The Moving picture world (November 1922-December 1922)

254 MOVING PICTURE WORLD November 18, 1922 .1 l'(u<iiiiii,int h'tU'ixr "THE OLD HOMESTEAD" SEEMS TO HAVE LOST A STORY But there was enough left to tell the play to advantage in the Modjetka Theatre, Augusta, Ga. The display was planned by Frank J. Miller, Manager of Theatres. The lantern was cutout and an amber globe placed behind it. The house was also lighted from behind. osity making a sufficient number of purcliases, once they were there, to more than repay the space. Here a girl offered to reply to any questions concerning Paramount stars, and a portrait of the applicant's favorite player was given him free. To obtain this, he was required to fill in a blank giving name and address and star preference, supplying the house with a mailing list and data for special circularization. A side angle to this scheme was tlie distribution of ten pairs of seats ca'cli day to the visitors. To draw for these would be to constitute a lottery and the attendant was instructed to use her good judgment in the distribution, giving out the passes to persons she thought would most appreciate them. This added to interest through uncertainty. If the attendant waited upon someone who did not seem to be a dyed-in-the-wool fan, she would hand out a pair of seats with the suggestion that the recipient really should see "Nice People,"' and make a convert. This must be done intelligently, but you need an intelligent girl to answer the questions properly. Guessed the Contents A. L. Snell, of the Imperial Theatre, Gadsden, Ala., put a set of the photographs in a chest in the lobby, together with a fivedollar gold piece. Blanks were supplied on which persons were permitted to guess at the contents of the chest. Many guessed fanfotos and were given one, but on one thought to add the five dollars. Several hundred names were added to the mailing list. The fotos were then given as souvenirs at a "weak" matinee. Two Punch Stunts A. H. Cobb, Jr., of the Alamo Theatre, Griffin, Ga., had small cards printed up with five numbers. A number was punched each time the holder witnessed a Paramount picture. On the fifth visit the card was turned in with the holder's name and address and the name of the star desired. This gave the mailing list. New cards could be obtained on request and a second and succeeding photographs obtained. Ten dollars is offered the patron first obtaining a complete set, which will require the witnessing of 90 Paramount plays and the investment of $22.50 in the case of an adult or $9 in the event a child first completes the series. Many of the .patrons have already obtained two or more , of the fotos. I. C. Holloway, of Columbus, Ga., confined his punch idea to the children. A Columbus paper started the story of Jackie Coogan's career in six chapters. On the Tuesday following the first publication, every child who presented the first chapter of the story was given a ticket good any afternoon of that week, and good, as well, to a special showing of "The Little Princess" on Saturday morning. The tickets cost the kiddies one cent. After their dual use they retained the cards, and when ten punches had been acquired they were entitled to their choice of any one of eleven of the portraits. His adult stunt was to display the fotos in a window and give copies to the persons who could correctly name the stars in ten recent pictures indicated on a slip supplied all applicants. As the slips had to be signed, this also served to freshen the mailing list. One of the Best In the opinion of this writer, one of the best stunts was turned in by A. C. Cowles, of the Rex Theatre, Spartanburg, S. C. It was held out of first money, probably be cause it was limited in its scope, but its attention value was far in excess of the number of persons approached, particularly in a small town. Mr. Cowles took one hundred photographs (twenty-five sets of four each), had had them cut into quarters. Four quarters, pr, ciscly alike, were then mailed to as maii\ women patrons. For example, one woman got four slips each showing the upper right hand quarter of Gloria Swanson's face. It was her task to lay off three of the-i quarters to three other women, each m whom also had a section of the Swanson picture, but a different quarter. Each woman who assembled all four quarters of the pic ture was given an uncut picture of the same star and a free admission to the theatre. Only one hundred photographs were sent out, but no woman knew who had received other quarters, so she asked everyone she knew and many she did not know that she might complete the portrait. Several tfiousand inquiries were made. This is a variation of the old Fred Greene cut advertisement, but in this case thcrr were no holdouts. All four quarters were sent out. Opinion Getters Charles H. .\mos merely offered a foto to any person who would tell over their signature and address why they liked Paramount pictures. The best answer was rewarded with a thirty-day pass but everyone got a foto. This gave him newspaper mention a window display and several hundred names of persons who had crystallized their appreciation through having had to put it into written words — which is the real angle of this stunt. C. B. Wines, of the Diamond Theatre, Tuscaloosa, hooked to the Paramount national advertising. You had to read these advertisements to be able to reply to the questionnaire which brought out a free foto. He got a tie-up with the newsdealer. Other managers worked along lines similar to those given above, so their stunts are not repeated but this symposium if retained in your files will give you stunts through which you will be able to put over any similar stunt. For example, a 25-punch card might be rewarded with a Jackie Coogan snuggle pup, or ten punched cards laid off to your freinds being a set of Lorna Doone pearls. The schemes are clastic and may be stretched to fit your requirements. ,1 J'ulhr lUlcase AN EFFECTIVE FRONT FOR "GRANDMA'S BOY" FROM OKLAHOMA Lloyd is killing them down South, and OUie Brownlee, of the Palace Theatre, Muskogee, got his share with a telling black and white front with checkered border and two giant cutouts from the lithographs. He gained 40 per cent.