The Moving picture world (May 1922)

186 MOVING PICTURE WORLD May 13, 1922 Selling the Picture to the^Public A Paratnou}it /'u MINIATURE DISPLAYS APPEAR TO BE OXt Bti,!' BET Oscar White, of the Rex Theatre, Sumter, S. C, knows this, and for Paramounfs "The World's Champion" he built a miniature prize ring with chairs and pails in proportion to the doll pugs. It did more to interest the women than would be supposed Made Big Campaign on a Lloyd Comedy Because it rained on the second day of his showing of "A Sailor Made Man," A. L. Snell called up the regulars and offered to send a taxi after them. It was an extra special rain and would have drowned business, and Snell was not going to lose the value of all his special advertising, so the taxis more than paid for themselves, for Snell got a rate on the representation that it would help to inculcate the idea of taking a taxi to the show. Hooked a Tailor His best exploit was to hook up to a tailoring firm. All over town they had announced for many weeks : "We make tailor made men." Putting an "S" over the "T" made it Sailor Made Men, and it raised a laugh that clinched the punch. He also hooked in with the recruiting service for a display of naval equipment in the lobby and the Junior Xaval Reserve boys were proud to get into their whites and wig-wag signals up and down the street. Free admission to children wearing sailor hats was another slant, and the usherettes paraded the lobby in between shows to ballyhoo for the next houseful. Miniature Prize Ring Caught Men and Women After a thing has been demonstrated a few hundred times, it becomes a fact, and it is a pretty well established fact that miniature displays will do more to put a feature before the public than any other form of display. Of course, it cannot be done every week, but when it is saved for emergencies, it will put a weak sister over with music. Oscar White, of the Rex Theatre, Sumter, S. C, figured that Wallace Reid was mostly associated with automobile pictures in the minds of his patrons. He figured that his women patrons did not care for pugilism. Reid in a fight title seemed to be wet all over. He made a miniature prize ring for his lobby. It was all to scale, with chairs and buckets to fit the fistic stars. Women called it "cute" and decided that it might be an interesting picture, after all, so they came. Men thought the idea clever — and they came, too. Put the Indian Sign On a Rosary Display Film titles make queer combinations sometimes, and "The Rosary" and Buster Keaton in "The Paleface" was the program at the Forum Theatre, Hillsboro, Ohio, lately. Trellis work, with paper roses, was the Rosary appeal and two Indian blankets, hung to suggest tepees, was the Paleface contribution. An Indian cutout and a real brave were also used, the latter circulating around town when they did not need him at the theatre. It was an odd mix, but the result was attractive, and the management felt that it could not afford to overlook the Keaton comedy, no matter how churchly the other title. The rose trellis is a capital stunt for any house playing the First National feature, but a few vines could have helped not a little. Most houses now have both trellis and vines. Recently Schade dropped a remark that he was through with Frietas and had another candidate tor Mayor in mind. This gave the opposition sheet great mental anguish, for Schade refused to name his new candidate until he was ready to advertise Constance Talmadge in "Woman's Place." when he called attention to her practical politics and announced her as his favorite. Then the opposition paper, which had been hinting darkly at all sorts of things, had another and harder attack of mental anguish, and the laugh brought crowds to the Schade Theatre. Billing for Wanda It looks as though Ollie Brownlee, of the Palace Theatre, Muskogee, Texas, must be a married man. His lobby display for Wanda Hawley in "Too Much Wife" was a set of twelve bills from the leading women's stores, each for a staggering sum. These were pasted to a compo board backing and framed with rolling pins. Rolling pins were also dangled from the edge of the arch. It cost $7.50 and put the receipts IS per cent over the top. Playing Politics George J. Shade, of Sandusky, is one of the City Commission, and the opposition has been all stirred up because he is one of the three in "the ring" who have been running the city, Mayor Freitas being one of the others. A First National Picture. PUTTING THE INDIAN SIGN ON A ROSARY LOBBY Indian blankets and a rose trellis combined made an unusual, but not unpleasing, lobby for the Forum Theatre, Hill.iboro, Ohio, on /tco First National attractions, with Jane Novak in one and Buster Keaton in the other. The trellis is good