Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1927)

February 5, 1927 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 441 Here’s a Display With a Truly Musical Border Boston Achieves a Nice All Type Ad Something has been happening over in Boston. The Loew Theatres have started to use all type displays, and they have done so well with them that other houses are copying the Style, though not with the same success. Mass. Avenue Doors Open Continuous At Norway St. at 12:45 from 1:00 STARTING MONDAY, JAN. 10 AN ARMY OF LAUGHS — A REGIMENT OF THRILL'S IN A METKO-GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURE WITH CONRAD CLAIRE NAQEL ANB WINDSOR IT’S “A LITTLE BIG PARADE’* AND ON THE STAGE: Return EnRaKement by Demand JOE REA’S CALIFORNIA NIQHTHAWKS "The Banser Band of Bands" AUGMENTED WITH EXTRAORDINARY LOUIS WEIR WURLITZER SdJc Excepting Saturday Night— Sundays — Holidays SPECIAL SUNDAY PROGRAM ENOCH LIGHT’S VAIJDFVII I F J0E BLUE JAY BAND VrtUDLVILLL TERMINI ANTONIO MORENO— RENEE ADOREE IN "FLAMING FOREST" MABEL NORMAND COMEDY, "ANYTHING ONCE" A BOSTON MIRACLE To appreciate this space you must understand that Boston papers carry rather more than a full page of display ads on Sunday. Until lately all of them have been heavy hand lettered spaces, spoiled still further by rapid press runs, which gives poor press work. The pages have been positively repellant. If you can visualize a nice space such as this set into such a mess, you will realize that there are just two parts to the page ; the Loew spaces and all the others. The others act as a sort of reverse blanket to throw the Loew advertisements into even greater prominence. The Loew Theatres got away with it for two or three weeks before the other agents woke up, and even then the others could not bring themselves all at once to the light display. They went to all type instead of hand work, but such black smears that Loew still maintains the lead. Now if the Loew agent can only persuade the compositors to use upper and lower case for the six and eight point lines instead of the current all capitals, they will profit even more. As it is, they are buying ten times the display value for the same old price, and they will keep on getting that until the other theatres wake up and swing into line. Years ago we predicted that some day a live agent would copper the usual Boston bet and hog the page. It has taken fifteen years to see that prediction properly fulfilled. At any rate we have lived to see a decent theatrical display ad in a Boston paper after we had given up all hope. The world does progress — if slowly. Makes Musical Drive on Syncopating Sue Here is a novelty from Kenneth M. Long, of the Brockton Theatre, Brockton, Mass., on Syncopating Sue. It drives on the syncopation idea even to the border. This suggests that the artist has worked in the musical design for effect, but if you will start in the upper left hand corner and play around the three sides of the space you will find that it is the melody of “If You Knew Susie.” It is effective merely as a border for a musical title, but if you are musical, it is even more striking. The music idea is further carried out in the two notes which offer the picture and the star vaudeville act. Mr. Long aims at novelty, but we do not recall any other example from him that gets so thoroughly out of the beaten path as this. It takes a five sixes, which is rather a large space, but the novelty of the idea makes it worth while, and we think that the space sold extra tickets. Mr. Long sends in two other examples, one of which depends largely upon the patterned background, similar to one we recently ran. It is striking and a good seller, but a little too black, unless he is fighting other spaces. ICIihlilUdl BETTY npkor jrar A NICE PROPORTIONING His third is another five sixes for Paradise in which the vaudeville is neatly paneled between two drawings. On the left is a hand lettered title with the famous fight, apparently taken from the press book illustration. On the right is another plan book cut giving a detail from the fight ; merely the faces of Sills, Beery and Miss Bronson. The drawing is notably good, and where a wide space is available this layout is interesting. This is about as neatly done as we can recall. It gives a nice balance, and when good drawings can be had, it will pay to use the extra space. It does not pay to buy space for a clutch or other tame pose, but if you can sell the idea of a vigorous story in an extra twelve inches, and space does not cost too much, it is well worth while. We believe that there is distinct sales value to this right hand drawing. Frames a Nice Two From Single Column M. W. Larmour, of the National Theatre, Graham, Texas, is a star example of a manager who does not slavishly follow the theory that a two-column cut must be run in a two column space. Mr. Larmour sees no reason why the width of the space should determine the cut used, and if he thinks that a little type will help, he’ll cut down, as he did with this example on Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, in which he made good use of the single column mat and took the rest of the space for type talk, instead of using a two column cut and then buying extra space below to tell about it. Monday-Tuesday October 2S-2G Wed.-Thurs., Oct. 27-28 His first Feature Length Comedy It is 7 long reels of LANGDON laughs, •and has 3,000 smiles of joy. Harry enters a walking race — of course he wins ; — with the aid of a cyclonp — a landslide — a freight train —and a chain gang, while you rock with glee. niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiii E FrLSat., Oct. 29-30 : Richard Barthelmess : — and — Dorothy Mackaill A ONE IN A TWO Mr. Larmour is limited to a weekly paper, and had to advertise three attractions at once, so this is only the top portion of his space. He uses plenty of talk, because he A NICE DISPLAY WITH A PLAYABLE MUSICAL BORDER