The Moving picture world (November 1922-December 1922)

448 MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 2, 1922 Razor Window Is Still on the Job When Nick Ayer was with Roth & Partington, in San Francisco, he used to get the Gillette window about every other week, tor Nick seemed to have a mortgage on that display. Lately we have missed it, but the other day Louis McDermott slipped in and got this display for "Under Two Flags" at the Grenada. A V nivei'S'-tt ucltase THE HEART LOBBY IS OLD STUFF, BUT IT IS STILL GOOD The Main Theatre, Uniontown, Pa., used it very effactively for "Human Hearts." Not only is the lobby top strung with several hundred hearts, but the wall display carries out the same idea, very greatly increasing the effect of the display. Hallowe*en Contest Pulled in a Storm Although it rained Hallowe'en Night, Tom R. Clemmons of the Tivoli Theatre, Beaumont, Texas, put over a better business by thirty per cent, than he took in the same night last year. Had it been clear, he would have made a killing. For ten days in advance he had a lot of newspaper publicity for a Hallowe'en contest for the best masquerade costume and forty-seven entries competed for the seven prizes, which ranged from a $25 necklace to a black cat, all of the prizes, with the exception of the cat being donated by the merchants who helped put over the idea by displaying their prizes. His lobby was dominated by a pumpkin six feet tall, broken open to display an 11 by 22 and lettered for Mabel Ballin in "Other Women's Clothes," and his lobby men were put into effective masquerade costumes to help the idea along. Black cats, pumpkins, witches and the rest of the Hallowe'en symbols were spread around the lobby on invisible wires. Just watch Clemmons take an encore next year. Make a note to follow him. Ritual Uniforms for ^ ^Burning Sands Borrowing the ritualistic uniforms of a secret organization for ballyhoo work is something new. J. B. Carroll worked it for "Burning Sands." He sanded the floor of his long and narrow,lobby and erected a striped tent in the centre. On either side he hung a desert drop borrowed from one of the drama houses. Most drama houses are well equipped if they have one such drop, but Carroll was in luck and got two. Then he put his ushers in 'costume borrowed from the D. O. K. K., which seems to be one of the numerous imitations of the Mystic Shrine, and used them to give local color. All the display cost was ten passes, but it ran the business up twenty per cent. Between the Shrine, the K. of C. Alhambra and a somewhat similar side degree of the Odd Fellows, it should be comparatively simple to borrow costumes. Still Going They are still making street pictures to advertise "The Crossroads of New York." The Palace Theatre made a picture, "The Crossroads of Des Moines," to be run with the Sennett play, and worked for several days with a cast of local players. Most of the "scenes" were blank shooting, but the crowd did not know this and followed the cameraman and his troupe around. At showing times the company would move over to the house front and after making a scene go inside. Many in the crowd would follow. p. T. Barnum worked the same idea at his old Museum, SO years ago, long before he went into the circus business, but it is still a good stunt. A Vnivcrsal lictcasc THE GILLETTE WINDOW Tin tie-in is based on the fact that Priscilla Dean is "Under Two Flags" while the Gillette is under all flags. A stand of colors, four small cutouts and one large one were all that were required, but it made a tery flossy appeal. Few passed the v.indow wiihout stopping for a look. .1 (lohliri/n h'flrnsr HOW THE HIPPODROME THEATRE, READING, WORKED SHERLOCK Cutting out the six sheet and giving it a new backing — with light effects — turned a poster into an exhibit and sold the idea strongly. They also used a cut-out over the banner with two smaller cut-outs to flank the main display.