The Moving picture world (November 1922-December 1922)

November 18, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 257 5 His Old Suitcases Made Fine Display J. p. Harrison, of the Hippodrome theatre, Waco, had used the cutout stars so often that when he came to play "A Trip to Paramountown" he felt that something would put over the short length to better advantage. The "trip" gave him his idea. From a trunk store he borrowed a lot of old suitcases and these were hung in the lobby and stacked around the base of the wall, fifteen or twenty being used. The big announcement was made on a battered old trunk. After the showing a damp cloth erased the water colors and he sent them back to the store. The cost was only that for paint, plus a few passes to the obliging storeVeeper. The effect was unusually good. An A nif'i icini h'clrafie HERE YOU CAN PLAY THE RACES OR PLAY CHECKERS AS YOU LIKE Tom Clemmons, of the Tivoli Theatre, Beaumont, Texas, borrowed a race game from a carnival for "My Old Kentucky Home," and dressed his house staff in Jockey costumes. The floor was done in a checkerboard design with red and white watercolor. A Double Raffles Made for Comment Even the Raffles idea ; ancient though it may be, is capable of being freshened. The police pinched a Raffles used by the Mary Anderson for "The Masquerader." The plea was that he was causing crowds to congregate. The action was loudly denounced by a second man who claimed that the person under arrest was not the Raffles at all and that he alone was the sole and authorized name-blown-in-the-bott!e Raffles. As the police had tipped the reporters off that they were going to make the arrest, the incident was fully covered in the papers, of course, from a humorous angle, which always makes for the best reading. And that laid the foundation for a tie-up with the Post on masquerades and assumed identities contributed by the readers. It clung to the front page for four days. Of course, the double Raffles and the pinch was a plant. picture. As the club is composed of the socially elect, it had its due effect. Mr. Whitfield also sent out a thousand highly perfumed notes giving publicity to the attraction, and distributed a thousand rotogravures. Not Murder, But— J. M. Blanchard, of the Strand Theatre, Sunbury, Pa., often supplies the Rotary or Kiwanis club with the letterheads on which the weekly notice is sent out. .\ recent Kiwanis notice has the "I3rive carefully" stunt spread over the top fifth of the she'et, and at the bottom is the line: "Stationery supplied by the Strand. You may think this is getting away with murder, hut it's Manslaughter." It took Blanchard and Eli Orowitz, the Philadelphia Paramounteer, to evolve that line, but it's a peach. See if you can work it. The public service angle will justify any business club in using the warning. ' Kidded a Kiddie Taking the gifts the gods provided. Manager Dundee, of the Strand theatre, Sioux Falls, S. D., hooked his publicity on "Hurricane's Gal" to the discovery of a girl foundling just as he was ready to break his advertising. He did not plant the youngster, but merely rode on the ready-made publicity, and worked it so well that the interest he aroused in the infant found a good home for the waif instead of letting her go to the asylum. His first shot was a pseudo news :tory in which it was reported that a tough character, known as "Hurricane" Wilson, had been seen in the vicinity. From that he ran into frankly press story, making capital of the initial hoax. Timely Stuff Only one manager seems to have hooked his bookings on "The Masquerader" to the Cabinet crisis in England. William Reinke. of the Orpheuni Theatre, St. Joseph, Mo., used a red ink edition to tell that the House of Parliament was in an uproar and that John Chilcote had been shown the exit. People had to read to find out that it was a sting, and it centered interest on the play. The papers cost him $15 and the charter of the newsboys three dollars more, but he got a lot back for that eighteen dollars. Hooked Up U. S. M. Most theatres do their mail exploitation with one and two-cent stamps, but the Alhambra theatre, Los Angeles, did it with a hook-up. It persuaded the local postmaster to proclaim a Fast Mail Week, when special efforts would be made to speed up mail deliveries. Prizes, donated by the house, were offered for the most speedy handling of the mails by carrier, by delivery wagons and letter sorters, and the newspapers fell for the novelty idea and helped things along with reading stories. And all the mail trucks were bannered for the Fox release. That's coming pretty soft. Endorsed by Flappers In some Southern cities the flappers are "off" Rodolph Valentino because he wears a pigtail in "Blood and Sand," but Ray Whitfield, of the Majestic theatre, Austin, "Texas, persuaded the Valentino club to come in a body and give their endorsement to the A For ReUdXK A NEW STYLE ENGINE CUTOUT FOR A CHARLES JONES PLAY It will work just as well for "The Fast Mail," but it was designed for "West of Chicago" by E. J. Bauman, of the Plaza Theatre, Wheeling, W. Va. It is a flat, apparently cut from the lithographs, with a built-on cowcatcher, which adds to the realism.