"Ottawa's 'Pollyanna' Prologue Goes Big" [article]

"Ottawa's 'Pollyanna' Prologue Goes Big" [article]

1920

An article describing the Russell's successful April 1920 prologue Polyanna at the Court of Happiness, which preceded showings of the Mary Pickford film Pollyanna.

Inscription: Ottawa's "Polyanna" Prologue Goes Big | To "Polyanna" fell the honor of being the first motion picture to be given a prologue presentation in Ottawa, Canada, and to this form of presentation Manager J.T. Moxley of the Allen's Russell theatre where the picture was shown is willing to give the credit for much of the big volume of business done. | Mr. Moxley called in Will McLaughlin, photoplay editor of the Ottawa Journal, and placed the proposition of providing a suitable prologue for the attraction entirely in his hands. The result was an original fairy fantasy in three scenes, entitled "Pollyanna at the Court of Happiness," with a story theme that not only tied up with the original "Polyanna," but which allowed many opportunities for newspaper "tie-ups" which brought considerable advance advertising on the run. Mr. McLaughlin began his campaign with advertisements in the journal several weeks before the opening date, calling for a girl of the Mary Pickford type to play the role of Pollyanna in the prologue. Several hundred embryo Pickfords presented themselves on the Russell stage on the evening designated, from which two girls were chosen, one as the understudy. The prologue, being a fairy fantasy, called for a cast of 130 children, exclusive of the principal characters. The services of Professor and Mrs. Sinclair, dancing instructors of considerable local reputation, were obtained to train the children, many of the talented kiddies being members of their classes. | The newspaper campaign started two weeks previous to the opening date and consisted of a series of "teaser" ads, which were later increased to full length single column ads calling attention to the unique prologue "presented on a scale similar to the prologues produced at the Capital, Strand, Rivoli, and Rialto theatres of New York City." On the Saturday preceding the opening the Journal carried a half page ad, and large space was used throughout the week of the showing. | The production enjoyed a tremendous success no small part of which is due to the playwriting efforts of Mr. McLaughlin and the financial success of the run of "Pollyanna" was phenomenal, especially since the Russell is a legitimate house and motion picture attractions have seldom proved popular there.

“Ottawa’s ‘Pollyanna’ Prologue Goes Big.” Motion Picture News 22 no. 12 (September 11, 1920): 2034. Internet Archives. https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew222unse.

Digitized by Media History Digital Library