The Moving picture world (May 1922)

May 20, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 291 Selling the Picture to the^Public border with white space, or centre on selling a single feature or do any of the other things that the live wire advertiser does. They go on, week after week, with about the same style of stuff. Now and then one of the houses will be able to get out a better layout than usual, but it is all along conventional lines. Some cuts are better done than others, but no one dares get too far away from the other houses. The California, for example, probably would not dare to take this five-eighths to set in the centre in twelve point light italic : Whether you are married or single, you will be interested in the marital problems of beautiful Katherine MacDonald in "Her Social Value," starting at the California Theatre today. That would be too revolutionary — a waste of space that might be filled in with a lot of four to six line letters, and yet just that, set down in a page of conventional stuff would make the First National the talk of the town at least over Sunday. The little man, with eight dollars and a half as the limit of his advertising appropriation, must make brains take the place of space, but the "rich" house, buying at line rates, feel that it must get a line of type for every line of space and the advertising looks as though the paper had faced the ink rollers instead of the stereo plates. This is a better than usual, because the cut is not too badly smeared over the space, but it would be poor stuff in some of the tank towns where a live manager has to make a showing on a two twos and will lose seven dollars on the week if he takes more space. The freak make-up will "get" Los Angeles or any other large city just as strongly as it will win Twin Forks or Red Gulch, but very few have the courage of Ralph Ruffner or J. W. Sayre to get out and use type in the smaller sizes to great advantage than in the 120 point faces. —P. T. A.— Selb Two Attractions in a Limited Display Harry E. Gardner, of the Rialto Theatre, Pueblo, was one of the live wires to perceive the selling value of the plan book cut for Bebe Daniels and he makes it sell not only "A Game Chicken," but Ethel Clayton in "Her Own Money." He sells them on little more than a single four each, though the entire display is in five sixes. The two spaces show how Mr. Gardner varies his appeal. "Her Own Money" is sold not so much on the story as the appeal that story has to women, so the storv is briefed and then he appeals to the women to come and bring their husbands, knowing that the domestic financial problem is the basis of most marital discords and that he cannot keep the women home after such an appeal. On the other hand, he knows that the story will sell as a story for "A Game Chicken," so he gives more detail on this and winds up with a mention of the underwater work. It is a clean and inviting space and puts over two attractions in only thirty column inches where some advertisers cannot sell one in twice that space. We have yet to receive from Mr. Gardner a space overloaded with heavy type. We do not believe that we ever shall get one from him. He knows tetter, and knows that the best display is gained through keeping all but the display lines down. He is less interested in ink than in results. —P. T. A.— Mostly Campaign Book Helps Streator Space The Majestic Theatre, Streator, 111., made the stock cut of Jackie Coogan the basis of its space and gained not only a good display but the book lines help to build up on the idea. The apportionment of the display lines is excellent. The star is superior to the title, so he is given the better display, and the title is put below and made the only other display, with the result that both get over. An italic for the type just below would have been a little better than the bold, but this is not black enough to Jackie Coogan ■PECK'S BAD BOY' A NICE PROPORTION kill down the display value of the title. Most of the selling is done on the cut, and so a cut large enough to be seen is used, and with Jackie looking right into the space, you naturally connect the talk with the picture. Had the cut been placed at the left, the result would have been very different. The lifted paragraph will get a laugh, and the laugh will sell the idea of a comedy, and most persons will imagine that RIALTO LAST "TIMES TONIGHT At 6:30, 8 and 9:30 ETHEL CLAYTON ''Her Own Money'* LofiiM, here is one play you MUST NOT MISS. And he BUre to bring your husband. Fay Tffichcr Comed> : "Dininfr Room. Kitchen and Sink." RIALTO TOMORROW AND SATURDAY DANIELS CHIGKEN" Jackie will be worth while in a comedy, more particularly since the comedy is based upon "Peck's Bad Boy." All that remains is to take their money and wish them a pleasant evening. Just in passing, that crayon is better than all the half tones you can find in a dozen press books. You cannot very well spoil it even with poor printing. It may not come out as well as it should, but you can't keep it from coming up even on a hand press. —P. T. A.— Hooked Soap Sales to a Saturday Night Run George Hammond, of the Strand Theatre, Holyoke, Mass., said it with soap. It worked so well that McConville, the Boston Paramounteer, has tied other New England towns to the same idea — and the same soap. The stores were tied to the offer of sixteen cakes of soap and a theatre ticket for 95 cents, which is less for the soap alone than they are getting in New York. The tickets were bought tq sell the soap and not the soap to sell the tickets, so the house got full price and the soap manufacturers stood the reduction. The advertisement for the City Market gives the idea. It is SPECIAL FOR THURSDAY LIFEBUOY HEALTH SOAP Tot Yoor SatnrOaj Night's Bath With Free Tickets to Strand Theatre Th* tlck«tB will he accepttd TburtdAj, March 2d, at «ith«r matinee or evening performaace of Cecil B. De MilIe*B "SATURDAY NIGHT'» Featuring the Glorious EDITH ROBERTS. HO(V HARRY E. GARDNER USES PLAN BOOK CUTS SPECIAL SALE Hf£J^HHy for 9Sc and Ont 16 Cakes HEALTH SOAP Ticket FREE We have oniy a limited nnmber of tickets — Buy Earlyl Frcih Laid Zggs 3fio cloa HOLVOKE CITY MARKET 349. 351, 353 HIGH ST . Telephone 296-287 THE SOAP OFFER a two sixes. In other towns even larger spaces were taken by the stores and in one of the New England towns a "demonstration of the use of Life Buoy for the 'Saturday Night' bath" was announced. If it was all it sounds like, it might have been interesting. In Holyoke it was Mr. Hammond who took the major space, for he made a press book cut the center of a page display, explaining that he had booked so closely to the playing date that he was taking that means to announce the picture. In a panel he announces that it is his idea of a clean, snappy entertainment. Probably he was still thinking of the soap. "Saturday Night" is not a great story, but it is a most colorful production, like most Cecil De Mille pictures, and it does not need soap to put it over, but the angle is an interesting one, and it makes for larger houses, and since these patrons will all be well pleased, it will also make for future business. -Anything is good advertising that will sell the idea to the public, and if soap will float the picture to larger receipts, there is no reason why soap should not be used for the clean-up; which is not intended as a pun. It is a simple exploitation idea and perhaps De Mille will make a companion picture in "Monday" to put over the laundry soap idea. It would not be a bad scheme, at that, and it could ride on the