The Moving picture world (September 1925-October 1925)

250 MOVING PICTURE WORLD September 19. 1925 An Odd Style Cut Catches the Eye This cut on The Wife of the Centaur is not exactly an artistic gem, but it's a darned good advertising cut, and that is of greater importance. It catches the eye with the silhouette, but someone showed unusually good judgment in setting the line above in spaced capitals to connect with the cave man picture. Qot a Half HER LOVER WAS WwwJ A CAVE MAN forgortro pAit when to the icroogot. be jnle and inuu the world la bu bean patars the root an \gt of Lov? Hi* ivory e one of the strangest and mott fa*dnnng (hat has ever beta told on tbc See thu picture — it u tbc talk he jcit in film*. umth ELEANOR BOARD MAN JOHN CO-BERT AILEEN PRINGLE Wife of the imtdiir A Si ctro-Goldwyn Release AN EYE-CATCHER This necessitated an extra line, but it was worth the investment, for spaced, the capitals are much more readable than when set close, and it does not much matter which gets you first, the line or the cut. The effect is the same either way. The middle section is just ordinary, rather too light and complicated to fight its way through the black ground, but it doesn't matter much. It merely leads from the cave man idea to the modern theme, and the chances are that the sale *-as consummated before the reader came to that portion of the space. The bank of type is merely a clincher rather than a seller. There is too much of it to make for a quick sale, but it does not hurt any and it may help. We think that most of the selling is done on the combination of the top cut and the top line. Paneling in the smaller features seems to be something new for Baltimore, and yet small features can be made a distinct sales asset. Eddie Hyman sells more tickets to the Brooklyn Mark Strand on his general program than he does on the feature, and he plays the program in full. Some towns seem to be ashamed to confess that they have anything other than the long feature. Baltimore generally adds the small titles if they have the space, but none of the houses is much given to a play up. Probably this paneling was done only because the shape of the cut lent itself to the layout, yet we think that the Century would find it profitable to continue the idea. Ann McCurdy, Universalist, wasted a double truck idea on a half page co-op when she landed some merchants on "I'll Show You the Town" at the Merrill. The idea was to count the number of times the words of the title appeared in the advertisements, but they had to be the exact words. For example, "I will" was not accepted as "I'll." The words had to be ringed and brought in to the newspaper for verification. The ads were written to bring in these words. Cartoon Cuts Are Best for Comedies Frank C. Paynn, of Associated Exhibitors, sends in a number of advertising displays to give emphasis to his statement that the cartoon cut seems to be favored in advertising the Douglas MacLean comedies. They all An Associated Exhibitors Release THE CARTOON CUT HELPS use the cartoon cuts supplied as accessories, but we have selected for reproduction the display of the Lyric Theatre, Lincoln, Neb., because it not only shows effective use of the cut, but it carries out the best principles of advertising in that every program item is announced on the principle that something may appeal in addition to the feature. It does not always hold good that a comedy should be advertised with a cartoon, but in a majority of instances the cartoon is the best style of cut, particularly where the cartoon really is clever. This particular cut has served so well that at least one manager had it enlarged, in color, for the centerpiece of his lobby on Introduce Me. In selling a comedy the main idea is to sell laughs, and if you can offer a laugh in the cut the suggestion is a factor for good. You are certain to get the idea of humor from this cartoon, and the picture will back up the sketch. Press books that supply this type of material are real aids. Doubles His Space For Bronson Play Frank H. Burns took about double his usual space for the Beacham Theatre, Orlando, Fla., for Are Parents People, figuring that the star of Peter Pan should pull them in again. He uses a larger plan book cut than he generally affects, because it tells the story, and takes a four column space for a three column cut, knowing that the extra width is what gives real value to the cut. It drops ten inches. He does not especially I TOMORROW 1 and TUESDAY EDDIE JONES A Paramount Release A FOUR TENS stress Miss Bronson, and makes no mention of Peter Pan, but spends most of his words selling the idea that this is an unusually entertaining play. The copy reads : "No question about this one — it's the laughing hit of the year. A delicious comedy of marriage and divorce produced with a perfect cast." He does not go into the details. The "Paris" and "Reno" tags on the suitcases tell that. He builds up on the situation. This carries more ink than the usual Burns display, but he probably figured that the cut was too good not to be used. We are inclined to agree. When you can put the bulk of the story into a single cut, that cut is worth while, and that is what M. A. Bottsford has done in this sketch. Most Paramount plan book cuts are useful, but this is better than usual. Pretty Ladies in the Cut and Title Making Pretty Ladies the opening of the A MetroGoldwyn Release NICELY VALUED