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Vol. 15, No. 11
The Moving Picture Weekly
17
>oe Prize Winning Stunts
A. P. Desormeaux, Manager of the Strand Theatre, Modi son. Wis., Had His Street Man Appear in Windows of Leading Establishments on the Principal Streets. Full Details of the Exploitation Which Won an Award for Mr.
Desormeaux Are Printed on This and Opposite Page.
tures of Robinson Crusoe." He is one of the four lucky ones in Universal's $7,000 Exploitation Ideas Contest.
His street stunt consisted of a man dressed as Robinson Crusoe walking through the streets of Madison and standing in windows of the principal mercantile establishments of that city. A photograph of Mr. Desormeaux's ballyhoo is shown above. "Free admissions to thirteen crippled children from a nearby hospital obtained desirable publicity and good-will for Mr. Desormeaux. One of the newspaper stories on this stunt is shown on page 16.
The following telegram from Mr. Desormeaux should be read by every exhibitor:
"You will be interested to know opening chapter of 'Robinson Crusoe* played to biggest crowd ever attending any Madison theatre on Saturday afternoon since inception motion picture. Advertised chapter-play to be shown once only between first and second shows Friday and Saturday
afternoon. But they came so fast Saturday our 1,500 capacity filled ten minutes after starting show. Necessary run 'Crusoe' twice to accommodate crowd waiting outside, numbering over 900. Thought we were through with serials years ago, but if you can show us more like this you can count on us being 100 per cent, sold right now. Any high-class theatre can use this serial without apologies."
Ft M. PLESSNER, manager of Susquehanna and Norris Theatres, Philadelphia, Pa., one of the first week's prize winners in Universal's Exploitation Ideas Contest, put over one of the most original and effective stunts of the week in connection with his showing of the Crusoe chapter-play. A small envelope containing a small amount of white sand was sent to all his patrons. (Continued on Page 23)