Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1920)

November 13, 1920 FROM MOVING PICTURE WORLD 217 "Dead Men Tell No Tales, " but Hornung Tells a Capital Story in Swift Action TEASER campaigns almost always work well if there is the slightest excuse for teasing, and in titling his novel, "Dead Men Tell No Tales," E. W. Hornung might well have had the subsequent picture production in mind. Whatever line of exploitation you may elect to follow, lead off with the reverse cut teasers supplied for this production. Start with the smallest one shown in the plan book (the second from the top, with the line in upper and lower case.) Run this all through the paper — a dozen or more. Do this for a couple of days, then use the next larger size. They are sold in a set of nine assorted sizes, but you can have new slugs made for repetition. Use several of the smaller sizes and then go to the larger, reducing the number as the size increases. On a small newspaper you might be able to let the paper have the slugs and use to stuff odd spaces. In this way you might get more space for less money. Let Them W onder Run for a week on the teasers alone and then when you start to advertise, incorporate one or more of these slugs into every advertising space. If you want a large space, take the various sizes to give a stepped arrangement across the bottom of your space, or use the four eighteen point slugs to make a bottom rule. As soon as you start to advertise anywhere with the title linked to your house, begin to use your press stuff. You have a lot of good material in the plan book, and some of this you can land on the editor as general reading instead of as your share of the press mention. Get Some Specials There are some stories on pages six and seven which you should be able to land on the editor as straight reading stuff. The public likes to read about the tricks of the picture trade and the burning ship gives a good line of specials. Sell the editor on the idea sufficiently far in advance to be able to get him the cuts. There are pictures of the burning ship in one, two and three column widths. These are made from wash drawings, because the plan book was prepared before the destruction of the ship was completed, but it will help to set off the story. Sell him the idea well in advance, but hold back the stories until the week before release. If you are generous with extra space you may land a couple on him. More Press Work There should be another press story in the haunted house. This can be lifted from page three and will prove of interest to the fans. Sell these ideas as general reading and you can then have other space for the purely press stories. There is a lot of sound publicity stuff in the plan book, written for newspaper readers and not merely to make the big boss feel good. Use as much as you can get into the papers. Take some of the best of the remainder and put in the frames with your stills. Push It Hard The story is above the average, both as to plot and production. You can afford to spend a little extra money in advertising. You are safe in getting a little extra enthusiastic in telling about it withou fear of a comeback. It is a sound melodrama, well cast, well staged and directed with unusual care. It is the sort of romantic stuff that the By EPES W. SARGENT average audience most thoroughly enjoys and it is not merely a few incidents done around a burning ship. .Just as a matter of fact the story interest rises from the destruction of the vessel and is sustained almost to the last scene. Hornung, who is the author of the Raffles stories, has preserved his suspense with all of the skill of the trained writer and the scenario was made under the supervision of George Randolph Chester, who is himself a master craftsman. The result is a story which stands up to the end and closes before a long run of falling action destroys the impression. // Will Please As a result you can promise much and deliver the goods, so sell it with personal enthusiasm, confident that there will be no comeback. In your advertising give less thought to the description of the ship than to the scenes aboard her when the fire is discovered. Dwell upon this feature to get the interest. It means more than a burning ship, and the scenes have been well staged. Play up the horrors of the panic and you will do better than selling the mechanical sensation. Window W ork Make a drive for windows. Get a few small wooden boats or beaver board models. Tack on ragged salmon colored chiffon and put a fan below the model to keep the jagged "flames" in motion. At night this will give a particularly good effect, but it will attract attention in the daytime, as well. Distribute Displays Get these displays well distributed and have a few stills and a lettered card in each window. You can work from this all the way up to a full set window display that will draw big crowds, according to the amount of time you are willing to give to the preparation. By all means have a ship in the lobby. If the ceiling is sufficiently high, place the model well above the heads of the incoming patrons. Here, at any 'ate, you should be able to work light and get winning effects. Street Stuff Dress up a couple of the 24-sheets for a perambulator if you have the story two or more days. Cut out the flame parts and replace with oiled tissue paper and at night touch off small quantities of flashlight powder inside of the wagon as the truck is drawn slowly through the streets. This will give life and emphasis to the display. Send out a man made up as Santos with a moustache and imperial. You can find the make-up in the stills. Let him stop every half block, throw up his hands and cry, "Ha! Ha! Dead Men Tell No Tales!" You can let him carry a rolled banner with the announcement, if you wish, but it will be better to let the passer-by supply the connection, .as he will if you have advertised well. Get out a card reading, "Don't tell your wife where you were last night. Dead men tell no tales." Put the house name and playing date in small type below. If you can get these into any public dance or othetr> affair, change the text to suit. If there is a coming event beyond your playing date, print the cards "Don't tell your wife you are going to the Elks' Smoker next Friday. Dead men tell no tales." Do this and the promoters of the affair will attend to your distribution for you. Otherwise hand them out to patrons as they leav^, distribute them to shops and offices, or send to the mailing list. Hook-ups Get your booksellers to show copies of the story in their windows, along with other Hornung books. Tie-up with cards and stills. On a slide tell where the book may be had. And always hook up the "Raffles'" with the present story. More persons know "Raffles" than remember the author's name. Hook up other stores. Let a butcher advertiie "Our meats are all government inspected and certified. No ptomaines in our goods. Ask any of our customers. 'Dead Men Tell No Tales' but we don't make dead ones." The same idea will work for grocers, bakers and soft drink places, particularly the later, with some reference to wood alcohol. Player Angles And play on the cast. Catherine Calvert is the star and gives a pleasant performance, but Percy Marmont, Holmes E. Herbert, George Von Seyffertitz and Walter James all do excellent work as the herobarrister, the Squire, the Spaniard and the half-breed respectively. Play them up. They deserve mention. It is not an allstar production, but it is an excellent ensemble, better perhaps than could have been gained with stars, since the story is better proportioned. You have something worth while selling. Sell it to your best advantage. Use plenty of lithographs and printers ink, put out several sets of stills, and it will make selling easier for plays to come.