The Moving picture world (November 1925-December 1925)

December 5, 1925 M 0 V I N G P I C T U R E W O R L D 469 Hooking a Hardware Store to a Fashion Show Radio N» Y. Show for The Phantom Although intended primarily to help get interest in the Philadelphia opening of The Phantom of the Opera at the Aldine, the broadcasting of the score as being played at the New York showing of the picture was an aid throughout the North and Middle Atlantic States. The picture has been nicely scored with plenty of thrill music and ballet stuff, and the music, by itself, suggests a good show. More than that it emphasized the New York run of the picture. Backing this up, ten days before the opening a Philadelphia station put on a Phantom of the Opera who sang excerpts from Fausl, the opera which largely figures in the story. He made several aerial appearances, always with a preliminary announcement. The announcer also mentioned the play. Another station also broadcast a seven minute resume of the New York press notices. A music hook-up was secured with about seventy Victor dealers on the Faust records, which is a stunt that even the small towns should be able to work, and fifteen big book stores extra stocked the Leroux novel. In addition to the usual posting, the local and suburban stations of the Reading were posted. As about half of the downtown employees use the railroads instead of the street c^rs, this was a stunt of real value. " And along Chestnut and Market streets the Phantom Red was played up in cosmetics and yarious articles of women's wear. Al Feinman, of the New York Universal office, collaborated with the Stanley staff m working the stunts. Lobby Wires Instead of house-to-house distribution of the fake telegram, the Strand theatre, Seattle, gave them out to their departing patrons the week previous to the showing of Lightnin'. These were on Postal Telegraph blanks, purporting to come from Jay Hunt to Albert A Universal Release THE LATEST FAD IN DRY GOOD STORE DUMMIES Recently a New York store had most of its windows filled with wax models of picture stars. Here is a Pittsburgh window with a model of Patsy Ruth Miller in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Note the effectiveness of the display — and copy. Finkelstein, expressing his pleasure sji the engagement of Lightnin'. The Postal* paid the cost of the stunt and also made a display of the Lightnin' hook up cards in the windows of all their local offices. Wild Susan All of the lithographs and stills on Wild Wild Susan at the Strand Theatre, Knoxville, Tenn., were upside down. The work was done on Saturday night and stood in the lobby of the closed house all day Sunday. Everyone was commenting upon the topside posting and wondering if the lobby man had found a bottle somewhere. Monday morning all of the local papers carried an explanation to the effect that the lobby was supposed to represent the chaotic condition of Bebe Daniels' mind. It was the only special stunt, but it carried the picture over. Hooked Hardware to Fashion Show Ever try hooking a hardware store to a fashion show? No one ejse eye ".J, that we recall, until Richard Brown. Cameraphone Theatre, Pittsburgh .ced in with Universalist Lon B. Ram? M on a fashion show to put over Cz.. LaV'mmle's Peacock Feathers. The Cameraphone is not a large theatre. They had to use two grand pianos instead of an orchestra, and there were but six models, but local merchants loaned the best they had in stock and the show was really well worth the money. There even was a runway down the centre of the house, so everyone could get a good look at the dresses. Of course the merchants all tied their windows to their display in the show, and gave a lot of publicity to the picture. But the final touch came in the shape of a window display of labor savers for the kitchen and electric cookers for the dining table, with the inquiry : "What's the use of dressing up if you can't have these to cook with?" That was a pat as the Irishman who always figures in the funny stories. Just goes to show that there is always one more thing you can do if you think hard enough. A Fox Release HOW THE DAYTON HERALD TIED TO THE IRON HORSE The business office of the newspaper was liberally plastered with signs telling of the sreial publication of the story, thirty-three of the posters being used. The delivery trucks were pasted and the rest put on the walls. Jazz Prologue Getting away from the standard stunts on I'll Show You the Town, Milt Korach, of the New Broadway Theatre, Cleveland, centered his appeal on tiie cabaret locale. He dressed his stage to correspond to the pictured scene, put in three suitable vaudeville acts and announced a Jazz Carnival that brought in the crowd. Favor hats were given all the women and there were 5,000 balloons and an equal number of candy samples, the latter supplied by a local concern. The front dressing matched the stage set in its carnival air.