Motion Picture News (Mar-Jun 1920)

April i o , ipso J281 Great Thought if You Can Locate a Real Vamp Fort Madison Girl With Stage Aspirations Exploits "The Virtuous Vamp" A REAL live vamp, with eyebrows curved and otherwise varnpishly constituted, her shirtwaist low and her French heels high, specializing in shaking a wicked hoof and manipulating a slippery orb, stimulated the heart-beats of young bloods of Fort Madison, Iowa, recently. This " vamp " stimulated something" else also, and this " something else " was nothing more than the ticket-selling machine in the new Strand Theatre, of which James Boyle is manager. When the great Day of Reckoning comes for those showmen who do and dare, Jimmie Boyle ought to find himself decorated with more citations than any of Broadway's kindly head waiters in the pre-prohibition days. And if there is any citation for which Jimmie is going to be given his just deserts, it is going to be for the courageous way he put through his original idea for the exploitation of " A Virtuous Vamp." This campaign began when Mr. Boyle decided to bring the " Virtuous V amp " to life. This was delicate business. The average girl does not mind vamping a little on her own hook but she is pretty apt to kick when someone, even a hardworking exhibitor with a family, asks her to do so as a profession. But thanks to Miss Phyliss Lake, of Fort Madison, local vamp stock has attained a high place of eminence because it was through her efforts, which knew neither union hours nor middy blouse habits, that vamping became an art and not a dissipation. Those exhibitors who want to adopt Mr. Boyle's idea will find it to their advantage to employ a girl who has stage ambitions. Miss Lake had 'em. The work Miss Lake did was as clever a bit of acting as has ever been seen on the Fort Madison stage. For instance, when Miss Lake put a red rose in her hair, penciled her eyebrows, applied the lip stick, donned a sky-blue satin skirt and an emarald green silk shirtwaist, and sallied out the lobby of the New Strand, two show-clerks, the village wag, half a dozen actors and two policemen were immediately pleased. It took a young man, however, who just made his fortune in the Texas oil fields and who was in Fort Madison searching for a chorus girl who had thrown him a kiss before he had made his fortune, to make the first advance. Thinking himself clever, he began to whistle, " Nobody Knows and Nobody Seems to Care." " I do," said Miss Lake sweetly and nervously. " Gosh." stuttered the youth, almost choking on a high frill. Phyliss Lake, Fort Madison, la. " I am a ' Virtuous Vamp,' said Miss Lake, loud enough for the collection of bright young men to hear her. Feeling it encumbent upon him to say something, the boy from Texas, regaining his nerve, said, " Ah! do tell." " I will meet you in the lobby of the New Strand Thursday night," said Miss Lake, and she rushed down the street leaving the bold youth frozen to the sidewalk, his pulse racing up and down like a newly struck gusher. And while Miss Lake was doing her vampiest vamping the local newspaper was not neglected. Ads, press notices and subtle readers warning the public to beware of a " Virtuous Vamp " who looked like the first day of spring, and like her resemblance was turning young men's fancies to thoughts of love. It was simply awful, the paper said. It seemed that a vamp epidemic had hit the town. " Remember your Mothers, Wives and Sweethearts," said the articles, " don't be fooled by a ' Virtuous Vamp.' " And while the newspapers carried warnings, Miss Lake was exploiting the picture everywhere the street cars, automobiles and taxi-cabs would take her. One of her most popular stunts was dropping her handkerchief, her purse, her gloves, or her red rose in front of a group of either young or elderly men. The result was always the same. It looked like a stampede, and when the knight errant, who had probably suffered nothing worse than having his fingers or his favorite cigar crushed, picked up the naughtyvamp's belongings, she would invite him to meet her in the Strand lobby on Thurs day night. What more incentive for the blade ? Miss Lake was an exceptionally line dancer. Fort Madison is exceptionally fond of dancing. And it was at these dances that the alluring press agent of a "Virtuous Vamp" vamped everyone from the coat-check boy to the trap drum mer. Age meant nothing to her as did nothing else. At the dances she attended she distributed neat little cards advising the showing of a " Virtuous V: The camp; amp. :ugn climaxed on the opening day of the showing when Mr. Boyle used .1 full page newspaper ad to herald the firs! performance. Local exhibitors estimate that Miss Like only talked to 6,174 people. 1 in Thursday night it seemed at least that number were trying in keep their appointments in the New Strand lobby. And that's the way Jimmie Boyle put over " A Virtuous Vamp " in Fort Madison. Results from Exploitation Costing Five Cents Four cents expended in stamps and the cost of two letterheads and envelopes was the entire outlay made by Frank Holland, manager of the Murettc theatre in Richmond, Ind., in getting satisfactory exploitation results from "Soldiers of Fortune." The place is a college town and Mr. Holland realized that most of the students in the colleges and high school of the country had read all of Richard Harding Davis's works, and that they were studied as models in modern writing. He determined to let the students know that a picturization of one of the stories was to be shown at his theatre and decided that two letters would turn the trick as neatly as a large amount of money spent in various ways on handbilling newspaper and billboard advertising. He wrote two carefully worded letters concerning the feature. One was sent to the principal of the Richmond High School and the other to the president of Earlham College in Richmond. In the letters he asked the school authorities tb make an announcement that " Soldiers of Fortune " would he played at the Murette. if they felt that the case warranted it. The announcements were made and, according to Manager Holland, the results were very gratifying. The students at both the college and the high school made a special event of the showing and large blocks of seats were sold to them at e\ enperformance. The Murette was crowded to capacity at every showing.