Publix Opinion (Feb 21, 1930)

Melee besetedobe bebe ieloferbefeferdesteaferferfesfesfetesfe sfonde fesfonle forfeoheoferfesterfesferferfeofeofofefeferkeotinge SHORT REVIEWS OF SHORT FEATURES By LOUIS NOTARIUS Publix Theatres Booking Department ee ee ee ee eee PARAMOUNT _ DOWN WITH HUSBANDS (19 min.) A Christie comedy featuring a Arthur and Bert Roach. This two reeler plays upon the imagination by manufacturing a situation of a group of women organizing a strike against their husbands. A women’s association is formed and out they go on the street corners demanding the pants of their better halves. They brook no opposition and don’t hesitate to break umbrellas on the heads of the male hecklers. Of course, _the laughs come when beautiful female scabs appear to take the places of the disgruntled wives who come to terms quickly. This subject packs in a lot of entertainment in its two reels and will help to round out a good program. Will go well with a dramatic feature, led by an opening number with snappy songs and closing with a flash band or review. VOICES OF LONELY MEN (10 min. ) Another of the Bruce Scenics in which prospectors while away their spare time singing their homely songs, with the beauty of nature as a background. Interesting but should be made part of a program that has a lot of snap. VITAPHONE Epa ANN CODEE & FRANK ORTH in “Imagine My Embarrassment’”’ (8 min.) This comedy team has made several shorts that have been very successful. In this subject one gets a bedroom farce that is different. It involves a philandering bedroom draper, a lovely but lonely woman, a warm-hearted girl-friend, and a jealous husband, who happens to be deaf. The situations are embarrassing for Ann Codee, whose beauty-sleep is suddenly disturbed by Frank Orth, who mistakes room No. 9 for No. 6. Holds the interest from ‘beginning to end with clever comedy. Ann Codee just completed the Keith circuit as headliner and is well-known as a versatile ‘comedienne. Good subject in a number two spot. 3336 ALICE GENTLE in a scene from “Carmen.’’ (4 min.) Lovers of fine music will appreciate this subject done in excellent Technicolor. ‘“‘Habanera,’’ the well-known aria is sung by Alice Gentle, who displays an excellent voice. She is assisted by a capable ensemble. While most operatic selections are taboo, this particular one has the elements of life in it which will appeal generally. A feast for the ear and eye! Will add class to programs in DeLuxe houses. Lends itself to overture treatment wherever orchestras are available. PATHE _ LOVE, HONOR and OH BABY (21 min.) One of the Manhattan | Series, featuring Franklyn Ardell, who has been playing the vaudeville circuits for years. It is a domestic comedy involving two married couples; the husband of one ruling freely, and the other henpecked for all he is worth. The punch comes when the worm turns and the’ meek one gets wise to himself and turns the tables on his overbearing wife. The plot is.old and will prove fair entertainment. Should not be booked with a feature of the domestic type. Should play in a number two spot with a strong opening and closing number, _ AUDIO REVIEW “I Knew Him When” (10% min.) This synchronized review is a compilation of old News reel shots which resurrect well-known personalities who appeared before the camera | years ago, taking part in functions with which they are associated: King George, Prince of Wales, Wm. Howard Taft, Harold Lloyd, and many other celebrities are presented in a most interesting -manner. A subject that will serve as good entertainment and will lend a lot of novelty :'to a program. May be used to advantage anywhere. HER HIRED HUSBAND (22 min.) Norris, Harry McLaughton, Noel Francis, Farman, J. McCoughlin and G. Sholtz taking part. A comedy situation is presented here that will prove good entertainment, As the title implies, a young English heiress, whose sweetheart was presumably killed in the war, arranges to live with her Irish servant’s husband for 24 hours in order to get her share of a fortune which makes marriage a condition. The gags are built around the crude -Trishman who is coached to answer all questions with ‘‘Yes,’’ ‘‘No”’ and ‘‘Certainly.’’ The sudden appearance of the long-lost sweetheart culminates in a satisfactory ending. It is a dressed up comedy of contrast, which holds the interest from start to finish. Should be used with features of the blood-andthunder and underworld: type. A Pathe Variety with Ethel Jerry Norris, Austin EDUCATIONAL THE BIG JEWEL CASE (16 min.) A Jack White Mermaid comedy with that famous vaudevillian—Eddie Lambert, carrying the comedy with his funny Jewish dialect. As the title implies, it is a mystery of the spooky type with all its attendant slapstick—hokum ' detectives with a streak of yellow, negro who turns white, ghosts, mysterious woman, etc. Should get a lot of ktughs in spite of its broad gags. Will go well with a polite comedy eae or with a musical picture of the romantic type. 0H DARLING (17 min.) This Jack White comedy has a fast tempo and holds the attention. It is a bedroom farce in which the honeymoon of an eloping couple is nearly frustrated by a pair of interfering parents. A youthful cast, consisting of Norman Peck, Nancy Dover and John Litel, help to put pep into the situations. Has all the elements of a feature picture. Should be used, therefore, with: a feature of extreme contrast, such as a Western or Musical production. Blank Screen Avoided _ By Using Curtain-on-F ilm A three hundred foot trailer of curtain ‘‘close’’ showing scenes of opening and closing curtain are being used by Manager Walter Morris of the Paramount Theatre, Palm Beach, Fla., to avoid a blank screen during intermission. The Paramount is a seasonal operation with a five minute lapse between the first and second evening shows. Shorts of the ‘‘Love Parade Ovetrure’’ type are run ‘during that time. When these ‘run out, the non-syne is used with ‘the curtain and title slides. tional convenience for patrons. Old Annunciators Enable Theatre To Page Patrons A system of paging patrons without interfering with the performance or the audience has been devised by Manager J. A. Jones of the Saenger Theatre, Pensacola, Fla. Patrons expecting calls are given small cards lettered according to the alphabet. To summon them, the chief usher flashes the proper letter on the electric annunciators on either side of the stage. These annunciators were used at the time of the vaudeville policy but now furnish an addi PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF FEBRUARY 21st, ee fpsonneonnornsoomeoemeroeneeernesero (CRITERION AIDS|| occa I AIDS SHOWMEN IN OTHER CITIES Manager Teka 1 soning, and Director of Publicity J. E. McInerney, of the New York Criterion, are working a marvelous stunt solely for the benefit of ‘the box offices in other cities that | | will soon play ‘The Vagabond King.” Realizing that a huge portion of each audience in the Criterion is made up of transients in New York, the Criterion management. has provided stamped and imprinted postcards, which ushers distribute to patrons. A screen trailer further urges the patron to address and mail the postcard to the folks back home. The postcard itself is a photo of the spectacular “front” of the Criterion theatre, with a picture of Dennis King and Jeanette MacDonald, underlined by a powerful ticket-selling catch line for the picture. As a follow up on this idea, Publix Opinion urges Publix showmen to use a poster, a trailer, and a newspaper publicity story, asking that local recipients of those cards phone the theatre manager and tell who sent them the cards and what was said. This will make great stuff for local ‘‘endorsement’? ads, trailers and posters later on. Mr. McInerney has a further aid for the out of town showman, by passing out cards which read as follows: If yowre a visitor in New York, youw’re seeing “The Vagabond King” far in advance of your friends back home. You can give them the same jenjoyment by filling out this ecard, and permitting us _ to notify the folks in your home town, of the fact that you’re flelighted with the performance. Thank You. The Management. These cards are collected, and once a week will be mailed to the local Publix theatre manager, who will use them for trailers, posters, news stories and endorsement ads. NEWSPAPER AIDS “V AGABOND KING’ Herbert Chatkin, manager of the Paramount, Springfield, Mass. has enlisted the co-operation of the leading local paper in that town to advertise ‘‘The Vagabond King.”? ‘The paper has promised to run stories on the picture at least twice a week and to feature the stars’ photographs every Sunday in the rotogravure section, until the picture opens. A two column, three line head story occupying a prominent position on the theatrical page of the Springfield Daily News and telling of the simultaneous opening of the picture, and narrating the synopsis, was the first gesture on the part of that newspaper to fulfill its promise. Novel Electric Signs _ Effective Eye-Catcher An illustrated electric vertical sign on “The Love Parade,’ adjacent to the Houston ‘‘Met”’ theatre sign, proved very effective in attracting eyes a score of blocks away. Letters were made on white compo board and painted white, with a red border. Amber lights were used. <A 35-foot velour paper sign, placed on top of a one-story building, also helped to attract patronage. FARGO TIE-UPS~ A calendar, with date of coming attractions, placed in bank statements, and an exceptionally fine ‘‘Love Parade” display in a leading furniture store window, helped increase patronage in Fargo, N. D., Publix theatres recently. Hal Cuffel, district advertising supervisor, effected the tieups. Telegraph Stations the lobby of the New York Paramount and the grand lounge of the Brooklyn Paramount, cured by Henry Spiegel of the New York Paramount publicity staff, portion of the city for twenty cents, and are really doing business. SELLING “THE VAGABOND KING” By RUSSELL HOLMAN, Advertising Manager, Paramount Pictures (Not for Publication) Everybody who has seen ‘The Vagabond King” agrees that it is the biggest and best piece of show property that Paramount has ever handled. That is the opinion of Mr. Zukor He Mr. Katz. The picture is being booked and sold upon that asis. The picture cost a lot of money and shows it in every foot of film. It is gorgeously mounted. The Technicolor is perfect. No out-of-focus stuff; everything sparklingly clear and distinct, dagzlingly beautiful. Beyond a doubt the best Technicolor seen in a picture to date. THE CAST DENNIS KING. New York and some other big towns know him now as the greatest romantic singing star of the stage; the whole world will thrill to his golden voice and romantic personality in ‘‘The Vagabond King.” JEANETTE MacDONALD. The ex-musical comedy prima donna who scored so heavily in ‘‘The Love Parade.” A beautiful woman with a fine soprano voice. WARNER OLAND. “Fu Manchu. ” Here seen as the King’s Grand Marshal, a heavy, and excellent in the role. O. P. HEGGIN. Giving a great performance as King Louis XI, the performance that those who know Heggie as one of the foremost character actors on the American stage might — expect him to give in his most inspired moments. LILLIAN ROTH. The ex-blues singer of Broadway and comedienne of ‘‘The Love Parade’’ is a revelation in her first dramatic role as Huguette, the Parisian street girl who gives her life for the man she loves. Several stage road companies are still playing “The Vagabond King.” The performance they offer cannot compare for a second with our picture. There is only one marvelous production of ‘‘The Vagabond King” as it should be seen and heard—Dennis King in Paramount's all-technicolor picturization, with Jeanette MacDonald, etc. The musical monarch of the movies! The outstanding song romance of all times, with the outstanding singing stars! The greatest contribution to marvelous entertainment ever provided by stage or screen! Sell Dennis King as the famous Ziegfeld singing star, the most gorgeous voice and the most romantic lover ever seen upon the screen. Sell MacDonald as the beautiful heroine and singer of ‘“‘The Love Parade.”’ Sell Oland, Heggie, Roth and a cast of 5,000. Imagine the “Song of the Vagabonds” sung by 1,000 voices! Sell the magnitude of the production: Only by Paramount on the singing, talking screen could this world-famous romance be produced on the spectacular scale that it deserves. ..with the wealth of distinguished talent. ..wholly in brilliant Technicolor...with golden-voiced stars singing the glorious songs (name them) . .the opulent palaces of the King. . .the colorful tavens be the vagabonds)...the surging Paris mobs the splendor and beauty of the fete in the palace gardens. the mighty camp of the Burgundian hordes...the clash and battle of the rival armies numbering thousands. Sell the Technicolor: At Last—the Perfect All-Technicolor Gem. You knew that Paramount would make the greatest color picture of all times—-here it is! Brilliant uniforms, handsome heroes, beautiful ladies, elegant gowns, priceless tapestries, palaces, cathedrals, night resorts of Paris, a royal masquerade—all in the most eye-dazzling colors you have ever feasted upon. No color picture you have ever seen before compares with “The Vagabond King.’’ Sell the songs: The thrilling, spine-tingling ‘“‘Song of the Vagabonds’’; the heart-throbbing ‘Only A Rose’’; the lovely waltz, “Love Me and Let Me Go’; the glowing ‘Love Me Tonight’; the beautiful ‘‘Some Day. ” All by one of the greatest composers of all times, Rudolf Friml, composer of “Rose Marie’ and other famous musical shows. . Sell the story and the romance, King for a week and lover forever. The glorious romance of a Vagabond and a Princess. Love on the wings of the most marvelous music ever heard. His golden voice offered his heart to her; His sword of steel risked his life for her. He gladly made a bargain to love her for a week and die. From the depths of the gutter to a throne, from a gallant victory on the battlefield to the gallows—all for a woman and all for love. A song in his voice, @ woman in his heart and a sword in his skilled right hand. The Greatest Lover in Paris and the Most Beautiful Woman in France. Beyond everything, establish it as a great, outstanding picture; as the first and only time that the world-famous “Vagabond King’’ has been produced like this; with an allstar cast, with the star who made it famous on the singing stage, with the gorgeous heroine of ‘“‘The Love Parade,” with perfect Technicolor and on a spectacular scale that staggers the imagination. Don’t use stills that make the show look like mob scenes out of the Bible; King should always be in romantic poses in the art work; big love poses of King and MacDonald are good; most of the Lillian Roth stills are especially good. I think the show can be sold better with copy than with art work. There are good stills on every production but you can say things about this show that you couldn’t about any other ever made. dred and fifty window displays, changed weekly, in each city. In connection with this tie-up, Maurice Bergman of the Brooklyn Paramount arranged for Postal to give $100 in prizes for the ten best Valentine telegrams’ sent from the theatre. Rudy Vallee acted as the judge, and winners were announced at the suppershow on the Monday following St. Valentine’s Day, insuring attendance of those who had'sent wires at an otherwise slack period. Enliven N. Y. Lobbies Postal Telegraph sub-station in profeature telegrams to any The tie-up nets one hun