The Moving picture world (November 1922-December 1922)

-766 MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 23, 1922 A Page and a Half for 'Toolish Wives " In addition to taking slightly more than half a page on its own account for "Foolish Wives" on the opening day, the Strand Theatre, Cumberland, Md., one of the Crandall houses, got a full page hook-up, the feature of which was the use of a name plate in each of the hook-up ads, which gives six repeats of the title in reverse to go in with the space on that page either taken by or given to the house. This space is in addition to the half page already men A Universal Release SIX NAME PLATES tioned. Supplying name plates to the merchants gives a more complete hook-up and the value of iteration is apparent from a glance at the page. This holds up better than a page in which each merchant follows his own devices in hooking in. The cost of the plates is not heavy, and each is an additional advertisement to be had only for the cost of the cut instead of the cut, plus the space. —P. T. A.— Cobb On the Job Revival meetings are serious troubles to southern managers. The entire population turns out and the theatres have to starve. When A. H. Cobb, Jr., of the Alamo Theatre, Griffin, Ga., came to play "Nice People," the churches were holding meetings preparatory to the revival to be started the following week. It looked pretty blue for Cobb, but he started in by getting the unqualified endorsement of the women's clubs and then tied that next day to the statement that no better preparation for the revival could be conceived than a viewing of the sins of society in "Nice People."' It saved a lot of seats from being empty and, better still, it gave emphasis to the moral value of the pictures. —P. T. A.— Employs Full Page for Return Feature Taking a full page for an important attraction is nothing new, but the Royal Theatre, Victoria, B. C, does something different when it uses an entire page in which to make announcement of the return engagement of Norma Talmadge in "Smilin' Through." It brought the picture back for a full week and sells it on the original notice, given when the picture played the house nearly five months before. There is a keen appreciation added in the column at the left, but the real selling talk is the reference to the original hit. The stuff is ROYAL ALL THIS ^ WEEK Npte the Prices: AMts 21c CWa »c [ Hctuft -Snm 1. j.S.T.v The Scena of ihc Siory Are Laid in England, Ireland and t'rancc A First National Release A RETURN FULL PAGE well written, though a familiar error is made in the box, "To the public," where the management says in part: "If you have not seen it, don't miss it. If you have seen it, I think you will agree with us that it is worth seeing again." When you start to write decide whether you will use the editorial "we" or the first personal pronoun and stick to your choice. This employs the we earlier in the box, goes to "I" and returns to the "we." It's a very minor matter, but it is so easily to be avoided that some care should be exercised. It is a real tribute to Miss Talmadge that this return should be so widely proclaimed, but "Smilin' Through" is a play most persons will gladly see again, and it should be good for almost universal repeats. —P. T. A.— Signed the Shanties Because the railroad runs right down Main street in Lafayette, Ind., and past the Arc Theatre, the house placarded the flagman's shanties with all sorts of advertising for "The Fast Mail." Few towns can work this stunt, but there is a good suggestion in the idea. It might be possible to make up a few slab shanties for the main crossings with flagmen to warn of the coming of the "Fast Mail." You don't have to have a railroad to use the shanties, and if you can hook it to the traffic control, so much the better, —p. T. A — Those Penny Tickets Selling tickets for a penny apiece seems to be the newest cleanup in the Southern Enterprises territory. R. L. Towns, of the Strand, Birmingham, lays off 500 tickets to a local store, good until one o'clock for the opening matinee. The store advertises the sale heavily, and limits the purchase to two to a customer. To get full value, the counter at which the sale is handled is always adjacent to some merchandise the store wishes to move, and the location is changed for each sale. The Monday matinee is never very good. and this brings in an additional 500 to spread the valuable word of mouth advertising. It also helps in that the pay patrons, who come later, do not feel so lonesome. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the visitor is impressed by the full house and likes the picture better than he would in a half empty house. /'. r .\ Sells Harold Lloyd With Little Effort Because Harold Lloyd is a self-seller, the Allen Theatre, Cleveland, gives most of the display to his name and drawings of himself and grandma, contenting itself with a few strong lines to get the general idea over. This would be inadvisable in many instances, but it will sell Lloyd because so .1 Pathe Release BRIEF BUT SELLING much has been said about his first excursion into the longer lengths. He needs no more argument, for he is already sold through the newspapers and fan magazines. It is required only that the fact of his appearance be stated, and this is done nicely and without waste of words, yet each word in the four lines in the shield is carefully considered that the best and strongest may be used. All the rest of the show is thrown overboard except the overture and the sole appeal is made with the comedy. —P. T. A.— Cuts Down Stock Cuts to Fit Desired Space Edward J. Hiehle, of the Hippodrome Theatre, Marietta, Ohio, does not sit down and weep profusely because the plan book cuts are not always what he wants. He does the best he can with what he can get. He has no engraver in town, but the printer has a hacksaw and he can cut down to make a fit. This display using a familiar Norma Talmadge cut is about the best of a number of efforts he sends in, though there are several specimens in which he gains a good effect through cutting out only the head of a star and taking off the bareness, as in this example from a Metro cut of Mae Murray. This is really a better display in all except the placement of the cut, because it gives better publicity in smaller space. We think the "Smilin" Through" is a bit too large for what should be a self seller, and the title cut is too obscure. This