Public Enemys Wife (Warner Bros.) (1936)

| : | | Min “Puslic ENEMY’s WIFE” | x ih, | iy Title and theme suggest load of bally ideas requiring services of pretty gal. Some of ’em are teasers, some of ’em are out-and-out shocker stunts, but all of ’em are priced within your budget requirements. A swell stunt was worked in Cleveland on “Bullets or Ballots’? that we thought you could use on this picture. Idea was to have a man (in this case you'll want a girl) make stump speech on street, with plants among listeners heckling. Speech plugged picture in such a way that folks never suspected that stooge was not on the level. Here’s how your spiel could sound: ‘‘Ladies and gen tlemen. I’m speaking for the women of this country. Women who have been branded as criminals just be cause they were unfortunate enough to marry gangsters and crooks. In stead of trying to give these girls the _ chance they’ve been looking for — the chance to go straight without fear of punishment, the poor girls are thrown into jail. They need help! They don’t need to suffer for the crimes their husbands committed. If you don’t think they go through plenty, just being married to those racketeers, see ‘Public Enemy’s Wife’ —that picture at the Strand. That'll tell you the story. That’ll show you how these girls are persecuted — how hard it is for them to go straight no matter how hard they try,” etc. HALF CONVICT—HALF DEB Maybe you can get a dressmaker to fix up a trick dress, so that one side is a beautiful evening gown and the other side is striped convicts’ garb. It’s worn by girl standing on platform in lobby. Copy beneath reads: ‘Charming lady or convict? How would you treat this Public Enemy’s Wife?” GAL HANDCUFFED TO COP For another street bally, you could have pretty girl walking along street handcuffed to policeman. Sign on back says: ‘‘See what happens to me by seeing ‘Public Enemy’s Wife,’ at the Strand Theatre.” Page Four GAL ARRESTED BY POLICE Another angle would be to have pretty gal walking down street. Suddenly, where crowds are thickest, man dressed as policeman blows a whistle, runs up and grabs her. She puts up a bit of a struggle but soon lets him lead her to a fake police car at the curb. She gets in and they drive away. Your plug? Oh yes, before driving off they pull down shades of car, and folks read copy about film. GIRL STOPS THE TRAILER For trailer stunt, you could have girl run up aisle, yelling ‘Stop that trailer — it’s a lie!” Trailer stops and she jumps up On stage and says: ‘Just by seeing this trailer you can’t know what it’s like to be a Public Enemy’s wife. To know that you'll have to see the picture ‘Public Enemy’s Wife,’ coming to this theatre next week.” Naturally, you want to be sure that trailer is almost over before gal does her act. GIRL IN ARMORED TRUCK If you can borrow an armored truck, it would be just the thing for your Public Enemy’s Wife to drive around in. Banners on sides tell folks that: “The girl riding in this car needs all the protection she’s getting, because she’s a Public Enemy’s Wife.”’ Or possibly you’d prefer not using banners, but having girl drive up in front of crowd, and then step out of car, revealing sign similar to one suggested above. GAL WITH ‘BRACELETS’ | WHICH WOULD YOU GIVE THIS | PUBLIC ENEMYS WIFE” c= on one arm and handcuffs on the other, along with sign as illustrated. If you prefer, she can make a little speech about “the life she leads” — telling folks that they can find out all about it by seeing your show. ‘WIFE’ GIVES A TALK 4) 7 For stage stunt, you can introduce a good looking gal as a Public Enemy’s Wife, telling folks that she’d probably get bumped off if her hubby knew what she was doing. Then the girl starts talking, telling folks what a horrible life she leads. But before she gets very far with her story she says: “But there’s no reason for me to tell you the whole story when you can see it on the screen of this theatre next week, when ‘Public Enemy’s Wife,’ with Pat O’Brien and Margaret Lindsay plays here.” ‘WIFE’ SPEAKS ON RADIO Your masked lady could also appear on local radio station. She’s introduced and speaks just as described in item above. Best place to spot her would be after news broadcast or during sustaining program. After crime programs would be good, too, because at that time you'll have listeners who are most interested in show. FOLKS LOOK FOR ‘WIFE’ You all know the stunt of having folks: identify Public Enemy’s Wife in local department stores. Paper ties up by giving: description of the girl and telling readers: that first person to find her in co-operating store must tap her with copy of current edition in order to win ducats. The stores tie up by telling in advertisements: when she'll be around. SIGN ON PRETTY GIRL Have a pretty gal walking down the street in flashy clothes and make-up, so that folks are likely to look around at her. And when they look around, they see a sign on her back reading: “It’s suicide to fall in love with me — I’m a Public Enemy’s Wife. You can find out all about me by seeing etc.”’ And as long as she’s walking around, you might as well have her hand out heralds, too.