The Moving picture world (May 1922)

May 20, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD | [ 287 Selling the Picture to the^Public ____ ' A Paramount Picture. MOST WORLD'S CHAMPIONS SEEM TO PREFER AUTOMOBILES A portable prise ring with a pair of lively scrappers was C. A. Crute's contribution to "The World's Champion" when it played the Lyric Theatre, Huntsville, Ala. Now and then the dray xvould be stopped and the two boys would mix it up Putting a Theatre Right on Its Feet H. R. Kistler, who has been managing Southern Enterprises houses in Atlanta and Greensboro, was assigned to put the Savoy Theatre, Durham, N. C, on the map when that house opened as a first-run Paramount show. After a survey of the situation he decided upon hook-ups with a newspaper and a dry goods store. To the newspaper he gave passes to be turned over to those who saw their names mentioned in the classified ads. This carried an eight inch single column announcement in each issue. He also offered a 30-day pass as the first prize in a jingle contest. In return the paper gave a number of reading notices. With the store arrangement he supplied it with bags in all sizes with the joint advertisement of the house and store, and as many as 7,000 bags have been used on a busy Saturday, while the weekly average is 15,000, which cost under $40. Another deal provides ISO tickets weekly for a store prize offer, which gets a very prominent display in the store advertising, putting over the name of the house and playing up the attraction. When the store and newspaper patrons have acquired the Strand habit, the stunts may be withdrawn, but at that Mr. Kistler does not see how he could get as much for his tickets or the money the tickets represent. Filled His Lobby with Cutout Poster Material Columbus, Ga., is too far from tidewater to permit C. M. Watson to get hold of nautical material when he needs it in his lobby without paying too high a price. The Rialto, a sister house to the Grand, had previously used a huge pair of goggles, and Mr. Watson borrowed these, and set a one-sheet into each. A cutout from tl ; three-sheet and cutouts from the twenty-four, gave him the rest of his material, and he pulled in a good business as a very small exploitation cost, supplementing the lobby with a perambulator who looked very much like Lloyd, when he had his goggles on. Toured His Fighters for World Champion C. A. Crute played up the prize fight angle on "The World's Champion" and sent a float around town with two young men in ring costume, attended by their seconds and bannered for Wallace Reid. They went through the motions as the float proceeded around town, but now and then the horses would be stopped and a real scrap for the benefit of the onlookers. It sold this angle stronglv, and Mr. Crute doubtless knows which angle will sell his town best, but in most places we believe that the actual scrapping will convey the idea of too much fight in the picture, and keep a number of persons away who would like the picture, if they saw it, chiefly because there is so little scrapping. Put New Trimmings on Impersonation Contest Eller Metzger, of the Strand Theatre, Creston, la., has been at it again. This time he put false whiskers on the impersonation contest and made it look different. The play was "My Boy," and the contest was for the best imitator of Jackie Coogan. Instead of making it a free-for-all, the stunt was split. Each school had its own contest and selected a winner to compete against the other entries for the Strand prize. The tryouts were held in each school yard on Saturday and the judging done at the theatre n Sunday. On Sunday, the boys were brought onto the stage of the Strand for the verdict of the audience when Freddie, the little coon, who has been used in a number of Metzger's stunts horned in. It hit the crowd and the award went to him. This we think was an error in judgment, for the lines of the contest were clearly defined and an added starter should not have been permitted to walk off with the prize. His introduction as a comedy stunt was a good idea, but he should have been eliminated from the judging. Apart from this, the new idea puts fresh life into the contest scheme. Cheap Dollars C. B. Grimes, of the Belvedere Theatre, Tuscaloosa, Ala., put over Harold Lloyd in "A Sailor Made Man" at a cost of only $12.75, and did about 25 per cent, above his usual business. He used a screen style frame for his stills and on top of this he placed a model battleship borrowed from the small boy owner at a cost of three passes. A blue paper ocean served as a sea for the steel toy. A sparker was set up on the masts and this was worked from the box office to give a wireless effect. The whole was backed by a cutout of Lloyd. An usher was sent around town in the nautical ford already illustrated here, and he also ballyhooed the lobby at showing times, dressed in whites and with goggles. The car cost six passes. Rigging that and the wireless represented the chief expense. THIS LOBBY DISPLAY IS MADE FROM CUTOUTS ALONE With the exception of the goggles, which were borrowed from a sister house. C. M. Watson, of the Grand Theatre, Columbus, Ga., could not get naval material in an inland town, so he turned to the poster material for his exploitation