Sparrows (United Artists) (1926)

Smaller Town Department A Collection of Suggestions Designed to Provide Exploitation Angles that are Readily Available Anywhere A Mary Pickford production making its debut in any of the smaller cities or in a large city’s neighborhood or suburb, is just as important an event to that community as it is to the downtown of a metropolis. A new picture by Mary Pickford, such as “Sparrows,” means as much to the theatre’s patrons anywhere as it does to the patrons of the Broadway houses. With very little expense and very little effort, where you feel that big town campaign material is too elaborate for you, you can still make an EVENT of “Sparrows.” Therefore some ideas are assembled in this de¬ partment with the design of helping you bring in added dollars at the box office. ADVANCE BILLING—Start your advance lobby display at least a week before you open, or at least earlier than usual, to impress your public that something out of the ordinary is coming. Post lithographs if possible; use heralds, advance slides; extend yourself on newspaper advertising; do everything with an eye to making the advent of “Sparrows” notable. The big secret in exploitation is not so much the likelihood that you will inform many more people than usual, but that you will impress them harder and oring business by awakening them to the fact that you have something better than “just a picture.” USE TEASER CAMPAIGNS—Advance interest is readily worked up by employing one of the teaser campaigns suggested on other pages of this book. Most of them, like some other features, are adaptable to any conditions. PROLOGUE—Give them something new—a prologue. You can ar¬ range one through local singing or dancing teachers that will not cost you a cent. Have some of their best pupils sing or dance preceding the picture. Let them appear in tattered clothing, like that worn by the children in “Sparrows.” These youngsters will do their stuff with enthusiasm, and they will bring in all their relatives and friends. STOCK JUDGING CONTEST—In the swamp farm of Grimes, in “Sparrows,” hog raising is the only visible attempt at efficiency. In rural communities this can be tied up with a stock-judging contest for boys. Have your boy patrons undertake to judge these hogs for points, during the week of the engagement, giving them cards to fill out, the prizes for the most expert rating of the hogs to be announced at the end of the week. This might be organized by having a class from a district high school make this an exercise in live stock husbandry. At any rate, instructors from an agri¬ cultural college or a district high school should mark the papers. Five Excellent Contests No. 1—Get the children’s magazine section of your local paper to print a cut up portrait puzzle of Mary Pickford. Give a prize of theatre tickets to the youngster assembling it in the neatest manner, or offer a five-cent admission rebate to each contestant. No. 2—Arrange a doll dressing contest for girls under twelve years of age. Let them dress small dolls in ragged attire like the characters in “Sparrows.” Offer prizes for each doll best representing each role. Get a department store to display the dolls in their window. This stunt will arouse intense home interest. No. 3—Mary Pickford and her tots in “Sparrows” fly a kite during the picture. Using stills showing this sequence, stage kite-making and kite¬ flying contests among children, offering tickets as prizes. This could be worked up to good advantage through schools or playground associations. No. A —What young girl in your city has the prettiest curls? Stage a contest to find out, with local artists for judges. This is something new in the way of contests, and you may find a girl who looks a great deal like Mary Pickford. This can also be tied up with a local newspaper for a big play, and the girls will eat it up. No. 5—Offer prizes for the best scrap books in town, kept by Mary Pickford fans. You may find that many persons have kept scrap books containing her pictures and stories about her for some time. Merchandise Tie-ups TOY SHOPS—There is an adorable, curley-haired baby in “Sparrow!*’ who looks more like a doll than a real baby. Any dealer in dolls in your city probably has in stock attractive dolls that could be featured in window displays as “Mama Mollie” dolls as shown in Mary Pickford’s latest pic¬ ture, “Sparrows.” BOOK STORE—A popular folio edition of Bible stories for children is featured in one scene of “Sparrows.” Still No. 88 in the Newspaper shows Mary Pickford surrounded by the children who support her in file cast. The grouping is artistic and could be copied easily with small wax models to make an attractive window display for a book store. DEPARTMENT STORE—A window display of beautiful gowns would contrast effectively with a model dressed in rags and tatters to sim¬ ulate Mary Pickford in her role in “Sparrows.” INFANTS’ OUTFITTING—One of the sequences of “Sparrows” fea¬ tures a beautiful nursery, completely equipped. Get your local dealer to dress his window similarly and to feature infants’ apparel. A model dressed in rags and holding a doll in her arms could be used for a tie-up with the picture. GROCERY—In one of the sequences of “Sparrows,” Mary Pickford raises potatoes. Get your local grocery to build up a huge mound of fine looking potatoes, bearing a sign reading—No wonder Mary Pickford enjoys digging potatoes in “Sparrows” when they are as good as these. (Still No. 101, lobby set.) HARDWARE—Your local hardware dealer would be glad to feature a window of knives, axes, etc., that stay sharp if you would sell him the rdea by showing him Still No. 11, which shows Mary Pickford in “Spar¬ rows” at an antiquated grindstone sharpening a hatchet. SHOES—In “Sparrows” Mary Pickford wears dilapidated shoes that are mismates—one is an old fashioned buttoned one, with many buttons missing—the other, a man’s gaiter. Get your local dealer to find a pair of shoes similar to these and feature them in his window as contrasted to his regular stock. FURNITURE-An old blanket hung up by ropes is utilized as a baby’s bed in “Sparrows.” Get your local dealer to dress a window, featuring hammocks and porch swings showing the contrast between them and the one used in the picture. DATES TO BEAR IN MIND—Remember that the second Sunday in May is national Mothers’ Day, also that national Baby Week comes in the first half of May. Sidewalk Ballyhoos Dress a tall man to represent Grimes, the heavy of “Sparrows’! Outfit him with swallow-tail coat and boots, and have him walk through kie streets with a suitcase bearing the sign: “I want to find ‘Sparrows’.” On the end of the suitcase have the words: “At The.Theatre.” Outfit two characters like Grimes and his wife, to go through the streets, Mrs. Grimes with umbrella in hand and almost behind Grimes, as if pursuing him, for comedy effect. Grimes can carry satchel reading: She’ll Chase Me Yet to the.Theatre to See “Sparrows.” Idea For An Announcement With a portrait of Miss Pickford run something like this on cards, throwaways, programs, or block posters: MARY PICKFORD, the beloved ragamuffin, is back again! You’ll adore her in “SPARROWS,” her newest big production. She’s Mama to a whole band of waifs—and what an exciting time they have! V