Merry Wives of Reno (Warner Bros.) (1934)

jar, Hear . . . the inside on New York’s “tonvention of the Wives of Reno’! Here it is—the whole story on Gotham’s stunt-of-the-year. The Convention of the ‘Wives of Reno’! York Strand, it’s clever and sure-fire but it's tricky and must Planned by the New be planned carefully. It must in no way be tied up with your theatre and must be started about two weeks before any men bra tion of your picture is sent to the papers. Following is all the the when staged. (al ¢Reno. ideq ate " HERE'S HOW IT WAS DONE: Two recently divorced women were found to act San “syresident and secretary of an organization named ‘Wives F Invitations sent to list of divorcees to partici ‘(b) Arrangements for convention made with Hotel kid yy Yorker, and plans made for luncheon meeting and was yning banquet. Two weeks prior to the Strand opening. was (c) Hotel publicity department gave first story to “el ye! reporters. (See Story No. |) id) Hotel made arrangements with reporters to meet N"* etary who answered questions and handed them Stories ME ie 2 and 3. le) Invitations sent by secretary to mayor, leading wits, leading divorce lawyer and famous professor of soGot ogy to address luncheon and dinner Hotel gave names ghtrivited speakers to Newspapers ‘ig (f} Man in jail for not paying alimony protested to vi” yor against city's showing hospitality to divorcees and ff bt copies of protest to newspapers "| (g) Boosters’ Committee of Atlantic City wrote in (See Story No. 4) hgconvention to come there, hotel giving story to news BETS. th) Secretary opened headquarters at hotel for regis tons etc. Hotel Manager's secretary handled all calls of EI py. porters to special screening of ‘Merry Wives of Reno’’ fave reporters Story No. 5 a) lil Manager of Strand invited delegates, guests and : rit! |j) Classified ad placed in New York papers reading, von ‘iquld like names of all women in Greater New York area ‘ e e “ * “ Wwhave received their divorce decrees in Reno, Nevada. vad: hat wy No. I im: wo Divorcees Will “ Meeting Here h it first convention of cc ,. ee divoreed women of and State will be held te hotel . Arrange , “to engage the banquet * fof the hotel have been in by Mrs, of | J ° ali who will open head vas Shere on . The ark Mt of the convention = is Cy iloption of a code the 8 Of Which is raising J “atus of divorced women Me eying the collection sock: ae All divorced gest Mh are invited to send sf) ames and addresses to mM care of the *" More Alimony gg PEMEUtatives from ey ‘". M the frst the State attend iPr Vive Convention of “Tie Rriratign = Reno,” a new Ning in % divorced women i: (State) will , here, * participants, ; aving severed hing gs bonds in Reno, ‘ 8 not necessary to th S ‘Banja, . he a the dual pur MZ an unusual so nN, as well as to ts of alimony re Ounders of the or | — i if » . Tomy tizatio ‘ € righ ‘i the : ‘will learn something to their advantage.” Story No. 3 Plan Code to Protect Rights of Divorcees Here are the demands to be made byw the divorced women of state who will hold their convention at. the hotel on More alimony, paid more reg ularly; Making it a misdemeanor to any minister of the gospel, judge or other constituted authority to refuse to perform a marriage ceremony because one of the principals is) divorced. Prohibiting the re-marriage of divorced men until satisfactory financial settlements have been nade on their former wives, so that new family obligations may not endanger the first wife’s in terest in his estate. ee yanization have thrown a veil of scereey around all proceedings. None of the sponsors are seek ing the limelight, and the = see retary, Miss at . Was reluctant about who resides furnishing many details as to the personnel of the society. About the convention, and its aim, however, she was less” re ticent. “There are omany more di voreees in this State than most people realize, and a big percen taye of them obtained Reno di vorees,” said Miss “The convention is open to any woman who has had a divoree and who cares to attend the dinner. “Plans for future activities and for participation in the national movement will be made then. Miss who is a dignified woman in her early forties, is secretary of a large manufacturing company at = material you need—with the exception of the photos of the local women sponsors and the shot of the banquet itself, if and Story No. 4 Jailed Spouse Would Deny Reno Widows City’s Hospitality Dear Mr. Mayor:— As a victim of the divorce racket,held in prison by the rapaciousness of awoman, and representing all other members of the Alimony Club now incarcerated in the Ludlow Street jail, I wish to protest against the city's extending its hospitality to a convention of the Merry Wives of Reno who will gather in a local hotel to formulate plans to still further persecute the unfortunate men who have fallen into their toils. It seems to me, that official Sanction Should be withheld from this convention of predatory women, whose avowed purpose is making the lives of their miserable husbands still more unhappy. Very truly yours Story No. 5 Reno Widows Enjoy Divorce Comedy Film As Convention Ends Delegates to the first State Convention of “Merry Wives of Reno” after concluding their deliberations, passing resolutions and adopting a code making for more and better alimony and the Supression of wise cracks at the expense of divorcees, were the guests of manager of the Theatre for a spe cial sereening of the Warner Bros. comedy “Merry Wives of Reno” which is a humorous ex pose of the Reno divorce racket. The ladies, about in num her, who had listened throughout the day to talks on the social status of the divorcee by lead ing divorce attorneys and sociol ogists, seemed to enjoy the jokes at their expense with which the motion picture abounded, but a more sombre note was sounded at the concluding session of the organization, held during the din ner in the hotel last night, at which it was decided to join with other state organi zations in perfecting a national society, the purpose of which is to bring about uniform divorcee laws whieh will protect the rights of grass widows and particularly clarify the status of divorcees. “Merry Wives of Reno,” the picture, has as its featured actors Margaret Lindsay, Glenda Farrell, Donald Woods, Guy Kibhee and Hugh Herbert, while “Metry Wives of Reno,” the organization will be headed, for the coming year by (insert list of officers) EDGAR HART CROWED ABOUT HIS COMEDY Epes Sargent’s Variety column suggests a stunt applicable to this picture, used successfully by Edgar Hart of the Majestic Theatre, Columbus, O. Ed put a rooster in a cage over his box office. A hen hidden from view, in adjoining cage, kept the rooster crowing. Copy read: “The rooster is crowing about that side-splitting comedy (name of picture). —Book the Trailer Now !— CARDBOARD STILL FRAMES PROMOTED FOR’ TIE-UPS Lewis Stein, head man of Newark’s Ritz Theatre, pulled this clever one to place his dealer tie-up stills. He promoted from a neighborhood photographer enough fancy cardboard frames for his 8 x 10 stills. The frames gave the stills plenty of class. Dealers were glad to put them in their windows. Picture credits of the stars were tacked on the stills. Photographer got his break by having his name prominently displayed on the frames. —Are You Playing Vitaphone Shorts ?— EDDIE HALEY USES AUSTIN CAR BALLY The Austin car craze has died out, but Eddie Haley of the Fitchburg Theatre in Fitchburg, Mass., used one of the little things in a new way. He had an Austin completely boxed with signs advertising his picture. Touring the city for four days ahead of his opening, Eddie reports plenty excitement. It seems that the size of the displays concealed the small car. The yokels spent their time wondering what made the hally operate. KISSING NOVELTY LOTS OF FUN IN RENO ...Turn the wheel and see why! ee Warner Bros. successor to “Convention City”. The dizziest divorce drama ever filmed, with . ... 9 GREAT LAUGH STARS THEATRE IMPRINT AND PLAYDATES 3 i ee Wheel on the back turns and reveals five male characters of the picture kissing Margaret Lindsay’s hand. In colored ink on colored stock. Illustrated actual size. Prices include imprint: 500—$4.50; 1M—$7.50; 3M—$7.00 per M. Order directly from: ECONOMY NOVELTY CO. 239 WEST 39TH STREET NEW YORK CITY Page Three