The Moving picture world (July 1923-August 1923)

Selling the Picture to the Public EDITED BY EPES WINTHROP SARGENT Coming Season Will Stress Production as a Means of Getting Better Business UNLESS all signs fail, the end of the 1923-24 season will find a material increase in the number of houses amplifying the film program with musical productions. It is not even too much to hope that some of the theatres now resorting to vaudeville to gain business will change over to productions with profit to themselves and to the business as a whole, for it is seldom that the three and four a day acts playing the picture houses are of i quality to match the present film productions, and many managers are beginning to realize this fact who hitherto have been content with from one to five vaudeville acts. It stands to reason that with the vaudeville circuits able to offer longer seasons, the house able to boo'< only three days of a split week, or at best a combination tour of three or four weeks, stands little chance of getting the good material in this class, and the rest is poor indeed. Production* Elastic On the other hand, even in the smaller towns, it is possible for the alert .manager to build up a production staff with the aid of local music and dancing teachers that wdl offer clean material of reasonably good entertainment value and with the added draw of the local talent. Even in the towns of 1 500 population or less it is possible to make a presentation that will please, even though it may not approach the city standards. The trend of opinion seems to be that it is no longer easy to sell films alone. There is as yet unvoiced demand for something more, and in the production is found the answer to the problem. This provides the necessary variety without great expense and does away with transportation costs, which the manager has to pay on a vaudeville act whether it appears as a direct expense or in the salarv. You do not have to move the local talent, layoffs are not charged into the working salary, and the only cost is for the occasional rental of a few costumes, though even these can be contrived at home. Where there is no special lighting equipment already provided, this must be found, but a great deal can be done with a couple of small spots and some scrim and colored mediums; just how much the average manager does not realize until he has experimented a little. But Not Prologues But it is production and not prologue that will ma' e the difference in the receipts. Most prologues really are productions, for that matter, and could give as much satisfaction on some other bill, but the production tortured into something supposed to be a connecting link to the film is seldom satisfying; particularly where some portion of the production about to be filmed is lifted out and anticipated. It is the belief of this department that the production will come rapidly to the fore this season. Some of the larger houses are taking up the matter with greater care than ever before, and this will draw the attention of the smaller houses to the large possibilities of the home talent productions. In the course of the season the number of houses making some light production a regular part of the program will be doubled, if not trebled. Send in Your Ideas To this end, greater space will be given productions in this department, which treats of selling the picture to the public from all angles, and managers with new ideas are invited to contribute for the benefit of others, but productions and not prologues are what is wanted. In a week or two we shall resume the pub lication of the program hints of the MarkStrand Theatre. Brooklyn. This was discontinued about a year ago, but Edward L. Hyman. managing director, has consented to supply advance material. The Mar<-Strand is selected in preference to the other New Yor'< houses because this writer has found the Strand productions to be more nearly within the reach of the average manager than the more pretentious shows at the Broadway houses, while at the same time they seem to give greater audience-satisfaction. But other productions will be offered, and it is hoped that this extension of the department will aid those who most need help. Peggy Helped When one of the Dallas papers started a mil< fund, Jack Meredith, Universalist, happened to be on the ground, and he shot in a five dollar bill on behalf of Peggy and promised to try and get the co-operation of the 25 local Baby Peggy Clubs. Unorganized youngsters and their elders were quicker to respond with the example of the little star before them and the drive went over in a hurry, with a lot of publicity that Meredith never could have won with a tiny little fivespot. Nothing new about it, but it serves as a reminder that if you have a local drive and no time to round up an exploitation man, it is worth digging a greenback of your own and entering it in the name of some impending star. Some Hook-up Seven hundred and twenty-six soda bar* and other soft drink emporiums in Loi Angeles were tied into a bottled drink and The Ragged Edge with streamers printed: "If you are on the Ragged Edge, drink KoFan. You'll like it." The play title hogged the bill, which was blue on deep orange Historical Shawl Was Big Ballyhoo Shawls of more or less problematical value have been widely used to advertise 1 he Bright Shawl," ranging from the one supposed to have been presented Miss Gish by the Cuban Government to local novelties, but one of the most authentic of these was used by E. A. Booth, of the Palace Theatre, Maryville, Tenn. The picture does not do the general display justice, for the wings on either side of the box office suggest rough boarding where in reality they are purple with gold stripes, a colorful background to the floral display. The shawl is a cream colored affair of crepe with an embroilered design the same on both sides It was purchased in San Francisco in 1853 by Charles Taylor, who did much construction work in that city and Sacramento in the days of the gold rush. It cost $300 then and the valuation o $1,000 now put upon it is purely nominal. It is the 5roper°y of Miss Ida Taylor of Maryville vrho loaned it to Mr. Booth. It is sa e to s'ay that this is one of the most costly lobby effects ever shown in a small town house. It made a lot of talk and ran business up in a season when a boost is appreciated. A First National Release THIS SHAWL HAS AN AUTHENTIC STORY TO BACK IT It was brought to Maryville, Tenn. from California in 1853 and then was worth «M At present the $1,000 valuation is purely arbitrary. It was loaned the Palace Theatre for the lobby on "The Bright Shawl