The Moving picture world (September 1923-October 1923)

248 Used Stage Lights on Marquise Roof Two and three plane displays have been used on the marquise before this, but A. C. Raleigh, of the Liberty Theatre, Portland, Ore., made an exceptional display for The Girl of the Golden West during the Rose Festival week. The scene was on three planes, the distant mountains, the foothills and the mining town, and at night the effect was vastly increased by the use of the same lighting as he would use on the stage settings. In front of the back flat blue and purple lights gave an atmospheric effect of distance while green lights were used in front of the closer hills, and the windows of the Polkadot and the other buildings were illuminated at night. Flippers were used to mask in the ends exposed to the street. The same idea was repeated in the lobby cards with foliage at the bottom. Here only two planes were used. Something had to be done to get the crowds attracted by the parade and this brought them in. MOVING PICTURE WORLD September 15, 1923 H. Stuart Is Busy on Homeward Bound Somehow Herschel Stuart, chief engineer of the Missouri Theatre, which is in St. Louis, got an idea that he was going to please a lot of people with Homeward Bound if he could get a lot of people in to be pleased, so he called Ed. Olmstead in and talked it over with him very seriously. Ed. seemed to feel the same way about it, so both of them got busy and the only man in St. Louis not to hear about Tom Meighan and his play died the day before they started in. They used spare tire cards for the backs of taxi lines and banners for the backs of touring cars. Tom was Homeward Bound on a few thousand door knobs, and they spread the news on the dizziest sort of a one sheet, specially printed. The ushers were put into white ducks and the house officers in blue and white and large circular cards were fastened to all police traffic post bases, these posts being planted in little cones of concrete which might have been made especially for Herschel. Herschel does not tell how much money he took in, but if he did not pile up the re A First National Release STAGE LIGHTING EFFECTS ON A MARQUISE ROOF A. C. Raleigh, of the Liberty Theatre, Portland, made this three-plane display for The Girl of the Golden West, with strip lights to give an added touch in the evenings, when he most needed the additional punch of a novelty. It was a very decided hit. ceipts, St. Loo is even deader than we think it is. He spent $1,000 in newspaper work, tied the Star to a real estate hook-up page with the apt title, tied the Times to a merchant hook-up and a fifteen cent matinee the opening day (for 1,500 lines of space), used 2,000 balloons, had it all arranged to cover the flopoed Firpo fight, twelve store ties and a dozen other ideas. William Saal did most of the work, Hersch says, with Harold Maloney and house artist Guentzel credited with assists. Used Two Hundred About the only thing needed to hoist Where the Pavement Ends at the Queen Theatre. Dallas, Texas, was a pair of sidewalk posters. Charles McFarland used 200 of each, the first merely giving the title and the second the house and play date, as well. They were pasted flat to the walk near the curb, and apparently the police had given permission. It cost $6 for printing and that was all. Elaborate Mountings for His Lobby Cards Several jumps away from the usual brass frames, the People's Theatre, Portland, Ore., uses elaborate mounts for its lobby posters. One of them is pictured here. The globes on top of the pillars can be worked straight or with flashers, and it builds the one sheets up to "presentation" proportions. The base is done to harmonize with the stone work of the lobby. A First National Release TELLING OF DADDY The cut shows a special mounting for Jackie Coogan in Daddy, but these frames are more or less permanent and decidedly valuable. They are useful in large lobbies, but take too much space for the smaller houses. A Paramount Release TAXI AND TOURING, IT'S ALL THE SAME TO HERSCHEL STUART The manager of the Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, and Ed Olmstead, his publicity puller, did a thorough job on all Homeward Bound cars when Tom Meighan's picture came to town, and the taxis were merely the starting point for a succession of brilliantly executed exploitation stunts Ten for Three Building a miniature gypsy camp in a stock shadow box cost Hugo Plath, of the Palace Theatre. Fort Smith, Ark., three dollars. It brought him a ten per cent, increase on The Law of the Lawless. He figures that it was profitable. Generally the shadow box is used for cutouts. Something different caught the crowd, and they went in to see about it.