The Moving picture world (March 1923-April 1923)

March 17, 1923 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 331 A Universal Release * COLUMBUS FLIRT CARRIED A SHORT LENGTH PROTECTOR Ballyhoo girl for the Pastime Theatre was attended by a three-foot midget on her ■hopping and hotel tours. Backed up by thirty-two window displays, and some special hook-ups, she managed to put the Universal special over for both house and exchange. Sales and Shoes to Help Out Kick In When it came to popularizing Kick In, Roy C. Smart, of the Noble Theatre, Anniston, Ala., hunted up a merchant who wanted to get attention to a bargain sale, and tied him to the title. The tie-up was hung on the supposition that the merchant was kicking in on a sale because presently he had to kick in to the jobbers. He started to tease a week in advance, using every newspaper page except the inaccessible front, and broke out with half pages for Saturday and Sunday. Then he plastered his store front with signs and held the most successful sale in his history, while helping to put over the picture to a big extra business. In return for all this hard work Mr. Smart donated 500 single passes good before three o'clock the opening day; another form of the penny ticket sale. This got a good audience for the opening matinee and you had to do your shopping early in order to get the pass in time. Mr. Smart also used the free shoe shine stunt, the idea for which he got from this department. He dressed up the idea by having the boys dressed in red and yellow cheese cloth, and made the idea that much more attractive. The boys wore banners on their backs, which were most conspicuous while they worked. It's a neat scheme, which does hot appea:r to have been taken up as it shbuld have been. It's not too late to put it to work. Still Fooling Foolish Wives is still fooling around the country, and at Clinton, Indiana, William Esch, a Universal promoter, put it over to a big three-day business at the Capitol Theatre, mostly through cutouts from the posters of the women in the play. These were strung along the top of the marquise and placed in windows. Newspaper displays were used to back op the pictorial work. Hired a Midget to Protect The Flirt Because The Flirt played the Pastime Theatre, Columbus, when the M. P. T. O. of Ohio were in session in town, Charles Loewenberg, the Universal exploiteer, felt that it was up to him to do something out of the ordinary, and he put over hook-ups until he had landed thirty-two windows, including all of the ten cent stores on the plugger song and the United Cigar Stores on the statement that The Flirt bought her cigarettes at the green coupon hangouts. Then he hired a decidedly attractive woman for a street stunt, and she went around town all decked out in furs and with an automobile bannered "This is the car The Flirt wants. Will she get it?" She was properly chaperoned by a midget in evening clothes with a large banner for the attraction on his back. Her own handbag was modestly lettered. Through the day she pervaded the shops and in the evening the oddly assorted pair frequented the jazz joints, except on the evening of the banquet to the theatre owners, when they were among the guests and The Flirt did not experience the slightest difificulty in flirting with the entire bunch. For paper they used 500 ones, fifty threes, 25 twenty-four sheets, 5,000 novelty cards and 1,000 window and tack cards. The theatre got the local benefit, but the exchange cleaned up some bookings, as well. Plant Proverbs Several managers in various parts of the country have been thanked for press stuff when they took over to the local paper the book of proverbs prepared on The Flirt. These short paragraphs came in useful for plugging column ends and if given well in advance, they were all used before the showing of the picture. They were better press work because the advertising was plain yet indirect. Used Last Chance When news came of Wallace Reid's death, Roy C. Smart, of the Noble Theatre, Anniston, Ala., had on hand about a hundred fanfotos of the star. He knew that Thirty Days would be his last chance to use them, so he advertised that while they lasted a picture of the star would be given each ticket purchaser on the opening day, the offer being limited to adults. It gave him an unusually good opening matinee and the crowd went out to sell other of the citizens. It did a better than average business for two days. A Paramount Release PRETTY SOFT FOR SID GRAUMAN BEING IN LOS ANGELES All he has to do is to hike out to the Paramount studio and borrow the props for a ballyhoo for "Adam's Rib." Perhaps your local museum will lend you a dino or something, but don't be so certain of it that you neglect to provide other ballyhoo.