The Moving picture world (January 1926-February 1926)

268 MOV ING PICTURE WORLD January 16, 1926 Physical Contest is Another Way to Sell Don Q* Physical Contest a Help to Don Q A silver loving cup was the chief publicity factor on Don Q. at the Stillman theatre, Cleveland. M. A. Malaney tied the Press to a contest for the best example of the physically fit boy betvt'een the ages of fourteen and sixteen. There are ten branches of the Y. M. C. A. in Cleveland, and a boy could register at any of the branches for examination. One boy was picked by each branch for a competition in jumping, running, swimming and other sports and the winner was awarded the cup as the best developed boy in the city. There was a direct reader interest in the contest that made for general interest in the athletic prowess of Fairbanks as exemplified in Don Q, but the stunt went beyond that. Many of the boys were added to the roster of the Y. M. C. A., and in turn the cooperation of the Y was helpful not only to the United Artists picture, but to all pictures in general. The stunt was worked through the sporting pages instead of the regular news columns. Of course the cut was supposed to have been donated by Fairbanks. Here is a sunt that can be worked in almost any town and with the cooperation either of the Y. M. C. A. or the Boy Scouts, where there are a number of troops of scouts. A Paramount Release HERE'S THE SUCCESSOR TO THE MILK BOTTLE HANGER Special labels affixed milked bottles carries tbe message of The Pony Express directljr into the homes. The only trouble is that the milk is generaJly iced, which causes mois« ture condensation which is apt to strip the labels from the bottles. Jailed Some years ago prison lobby fronts were popular on many plays, but they seemed to wear out. They are being revived on The Man Who Found Himself with considerable success. Oscar White made a showy prison front for the Liberty Theatre, Greenwood, S. C, and backed this with the telephone call stunt. The two ideas netted a substantial advance. Riders a Record The best two-day business the Rivoli Theatre, Greenville, S. C, has yet drawn to Riders of the Purple Sage The best seller A. S. Grist designed was a painting about the size of a six sheet on top of the marquise. This showed a western scene and was lettered for Tom Mix and the story. Another strong factor was a six sheet cutout in the lobby of the Garing Theatre, flanked with two three sheets. The Garing, in the centre of the business district, is dark, so the signs were permanent. Qoing Over Tell your local stores that they will be out of it unless they show Phantom Red goods. Even Paris has announced that Phantom Red will be used in Spring modelsand Sak's big store in New York has made two showings of red shoes, first in leather and then in velvet, while other stores have used the dress fabrics; one Southern concera filling three windows with the color. It's going to be more used in the Spring than it was in the Fall, so if you have the play coming tell the stores to write for window material supplied by Universal. Names Still Getting back into the past, Bill Danziger, Paramounteer, dug out the names stunt for M. Blaettner to use at the Colonial Theatre, Dayton, Ohio. To make it more interesting, it was announced that the circulation list of the Dayton Herald had been sent to Los Angeles where James Cruze, Betty Compson, Wallace Beery, Ernest Torrence and Ricardo Cortez had each picked twenty names. Tickets to The Pony Express were issued to these 100 fortunates and of course the newspaper played the stunt up big. A United Artisis l-:c:case A CIRCUS LOBBY FOR SALLY OF THE SAWDUST FROM DENVER C. W. HALLOCK, of the Victory Theatre, built a den above the heads of the lobby crowd and set in an elephant and camel borrowed from a toy store. Compo board giraffes and clowns completed the effective display, and the results were big. Went Into Town Oakland, Calif., is a sort of sleeping annex to San Francisco, though it is scarcely polite to refer to hustling Oakland as a sleeper, for it is more than that. But a large proportion of the residents work across the bay and for the engagement of The Fool the Franklin Theatre used a stereopticon in the San Francico waiting room of the ferry to catch the waiters, supplementing a strong . local campaign.