lewiston, la., has inaugurated another new idea, a "midnight matinee." In writing of it he says : " If exhibitors haven't tried the ' midnight matinee' stunt already they should get busy, for it's a sure winner. I open it at midnight sharp, dress the ushers in pajamas, the orchestra burlesques the music and we give everybody a rattle to keep time with. " The police and fire departments were called on the job to handle the crowd; we turned away three times as many people as we played to, in fact they were willing to pay two bits for standing room." FINDS BUSINESS BETTER IN HOT WEATHER S. Barrett MacCormick, manager of the Princess theatre in Denver, writes these cheering words : " It has been the hottest weather we have had, and as a result business has picked up. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were the four hottest days of the year, and Pauline Frederick, in ' The World's Great Snare,' played to at least a fourth more business than she has ever pulled bebore, all of which goes to prove that the thermometer has nothing to do with it when you can have the show, and enough ner\'e to spend the money on advertising." LOBBY SIGNS SHOULD FACE BOTH WAYS Not only should the lobby be dressed in such a way as to prove attractive to those going into the theatre but to those leaving as well. " Coming attraction " frames should be faced inward as well as outward, so that those going out will have an opportunity of learning, what is coming to the theatre. It is just as important to reach those leaving the theatre with the news of coming attractions as it is to tell.the, people on the street and incoming patrons what the}' are going to see. RUNS PICKFORD FILM THROUGHOUT WEEK Frank L. Newman, president of the Royal theatre, Kansas Cit\', recentlj' departed from the usual time limit set for each feature when he continued the picture "Hulda from Holland" throughout the week. Mr. NeuTaan said that he had thought as Mary Pickf ord was starring in the feature, which was especiallj^ good, the film would be a drawing card all Aveek. The results were more than he expected ; for the last evening of the picture brought the largest crowd of the week. LOEFFLER MANAGES THEATRE AND WILL BOOK UNICORN L. H. Loeffler, who has been booking the Unicorn films for Long Island and Staten Island, has taken the management of the Farmingdale "(L. I.) Opera House and the Central Park theatre (L. I.). He will still continue to book for the Unicorn.