Disraeli (United Artists) (1921)

Henry Kolker, the distinguished stage star, and who took three years to master the technique of the silent drama be¬ fore making “Disraeli,” was the director for this picture. Then too one must not overlook the fact that this picture has a real star cast, one that can be called “all star” without fear of contradiction. Dignity should be the keynote of your whole exploitation campaign on this picture. “Disraeli” does not permit of wild exploitation stunts. It should be handled in a dignified way, or your clientele will misunderstand and the picture itself will be misunderstood- The value of the picture lies in its sincer¬ ity, and exhibitors will find it profitable to impress upon their patrons the fact that this is a choice offering, one that will be appreciated by all classes of playgoers. Careful attention should be given to your lobby display, and the keenest sort of discrimination should be utilized in the decorations. An ideal lobby could be arranged by tastefully draping your walls with royal blue velet, the drap- ings parted where you hang the beautifully colored lobby dis¬ play photographs and the framed pictures of Mr. Arliss. Added to this, and to give dignity to the whole effect the use of the large floor candlesticks of the Victorian period, set close to the walls, will be well worth while. Foyer arches may be draped in velvet also, with gold cords to bind them. The advertising in the front of your theatre should be done in a simple yet artistic style. It will be most effective to announce, “George Arliss in ‘Disraeli’ ” and stop right there. Let your newspaper advertising and publicity carry the de¬ tails of the picture, the story and the cast, keeping the front of your theatre in harmony with the dignity of the lobby dis¬ play. Have your house artist use the line, “a command per¬ formance,” wherever possible, for example: George Arliss in “Disraeli,” a “command” per¬ formance. (This is made possible by virtue of the fact that the public demand for “Disraeli” in picture play form has been indicated in thousands of letters received by Mr. Arliss in the past few years.) Remember above all things that in your lobby display and in the decorations for the interior of your theatre you keep everything dignified- Your stage permitting, we wish to suggest a very simple, yet dignified and attractive prologue for this picture. Study the costumes of the different players from the stills and the lobby display photographs on this production. They are of the Vic¬ torian period and of many colors. Have a group of people, six, eight or ten dressed in the costumes of this period and while the orchestra plays Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance,” have your little group of players march slowly, about eight feet apart, from left to right, the one representing Mr. Arliss as “Disraeli” first, with his wife on his arm. As the players in couples approach the right exit, they turn slightly, back stage, and bow low to the imaginary Queen off stage, and then exit. Allow your orchestra ample time to “get into” the march before your first players appear at the left entrance, but keep your spot light on the left entrance. This simple pro¬ logue here suggested is in keeping with the last scene of the picture, where Disraeli passes before the Queen at a recep¬ tion she has given in honor of her Prime Minister on the occa¬ sion ofihis purchase of the Suez Canal for the defense of India. For your stage setting, deep blue velvet curtains may be hung with heavy gold cords binding them. Coat of arms of the period may adorn the curtains also. The cue music for “Disraeli” will be Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance,” march. At moments it will be subdued, at others, full. It will be advisable to follow the cue music fur¬ nished you, but where it cannot be done, the scenes in which Clarissa appears should be given a beautiful love theme. By changing the tempo of Elgar’s march, some splendid effects may be obtained for “Disraeli.” Window displays are always excellent means of co-opera¬ tive advertising, both with the store merchants in the imme¬ diate vicinity of your theatre, or in any section of the city where large numbers of people congregate. Windows of clothing stores and dressmaking shops may be found available for the display of the pictures that are used for the lobby dis¬ play or the sets of twenty-five black and white photos that can be obtained at your nearest Exchange, showing the costumes worn by the players in “Disraeli ” These costumes are of the period of 1860-1870. People will be particularly interested in the gowns that Miss Huff wears, and in the fashionable dress shops, the merchant’s window designer will be only too glad to display the gowns of today in comparison with the gowns of the days of 1870, together with using a goodly num¬ ber of stills from the production to make his display attractive. It should always be remembered in window displays, however, that it is not necessary to jam too much advertising material into the window, so as to spoil the attractiveness of the merchant’s display, for in most cases, just the simple an¬ nouncement that “these stills are from the production of ‘Dis¬ raeli’ which is playing at the Blank Theatre” or that “these gowns are similar in period to those that are worn by the play¬ ers in ‘Disraeli’ which is to be shown at the Blank Theatre,” is far more profitable and will get you more money than pack¬ ing every space of the window with all sorts of cards and ad¬ vertisements on the production. Dignity and attractiveness is requisite to get the full benefits out of window displays. It may be possible to have a sporting goods store or a de¬ partment store or even a book store, where chess materials are sold, to arrange a window display in the form of a game of chess, showing any alignment of the pieces so long as the white queen has the black king in “check.” In a display of this sort, use a card under, or near, the chess game, reading: Disraeli— “Check’ ’ Russian Ambassador—“How very interesting.” (See George Arliss in “Disraeli” at the Blank Theatre.) All this may seem a bit vague, but in the picture a game of chess is an important feature, and it will add much to the atractiveness of the exploitation of the picture when your aud¬ ience learns that the window display had some real significance to it. Bookstores can be appealed to for a display on the life of Disraeli, or any of the many books that have been written about him. Practically every bookstore in the country has copies of the play of “Disraeli” by Louis N. Parker, from which this production was made, and it will be to their ad¬ vantage to have displays and to add to the attractiveness of these displays by using pictures of the production. The sale of bookstores and book departments of other stores of Lytton Strachey’s current publication, “Queen Vic¬ toria,” which has also been run serially in a large number of newspapers recently, should be taken advantage of by the ex¬ hibitor, as this work contains much that is new with regards to Disraeli and Queen Victoria, and is one of the popular sel¬ lers of the day. You can arrange for an excellent tie-up for window dis¬ plays on this book, and where you find that the book dealer has none of these in stock, to get him to “get busy” and lay in a stock.