Drums (United Artists) (1938)

GIVE THEM DRUM MUSIC IN FRONT OF THEATRE You'll want to have a good, colorful fife-and-drum corps stationed in front of your theatre to give them lively drum music for a few days prior to and during your run. Dress your players in military uniforms or Scottish eS kilts, and be sure to tie in the stunt with your picture by means of effective displays. You should also try to organize a fife-and-drum corps parade, drawing on the various organizations in town which have fife-and-drum players, such as the American Legion post, the boy scouts, perhaps the police and fire department bands, and so on. Get such uniformed organizations as these to march in full strength behind the musicians for a real parade to your theatre, furnishing them with “DRUMS” banners. GIANT DRUM STREET BALLYHOO A novel and effective street stunt can be staged by painting an enormous drum on compo board and mounting it on a truck. This can be elaborate as you desire. It will not only make a sensational piece of advertising, but it is in keeping with the size and scope of this lavish 7, MOONE ENN XW), ey DRUM S IN GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOR AT THE STRAND tae es Wilf, XX fee (ENS __ a BEAT SIGNAL DRUM FOR YOUR OPENING A signal drum to announce the number of days before your opening of “DRUMS” is a spectacular stunt that the whole town will talk about and the newspapers will cover. Arrange to install a large bass drum or a kettle drum in some central part of town—preferably the roof of the highest office building, or a similar commanding spot. Beginning ten days or two weeks before your “DRUMS” opening, announce that a drum signal will be beaten each day to tell the town how many days still remain before the opening. The number of beats signalizes the number of days, so that the signal will begin with, say, 14 on the first day and decrease daily. Your drum signal should be given at a specific time each day (such as at high noon or at sunset), so that they’ll know when to listen for it. By tying with a local musical instrument house and giving them publicity credit, you should be able to obtain the use of several drums and plant them in various parts of town, thus covering the whole city with simultaneous drum signals. ANIMATED MARQUEE Here’s a commanding marquee display that clinches the dramatic implication of the “DRUMS” title and also sells the appeal of the sensational young Hindu star, Sabu. Set up over your marquee a blowup of Sabu in a drumbeating pose, such as the one shown in the illustration, taken from Still No. P-67. Mount a real drum in front of the figure, and fasten a pair of real drumsticks to the hands. By hinging the arms of the figure at the elbow and giving it animation with a belt arrangement attached to a motor, you can make the figure automatically beat the drum in steady rhythm. Play a drum record over your P. A. system, synchronized with the drumbeats of your display. The effect of the drum-beating figure and the audible drumbeats gives you a dramatic, attention-compelling marquee. BASE STUNTS ON HORSEMANSHIP Expert horsemanship figures so prominently in this picture that you should have no difficulty in tying up with a local academy to feature the riding stills from “DRUMS” in whatever display or newspaper advertising they do. Give them the best horsemanship stills in the set, such as those shown here, and suggest that they play them up. Try the following unique stunt to emphasize the exceptional horsemanship scenes in your picture—it’s a natural for big publicity breaks and pictures because of its spectacular quality. When you stage your gala opening of “DRUMS” and invite the local celebrities, explain to them that horseback riding is an important feature of the picture, and try to get them to arrive at the opening on horseback! Some of them will shy away from the idea; but some of those who are practised riders will welcome it. In addition to the celebs, announce in advance that any patron who arrives at the big opening on horseback will be admitted as a guest of the theatre. To build up the interest and offer them an inducement, you might offer a prize for the best display of horsemanship in arriving at the show. Be sure to tip off the press photographers and reporters that something unusual will be going at your opening, and get them set for photos and stories of the prominent locals turned equestrian for the opening of “DRUMS.” “Drum of Fortune’ in Your Lobby A “Drum of Fortune” in your lobby is another “DRUMS” -selling stunt that will build up big word-of-mouth advertising for you because of its unusualness. Set up in the outside lobby a rotating drum of the familiar type used for picking out lucky numbers, etc. Label it a “Drum of Fortune,” fill it with slips of tokens containing a few prize-winning numbers, and let patrons pick a number out of the drum. The winners receive complimentary admission. See if you can tie with a musical instrument house to furnish a dummy drum of the line they sell, with one lucky number entitling the winner to a small drum as a prize.