Evening star., 1941-01-26

| does so that a friendly camera will
light upon one of the trademarks he
represents. If it's a grocery store
Kline delivers the stock" consisting
| OF cereals, coffees, canned goods
anything you might expect to find
IN your corner market. Saloons
and cocktail parlors are his special
ty, for then he gets a chance to
display and possibly plug by dia-
logue American bourbon whisky,
one OF his most important accounts
If he CAN get an imbiber to say,
III have bourbon highball," to
the exclusion of Scotch. it's a real
coup in his business life
Maybe, the hero stops at a gas
station to inquire the way or to fill
up the tank. Here again, it's Kline
He has an exclusive" with one
of the big oil companies. Studios
are glad to use his pumps and ap-
paratus because he inStallS them
quickly, properly and at no expense.
Railroads. airlines and famous re-
sorts are on his list and Kline is
satisfied if he can get a handsome
picture of one of his trains, planes
or vacationing scenes hanging from
the walls of an Office set. For prac-
tical purposes, he has a ''mock-up"
or shell airplane ready in his store
room and any time the script calls
for movie characters to travel by
air Kline drags it over Actual
take-off shots are matched up at
the airport.
Protest Are Vain.
No one has been able to put
finger on the exact amount of money
these movies plugs are worth 10 the
merchandiser, but you get some idea
when it is noted that the average
picture plays to an audience OF
25 100000. while a hit like Boom
Town" biggest money groSser Of
1910, reached twice that number
And, despite the protests of eXhib-
itors-the showmen condemn screen
plugs" and decide to do some
thing" at their annual conventions
more and more pictures contain
scenes or bits of dialogue in which
one product or another is boosted
IN effective fashion. What better
way to sell a bill of goods than in
the tranquil atmosphere of movie
house. with the potential customer
perfectly relaxed and entirely un-
suspicious of sales drivei
Exhibitors complain from time to
time 10 the Hays Office that certain
plugs are so obvious that producers
must be getting paid for them, but
to all these the film makers make
heated denial They claim the dis
play of certain brands of tobacco,
automobiles. breakfast foods. fash
ions. beverages and hundreds of
other products gives an air of reality
to films, that movies must show
genuine props, things audiences use
in real life.
Mention by Name.
Nevertheless. some recent plugs
have all the earmarkS of paid ad-
vertiSing For instance:
In the current "Maisie Was
Lady" Maueen O'Sullivan hands
a bunch of keys to her maid and
orders her to drive the car around
She mentions the name of the car
by brand
In Tobacco Road" still III pro-
duction. ali automobile is one OF
the important props and a famous
make OF low-priced vehicle gets a
heavy play
In Andy Hardy's Private Secre-
tary" you'll see Judge Hardy puT-
chasing new convertible for
Andy. They'll refer to it as a
"Coronet" but you'll be able to spot
it at once as a popular type
In a recent Barbara StanWyck
film. the heroine changes her
steamer ticket SO she can sail on a
certain famous boat.
In Blonde Takes a Vacation"
considerable footage is taken up dis
playing d vacuum cleaner. easily
recognizable. and characters ffatter
it in the dialogue
In Dust Be My Destiny" John
CAT field and Priscilla Lane stare at
a poster saying, Next time take
the train'-a slogan used for years