The Maltese Falcon (Warner Bros.) (1931)

EAPLOITATION published mystery novels. PLAY UP THE CAST Every member of the cast of ‘‘The Maltese Falcon’’ has a definitely established box office value. Capitalize on their names. Feature them in all your advertising, outdoor and lobby displays. Bebe Daniels is seen in a part different from any she has ever played. She is a crafty and irresistible woman criminal who uses her feminine allure where the more forceful methods of her partners in crime fail. She is hardboiled, hard-hearted—but all woman! Miss Daniels’ performance will add countless admirers to her already large following. __ Opposite the star Ricardo Cortez makes his strongest bid for stardom as a cool relentless private detective who refuses to allow the dictates of his heart to stand in the way of his duty. Women will go for him in a big way. The day after your opening Ricardo Cortez will be the talk of the town. In support of Miss Daniels and Cortez are Dudley Digges, who made such a hit in ‘‘Outward Bound;’’ Una Merkel of Abraham Lincoln fame, Thelma Todd, favorite blonde screen vamp; Robert Elliott, who created a sensation as the managing editor in ‘‘The Finger Points’’ and J. pbk MacDonald, one of the most popular of character actors. In addition to the box-office value of the cast the popularity of the book, ‘‘The Maltese Falcon,’’ should be made another selling point in your campaign. Thousands have read it and acclaimed it as the most thrilling mystery novel of the day. Don’t neglect to mention it in your ads. ‘‘The Maltese Falcon’’! What a title! What a cast! box office! What a story! What a knockout you can make it at the WOMEN’S WEAR TIE-UPS Bebe Falcon” BOOK TIE-UP “The Maltese Falcon” has been one of the most popular of recently It created a sensation when first pub Vehed ond immediately placed its! 0 author Dashiell Hammett in the van of the current school of mystery writers. It is now being put out in a popular priced edition by Grosset & Dunlap with a special band on its cover tying up with the Warner Bros. talking picture. Be sure to see your local book dealer and arrange for special windows on “The Maltese Falcon.” You may also be able to persuade him to circularize his mailing list with heralds on the picture. Copies of the book on “The Maltese Falcon” should be placed in your lounge several weeks previous to your run of the film. Remember, every reader of the book is a prospective ticket buyer for the picture and every movie fan is a prospective reader of the book. A book tie-up is bound to work out advantageously for both parties. For further details on “The Maltese Falcon” you can write Grosset & Dunlap, 1140 Broadway, New York City. Daniels in “The Maltese appears in a number of scenes wearing a beautiful selection stills from the picture. — stills the basis for a Window display tie-up with all your local deal ers in women’s wear and hosiery Tie-up card shoud read — “See Bebe Daniels in ‘The Maltese Faleon’ and learn what the dressed. woman will wear.” shops. well LUX SOAP TIE-UP Bebe Daniels is ‘one of the Warner stars featured in an advertising tie-up with the manufacturers of Lux Toilet Soap. advantage of this arrangement by obtaining window displays at all loeal grocery stores, drug beauty shops and department stores. For Yurther details write Lever Bros. Co., Cambridge, Mass. LOBBY DISPLAYS Make lobby reflect the qualities of the picture. Make it as weird and as mysterious as possible with perhaps a touch of romance. Use green and purple lighting effects and color schemes. Use large | heads of Bebe Daniels and Rieardo Cortez and smaller ones of the other | prominent players in “The Maltese | Faleon” cast. You might even mask | a part of their faces and supplement the display with teaser copy describing the character each star portrays and asking the fans to make their own identification. For your marquee display use a cut-out of a black falcon with red electric lights flashing On and off Behind the | eyes. Your street ballyhoo should include a tall man wearing a black hood and gown imprinted in white with the following copy: “BEWARE—THE MALTESE FALCON!’ An adventure with The Maltese Faleon awaits you at the Strand Theatre tonight.” Dress your ticket taker in a sim your : “a blue on lavender panel. Upper back orange. Color girl’s dress in yel low worked up to brilliant colors. Be sure and take} stores, | Lift these illustrations from the corresponding ad. Lettering dark | Background is dark blue title black ground is in purple with borders in | green. Copy is green on light blue | WHIRLWIND CAMPAIGN ‘The Maltese Faleon’’ is one of the most astounding mysl tery-romanece pictures ever produced. Properly exploited and advertised it Is sure to smash your box office records. Put -everything vou have into your campaign for this picture. Double ‘and triple your advertising appropriation. Plaster the town With posters. Circularize your mailing list with heralds on the picture and make street distribution of same. Lithograph every ;empty window. Get as many window displays as possible. If you can’t make a direct tie-up be sure that you plant a win| dow ecard. | WANT AD | eae | PLACE CARDS This unit in itself class. Deliver a generous supply of | | Advertise in the Want Ad columns place cards bearing copy suggested of your for a faleon | (hawk) to be used for lobby display purposes. Offer a reward for here to managers of hotels restauthe first one to bring such a bird | rants and cabarets. They are sure to vour theatre. This ad is bound | *° be welcomed there because of the : gesture of impart to their guests and patrons newspaper As there | is usually a bounty offered by State | and other such | State organizations for the capture | |} to enuse a lot of comment. | Game Commissions distributing a few complimentary of the killing of a faleon you can probably make !In the ease of hotels these cards | should be placed in every mail box | and under the glass tops of every desk in rooms. In the restaurants | these cards can be put at the plate | of every patron. Here is your copy: We like to feel that you are our honored guest because you enjoy the good things of life. It is our personal pleasure to make you welcome and lend our every effort to assure your comfort. Might we suggest for your further enjoyment the witnessing of that highly recommended attraction, “The Maltese Faleon” at the Strand Theatre. a tie-up with them on such a stunt. TEASER CAMPAIGN You ean ereate a tremendous amount of interest for “The Maltese | Falcon” by a cleverly managed teaser campaign. This campaign should |inelude newspaper advertising, lobby display and outdoor bill posting. Use lines such as: “BEWARE—'The Maltese. Falcon’; is headed this way.” — = — it teading-steres ond sreciaite shon On your outdoor campaign make a ; up a quantity of-half sheets carrying these or similar lines and post them for a week preceding the showing. Two days before you open the picture, snipe another half sheet below these, carrying your theatre name and playdate. Use of the teaser lines in your lobby should include displaying them under the glass at the box office window and also on the doors of the theatre. PAPER BAGS Supply your local grocers with a few thousand standard size paper bags carrying the following imprint. “Thank you. Call again. You can make your shopping expedition even more pleasurable by seeing ‘The Maltese Falcon’ at the Strand Theatre.” SNIPING one sheets and three sheets with copy similar to the following: “‘The Maltese Falcon’ is the mystery sensation of Detroit. See it now. State Theatre. No advance in prices.” You can use this same copy for your theatre cards too. No matter where a person turns “The Maltese Faleon” message should meet his gaze. Don’t be satisfied to grab off just the standard poster locations. Send out a bucket brigade along the highways to plaster sides of buildings under construction, barns, fences, telegraph poles, backs of buildings and every available spot where a 'snipe can be posted. For this part of the campaign get out half sheets, Still “Bebe Daniels, 65” and “Maltese Falcon, A.14” in flesh fint. Still “Bebe Daniels, 40” or similar ad illustration mounted on an orange background. Lower background should be in mauve with the title purple on white and copy dark green. Work up illustration in natural flesh tints. in yellow panel and decoration in background. i ss “What is it? Who is it? ‘The| With a slight alteration of copy Maltese Falcon’!”~ these cards may be used for taxis, “Man, woman or fiend? ‘The Mal-| bus lines and also as counter ecards -~*en a . . — establishes | friendliness these cards | |} You can further assure their use by | NEWSPAPER CONTES} | Due to the extraordinary number of stars in the cast of “The Maltese Faleon” there is an excellent opportunity for running a newspaper identification contest. The players include Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez, Dudley Digges, Una Merkel, Thelma Todd, Rebert Elliott and J. Farrell MacDonald. The sponsoring the contest should run paper a picture of one of these stars each day with the description and name of the character they play in the photoplay and perhaps a brief bit of their past history which can be taken from their biographies in this press sheet. The readers of the paper must identify the stars by name and write a fifty word essay on which of the The eash prize for the group they like best. theatre should offer a : : “'* | person giving all the correct names | tickets to the collaborating parties. | : na | accompanied by the best essay. The five next best should receive passes to the run of “The Maltese Falcon.” Perhaps book dealers will also wish to tie-up with this contest and add copies of “The Maltese Faleon” novel to the prize list. The theatre should announce the contest by a trailer on the screen and in conjunction with it they should also use some of the teaser lines printed elsewhere on this page. BEBE DANIELS Suggestions for Current or Advance Lobby Frames POST CARDS Bebe Daniels is definitely established as one of the leading fomipine try. Cash in on her popularity vy sending Bebe Daniels post cards over your regular mailing Isit, supplemented by added names culled from your local telephone directory. These cards carry a beautiful picture of the star on the front with the following copy on the reverse side: In “The Maltese Falcon” beautiful Bebe Daniels has her most amazing role. Ricardo Cortez is her leading man and what a team they make. You ean see “The Maltese Falcon” at the Strand Theatre during the entire week of. June 8th. Order post cards from the Economy Novelty Company, 340 West 39th St., N.Y.C. Prices including theatre name and playdate in the copy are: : 500—$4.00 per 1000— 6.00 per 2500— 5.50 per 5000— 5.00 per SERE WO. AAN’S WEAPONS FAIL— ff SHE USES ME NSe Use still “Maltese Falcon, 28” in flesh tints. Bird is in dark green on emerald green ground. Title should be in dark green on yellow panel. Lower panel emerald greer and still indicated in natural tone box office attractions of the inaus-—~