Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1916)

September 30, 1916 MOT! ON P I C T U RE NEWS 2015 inontnenminnDiiiiinuiniiiiiHiiMinnHiRniiffliiiuiiiiiuiiiiiiiiH y— —111111111111 inuMHiinmniuii^^iimBiiiimiiiniiuiiiHiilmiiinniiiniiMiiiuiii iiiiMiMiiiuiuiuiuwiuiwii^HlMiii^^iiui^PHmuniiiiiniiniinHniHiiuiauuimnimm ntiDiimtrtlumtinnitiiillillMllltlniilltlilitlririilillltllliiiriliMlliuiniiiiiMilliiullnTMH niiHnTlTllllilim^lMuiiin'MTliiHMfrfiniiiiiiTMMnniMrn iHuuiuutiiiiniuaiMuiiiiiiiiiuuiuiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiu^ " The ' News ' wishes to include under this heading novel advertising ideas, successful schemes in management, decoration and equipment of the theatre — everything in fact done by the exhibitor to stimulate his trade. We invite every exhibitor to send for publication the successful ideas that he has worked out, also to come to us for suggestions or information. Address the Editor." Making Lobby Displays An Exact Science You, as an exhibitor, would be interested to meet a man who had reduced the problem of lobby display well nigh to an exact science ; who could produce two or three complete — and original— lobby displays for as many features a week ; and who could make his theatre the standard in his city for well-dressed, strikingly dressed lobbies, wouldn't you? There is at least one man in the business who has done this, and is doing it, week in and week out. He's doing it so well and so consistently that it can hardly fail to be an assistance, and an inspiration to any exhibitor who is still groping for some sure way of making his lobby a magnet for patrons with every new picture, M. Kashin, publicity manager of the Midway theatre, Montreal, P. Q., is the man in question. The theatre he is associated with is located at one of the busiest corners in the Canadian city. It seats 1,100 persons, and the first show is given each day at ten o'clock in the morning. The Midway's patrons are chiefly French and English. The program is usually changed three times a week, feature comedies and short topicals being the constituents of the programs. An excellent illustration of the manner in which Mr. Kashin converts his lobby into a pictorial advertisement of the current feature is to be found in the display he arranged for " Shoes," the recent Bluebird feature. A glance at the views shown on this page of the theatre front dressed for the occasion ought to give the wideawake exhibitor some useful information. The lobby is forty feet wide, with a M. Kashin depth of fifteen feet. The lobby display proper occupies, usually, ten or fifteen feet of the total width, leaving ample room around the entrance and exit. In the Bluebird display, as in all of his other work, the main features are always constructed of cardboard, built up at the necessary points to give thickness and depth. The sole exception in this' instance are the shoes which are visible beneath the swinging doors in the center of the set. These are " practical " shoes, which Mr. Kashin was able to use in his work through the co-operation of one of the nearby merchants. Probably the most ingenious feature of the display is the figure of Mary MacLaren, the heroine of the picture, rising out of the huge shoes which stand on either side of the central doors. The shoes are of tinted cardboard, but the figure of the actress was cut from a one-sheet supplied by the Bluebird exchange, mounted on cardboard and deftly joined to the top of the shoe. Mr. Kashin has resorted frequently to this ingenious and inexpensive method of featuring the star of a picture, and always to the outspoken satisfaction of his patrons. The front of the theatre is always tastefully framed with lettered and painted signs in harmony with the main lobby display and calling attention to it. Above the entrance is to be found a banner announcing the picture and carrying some terse, striking phrase calculated to arouse the interest of the passer-by and make him stop to inquire into the nature of the attraction within. And the most attractive feature of Mr. Kashin's method, to the average exhibitor, will be the fact that none of these lobby displays costs him more than fifteen dollars. They can, of course, be done FroMt View of the Midway Theatre. Montreal, Canada, During the Showing of " Shoes (BluebirOi