The Moving picture world (May 1922)

May 6, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 81 Sellin^^ the Pictute to the^Public mess. And to help along the artist has lined the letters of the signature, which always is an efficient goat-getter. This would have been a very much better display had the cut been sliced just below the title. We have seen CoHceri; Moqi;e^ AMEI^ICAN HARMONISTS ^ a^airv may W4 fimindyou ' Music That is~TownTatli" i LIBERTV SEXTETTE ** (DmcOnOvei^ 4 yKs brilliant in Gjmedy as the Firt-from Iht Emci'aW. A breath Irom Ll\4*OaUl Sod' the scenes bcind Uid by KllUl'rwys ■ ■ ncl>tvl -■ " -.^'-i. Us and Ca.y NeiJ Yoi-k Vou'U loOc t+ils pictui'c andyou'U lau^h as you've ne^Jer" latujhed ■ lofe ai any screen J>lay TOO MUCH HAND LETTERING worse examples, but this is pretty poor and lacks the excuse that to set in type would in volve too much cutting. . —p. T. A.— This Fay Signature Is Better Handled Several times we have reproduced the advertising of Fay's Theatre in Philadelphia to show how a heavy signature cut can isolate itself from the space it is supposed to head. This time the signature cut is the same, but the result is different because here the disposition of the figures makes the signature a set-in and not a thing apart. It is not a flexible heading, A GOOD FAY DISPLAY but this shows that it can be made to associate with the rest of the space if it is adroitly handled. There is not room for much talk, but a good line is used to back up the cut, and the cut is one which will probably sell better than talk, because it suggests just the type of story the title indicates, and for once the title and story are in harmony. The paneled vaudeville acts are kept out of the way, and this paneling is about the best handling of the names that could be given. We think that to hold to this style is better practise than to change form and experiment with other place ments. The underline is not so well handled. It suggests a double, one reading "Coming, A Connecticut Yankee" and "Next Week, In King Arthur's Court." This is because the "coming" is permitted to extend over the "next week" so that it apparently runs into the top line of the two line title. A simple "Next Week" would have been ample and not so misleading. This is a small matter, however, since the billing will correct the error in the minds of those who do not know the Fox production or the Twain story by its full title. —p. T. A.— Played Fashion Show Clear to Exit Doors R. A. Gill, of the Erie Theatre, Hugo, Okla., pulled a new one in fashion shows lately. He decided that he wanted one, so he spoke to a local merchant. It developed into a cooperative affair, under the management of the local Retail Dealers' Association. They put on a whale of a show, bought out the house and distributed free tickets to the patrons. With a capacity of 700, they played to 1,600 tickets on a matinee and night showing, and had an overflow meeting in the fire alley where the exit doors commanded a view of the stage and those who could not get inside were glad to stand and see what they could. In addition, there was a turnaway of some 300 or 400. Mr. Gill did not make as much money selling the house as he might have done had he held control himself, but, on the other hand, he was able to get the credit for a much more important show and to command the good will of all the merchants, which later on he can capitalize into window displays and hook-ups. He is able to see the greater possibilities and drop the immediate gain for the larger ultimate profits. —P. T. A.— Put Over "Penrod" with Variety of Appeals Joseph D. Paxter, assistant manager of Gordon's Olympia Theatre, Lynn, Mass., a part of the Gordon circuit of Boston, got back of "Penrod" and put that young man over like a house afire. He ran eight-inch teasers for three days in the two papers in town, with a nice seven sixes for Saturday and Sunday, there being only one paper on Sunday. In this he also took four tens as part of a hook-up page in which he had seven merchant ads, each with a head of Penrod as well as some allusion to that young man. Five of the ads made special appeals to boys. On top was a cross line, "There's good times a comin' and they're comin' to Lynn. Ask Penrod." Below this he anticipated Prosperity Week with sixteen four-column lines preaching prosperity in general and in Lynn in particular. The copy will help others. It runs : 'Every once in a while a gent with a turnpike face tells you that it'll be a long, long time before business comes back. Don't pay any attention to this hokum. These crepe hangers have been eating cheese and roast pork before going to bed. They have indigestion. The world looks to them like the inside of a whale's belly and they can't find the exits because they haven't any batteries in their flashlights. There is another pest you meet who thinks all this talk about business revival is cockadoodlum. All he needs is a pine kimono and an epitaph. The fact is, the revival is actually on. Business as a whole is better. Don't let anyone tell you it isn't. And it will be a whole lot better before long. It isn't necessary to harp on optimism any longer because we're on our way. But we have to thank the spirit of optimism for the come-back that is now gaining momentum. It is the most powerful force known in business. Even vaudeville has abandoned those 'blues' songs. Not only good times — wonderful times — are coming. The advance guard is here. Now is the time to act, to build, to plan to spend, to create— in other words, to DO THINGS." This is good copy to use on any light picture, and it will help the town to find itself. Keep on talking prosperity and presently you will find that you have created the sense of confidence that is all that is now required to make better times an established fact. —P. T. A.— Bain, of Wilmington, Has Merchants Trained D. M. Bain, of the Howard-Wells Amusement Company, has his town trained to hookups, and all Otto Millican, the crack ad man of the Morning Star, has to do is sit at the telephone and hand out the good news to the merchants. They come over with their copy. The high light in Bain's handling of the hookup is the fact that he works them double, one a week in advance and a second the Sunday before. The first announces a prize contest and the second announces the winners. For "Fools' Paradise," for instance, he offered prizes for the best new copy for the ten advertisers represented. A stipulation required the contestants to use no more words than in the original ads. If a merchant used 125 words, not more than 125 words could be used in the new copy. The prizes were awarded on the single advertisements and not as a whole and there were ten first and ten second prizes, two tickets to the first and one each to the second best. In some instances the new ads were better than the originals, and all of the merchants got new advertising angles. On "A Man's Home" the contest was for the best epigrams on the word "home," one for each advertisement, and in another a sectional cut supplied the contest idea. In each instance the hook-up was doubled to run two Sundays, and the merchants found that the additional interest taken in their displays more than paid them for their co-operation and they are eager to come in again. With twenty prize winners, the public feels that there is a chance for all A "PENROD" STRIP