The Scarlet Clue (Monogram) (1945)

EXPLOITATION AMATEUR SLEUTHING: City ordinance permitting, stencil on sidewalks at intervals not too long, “Follow the Clue.” Make stops at stores who will cooperate with you and, better still, with your newspaper by co-operative ads. Each merchant is numbered and ties in with newspaper ad. Each merchant contributes a prize to be awarded on stage to each of the selected number of persons who present at box office, the full list of participating merchants. Clue, which is composed of red heel print as develops in picture, could start from and end at theatre. * TRICK THROWAWAYS: Make up title heralds partly in Chinese for distribution—with offer of guest tickets to first 10 persons who bring a herald to the Blank Theatre box-office with the portion printed in Chinese correctly translated. * MYSTERY MAGAZINES! Imprint slips of paper that can be attached to the covers of mystery magazines on the newsstands, drawing the parallel between “The Scarlet Clue” and the mystery tomes. Same kind of tie-up can be made with libraries and book stores. Be sure that you furnish plenty of stills and paper, and that you get a good location in windows. Most any hat dealer could be willing to furnish a hat or theatre tickets as prizes in a contest like this. Base contest on correct style name of the hat Charlie Chan wears in the “Scarlet Clue.” Is it Chinese, cowboy or Indian? Is it Italian, English or Russian? Or, is it a Homburg, Alsatian or a bow]ler? Or, it may even be something else. Merchant you select for tie-in displays a hat like Charlie’s in his window with this card: “You are invited to name the correct style of Charlie Chan’s hat as shown in this photo. Come in and get a number. The fifth number drawn from sealed box of duplicate numbers last day of ‘The Scarlet Clue’ at Blank Theatre, will be given the choice of any $10 hat in store. If incorrect, the first correct one drawn thereafter will be the winner.” The merchant (or, additional ones if you can adapt it) also ties in the stunt through newspaper ad with announcement of the offer. Order sill No. 4502-21, as shown here. MERCHANT-NEWSPAPER TIEUP: Your newspaper could sell advertising to merchants with guest tickets for their customers as special inducements. Ads could be assembled on same page. Each could contain line similar to following: “The first (state number) of customers with this advertisement in hand, who walk up to and identify the woman of the ‘Scarlet Clue’ in our store between....and___.. o clock (day and date), will be our guests to see the ‘Scarlet Clue’ now at Blank Theatre.’ You, of course, could select anything distinctive such as red cape, red face mask, red gloves, etc., as the means for identification. x GUEST OFFER: Admit first 5 women who appear at box-office between certain hours, accompanied by a paid admission and wearing a scarlet (red) dress, coat, hat or gloves. Tieup newspaper for publicity. * MERCHANT TIEUP: Promote merchants for window displays, tieing in title with scarlet (red) wearing apparel, or anything red handled by other merchants and which they might display in the window. * THEATRE FRONT: Promote prop of real airplane, if possible. Pracard with: “After the war, this airplane will be doubly safe and efficient aided by radar. See radar’s first great mystery, ‘The Scarlet Clue’ coming soon.” | * CHINESE-AMERICAN TIEUP: Canvass Chinese-American groups, if your city has such societies, and try for theatre parties on basis of unusual interest the picture could have for them. RADIO TIEUP: Any radio dealer would exchange window display space and a line in their advertising for lobby credits and a window card that could read: “Keep in touch with this store for big postwar developments in radar and television.” Your line in their advertising could read: “See the radar mystery in ‘The Scarlet Clue’ now at the Blank Theatre.” een PULL THIS STUNT RIGHT OUT OF CHAN'S HAT! Order from Monogram Studio Exploitation Dept., 4376 Sunset Drive, Hollywood 27.