Lawyer Man (Warner Bros.) (1932)

REPRINT OF OBSOLETE, RIDICULOUS LAWS MAKES AMUSING THROW-AWAY Practically every City and State has old, long-forgotten laws, on its statute books. Some of these laws today are highly ridiculous. We are giving you some of these laws. Any attorney, will be able to furnish you with several examples of long-forgotten laws of your own city and state. These, together with some printed below, can be used for an attention-getting throw-away, tied in with “Lawyer Man.” Use copy from the picture ads on the circular. FUNNY SOUNDING LAWS STILL ON THE STATUTE BOOKS KANSAS: “If any stallion or jackass escape from his owner, he shall be liable for damages.” Use of automobiles’ on the main street of Goodland, is forbidden. A law limiting the length of shirt tails is on the statute books. Grasshoppers are to be destroyed by driving them onto the prairies after giving them ten days’ notice. TEXAS: A law forbids women dancers from giving performances. It is a misdemeanor to swear into a telephone. A Roby, Texas law says that an auto must stop at a wave of the hand of anyone driving a horse. PENNSYLVANIA: Fences with pointed pickets are illegal in Scranton. All restaurants must be equipped with stretchers and wheel chairs. In Erie it is against the law to fall asleep in a barber’s chair while being shaved. Singing in the bathtub is prohibited. Any church may stretch chains across the street to prevent the passage of traffic during service on Sunday. Lancaster prohibits smoking on its streets. MICHIGAN: Justices of the peace are forbidden from holding court in barrooms. The sale of “confctt! iene Rer “mitted in : Detroit. MASSACHUSETTS: It is against the law to travel anywhere on Sunday “except for charity or necessity.” Garments with short sleeves “exposing the nakedness of the arm” are illegal. A young girl may not be employed to dance on a tight rope except in a church. WISCONSIN: You cannot blow a_ steamboat whistle in La Crosse. A woman who drove a_ car through a fire line not long ago was discharged by the judge under an old statute which provided that “no woman shall be arrested in any action except for a wilful injury to person, character, or property.” CALIFORNIA: In San_ Francisco bootblacks must clip the hems of the ladies’ dresses to the tops of their shoes — with suitable clips — while shining their shoes. Wearing false whiskers in public is prohibited in Los Angeles, which city also forbids the bathing of two babies in one bathtub, at the same time. VIRGINIA: A man shall not beat his wife with a stick thicker than his thumb. A steam train, moving on its tracks in the dark, must be preceeded by a man, walking, or on horseback, carrying a lighted red lantern. MINNESOTA: Law prohibits dancing in a public hall with the lights turned low or dimmed. Impersonating Santa Claus on the streets is —— ine — ai =, ven alie — OREGON: Cornwallis prohibits young ladies from drinking coffee at evening meals except Friday and Saturday. WEST VIRGINIA: Ie is against the law to sneeze on Sunday. ESSAY CONTEST ON MOST COMPROMISING SITUATIONS EXPERIENCED BY LAWYERS LOUISIANA: It is unlawful to wear a hatpin which projects over one-half inch from the crown of the hat. ILLINOIS: In Zion it is a crime to make ugly faces at anyone, a prison sentence being the penalty. NEVADA: It is against the law to listen in in on a party line. NEW YORK: In New York City a summons ean be handed to anyone carrying a newspaper into a park or for sitting on a park bench with a newspaper underneath. No smoking allowed in parks. Shopkeepers are ordered, under penalty, to furnish stools for women employees. In Peru, New York, it is unlawful for salesmen to call during the forenoon. Buffalo provides for a fine not only for playing cards on Sunday, but also for anyone who, having witnessed such a game, fails to report it to the authorities. And it is illegal m Buffalo for a girl to wear a college boy’s fraternity pin. NORTH CAROLINA: It is deemed a nuisance to curse or swear publicly for two hours. SOUTH CAROLINA: Any citizer of South Carolina who goes to church without his . m~enet aa heaaline soa WO ELS. on the statute books. WASHINGTON: In Seattle salt must not be sprinkled on the sidewalk to melt snow. GEORGIA: It is illegal to slap a man on the back. Life guards at public beaches must wear bathing suits of “bright solid red’? and parade the beach at all times—with a leather harness about the neck to which there shall be attached a life-line 200 feet long. MAINE: Portland prohibits the tickling of a girl under the chin with a feather-duster. It is illegal to whistle on Sunday. KENTUCKY: Anyone operating a still must blow a whistle. It is a crime to sleep on the floor of the State House. NEW JERSEY: In Newark it is against the law to sell ice after 6 P. M. without a doctor’s prescription. Collingswood fecently passed a law forbidding dogs to bark between 8 P. M. and 6 A. M. on penalty of a fine of $100 and imprisonment for ten days. Ten persons*must protest during the sleeping hours before the owner is arrested. IOWA: No person must move about the streets of Ollie, later than 11 P. M. without reasonable excuse or necessary business. CONNECTICUT: A law provides a fine of $1000 for the possession of any newspaper principally made up of criminal news, police reports and stories of bloodshed and crime. OHIO: In Portsmouth, ball players are included with vagrants, beggars, thieves and other suspicious characters as being subject to fine, or imprisonment, or both, “if they can give no reasonable account of themselves.”’ Tie-up with your local newspaper to run a MOST COMPROMISING SITUATION essay contest, essays to be submitted by attorneys and police authorities. Attorneys and police officers have many embarrassing situations arise through the acceptance of a misinterpreted case or suit. For instance a woman might seek legal retainance for a breach of promise suit and after the ease has been brought into court she is found to be married or for some other reason drops the case after it has been given newspaper mention. This would certainly leave the attorney in a very embarrassing position. Any instance where a client comes to a lawyer with a case which is not absolutely legal and honest might leave the attorney in a eompromising situation. Since lawyers have most interesting cases and experiences with clients in every-day life, the newspaper should receive many very unusual and interesting articles on this subject. Offer passes to the writer of the ten best essays and have paper publish one each during the run of the contest. LETTER WRITING CONTEST ON POWELL CHARACTERIZATIONS Here is a newspaper contest that will have all the girls in town writing to your theatre and local newspaper. Arrange with your paper to run a letter writing contest on William Powell. Ask readers to submit letters telling exactly what type of character they prefer seeing William Powell portray. Would they rather see him as the Beau Brummel, ladies’ man type, or in a powerful high pressure role? Have writers suggest what character they would like to see Powell portray in his next film and what picture he made in the past they enjoyed most. With the vast amount of popularity Bill Powell enjoys with the fans, there should be plenty of letters pouring into the theatre and the William Powell editor of your paper. Offer passes to the writers of the best letters and arrange to have your movie editor run a few each day during run of “Lawyer Man.” > HELP US TO HELP YOU BY SENDING US YOUR CAMPAIGN Exhibitors are urged to send us their campaigns in order that we may be able to pass along the many splendid ideas put into execution on every picture. Exceptional examples of real showmanship will be passed along, not only to other exhibitors, but also to the Trade Papers for publication and comment. Right now, the industry is in need of the closest sort of co-operation between producers and exhibitors. Let’s all pull together, each ae to help the other. | Never before has the motion picture business been in greater need of real worthwhile ideas. By pulling together—by inter-changing exploitation ideas, exhibitors and producers will be bound to derive much mutual benefit. Address Your Campaign and Your Suggestions and Ideas to Director of Exploitation, WARNER BROS. PICTURES, Inc. 321 West 44th Street, New York City Page Fifteen