The Moving picture world (November 1921)

December 10, 1921 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 695 Selling the Picture to the#Public ola eggrt ola QneAraWanNigfr Netfri in 'One Arabian ' One Arabian Might* FOt//? EXAMPLES OF FINE ART WORK POSTERS FROM INDIANAPOLIS These were designed by the Circle Theatre for the run of Poli Negri in "One Arabian Night," and by their oddit-y helped a lot to put over the First National attraction to unusual business. It was only one of many special stunts used on this fcautre How the Circle Theatre Put Over Two Features Because the Circle Theatre wanted to put over "Two Minutes to Go" to the best possible business and still put a whang into the campaign for "One Arabian Night" Don McElwaine, publicity man for the Circle Theatre, Indianapolis, had to stay on tiptoe for two weeks, but he managed to make the grade. At the Notre Dame-Indiana football game he had a large banner directly over the score board and signs over all the ticket windows to interest the crowd in the Ray football story, and the same thing was done at the game to decide the local high-school championship, and for the minor college championship of Indiana, the Butler-Earlham game. Circular posters were made to fit inside auto spare tires and about a dozen of these were placed, and a solid tie-up with the Spaulding sporting goods store was effected, with the Circle's art department doing the window decorating. For "One Arabian Night" special attention was given the art posters, four of which are shown on this page, and a co-operative page was used in the Star, the theatre taking 900 lines, since the lead of the weekly dramatic story is given the attraction using the largest space. With 500 tack cards, 300 one-sheets and the usual number ot threes and sixes, the poster display was ample, and a hook-up was effected with "florient" perfume in drug store windows, with the result that two weeks of big business was gained for these two First Nationals. Plastered the Town With Cutout Posters Several of the stores in Penn Yan, N. Y., have sidewalk awnings and when S. G. Sladdin, the Buffalo Paramounteer, saw them he suggested cutting out the three-sheets for "The Affairs of Anatol" and dressing up these projections. The result was that restaurants, hotels, office buildings and stores all carried banners and cutouts. This is only a now and then stunt, for done too often it becomes commonplace and will not pull in the cost of the cutouts, but about once •every three months this can be made a cleanup for a better-than-usual attraction. It certainly pulled the business in Penn Yan. Used Trick Sign Painter Something out of the ordinary was used by H. B. Clarke to put over "Little Lord Fauntleroy" at the Rialto Theatre, Macon. The County Fair was on and he had a trick sign painter perform in front of the grand stand. He had five boards, two by twelve feet, and on these he painted "Mary Pickford in 'Little Lord Fauntleroy,' at the Rialto Theatre, today," in two and a half minutes, starting with the last letter and working backward. With pencil outlines it was not as much of a trick as it seemed, but it caught the crowd and they followed the legend with such breathless interest that the message was firmly stamped upon their memories. A cutout from the 24-sheet, a kid riding around town in a pony cart, the voting contest with the vote 1,100 to 400 in favor of Cedric, and window cards, completed the exploitation and made business in spite of the fair. Sladdin's New Use of the Open Letter Idea S. G. Sladdin, the Buffalo Paramounteer, has found a new •application of the open letter idea. He used it for an election stunt, but it can be adapted to other occasions and other plays. Sladdin used it for Gloria Swanson in "The Great Moment." It looked as though Ira J. Carmichel would be elected City Clerk of Batavia, N. Y. The Saturday before the election, the local paper carried a quarter page advertisement, with an ample white border in which Sladdin told the candidate that "The Great Moment" of his life was approaching and that Manager Burns, of the Family Theatre, took great pleasure in offering him <»nd his family the courtesies of the house to see Gloria Swanson in her "Great Moment." Of course Carmichel was pleased at this free publicity, and the house now has a staunch supporter in the City Clerk, but everyone read the letter and was sold on the play idea, which was what Sladdin really was after. He hooked on to the biggest local angle at the moment. Burns and Sladdin also sold the local bank on the "it will be a 'Great Moment' in your life when you open a bank account" idea, and people figured that there must be something to the play if the bank hooked to it. If you have not yet played "The Great Moment" you can use this open letter with wonderful effect if some well known couple are to be married shortly. In a small town the whole population will turn out for the designated performance to see if the happy pair have the nerve to accept the invitation. Force of Habit Jimquin, of El Paso, has sold out his interest in the Rialto and other houses and is looking around deciding what job he will take on next. Meantime the habit of space grabbing is so strong within him that, lacking a theatre to advertise, he has been writing poetry good enough to make the editorial page of the local papers. It's better than newspaper verse, for that matter. THIS IS NOT A THEATRE FRONT, BUT AN OFFICE BUILDING That is what makes this stunt different from all the rest. The Elmwood Theatre, Penn Yan, wade a bunch of cutouts and put them on every awning in town for "The Affairs of Anatol," and with so many three-sheets they had a good variety