. . . Or Less

If anyone wants to take a free weekend at Niagara Falls this spring, Lowe's State and Orpheum, Sheraton Hotels, and Trans-Canadian Airlines will pay for it under certain conditions. All you have to do is write twenty-five words or less on "why you want to go to Canada, land of Rose Marie." There are several ways to go about winning, but the smart contestant will immediately realize three things: Rose Marie is in thrilling new Cinemascope, it has a star-studded cast, and it is filmed in the fabulously beautiful outdoors of Canada.

With these simple facts in mind, any slogan is fair game. As a sort of preliminary warm up, you might try, "After seeing the star-studded cast of Rose Marie in Cinemascope, I want to see Canada's magnificent wonderland of adventure, scene of this glorious spectacle," Although this is a good, solid try of exactly twenty-five words, it lacks any insight into your own personality. A better attempt would be, "A great film in a great natural setting; thrilling, beautiful, cacophonous Canada stirs my imagination beyond limits of the United States; i.e., Niagara Falls." Merely by the insertion of "cacophonous" and "i.e.", the writer is marked as no dumb cookie.

Concentrating on one aspect of the film is also a good method. "Never having seen Rose Marie in Cinemascope, I was amazed at the acoustics in that fabulous country, wide angled on the screen as never before." Possibly MGM never thought thought about the outdoor acoustics, so they would be glad to have one more feather in their bonnet. Another good one in the same vein is, "The unparalled, unexpected thrill of Rose Marie in Eastman Color can only be matched by seeing if nature's coloring in Canada is really that way."

The simple straightforward entry is always worth a try and has an outside chance of success. "If Rose Marie is any indication of the gala entertainment in Canada's Rockies, I would love to go to Niagara Falls, quite a step away." And as in anything else, the pathos of a hard luck story is sometimes undeniable, "My wife and me are jobless tight rope walkers who want to stir up a little publicity against Canada's breathtaking Falls in Cinemascope if possible."

Seemingly insignificant details might be the material for a winner. For example, you might show genuine interest by this offering, "Canada, the land of Rose Marie, interests me because I want to know just why Fernando Lamas was cast as a rugged Canadian trapper." You could use the same technique with Howard Keel as a Mountie, or with any of the production staff.

I favor the unexpected slogan, the daring phrase, and the clever metaphor. After discarding a welter of potential winners I finally penned this entry, "I want to go to Niagara Falls and see the whole cast of Rose Marie go over the Falls in a Cinemascopic Barrel."