Stella Dallas (United Artists, 1937) (1937)

DISPLAY FAMOUS MOTHER' POEM IN YOUR LOBBY TO ^M0WE«5 LO'Jt $Anuri vaitmn Iho. ^wAitncL Ml ' -" / STELLA DALLAS <^is^ The strong theme of mother love and sacrifice that climaxes your picture is beau¬ tifully expressed in Rudyard Kipling’s celebrated poem, “Mother o’ Mine.” A blowup of the text of this poem, reproduced in your lobby as the basis of a show-selling display, is as effective a means of driving home the beauty and heart appeal of the story as you can get. You can display a simple blowup of the words of the poem set in type, or build a more elaborate display directly linking the poem with your picture, by having your artist make a large compo board easel, lettering the words on it, with copy and art below turning the idea into a selling message on “Stella Dallas,” as in the illustration. Tie them together with the headline: “TWO GLORIOUS TRIBUTES TO A MOTHER’S LOVE.” It will make a sock piece of show-selling that can’t fail to impress all who see it. Here are the words of the poem: ‘‘MOTHER O’ MINE” by RUDYARD KIPLING If I were hanged on the highest hill. Mother o’ Mine, O Mother o’ Mine! I know tvhose love would follow me still. Mother o’ Mine, O Mother o’ Mine! If / were drowned in the deepest sea. Mother o’ Mine, O Mother o’ Mine! I know whose tears would come down to me. Mother o’ Mine, O Mother o’ Mine! If I were damned of body and soul, I know whose prayers would ^ make me whole. Mother o’ Mine, O Mother o’ Mine! MOTHERS-CHECK YOUR BABIES, SEE THE SHOW Make arrangements for taking care of babies for mothers who want to see “Stella Dallas” in the afternoon and have no place to park the baby. Make announcement of this on your screen and in your newspaper ads and program. Here is an idea that not only sells the theme of the picture and stresses its im¬ portance, but it is a novel idea in itself and will start the whole town talking. You can easily provide a space in the lobby or a room in the theatre with a girl usher or local nurse in charge where mothers can safely leave their children while they are in seeing the show. To add interest to the stunt you might even arrange with one of the local merchants or toy shops to contribute some toys or suit¬ able decorations for the space or room, in exchange for a credit card in your lobby. AIR ‘MOTHER SONG’ PROGRAMS Local radio stations should jump at the suggestion that they arrange a program of music built around “mother songs” both old and new. It’s a sure-fire entertainment idea, and lends itself naturally to a plug for “Stella Dallas.” The idea is equally good for window tieups with music stores. Get them to display the sheet music of the famous mother songs of today and yesterday, with, of course, stills and copy on “Stella Dallas” as the center of the display. ENCOURAGE THE STORK! You can grab off some extra publicity space by offering a three months, six months, or even a full season pass to every mother whose child is born during the week of the show. The announce¬ ment will stir plenty of attention and create goodwill, and it isn’t apt to cost you many ducats unless the stork puts on an extra spurt during your run. PLANT THIS WOMAN'S PAGE LETTER CONTEST There’s a tensely dramatic decision that confronts Barbara Stan-,^ wyck as “Stella Dallas” when she discovers that she stands in the way of her own daughter’s happiness. The social contacts her daughter has made at school have created a situation whereby she is suddenly conscious of the gap which separates her mother and her new friends. Stella is torn between the natural mother’s desire to keep with her the daughter she loves and idolizes, and the feel¬ ing that by so doing she is denying her daughter certain advantages and the opportunity for happiness. What shall she do—what would YOU do? These are questions that can be made the basis of a letter contest on the women’s page of your local paper. Offer ducats for the best letters received each day during the run of the contest. BRAMATIZE “MOTHER” THEME WITH UNIQUE LOBBY BISPLAY You can dramatize the mother love theme unforgettably by put¬ ting a display in your lobby or out in front depicting the forms that mother love takes in various parts of the world and among various races. It’s a human interest stunt that will draw attention.^ Get as many of the familiar drawings or photographs as you can, illustrating how mothers of all types take care of their babies, such as the Indian squaw with her papoose on her back, the Eskimo mother with her child wrapped up under her coat, the African savage mother with her offspring suspended in a primitive ham¬ mock, and so on. For an amusing touch you might also include a picture of a kangaroo with its yoving in its pouch. Spot these pictures, or blowups of them, around a large blowup of one of the stills showing Stella Dallas with her child as a little baby in the center of your display. Your copy should reail:~^ “Mothers the world over will thrill to the heart-tugging story of ‘STELLA DALLAS.’ ” • TRY THIS TEASER BALLY For a street bally, a woman carry¬ ing a dummy baby in her arms and parading the streets will make them stop and look. Use a teaser line to sell the picture, such as “SHOULD I GIVE UP MY DAUGHTER FOR HER FUTURE HAPPINESS”?— SEE “STELLA DALLAS” at the Rivoli Theatre. This is an easy and inexpensive stunt, but none the less effective. A doll in swaddling clothes^ will serve as the baby. Page Six