Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1916)

October 28, 1916 MOTION PICTURE NEWS 2665 ninininnninnniiiiiniHin«||innnininniiiHiininiiniiiiiinira unniuniuiiiiuuiiiuiiiiiiuii^liniiiiMUiK'iiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiMuiiiiui" uiiiiuiiiiuiuuilinuuiui^hiiiii^uiiiiiH[iiMiHiHiiiiHnniminiiHiiuiflluimmiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiniu^^ m^^ — •nnMmMnninMnnniiiiiiMiiiiiiiiniiiniiiniiriiiinniliiiiiiliiiiiiiiiniii iiiiuinrnmi ■MlMlT»lllllTn^nllnllllllT^ll^ll{f^l^^llll■M^^^^ i—— — — iimBiiiiiuiniiiHiiiiiiiHiiiiiiHiinuiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiuiiiiniiiiiiiiHiiuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiinniiiii|i|iiiiniiiiuiiiiMiiiiH THE NORDLAND PLAZA THEATRE Dear Friend : Don't treat this message as an advertisement. Before you reach " yours truly " you will realize that one of the greatest problems of a mother has been solved. What do you do with your children when you go shopping? Saturday afternoon is the busiest day of the week. If you have no person to leave them with, you drag them along through the crowds. If you do leave them at home alone, you do your shopping half heartedly, because your mind is at home with the children. You know that the best persons to care for children are women. Then why not leave them with women. The Nordland Plaza Theatre will have Saturday Matinees, conducted by two women who know how to satisfy children. For your benefit these women have arranged special children's matinees to be held every Saturday afternoon starting at 1:00 P. M. As the children enter the theatre they will be given an " all day sucker," so if you are wise, you will dress them in their rompers. The program will consist of pictures that will interest children only. The admission price will be S cents to all. Adults are not invited to these parties, because they would be dissatisfied with the pictures. They are welcome though if they wish to come. For instance, the first program will consist of a two-reel Chaplin picture, a onereel Mary Pickford subject, a two-reel war drama, a two reel Keystone comed}^. a Mutt and JefF cartoon, a Jungle comedy, and a one-reel Indian drama. You will notice that there will be enough pictures to keep them interested all afternoon. The women conducting the theatre will be glad to meet you at the theatre and take charge of your children. We expect the din in the theatre, when the Kiddies get there to shame a boiler factory. The house will be given over to the children to do as they please. The regular Triangle program will be shown Saturday night. Now remember, next Saturday the fun starts, and will be kept up all winter. When the children leave the theatre they will have their fill of pictures for the rest of the week, and when they reach home they will be all tired out ready for bed. Hoping that you appreciate our efforts in your behalf, we remain, Yours truly, THE MANAGEMENT. Seattle Theatre Creates New Type of Billboard Advertising as Link in Its Campaign " 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 successfid ideas that he has worked out, also to come to us for suggestions or information. Address the Editor." Theatre Cares for Kiddies While Mothers See Show CONFIDENCE and good-will of the people in the community wliere his theatre is located, were recognized as necessary attainments by Dr. Otto Dieckmann, manager of the Nordland Plaza Theatre, 2621 Vine street, Cincinnati. In order to obtain the confidence of his patrons he has adopted a measure which has brought him the good-will of every parent as well as bringing him a lot of substantial publicity. His plan was evolved by combining the idea behind the agitation for children's matinees with the day nursery idea. To carrj out the project he has turned over to his wife and a woman friend the theatre on Saturday afternoons from 1 to 5 p. m. The programs have been so attractive to the younger generation that the theatre on the two occasions on which the scheme has been tried, has been packed with delighted children. The other part of the plan has made a distinct hit with mothers of the neighborhood, for whom the care of their children on Saturday afternoons has been a great problem. This is the idea : Circulars were sent out through the suburbs inviting the mothers to allow the responsible women in the community to act as nurses for their children on Saturday afternoons. It was explained that if these mothers desired to go shopping they might do so without taking the children. By leaving them at the theatre, it was stated, they might be sure the children were in good hands, and would be entertained with a clean form of motion picture amusement. So much of this amusement would be given them, it was promised, that it would last for a whole ■week, and the little ones would not be begging to go to the shows during other parts of the week. The regular admission price at the Nordland is ten cents. Nine reels of specially adapted children's pictures are offered on Saturday afternoon at five cents. In addition to this, the children are given candy by the management, and their comfort and amusement otherwise looked after by women who know all about kiddies. So far the experiment has been very successful, and might be adopted to advantage by other managers. The cost of the additional program is just about covered by the small admission charged. Dr. Dieckmann feels that even if he should operate his Saturday matinee at a loss, he would be well repaid in dividends of publicity and good-will. Following is the circular he sent out just previous to the showing of the first matinee : The accompanying photo is of an eightsheet billboard designed in the office of the Greater Theatres Company, Inc., of Seattle, Wash., for a billing campaign in the business streets of Seattle. rious advertising, — a reminder to the pedestrian already in the business section that the Liberty has certain features exclusively. The colors were orange and black, with tone variations of these two colors. On either side of the Statue of Liberty was left a space sufficient for a one-sheet pictorial of the current week's plays and a date sheet to identify the days it was being shown. The contrasting colors, coupled with the locations (ten and, in some places, fifty to a hundred thousand people passing every day) and the fact that this theatre was first in the field with its own type of stand, make it a very effective advertising idea. Fac-simile of the Poster Used to Strengthen the Theatre's Newspaper Advertising J. G. von Herberg, manager of the Liberty theatre, is a large user of billboard and newspaper advertising (the largest in the state in newspaper space). This stand was created to back up the theatre's va " PURITY" STUNT DRAW'S CROWDS IN SAN FRANCISCO Sid Grauman, manager of the Empress theatre, San Francisco, which has been showing " Purity " for the past two weeks, is responsible for a publicity stunt that attracted wide attention. A young lady, dressed in the attire of a bride, has been making the rounds of the leading downtown streets wheeling a baby carriage bearing the single word " Purity." Nothing more was needed, as the city has been billboarded thoroughly and there were few who did not know what the attraction was at the Empress. Incidentally, there was a waiting list at almost every performance, the film having proved to be an immense drawing card.