Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1922)

MOVING PICTURE WORLD 59 January 7, 1922 “ School Days, ” Backed By McCormick's Sagacious Showmanship, Breaks Records UT AM your house the opening show I and if your show is good you’ll jam them in for the rest of the week.” That’s the advice that an old boss gave us some five years ago when we started out ahead of a musical troupe headed for the “sticks” of the K. and E. Southern time. As the years passed we have often thought of that counsel and we have tried our utmost to “jam ’em in.” And in that advice we find the foundation so essential in the making of a box office success whether it is a legitimate attraction or motion picture. And it was on the theory that satisfaction at the opening show — satisfaction resultant from worthwhile and value-received entertainment — that S. Barret McCormick, managing director of the Allen Theatre, Cleveland, O., must have worked when he introduced that wonderful box office attraction, “School Days,” to the fastidious theatregoers of that municipality. But while it is the business of the exploiteer, advance man, publicity agent or whatever you want to call him, to “pack” the house, after all, it is the attraction that either encourages or discourages patronage. Presentation and exploitation, however, are necessary factors that must be properly utilized. Poor presentation of a good attraction discourages business ; poor exploitation depreciates the box office value of an attraction. How McCormick Did It But given a picture like “School Days,” which inspires showmen to achieve wonders that show their results in dollars and cents at the box office, the public cannot help but take notice. And no one is better acquainted with this fact today than Mr. McCormick. He “sold” himself first — and then came the task of “selling” the public. And he did it. By ROGER FERRI “School Days” made history in Cleveland this week and it will repeat it in hundreds of other American cities. Of that we are certain, for immediately after the Cleveland openings the picture was booked into eight first run Ohio theatres for day and date showings — the greatest tribute ever accorded any picture in that wonderful state. But it was the picture, backed up by a demonstration of as fine an example of keen showmanship as has come before the attention of the writer this year, that won out. Mr. McCormick had something to work with. He had more than a picture. He had a magnet. He had nothing to hide and whatever he said about the picture in print or by word of mouth was substantiated by the production itself. And that is why after jamming them in on Christmas night— an evening when folks usually observe get-together gatherings in their homes — Clevelanders continued to pour into the theatre. There was a reason for this attraction. McCormick had heralded the coming of “School Days” with an advertising campaign that reached out into every home, every shop, every office, every school room, in fact, it reached everyone. As one rode home from work tbe trolleys announced the engagement, for attractive posters were prominently displayed. The newspaper advertising was characteristic of the campaign itself in that in all reading matter the combination of black and white colors was effectively used. The handsome as well as novel posters with a black background and white letters, outlining a slate, were plastered everywhere. The town was circused so thoroughly that wherever one turned he could not help but seeing the words : Gus Edwards’ “School Days.” The paper stood out like a bottle of milk in a quart of ink. It was a tribute to the publicity department of Warner Brothers, who are state righting the production. But “Mac” didn’t stop there. He knew he had a picture that every school1 boy and girl should see. And he wanted every girl and boy in that city to see it. He made it his business that they did. How? On the Thursday previous to the show opening, Mr. McCormick staged a special showing for every school principal and teacher in Cleveland. They taxed he capacity of the house that morning and so well satisfied and entertained were they that the engagement was on the next day announced to every scholar in the city. Result : more children attended the •Allen Theatre this week than ever before were crowded into any Cleveland house. And that was not all. Warner . Brothers had issued unique heralds and' cutouts of black and white with a very artistic pose of Wesley Barry, the star.. These cutouts enabled tieups with every shop in the city. These, together with the attractive posters, were displayed in well-dressed windows in the city centre. Another unusual advertising stunt was the introduction of the “Advertise with Music” campaign conceived by Eddie Bonns, the live-wire exploitation and publicity director of Warner BrothersWith the city circused with attractive paper and the windows handsomely dressed to draw the eye of the passerby, ths stunt was used with splendid results for it aroused no end of talk in the town. Music Played Up The musical feature is based on the fact that the Gus Edwards’ melodies, universally known, play a big part in the picture. The stunt consisted of a phonograph, the horn of which protruded out of one of the big windows of the down( Continued on following page) On the left, Bill Nigh, director of Warner Brothers’ “School Days” ; center, S. Barrett McCormack, of the Allen Theatre, Cleveland, who set the Ohio metropolis talking with his recording-breaking exploitation of the picture, and, right, Harry Rapf, producer