The Gorilla Man (Warner Bros.) (1943)

| Every War Bond You Buy Aims for the Heart of the Axis! BUY A WAR BOND NOW =TAKE A SHOT AT THE GORILLA MAN ‘GORILLA MAN HITLER’ TOURS CITY WITH GIRL REPORTER Arrange for a femme newspaper reporter to be escorted to town’s most prominent night spot, restaurant, and other public places by a man dressed to resemble Adolf You-KnowWho. Both act very nonchalant about Put the Posters to it, but note reactions from average persons, police, uniformed men, waiters, etc., these reactions serving as the text for special feature story by the newspaperwoman. Stunt ties in nicely with film’s Nazi spy ring theme. Work Like This: 6-SHEET CUT-OUT AS BOX-OFFICE SHOCKER Cut out the clutching hands art from the striking 6-sheet (see back page) and mount above box-office so that they seem to be reaching for the ticket-buyer. Copy in panel reads: ‘‘Abandon ye who enter here all hope for anything less than the most exciting time of your lives . . . with ‘The Gorilla Man’.”’ HORROR SHADOW BOX DISPLAY FOR LOBBY Mount and cut out photo illustrations from the 1and 6-sheets and place them in front of shadow box display. Against back of shadow box place the green cut-out clutching hands plus title. Then, if you’ll throw a green flasher light into shadow box, the hands will disappear when the green light is on, will appear when the green light is off. Outside shadow box display sign reads: “Thrilling! Chilling! Man-Killing! The Height of Fright Delight!” Add playdate credits. YOUR WARNER TRAILER It’s a shocker! A horror-ific teaser that’s loaded with the same kind of thrills and excitement as the picture itself. Play it early ... play it often! BOOK THE TRAILER NOW at your Vitagraph Exchange 1-SHEET ART FOR LOBBY DISPLAYS Cut-outs of the clutching hand from the 1-sheet can be adapted to several striking displays. One: Mount art on a pendulum swinging across entrance to auditorium. On floor of lobby directly underneath place same copy as suggested at left for over box-office. Two: Mount hands from several 1-sheets and place them everywhere around theatre coming from behind draperies with one-word teaser panels saying: Shocking!, Thrilling!, Chilling!, Man-Killing! Under each add title and playdate credits, with green spots on each grasping hand. Three: For marquee display, cut out figures of Ruth Ford and clutching hand and mount at opposite ends of marquee, with title and billing between ’em. 4 q € Tie in your ever-important local war bond drive with your showing of ‘The Gorilla Man” by setting up a lobby booth with Gorilla Man Hitler, Gorilla Man Hirohito and Gorilla Man Mussolini on display as shown at left. Offer patrons a free “shot” at the Gorilla Men with dart, suction gun, baseball or bow and arrow for every purchase of war bonds or stamps. If a prominent local celebrity, preferably a well-known hunter or sportsman, can be induced to visit lobby, photo of him taking a shot at the Gorilla Men should make good newspaper copy. LOBBY GAG DISPLAY Give the popular ‘“look-inthe-barrel”’ gag a novel twist by building a cage in lobby covered inside the bars with blackout cloth. Cut a small opening in cloth above which is this copy: “If you’re weak-hearted . . DON’T LOOK IN HERE’’. That’s sure to make ’em look. Inside stands a blowup of ad 103 (see opposite page) with a green flasher light giving it an extra eerie appeal. THRILL THROWAWAY Print a quantity of heralds locally from mat 202 on opposite page, adding an extra teaser fillip by folding the ad horizontally and imprinting this copy on cover: “Bolt your doors! Lock your windows! Look behind you! Look who’s coming to town...’ Get merchant ad for back cover to defray printing costs. STREET BALLYHOO Make a life-size silhouette cutout of a man who would appear to be climbing up the sheer wall of a building. Across his back letter title and playdate info. Place this cut-out high on the front of your building, or any other available to you. At night, dimouts permitting, light up figure with a green spotlight. A Cheery-Eerie Angle for Bally Plan to add some cheer to the eerie angles of this campaign if yours is a more sophisticated type of patronage. Everybody likes a good mystery... but a light selling treatment might prove more effective in some instances. If yours is such a situation put these ideas to work: 1. Promote flowers from local florist for presentation to women at matinee. Copy on card attached to flowers: ‘With the compliments of The Gorilla Man... he’s a lady-killer! Be sure to meet ‘The Gorilla Man’ at the Strand Theatre Friday.” 2. Display a large ‘‘Horror Thermometer” in lobby scaled at “Chills”, “Thrills”,... Spine Tingling”’, ‘Man-Killing” and ‘Horrors”. Illustrate each with appropriate still from your Vitagraph Exchange set. Banner copy: ‘The Height of Fright Delight!”’.