Paramount Press Books (1918)

NEW STRINGS FOR YOUR BOW A Chat with Exhibitors By GORDON H. PLACE About FRED STONE in “JOHNNY GETYOUR GUN” AN ARTCRAFT PICTURE Some Catch Lines F you were in jail and a vast fortune had been left to you, and your sister was about to marry a worthless money seeker, would you send your pal to save the situation? Bill Burnham just yelled “Johnny Get Your Gun” — and Johnny did. I ^^fOULD you trust your name and identity to your pal in order to save your sister’s fortune and prevent an unhappy mariage? Bill Burnham called on Johnny Wiggins for this service, and Johnny made good with a smash and a bang in “Johnny Get Your Gun.” Good Morning Mr. Exhibitor! GOOD morning, Mr. Exhibitor! Glad to see you. You’ve met Mr. Stone, haven’t you? Yes, Fred Stone the comedian. Why sure! He was in your house with “The Goat,” which he was, you will remember. I knew you'd be glad to see him again — just as glad as your patrons will be. Remember what a hit he made? How could you forget it? And say, when he slid down that flagpole, headfirst, didn’t it just make your patrons gasp, even if it was only a shadow man on the screen! TJ^RED has done even better for you •T in “Johnny Get Your Gun” than he did in “The Goat.” Quite naturally. He’s a little more used to the camera. Don’t care how excellent an entertainer one may be, he’s likely to be a little bit camera-shy at first. But Fred is no shrinking violet, and he got over it mighty quick. You’ll like him better and better with every succeeding picture he makes. So will your patrons. Fred Stone will bear exploitation, and you can’t go too far. He makes good on every promise. "V/" OUR folks like action, don’t they? * They like to see the unexpected. Well, they’ll get it with “Johnny Get Your Gun.” For Fred Stone is the unexpectest, liveliest, athleticist, tumblingest sunuvagun that ever cavorted under the all recording eye of the camera. Better advertise him heavily in every way, because you are going to build up as big a following for Fred Stone in your theatre as any other motion picture star ever won by sheer merit. They will all want him to come back again and again. That’s a tip worth following. Thanks for your attention. Good morning! Who Wrote It? jpDMUND LAWRENCE BURKE, a popular writer on the Pacific coast, wrote the farce, which made a hit at the Criterion Theatre, New York, and after an extended run, went on a road tour meeting with equal success. When it was selected for picturization, Gardner Hunting, one of the most successful scenarists of the Artcraft staff took the text in hand, and gave Fred Stone one of the liveliest, snappiest screen vehicles that was ever turned out. Director and Camera DONALD CRISP directed the production of “Johnny Get Your Gun.” Of course you know what a clever director he is, and what splendid results he gets. If you cannot, by any chance, place him instantly, just recall “The Firefly of France” and “Less Than Kin,” and a lot of other stem-winding successes he has directed. The photography is by Henry Kotani, the artistic little Japanese cameraman, who found the “shooting” of Stone in his acrobatic stunts one of the most difficult things he ever put over. But he did it. These Ideas May Help C' RED STONE and his acrobatic stunts are the big outstanding features of “Johnny Get Your Gun.” Your people will remember him as “the scarecrow” in the “Wizard of Oz.” Use plenty of lithographs in your lobby. The paper for this production is paticularly attractive. Play up the fact that he enacts the role of a cowboy and circus rider, with more than the usual number of fantastic stunts. rT'HE cast is especially strong, and well selected. Have a lobby sign using these names as Stone’s support: Mary Anderson, Casson Ferguson, Dan Crimmins, James Cruze, Sylvia Ashton, Nina Byron, Maym ‘Kelso, Fred Huntley, Raymond Hatton, Ernest Joy, Hart Hoxie. The action involves the use of the usual cowboy paraphernalia, which you can use to good advantage in lobby display. Best of all, though, play Fred Stone and Artcraft heavily in your billboards and in your newspaper advertising, using plenty of lithographs, mats and cuts.