Movie Age (1927)

AUGUST 27, 1 927. PAGE 19 Bricks De Luxe Put Over “Callahans and Murphys” A wagon load of bricks can do more than make a lot of noise and bean un¬ suspecting pedestrians, as manager Ralph Lawler of the Apollo, Peoria, Ill., will attest. Lawler, featuring Metro-Goldwyn’s “Callahans and Murphys” as an excellent subject for novel exploitation, bought himself a wagon and a load of Irish con¬ fetti and planted it in front of the the¬ atre, where the picture was being shown. It was advertised via billboards and the press that he or she guessing the cor¬ rect number of bricks in the wagon, or the nearest to it, would receive cash prizes and tickets to the theatre. A young girl candy store employe won first prize, naming the number al¬ most perfectly. She says she figured each brick to be about the size of a pound box of candy and figured it out by simple arithmetic. Another helpful piece of exploitation for the same picture was a “boquet” of bricks on display in a floral shop. The bricks were cut and chipped to appear flowery and placed in boquet formation, with a sign reading “Some Say it With Flowers — But the ‘Callahans and Mur¬ phys’ Say it with Bricks at the Apollo.” Gross business and comments receiv¬ ed by the manager more than justified the two efforts. Police Pups Given Away In Rin-Tin-Tin Exploit Stunt How the management of the Capital Theatre in Lincoln, Neb., profited re¬ cently with a Rin-Tin-Tin feature is de¬ scribed by Earl A. Bell, branch manag¬ er of Warner Bros, in Omaha. Rin-Tin-Tin in “Tracked by the Po¬ lice” was booked into the Capital and the management asked Manager Bell for help in putting it over. After a few hours of consideration the following plan was carried out. The Capital manage¬ ment secured a window on the main thoroughfare, a few feet from the thea¬ tre. The window was filled with stills showing Rinty in scenes from this pro¬ duction, to which were added two live police dog puppies. Each person attend¬ ing the theatre during the week’s run received a ticket with the information that he might be the lucky recipient of the dogs if he came again Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening. The stunt went over so big that by Wednesday four more puppies were ad¬ ded to be given away, one on Thursday, one on Friday and two extra ones on Saturday. Novel Display of Letters Exploits “Fire Fighters” When “The Fire Fighters,” the Uni¬ versal chapter-play romance of the fire department, was to start its showing in the Brown Theatre, Stamps, Ark., owned by Sam Powell, a novel display was worked out to attract the attention of passersby. “Fire Fighters” was spelled out across the front of the theatre in letters 24 inches high, each letter out¬ lined with red crepe paper which ex¬ tended out about four inches all around. With a typhoon fan behind them these letters appears to be actually on fire. All border lights were in red. An arrangement was also made with the Stamps Fire Department for co-op¬ eration on this picture. Part of the equipment was on display in front of the theatre during the engagement and the fire trucks wore banners on the pic¬ ture. Children’s Party Increases Patronage in Lima Theatre A party for children in front of the theatre on the Saturday morning be¬ fore the opening of “Painting the Town” at the Quilna Theatre, Lima, Ohio, was a festive affair with 1,000 paper hats given away to the guests. A. J. Sharick, the Universal exploiteer who work¬ ed on the engagement, knew that this Glenn Tryon comedy would make a big hit with the kids — and they in turn would tell their elders of it — and so insured a good attendance for the open¬ ing show. Sharick also sold, a co-op page in the Lima News which had “Painting the Town” in every ad space. The picture serialization of the comedy, a popular piece of exploitation material prepared by the Universal home office, he placed with the Star. Three paint stores, in addition to tak¬ ing space in the “Painting the Town” co-op page, also used special window displays on the picture. Patsy Ruth Miller, co-featured in this production with Glenn Tryon, has posed in a par¬ ticular natty painter outfit, which would greatly increase interest in the painting business if generally adopted, and her photographs have been made up into a poster by the Sherwin-Williams Paint Company for the use of their deal¬ ers. Typing Contest Promotes “Tillie the Toiler” in III. When Marion Davies’s starring com¬ edy, “Tillie the Toiler,” played in the Lincoln Square Theatre, Decatur, Ill., Jim Wallace, the manager, put on a brisk bit of promotion work to carry the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release over the top to big business. An M-G-M ex¬ ploiteer assisted him. An arrangement was affected with the local agent of the Royal Typewriter company whereby they co-operated on a speed contest for stenographers. A special lobby display was made. A booth and typewriter were installed, and a week in advance of playdate notices were run in the local paper, announcing that ten dollars and twenty-five tickets to see “Tillie the Toiler” would be awarded to those who in the quickest time could write a given letter about Marion Davies in “Tillie the Toiler.” The letters were addressed to the manager of the theatre, and he and Mr. Essex, manager of the Royal Typerwriter agency were the judges. The Royal Typewriter people also made a window display with the stills from the photoplay which show Marion Davies at work on a Royal machine. Sedan Runs Wild as Publicity Stunt for “Running Wild” A sedan giving the appearance of “running wild” was used by C. Clare Woods, manager of the Colorado Thea¬ tre, Pueblo, during the showing of “Running Wild”, W. C. Field’s latest. The sedan’s windows on all sides were covered in black cloth making it impossible for a person to see in, and yet enable the driver to see out. The car was driven through the city’s streets carrying the title and explaining that the car was running wild. The stunt was effective.