So's Your Aunt Emma (Monogram) (1942)

TRY THESE ‘AUNT EMMA’ STUNTS 1. Put a line in your ads offering free admission to all Aunt Emmas. Of course, any ladies applying for the gratis tickeis must have some prooi of their identification as an Aunt Emma. 2. Conduct a search for the Aunt Emma with the most nieces and nephews... also for the youngest and oldest aunts. This’ll make a cute newspaper feature. Have the winners as your guests. 3. With Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Wife’s Day and every other kind of a day, why not an Aunt’s Day? Contact the local florists and gift shops and see if you can rig up a little celebration dedicated to the ever-loving aunts. 4. Go after confectioners, grocers, florists, etc., to feature “Aunt Emma Gift Boxes,” supposedly made up of items seleected by ZaSu Pitts. & ‘Aunt Emma’ Cutie ‘Hairdew’ Tieup Cute little Eleanor Counts, who plays in the night club scenes of “So’s Your Aunt Emma.” is featured in a tieup with Vogue Products Co., manufacturers of Hairdew, the new finishing lotion for women’s coiffure. The product is carried by department and drug stores from coast to coast and used in a majority of beauty salons. Plant this still along with others of Eleanor in scenes from the picture in windows and counters of the outlets carrying Hairdew. The photo is a pip for the newspaper ads, ioo. For detailed information write Vogue Products, 1147 Seward Ave., Hollywood. Order stills from Monogram Exploitation Department, Hollywood. SELL FUN WITH STREET BALLYHOO There's lots of laughs to be garnered if you can get a clever ballyhoo girl for this stunt. Have her dressed in old-fashioned clothes, and carrying a number of large light boxes and packages, also an umbrella which when opened reads: “SO’S YOUR AUNT EMMA” at the Blank Theatre. She carries her load of parcels down the main street and at every busy intersection starts fumbling madly with them until they start spilling onto the street. Naturally, passersby will help her pick them up and while all the confusion is going on, she opens the umbrella with the theatre ad on it. It'll give onlookers a good laugh. For an alternate stunt, hire a very pretty girl and supply her with a stock of small calling cards to hand out to all male passersby. On one side the card reads: “You're sure a cute kid!” on the reverse it says in the smallest possible type, “So’s Your Aunt Emma” at the Blank Theatre. @ TICKETS FOR NEWS SCOOPS In the picture Roger Pryor plays a newspaper reporter constantly on the hunt for a big story. You can play up the newshawk angle by co-operating with your local daily in offering passes as prizes for phoned-in news scoops. A box in the paper can read: Have You a Nose for News? Roger Pryor, who plays a reporter in “So's Your Aunt Emma” at the Blank Theatre, offers passes for all news items phoned in by amateur reporters and used in our columns. Score a scoop and get a free theatre ticket. Gangland ‘Lingo’ Translation Test In the closing scene of “So’s Your Aunt Emma” ZaSu Pitts gives out with a veritable deluge of gangland jargon which she has picked up in her various escapades with the underworld. Her speech reads: “Dummy up, you silly jerks! I don’t wanna hear any more beets outta either of yuh! Scram into the feed factory and rusile up some chow! And getta load of this .. . from now on I'm the big cheese around this rat trap. Get goin before I hang one on your noggins with this bumbershoot!” This can be the basis for an amusing newspaper contest for the town’s slanguage experts. Prizes (passes or promoted merchandise) are offered for the best translation of ZaSu’s effusion. This can be enlarged upon by offering a special prize for the longest and best compilation (with translation) of underworld slang. CONTEST FOR ZASU’S MIMICS Because of her distinctive personality and mannerisms, ZaSu Pitts is a favorite with all star impersonators. Her fluttering hands and quavering voice have been mimicked on stage, screen and radio, and she’s always one of the subjects picked by amateurs. Get yourself a neat little added attraction by holding a ZaSu Pitts impersonation contest on your stage. It can be done in conjunction with the picture’s screening or, if used as an advance plug, run the contest with the showing of the trailer. Prizes can be passes or small cash awards. Spot a couple of stooges in the audience to start the ball rolling. PICK ‘TYPICAL AMERICAN AUNT’ With a newspaper as co-sponsor, dig up a sweet-looking old gal who happens to be somebody’s Aunt Emma, declare her to be the typical American aunt and arrange for her to have the time of her life on a full day's jaunt around town. Some women’s club can give her a testimonial breakfast; beauty salon gives her the works; swank dress shop provides her with a complete outfit; prominent hotel and night club have her as a guest; she’s greeted by the mayor and given key to the city, etc. It’s the stunt that worked so well on the “Apple Annies” around the country who were given the “Lady for a Day” routine to exploit that picture. COP WINDOW SPACE WITH TIEUP STILLS Livewire merchants know the value of using motion picture personalities in their selling campaigns and are always receptive to displays and co-op ads which give them “star attractions.” Go after the stores in your community with these photos from “So’s Your Aunt Emma.” Attractive window displays are a valuable publicity medium that will mean extra advance interest in the film. Order stills from Monogram Exploitation Department. Costume Jewelry Still No. Pub 43 Grocers, Wine Shops, Restaurants Still No. Pub 28 Sporting Goods Stores Still No. 12