Sons o Guns (Warner Bros.) (1936)

THE HEARTIEST LAUGH IN THE WORLD You can introduce your town to the greatest laughter in the world... and get a good deal of publicity for your film at the same time, if you follow these suggestions: First you have to find a fellow with a real hearty laugh—preferably from a neighboring town so that locals won’t know him. Via ads, publicity stories and heralds you announce that you’ve found ‘The Man With the Heartiest Laugh in the World.’ Stories say that his laugh is infectious and that no one can remain gloomy while he’s around. Then you announce your big stunt; that he’s going to establish a world’s record for laughing. Then on a scheduled day (opening day) he plants himself in your lobby and starts laughing. This is kept up all day, with time out only for meals. Gag can be continued as long as it maintains interest. When you feel it’s reached climax announce that stooge has set World’s Laughing Record. Make every attempt to get reporters and photogs down daily to record the ‘history-making event.’ Might even be able to get radio station interested enough to broadeast 15 minutes of it daily, with running patter by announ cer and laughs by the record-setter. After working gag, you tie-in fellow in your ads, using his picture, with copy saying that he got his practice laughing at Joe HK. Brown, ete. You should also try to get papers to write human interest stories about him. LAUGH RECORD BROADCAST For a novel radio ie announcement, you ? ean use laugh record this way: Announcer asks interviewee how he liked picture and how he liked Brown, ete. Answer to each question is the laugh record. Same idea can be adapted to your lobby, as illustrated. SANTA COMES TO TOWN If a fellow goes driving around town dressed as Santa Claus, as illustrated, it should get the eye of the town in this hot weather. Sign on sled says... “‘“Xmas comes early this year, because Joe E. Brown ’s in town in etc., etc.”’ LAUGH RECORD BY PHONE Here are two novel ways of using a laugh record in theatre. You can have a victrola in office, with laugh record ready. Whenever phone rings, with people asking for time of feature or information about film, you snap the record on while giving them the info which gives impression of an audience roaring at film. Same idea can be used with personal calls to your mailing list. Laugh record as a background will help get your plug over. Page Four FAT AND THIN MEN FOR NOVEL LAUGH BALLYHOO \ } We DS ‘ \ iv KX Ssons 2 Hy ogeNs il STRAND" \eantiay Wl w2 You’ll need a fat, ruddy-faced, jovial man and a thin, anemic sad-looking lad for this bally. They walk around the streets, as shown above, with sandwich signs. Fatty’s sign reads, “‘I just saw Joe EH. Brown w etc., etc.’’...and the skinny’s reads, “‘I didn’t.’’ Be sure to instruct the two to keep in character throughout—the thin one mournful—fatty laughing. CRYING PHOTO FOR LOBBY You can probably get a laughing photo of someone (not a movie star) around town. If you decide to use the stunt, blow the still up to 40 x 60 size and display it in lobby. By working a pipe from the water faucet to the back of the blowup directly over the eyes, you can arrange display so that laughing head is seen crying steadily with real tears. Caption reads, “‘I laughed until I cried when seeing Joe EK. Brown in etc.”’ Man dressed as suggested by our artist strolls around the beach ballying your show this way: He builds a man out of sand to look. like Joe EK. When asked about what he’s doing, he isn’t -bashful about telling ’em ... and can start spieling on Brown and the film during the whole sand sculpturing job. When he’s through, he can tack a sign on it... which’ll get your plug over until one of the beach officers tears it down. LAUGHING FAT MAN BALLY If you can find a fellow in town with a real hearty laugh, here’s how to use im for a street stunt. Get a big balloon, blow it up and then insert it inside his shirt, giving him the appearance of a p very stout man... as shown in the illustration. He sits on a park bench or other spot where the crowds gather, and starts laughing. If it’s loud and funny enough, people will notice him. As he laughs, he releases the air in the balloon, and to the amazement of onlookers, he’ll get thinner and thinner, the more he laughs. Finally, when the air in the balloon is completely gone, he stops laughing, and pulls a large piece of rolled paper or cloth out, and lets it fall. Onlookers read sign, which says, “T lost 50 pounds laughing at Joe E. Brown in etc. ete.’’ LOBBY MIRROR STUNT Couple of mirrors are all you’ll need to work this lobby stunt. Place ’em in lobby, so arranged with a blowup of Brown, that when lobby-lookers peek, they see five faces of Joe KE. Caption attached says, ‘“‘Joe Brown 1s 5 times as funny as ever wn ete. ete.’’ JOE ANSWERS FANS QUIPS You can keep the passers guessing and laughing if you hide a fellow behind a blowup of Joe, out front. Lad should have a glib tongue—and sign invites folks to ask questions of Joe E. Brown. Voice keeps ’em rolling on the curb with hilarious answers—and if that doesn’t get a crowd, then you don’t have to try idea again. A broken down M. C. would be your best bet for the job.