Moving Picture World (Mar 1917)

March 24/ 1917 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 1977 NOTES FROM THE MIDDLE WEST Frank H. Madison, u"8 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago. Penny Admission for Children. Omaha, Neb. — The penny moving picture show is one of the ideas of W. W. Cole, new manager of the Rohlff theater at 2559 Leavenworth street. This remarkable price is only to children under ten years of age, and applies only at matinees 3 to 6 p. m., for two weeks. Manager Cole announces that he will make the house a women's and children's theater, and that he has still other stunts up his sleeve. For regular shows the price will remain 10 cents for adults and 5 cents for children. Cole has been connected with Krug Park and Krug theater. Two New Nebraska Houses. Alliance, Neb. — A new fireproof theater 50x140 feet is being constructed here for the use of Harry DuBuque, who now operates the Imperial theater. Davenport, Neb. — Plans have been drawn for the construction of a new opera house. New Wisconsin Theater Company. Madison, Wis. — The secretary of state has issued articles of incorporation to the following: The Super Attraction Film company, Milwaukee; capital, $5,000; incorporators: B. K. Fisher, Walter A. Bair and Vincent Le Lorenze. Wisconsin Theaters Change Hands. Hartford, Wis. — Nic Mertes has sold the Crystal theater building to James Day. Kaukauna, Wis. — William Van Dyke, who formerly owned the Vaudette theater, has re-purchased it from Frank H. Ellsworth, of Green Bay, and will again operate the house. Tomah, Wis. — Chris Maxwell and son have sold the Unique theater to Frank Smith and Mark Johnson. River Falls, Wis. — The River Falls auditorium association has purchased a moving picture machine, and from time to time will book feature productions. The association does not intend to compete with the Princess theater. SEATTLE EXCHANGE NOTES. Seattle, Wash. — M. H. Hoffman, general manager of exchanges for Universal, with Mrs. Hoffman, was a visitor in Seattle. Harry J. Cohen, special representative for Metro, spent a Sunday in Seattle. Mr. Cohen is touring the West in the interests of Metro's new serial, "The Great Secret." Sol L. Lesser, owner of the All-Star feature company and the Golden Gate film exchange of San Francisco and Los Angeles, spent a day in Seattle visiting with his old friend, Mike Rosenberg, of the De Luxe feature film company. Exhibitor Thinks Posters Could Be Bettered In His Lobby Display Are Pictures Cut from Illustrated Newspapers to Draw Attention— Wants More Effective Paper. By S. J. Anderson, East Seattle, Wash. SEATTLE, WASH. — Passing the Imperial theater the other day, one of a group of small motion picture houses down near the wholesale district on First avenue, the World correspondent saw a crowd of men gathered about the large frame in front of the lobby. The attraction, I discovered upon peering over their shoulders, was a number of cartoons on the subject of the national crisis with Germany and several war pictures cut from the Illustrated London News. These practically covered the center of the large board, but all around them and scattered here and there among them were photographs of scenes from the plays comprising the program at the Imperial. The walls on both sides of this board and the entire front above it were pasted with one, three and six-sheet posters of the drama and the comedy. Working men passing by during the lunch hour were first attracted by the cartoons and war illustrations, but eventually they looked at the photographs and then the posters, and many of them found them interesting enough to risk ten cents on a further investigation. "Those pictures serve very well their purpose of getting people to stop and look during a time like this when everybody is more or less excited about the national situation," said Joseph Danz, the Imperial's manager. "It is oneof my pet theories that the exhibitor should take advantage of the public interest in special events. Running a picture show which caters to a transient trade such as this does, is in many respects like running a department store. The store manager must see to it that there is something in his window to attract the attention of the passer-by. Value of Good Lobby Advertis'ng. "The lobby-front is the show man's only window, and his first problem is to get the possible patron to stop and look at it. That done, more than half the battle's won, if his pictures are the kind that appeal to his class of patronage and he has good paper. Good paper is more important to the small exhibitor who does no outside advertising than the manufacturers seem to realize, judging from their carelessness in making it. The exhibitor relies on this alone to inform his patrons what kind of a show he is offering. If the paper does not attract attention the passer-by does not even stop, unless there are some special inducements such as these news cartoons and pictures. Once he has stopped, if the paper suggests lota of action, he goes in eventually. "I don't mean that the poster ought to be of the 'blood and thunder' kind; but they ought to be taken from the most gripping scenes in the play, those that have the most action. It is only for the small houses which do not generally advertise that the manufacturers make paper. Then why not make the kind we need? If the picture is worth spending thousands of dollars and infinite pains to perfect, then surely to have paper that does It justice is worth spending a few dollars and a little pains. "Westerns are the pictures that go best down here, and I find good ones increasingly hard to get. I always 'mop up' with the Hart features. "Yes, I use the best service — Triangle, World, Pathe and states rights, not first run, of course. "I find, too, that the shorter features are coming back into favor among my patrons, and these are also hard to get. It seems to me that the small theater deserves more consideration from the manufacturer, especially since eighty per cent, of the theaters in the country are of this class." Mr. Danz runs another house, the Isis, just across the street from the Imperial. He has just raised the admission price to the latter to ten cents, and is trying to get the other managers in the immediate vicinity to do likewise. Flag and Anthem to Be Used Only with Greatest Respect in Seattle Theaters. Seattle, Wash. — Two bills were passed by the city council of Seattle this week, at least one of which has some bearing on motion picture theaters. One of them prohibits the use of the American flag by performers for the purpose of drawing applause. The other prohibits the playing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" in medley. This last means that musicians in motion picture theaters, as well as those in any other public place, may not play the national air except as a separate and complete musical number. Washington State Censor Bill Killed. Seattle, Wash. — The Davis bill, introduced into the Washington state legislature several weeks ago, which provided for a state censorship board, was killed in committee, owing to the efforts of the exchange men of Seattle. F. S. Fountain, Northwest manager for Progressive, went to Olympia several times in the interests of the film men, and it is due to the arguments he put up against the bill that it never got farther than the committee. Motiograph Representative on Long Swing Through West. Seattle, Wash. — W. D. Loudy, special salesman, arrived in Seattle with a large shipment of Motiograph machines. He is making his headquarters with Waring & Finck, who have bought several machines from him. Mr. Loudy will remain in Seattle about thirty days, after which he will leave for San Francisco, Los Angeles and points in the Southwest. He is now on a tour, which includes all the states west of the Mississippi. It takes Mr. Loudy just eleven months from the time he leaves Chicago to cover his territory. He has already been over the greater part of the Northwest and reports the outlook for the film business better than it has been for several years. L. J. Schlaifer Buys Rights for "Idle Wives." Seattle, Wash. — L. J. Schlaifer announces that he has bought the states rights for "Idle Wives" for the four states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. It has been booked at the Coliseum in Seattle for March 4. Exhibitors Who Recently Visited Seattle. Seattle, Wash. — Out-of-town exhibitors who were visitors on film row this week were: T. L. Tally, of Tally's Broadway theater, Los Angeles; Ed. James, Broadway theater, Portland; R. K. Dunham, Rex theater, Mt. Vernon; H. C. Stevens, American and Casino theaters, Portland; W. E. Wright, Fort Lapwai, Idaho. Bellingham Theaters Raise Prices. Bellingham, Wash. — Owing to the high cost of exhibiting, all the theaters in this city have raised admission prices. Those formerly charging 15 cents now charge 25 cents; while the 5-cent houses have gone up to ten. A. W. Eden, manager of the local Fox office, has just returned from a trip to Butte, where he called a convention of the exhibitors of the surrounding territory, to talk over Fox news and plans with them. F. S. Fountain, Northwest manager of Progressive, is spending this week in Portland looking after new Paramount bookings.