Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1922)

ebruary i 8 , 1922 1121 Tulsa Girls Who Resemble Mary Pickford Compete for Prizes Raleigh M. Wilson, exploitation man for the iroadway theatre, Tulsa, Okla., had first-class uccess when “ Little Lord Fauntleroy ” was ooked there, with a photographic contest with 'e rizes for the Tulsa girls who looked most like diss Pickford. There were three prizes, two in cash. The ;irl who won first money received $15, the sec>nd was $10 and the third received ten free ickets to the “ Little Lord Fauntleroy ” sho'wng. Mr. Wilson tied up the contest with the Slovelty Studio, Tulsa, which furnished one free photograph to all contestants, and the Tulsa Daily World gave valuable aid in the way of laily stories on the progress of the contest and inally ran a deep two column cut showing the hree prize winners. In addition the contest was boosted daily in f the house program. The total expense for the contest was $32. Two thousand postal cards were mailed to the theatre mailing list on one side of which was a cut of Miss Pickford with a bandaged eye after her fight with the false pretender to the earldom. It also was planned to give a little luncheon to the contestants in the resemblance contest, the idea being to put on something that would find its way into the society news columns and thus bring more publicity. Dainty Lobby Decorations for “Over the Hill” Conversion of an ordinary, drab lobby into an attractive publicity vehicle was the feat of the management of the Nelson theatre, Fairmont, W. Va., during the recent run of “ Over the Hill.” The lobby is somewhat in the shape of a rectangle, measuring about 12 by 18 feet. At the rear is the box office and the entrance is immediately to the right. Framework was erected over the door and the ticket window in such a way as to make it represent the front elevation of a cottage. To the left of the ticket office was constructed a window with lace cur-tains and a light shining apparently from within. The roof of the little house was painted on the rear wall of the lobby. On the two side walls were painted large j scenes from the picture. One showed the long road to the poorhouse with the 11 black-sheep ” ; son of the picture dragging his renegade brother to the summit; the other representing the renegade ordering the mother from his door, i Additional posters and framed stills were used in embellishing the front of the theatre and the extremes of the lobby. In all it was one of the most attractive displays Fairmont ever witnessed. Window Display Brings Profit to “Sheba” Exhibitor Cleverly worded cards used in window decorations for the exploitation of “Queen of Sheba” were largely responsible for the exceptional success the production enjoyed at the Grand theatre, Perry, la. Every prominently located window in town was adorned with stills, scenery drawings and elaborately designed cards. The resourcefulness of the exhibitor is demonstrated by the fact that in several places three and four adjoining windows were utilized for display of “Queen of Sheba” advertising. Beckerich, Buffalo Showman, Gets Front Page Publicity AL BECKERICH, manager of the Loew State Theatre, Buffalo, got a lot of valuable front-page publicity last week, when he tied up with the Buffalo Enquirer on a benefit performance for the newspaper’s Cheer Fund Chest. Mr. Beckerich turned over a large amount to the fund. In return he got a two-column-headed story every day on the front page of the Enquirer and various special stories. Giant Page of Toledo Blade as Lobby Display Further details on the exploitation campaign which Paul Gray of the Wid Gunning exploitation forces put over for the showing of “ What Do Men Want?” at the Pantheon theatre, Toledo, O., in addition to those described in the issue of the News of Dec. 24th, are available. Mr. Gray had obtained numerous front page stories from the Toledo Blade on a contest based on the title of the picture. While the contest was still an event of real interest, Mr. Gray had a huge sign, eighteen by fifteen feet, painted as a reproduction of the first page of, the Blade, but instead of painting the usual news in the body of this “ page,” he painted in details of the essay contest, giving the list of prizes and other information. A crowd of between twenty-five and fifty stood before the sign continuously at its place high up on the Pantheon Building. But the Blade's co-operation brought it to the attention of at least 90,000 more people. The newspaper reproduced the sign on its first page, under the caption, “ The biggest newspaper page in the world,” and also ran a story telling of the stunt and of the engagement of the special at the Pantheon. Needless to say it was a “ sold-out ” showing. Gillen Telephones His Exploitation for “Three Musketeers” Fred Gillen, general manager of the Strand theatre, Binghamton, N. Y., used the telephone to splendid advantage recently when “The Three Musketeers” was shown at the Strand. All the way down the mailing list of the house two young women went calling the persons on the telephone instead of sending the usual mail notice. They called attention to the special features in this Fairbanks production, and referred to it as the “Douglas Fairbanks Million Dollar Picture.” While this telephone exploitation was going on Mr. Gillen himself was making a personal calk at all schools of the more advanced grades where he had been given permission to talk briefly to the pupils, outlining the story of the picture. . “Both of these stunts were on the real personal order,” says Mr. Gillen. Youthful Actor Exploits His Own Picture Lewis Sargent, who plays the messenger in “Just Around the Corner” went to work for Western Union in Los Angeles, to help the picture at Grauman’s Million Dollar theatre. Sargent spent a day at it, and the colleagues razzed the uniform off of him. Sid Grauman made the stunt more interesting by offering a prize of passes to the bona fide messenger boy most resembling Sargent. Booker Sells Time Table Idea to His Patrons An announcement has been made by Manager Fred Brooker of Loew’s Ottawa Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, with regard to the time-table for the weekly shows. Brooker has made arrangements for the publication in the Tuesday editions of local newspapers of the actual timetable for the current week so that patrons can govern themselves accordingly. In making this plan known, Mr. Brooker declared that the nominal opening hour each day is 1 p. m., but that the time required for a performance fluctuated from week to week. “It is impossible to remedy this except by speeding up or slowing down the pictures which vary in length, but this does an injustice to the features which are intended to be shown at a fixed rate of speed to give most effective results,” he said. “The only way to show our pictures properly is to run them at the proper rate of speed and we have chosen to do this, with the result that some fluctuation in starting time is necessary. In order to notify patrons of the actual starting time of each feature of our performances, we are now publishing a time-table in the daily newspapers every Tuesday. This gives the running time for the show as a whole and, by consulting it, patrons will see precisely at what hour they should come to see either the whole performance or any part of it. We suggest that you consult this time-table every week and clip it for reference.” Saengers Bill “ Molly O/’ Like A Circus Another “Molly O” cooperative campaign that broke exploitation records is that put over by B. W. Beckert, special representative, Maurice F. Barr, superintendent for the Saenger Amusement Company, New Orleans and Elmore M. Ryan, house manager at the Liberty theatre and one of the Saenger string. Here is their record of achievement: A “Molly O” hat window display in the largest store in the city. A “Molly O” silk display in the best window of another big department store. A tie-up with a prominent music store with a window display that sold both the picture and the “Molly O” records. Another window display in a furniture store, tieing up with the engagement and another make of phonograph. Newspaper advertising by the theatre in which the various cooperative displays were called to the attention of the reader. Big display ads which sold the picture as a starring vehicle for Mabel Normand and promised a fine show. An elaborate lobby display in which stills, cut-outs, and appropriate signs caught the eye of. every passerby. Florist Tie-Up for “tWedding Bells” A tie-up with a florist featured the exploitation of “Wedding Bells” when it played the Garden Theatre in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Hyman Levy, the proprietor of the house, arranged with the local florist to prepare a flower bell of considerable magnitude and suspended it in the lobby of the theatre. The decoration bore the name of the florist and the famous phrase, “Say it with flowers.” Nearly everybody in town went to see the bell, as a result of the discussion it evoked, and remained to see the picture.