The Moving picture world (September 1923-October 1923)

150 MOWING PICTURE WOULD September 8, 1923 A Two-Shawl Effect in Paint and Fabric Generally one shawl is supposed to be sufficient to advertise The Bright Shawl, but the Riviera Theatre, Knoxville, Tenn., used two. One was an actual shawl, in checked effect, which was hung over the box office, while the second was rather crudely painted on cloth and hung above the sword which extended across the lobby. The box office was topped with a mission bell and this flat and the side panels were done in blue striped with yellow and terminating in a panorama more or less in the Cuban style, with a dash of the Moorish and a little Chinese. It scarcely measures up to some of the Riviera productions in the past, but it got attention and made business in the hot weather. It is not always the most elaborate front which does the largest business. A Plan Book Scheme Made Campaign Making an entire campaign on the suggestions contained in a Metro press book on Buster Keaton in Three Ages, Harry Brand, the Metropolitan in San Francisco, put the comedy over at Loew's Warfield in a way that the town is still talking about. Most of the work was hinged on a Ku Klux scare based on the three letters which were really intended to stand for Keaton's Kolossal Komedy. About three weeks before the opening, a hundred prominent citizens received K. K. K. warnings. The hundred was multiplied by at least 20 through the showing of the letters, and some trickled into the police stations, but the detective bureau knew what it was all about and no investigation followed. Then came the first of a set of three 24sheet stands, reading as shown on the left of the cut. When they had been up a week they were stripped with the house name and date, but nothing was said about the comedy. In a vague way the suggestion was created that the Klan had rented the theatre for a demonstration. It was straight block paper, white on black. Later these were replaced with other posters, similar to the former but with the house and play-date printed in. Four days before the opening a third set of paper was put up with the three Ks in white on black and the rest of the poster yellow on red. In the meantime the K. K. K. snipes were all over town and the warning was stenciled and hand painted. None of this prevented the trailer carn al First National Release A DOUBLE SHAWL EFFECT FROM KNOXVILLE RIVIERA One shawl is draped over the box office with another across the top of the sword, the latter being painted in since fabric would be too costly, there is a mission bell effect above the B. O. window with It will be noted that panoramic backing. paign in the theatre on the Keaton comedy, for there was only one K here and it was natural to presume that the comedy was to be used to entertain the crowd as a reward for listening to the propaganda. For a street ballyhoo a large mat with a laugh to fit was sent out to laugh on the street and in stores. A back sign explained he had just seen Three Ages. A newsboys' parade was the final effort, but it really was not needed. It brought record business in the middle of July and it proved that a stunt can be good even though it may have been printed in the press book. A Mean Slam Desiring to take advantage of the fact that Pola Negri has again fired C. Chaplin out of his job as the perfect lover, Ray McDougall, of the Attraction Theatre, Jackson, Maine, put on a double bill of Passion and a Chaplin comedy, but we think he rubbed it in when he selected for the latter The Idle Class. Charlie is out of his job, but why rub it in? McDougall's chief kick was the announcement that he had reunited the pair. Miniature Camp Blocked Traffic When he came to play The Girl of the Golden West, A. R. Lynch, of the Lyric Theatre, Jackson, Tenn., went after the book store for the limit. He borrowed an entire window and built it up into a mining camp miniature with log cabins and tents. The toy department of the store contributed horses and other animals, more or less to scale, and with a lot of foliage he made a display that blocked sidewalk traffic and had people coming downtown just to see it, for big windows are not so common in Jackson. The central figure was a doll in western dress with a card reading: "I am The Girl of the Golden West. We lived in those days. I bring our romance, our struggles and sacrifices to the Lyric Theatre for your delight and entertainment." Stills were placed along the front of the window. Three sheet cutouts were used in the lobby and paintings of western scenes were used in place of the banners. A Metro Release A BILLBOARD STUNT IN SAN FRANCISCO THAT IS PART OF A CAMPAIGN BOOK SCHEME Loew's Warfield Theatre took its entire campaign on Three Ages from the Metro press book and found that it worked precisely as J. E. D. Meador said it would. It looked almost too sensational, but since it was not objectionable, it put over the story in a three week campaign that made the Keaton comedy the most talked of production of the week. It was pretty work.