Almost as bad was another picture in which the chief character, an old gardener, began his day’s work with an old overall. At the end of the day he blossomed forth in a new garment.
Mistakes are quite as prevalent in Western dramas. Imagine, then, as I did, seeing an Indian girl wearing silk hosiery.
There are much worse mistakes in historical films. You will remember that “Jane Eyre,” Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel, was set in the early part of the nineteenth century, but the heroine in the photoplay version was up to the minute in fashions.
It is quite likely that more than one spectator will detect the same error, in which case it will prove too costly a stunt, so it is advisable to limit same to the first four persons who report the error. As the average motion-picture theater changes its program daily, it will be hard to verify the mistakes, which may not prove to be such. To guard yourself against the unscrupulous, it is well for you or somebody you can trust to see each program. Failing this, stipulate that spectators report the error to the exhibitor immediately after seeing the picture.
This stunt, besides drawing additional attention to your regular slide, should result in permanent customers. Moreover, those folk who delve beneath the surface will realize that were not your goods satisfactory you would, instead, offer a quarter in cash. Do not neglect to have the names and addresses of the winners, together with particulars of their errors, screened, for it will assuredly prove an incentive to the unlucky ones.
XLIII.
HOW THE BOOK DEALER CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE MOVIE ADAPTATION MANIA
The saloon-keeper may attribute decreased business to the versatile motion picture, but to the average book dealer the industry can be most beneficial.
It is what might be called the adaptation mania from which both publishers and book dealers have profited. To prove this, you have only to take into account “Les Miserables,” which, when released at the picture theaters, created an enormous sale of cheap reprints of the popular book.
This has been followed up by many other adaptations from novels and stage plays, and in every case it has meant extra trade for the book dealer who has been keen enough to make good use of the opportunities thus presented. Many movie fans, after seeing the photoplay version of a popular book, and finding it to their liking, have a desire for reading the story. Instead of borrowing the book from the local library, they prefer to spend up to a quarter on a cheap edition—and this is precisely where the book trade comes in.
Hardly a week goes by without some popular book or play has been produced in motion-picture form.