Movie Age (1927)

PAGE 20 MOVIE AGE Elaborate Campaign on “Big Parade” in Memphis, Tenn. Howard Kingsmore, the manager of Loew’s Palace Theatre in Memphis, Tenn., recently treated that up-and-coming southern city to a taste of real brisk exploitation work. He was aided in this work by a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer exploiteer. This was a most comprehensive cam¬ paign. It included many stunts, a great deal of billing, a tie-up with the Recruit¬ ing Service, a newsboys parade, lobby and theatre front decorations as well as many new, original and valuable exploit¬ ation ideas. The billing consisted of twenty-five 24 sheets, twelve 6-sheets, five hundred 1-sheets, six hundred window cards, five thousand special heralds and four de luxe and one special trailer. Special accessories used in exploit¬ ing “The Big Parade” consisted of for¬ ty-eight overseas caps, stenciled with the name of the film and distributed among the corner newsboys, eight oil paintings, which were used in the lobby before the opening and then in various store windows. One special banner ran the full length of the marquee, and was illuminated by the regular electric sign. Also there was a large papier mache soldier, standing with rife and bayonet at the ready. “Allied” flags were hung all about this soldier, who was placed in the lobby, and a spray of these flags was used to decorate the marquee. An elaborate window display was placed in Bry’s, one of the largest de¬ partment stores in the south. The paper mache soldier, previously used in the foyer, and a spray of “allied” flags was used as a background for the studio model and seven large paintings of MG-M stars. In addition to the pictorial display, cards relative to “The Big Pa¬ rade” oil paintings were placed in six other windows. The store advertised “The Big Parade” of merchandise. “The Big Parade” of prices, etc. Ken Maynard Clubs Spread Popularity of that Star When First National’s western star, Ken Maynard, learned that clubs had been formed by boys and named after him, he presented each club with a lari¬ at and with an autographed photo of himself. The photos usually include Maynard’s famous white horse, Tarzan. There are a number of Ken Maynard clubs in many cities. First National’s advertising and pub¬ licity department has decided to cap¬ italize on this interest in Ken Maynard and his pictures on the part of the younger generation. They have pre An AD-itorial By R. C. “BOB” GARY Do you ever limit yourself? I’ll ex¬ plain further on exactly what 1 mean, but any way, don’t do it — not if you con¬ template on some time listing your in¬ come in six figures, or seeing your “John Henry” in big type in “Who’s Who.” This matter of limitation is a point phychologists stress to the limit — they tell us that by limiting our abilities we make failures a huge possibility, and when we give this subject a moment’s thought, we realize this is the “straight goods.” Think of the time that you let your competitor advertise and ex¬ ploit his show, and you felt rather “out of it” as it were, when the shekels came rolling in around the corner. The whole trouble was you limited yourself, and after solilquizing you succeeded in con¬ vincing yourself the job was too big for you — that you hadn’t a chance, consider¬ ing your education, opportunities, and all that sorta “sympathy stuff.” Unlimited success may be awaiting us — it may be just “around the corner,” we hear so much about, and may be de¬ pending on whether we have the GRIT to attempt big things. This “hitching your wagon to a part of the solar sys¬ tem” is “good stuff,” even if we do dis¬ parage it. But you’re, by this time probably, wondering why this sermonette affair, and why so serious. This outburst was brought about by a front page story in SHOWMANSHIP — a breezy house or¬ gan published by Universal’s Theatre Circuit and edited by Joe Weil. I’ll quote SHOWMANSHIP word for word: “W. P. Cuff, enterprising, go-getter manager of the People’s Theatre, Chanute, Kansas is the winner of the “UP THE LADDER” DRIVE! Tabula¬ tions of the quotas completed Thursday evening showed Cuff leading his near¬ est competitors by barely fifty points. Cuff at one time was in Twenty-sixth place. CUFF WINS $500.00 AS THE FIRST PRIZE. “Bill” Cuff beat the field — this goes to prove my wordiness rave isn’t so far off, doesn’t it? My final word is: Put no limitations upon yourself.— EXPLOIT AND ADVERTISE. USE MORE AC¬ CESSORIES. pared a broadside which is being mailed to the exhibitors of the country calling their attention to the exploitation value of the Ken Maynard Clubs. Most exploitation is for but a single picture, and has been found to pay. The Ken Maynard Club is exploitation of a continuing value. Its cumulative effect will stimulate interest in each new May¬ nard picture. The Ken Maynard western stories are founded upon some occurrence of a his¬ torical nature relative to the winning of the West and thus there is a real cul¬ tural phase to each of his pictures which will appeal to teachers, Boy Scout mas¬ ters and others having to do with boys’ organizations and will readily enlist their co-operation. In further co-operation with exhibit¬ ors who wish to form Ken Maynard clubs, First National has had an attract¬ ive button designed and a large quan¬ tity has been manufactured. First Na¬ tional’s advertising and publicity depart¬ ment has also prepared Ken Maynard Club letterheads and envelopes, carry¬ ing an impress of the button. A supply of this stationery will be sent to the exhibitor for presentation to the club upon receipt of the name of the club president, which will be printed on the letterheads. Universal In New Tie-Up With Roller Skate Maker Now they’re whizzing around Univer¬ sal City on “Super-Wheel Skates.” Super-wheel skates, by way of explana¬ tion, are a cross between an ice skate and an underslung roadster but labeled roller skates. A skating shoe, at¬ tached to an aluminum chassis, is hung between two 4 1-2 inch ball-bearing, rubber-shoed wheels, and when filled with a human foot, is guaranteed to de¬ velop plenty of speed. These new vehicles have just been in¬ troduced this fall and have been tied up with “The Collegians,” Universal’s su¬ per two-reel featurettes. Members of the “Collegians” cast — George Lewis, Dorothy Gulliver and Eddie Phillips — as well as others of Universal’s young¬ er stars and featured players have been photographed performing on these skates and these pictures are being used in sport magazines, in dealer window tieup material, at skating rinks and school athletic events. A special feature of this tie-up for exhibitors is the offer of the manufac¬ turer to give skates as prizes — they re¬ tail for $10.00 — where a big enough race can be promoted. This should be a three-cornered affair between the the¬ atre, a sporting goods store handling the new skates and a newspaper.