The Moving picture world (October 1920)

936 MOVING PICTURE WORLD October 16, 1920 Pretty Soft When the Police and Firemen Help Police and Fire Departments Put Over "Nobody's Girl" Big Perhaps you remember that the Kansas State Exhibitors' Association held a convention a couple of weeks ago. You read about that, but you did not get one of the cleverest convention promotion stunts. The convention was held in Kansas City, Kan., across the river from the real K. C. And in the real K. C. there is a real press agent who works for the Crescent Film Company, which handles the Federated releases in that district. He is William H. Radford, who served his apprenticeship on the Kansas City papers, and he devised the stunt and used his old newspaper pull to square the police and fire departments in advance. "Nobody's Girl" was the story they wanted to get over, and just when the delegates were out in front of the convention hall, getting their group picture, the building across the way seemed to let go. It was only a pound of black powder in a room on the second floor and a couple of smoke bombs on the roof, but it was so realistic that it fooled even the firemen, who were in on the fake, and they ran a line of hose, thinking that something had gone wrong. And if it could fool the experts, it certainly did fool the delegates who watched with agonized faces a sixteen-year-old girl hanging in the window of the doomed house and they crowded about her as the firemen brought her down the ladder. In response to all questions she coutd only tell that she was "Nobody's Girl," and when they wanted more news she pulled a fa'-e faint and was whisked away in an ambulance. Then the fake broke and there is not a man in that crowd who does not remember the title of the film, and Radford has YOU CAN DRAW A BETTER HAND THAN THESE CARDS SHOW If you have the picking of them. Deal yourself a royal flush for Marjorie Rambeau in "The Fortune Teller" and you can clean all the chips on the table. It will work as well for other than this Robertson-Cole release. made things mighty easy for the Crescent film salesmen. The girl was borrowed from the county jail, where she was waiting removal to the reformatory, and she was more nearly "Nobody's Girl" than the crowd realized, for her parents had turned her over to the court because of her waywardness, due largely to their own neglect of her. It was a good press stunt and capably handled. When Radford hits his stride he is going to make a corking exploitation man. Watch him. "Fortune Teller" Front Will Work for Any Similar Title Here is a card front, built by E. E. Duncan, of the Colonial, Lincoln, Neb., to get Bill Bryan in to see "The Fortune Teller." It was built along the lines suggested by the press book. The cards pendant from the marquise are two feet long and are done in the proper colors. You can get face cards by having the local photographer make bromide enlargements and coloring with water colors. The centre of the triangular sign contains a gypsy booth, which does not come out very well in the cut, and by cutting the opening and bac' ing, a cut out could be effectively used if the tent is built to scale. This card front will work for other than Robertson-Cole, so keep it in mind when you have any card title. Caged Ape Man to Thrill His Philadelphia Patrons Cutouts were freely used by the Victoria Theatre, Philadelphia, to put over Marshall Neilan's "Go and Get It." On the lobby level a cutout of the ape man was securely caged that the Mar' et street pedestrians might run no dangSr, and on the large electric sign above were cutouts of the ape man and on the opposite side of the reporter with his leveled revolver. You have to catch them with a smash in Philadelphia, and this combination got even the Saturday night visitors from Camden — and you have to work hard to get the Camdenites. COACHING THE CAMDENITES TO SEE A GOOD SHOW Over in Philadelphia you have to drag them in. The Victoria put the wild man in a cage to excite the visitors from across the river, and they sold Marshall Neilan's "Go and Get It" to the last seat in the hnidmost row. Plan your exploitation to suit your patrons. Red fire will not work with high-grade attractions and you cannot pussyfoot a melodrama. Handle each in its proper way.