The Moving picture world (May 1926-June 1926)

May 22, 1926 Moving Picture World L. W. Carroll Cleans the Works With Fiddlers 333 Fiddler Contest is Capacity Knockout L. W. Carroll, of the Majestic Theatre, Burlington, Vt., played to capacity just before Lent with an old fiddlers' contest, and did it against a dinner dance of the Knights of Columbus and a Legion ball. He made the front page for thirteen days straight, worked Henry Ford into the publicity and stood the town on its head. It| seems that there was announced a state-wide contest at Rutland, and Mr. Carroll hooked the Burlington News to the idea of selecting the contestants from his section of the state. The News not only went in to the extent of a big story every day, but its entire staff of correspondents was circularized to whoop things up in the surrounding country. The result was a dual contest, the first for the championship of Grand Isle and the second for Chittenden County. Both winners were sent to Rutland at the charge of the theatre, to complete for the $200 prize, in addition to receiving county championship cups. These were donated by a local jeweler. There were fishing rods for the oldest fiddlers each night, etc. A special drop was painted by the house artist showing the interior of a barn. All of the contestants were more or less in costume, and a pair of local hoofers and some child dancers supplied a variety of steps while the master of ceremonies contributed the comedy. Five men competed in the first contest and ten came in on the second night. They played all three shows, but the judging was done at the first night show. Each man played a number of his own selection and wound up with Turkey in the Straw. The film program was retained, The Blackbird being the feature. All contestants were given their transportation and entertained at dinner between the shows. It was the best two day business you could ask for, and inexpensive, too. A Metro Release • A FRONT THAT MADE BUSINESS FOR DANCE MADNESS L. M. Tucker, of the Princess theatre, San Antonio, writes that this display had an appreciable effect on the business done with this attraction. The side displays are hand painted to balance the cutout in the center. Edgar's Easter For his Easter exploitation Edgar Hart, of (he Colonial Theatre, Portsmouth, X. H, revived an old one, but it was new in Portsmouth and went over big. He bung a gilded coop well above the reach of the passerby, with a strong voiced rooster inside. From the underside hung a sign "We can crow about our Easter program." The picture is "The Vanishing American," with "The Devil's Circus" for the last half, but the stunt will fit any picture, and you can't realize how well it will work until you have tried it. The cage should be hung from a pulley to facilitate feeding and watering the bird. Edgar adds that his ushers are busy making cherry blossoms out of tissue paper to give the house interior the look of spring. This Phantom Stunt Is Qenerally Qood C. T. Lounsbury, Denver Universalist, is credited with a stunt for Phantom of the Opera that is as good for many other titles He worked it out for the Shuler Auditorium, Raton, N. M., when the Daily Range was tied up to the presentation of the supersuper. Each morning the Range would tell of the visit of the Phantom of the Opera to the office the previous evening, when he was supposed to have selected a word of mystery. Being an economical Phantom, he seems to have selected four and five letter words, but you can run them any length you desire. For example one word was "love." If your name began with L and was the third in that classification in the telephone book, you got a pair of tickets, but if your name started with O you had to be seventh under that letter to get the seats. Similarly the fifth V and the eleventh E deadheaded in. On a larger directory, you can run into three figure numbers and increase the excitement, but the basic idea is the same, and it will get all sorts of interest in the stunt, not to mention the value to the newspaper; which makes it easy to sell off the idea. This is one of the best ticket distribution ideas to be framed in a long time. It helped the Phantom, and it will help any other title. Don't forget to remember the idea. You'll need it some time. A First Xatwnal Release A KEY THAT UNLOCKED PURSES IN MACON, GA. The Rialto theatre used a compoboard affair the width of the marquise for Bluebeard's Seven Wives and hung it from the marquise edge to the curb line. Poles were used to keep it from being blown onto the sidewalk. Had Dancing Mothers Naturally George E. Brown figured that a Charleston Contest would help "Dancing Mothers" at the Strand Theatre, Birmingham, so he split $25 between the best boy and girl contestant in a mid-week contest. That was the usual stuff, but Brown added a three months pass to the best exhibition by a married woman, and the dancing mothers gave the bachelor girls a hard run.