16 Old Hollywood Publicity Stunts That Were So Wild, They Make Today's Studios Look Like Child's Play

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Reportedly, manager William Castle "was pissed nary 1 bothered to die" during his fearfulness movie "because it would've been large press."

Here are 16 chaotic PR stunts from the Silent Era and Old Hollywood:

1. Harry Reichenbach was 1 of the astir notorious property agents successful the aboriginal days of Hollywood. To beforehand the 1918 movie Tarzan of the Apes, helium had an orangutan styled similar a movie prima successful a glamorous evening gown and silk hat. The primate was brought to the lobby of the Knickerbocker Hotel.

2. For 1920's The Revenge of Tarzan, Reichenbach's ideas got adjacent wilder! Posing arsenic a instrumentalist named T. R. Zann, helium checked himself into the Hotel Belleclaire successful NYC. Claiming helium wanted to enactment a Steinway soft successful his room, helium got a squad of bellhops to assistance transportation up a monolithic woody crate. A abbreviated clip later, helium called country work with a unusual petition — 15 pounds of earthy steak brought to his room.

Befuddled, the edifice manager called backmost to double-check they'd heard correctly. After receiving confirmation, the manager accompanied the server with the steak. In the room, they discovered not a expansive piano, but a 450-pound lion!

Naturally, the employees rang up the location detective. Then, the cops were called in. Soon, the media showed up, too. The pieces fell into spot — T.R. Zann stood for Tarzan, and his caller movie was swinging into theaters soon!

3. In 1920, Reichenbach told the New York Times that helium erstwhile planned to person histrion Clara Kimball Young kidnapped and held for ransom by Mexican bandits until she was "rescued by 8 blonde cavalrymen."

He said, "I went overseas for the Creel Bureau, doing precisely this aforesaid benignant of work. I spent $8,300 of my ain wealth and got changeable up with shrapnel. I could not get the wealth back, and truthful I tried to get it backmost successful trade. I got the assurance that President Wilson would backmost maine successful this small bandit raid. Clara Kimball Young did not adjacent cognize it was going to happen."

4. Sixty-eight years earlier Bugonia hosted a escaped aboriginal screening for radical consenting to shave their heads, Universal Pictures paid aspiring histrion Patricia Smith $300 to person her caput shaved successful the mediate of a San Francisco movie theatre lobby to beforehand The Girl successful the Kremlin. The movie has a famous scene wherever Natalie Daryll's character's caput is forcibly shaved.

5. When soundless movie prima Florence Lawrence — aka the "first movie star" — made the leap from the Biograph Company to IMP, she already had a celebrated face, but audiences didn't cognize her name. Suddenly, a rumor emerged that, portion filming successful NYC, she'd been deed and killed by either an automobile oregon a streetcar. In response, IMP famously placed an advertisement titled, "We Nail a Lie."

The advertisement transcript read, "The blackest and astatine the aforesaid clip the silliest prevarication yet circulated by enemies of the 'Imp' was the communicative foisted connected the nationalist of St. Louis past week to the effect that Miss Lawrence (the 'Imp' girl, formerly known arsenic the 'Biograph' girl) had been killed by a thoroughfare car. It was a achromatic prevarication due to the fact that truthful cowardly. It was a silly prevarication due to the fact that truthful easy disproved. Miss Lawrence was not adjacent successful a thoroughfare car accident, is successful the champion of health, volition proceed to look successful 'Imp' films, and precise shortly, immoderate of the champion enactment successful her vocation is to beryllium released. We present denote our adjacent films..."

Over the years, galore person speculated that IMP laminitis Carl Laemmle planted the rumors of Florence's death, but thing has ever been proven. However, helium decidedly capitalized connected the attention. Several weeks aft his ad, helium really took the histrion to St. Louis truthful that the nationalist could spot for themselves that she was inactive kicking.

6. To beforehand the 1947 rom-com, The Egg and I, property cause Jim Moran went to the Los Angeles Ostrich Farm and — with the memoir the movie was based connected successful manus — sat connected an abandoned ostrich ovum until it hatched 19 days, 4 hours, and 32 minutes later. He reportedly squatted successful a specially designed wheelchair during the time and slept successful an ostrich corral astatine night.

7. The Ten Commandments manager Cecil B. DeMille's publicity stunt inactive has governmental implications today. In 1956, helium learned that the Fraternal Order of Eagles was passing retired copies of the Ten Commandments arsenic a measurement against juvenile delinquency. So, helium convinced them to donate ample chromatic tablets bearing the Ten Commandments to beryllium displayed extracurricular authorities buildings and successful nationalist parks nationwide.

Film buff and historiographer Parker Riggs told Chron, "DeMille knew however to beforehand his films successful a existent bombastic way. But it wasn't conscionable astir that. His tremendous ego — helium adjacent narrated The Ten Commandments off-screen — was matched by his spiritual fervor. He was very, precise religious. His biblical movies were sincere, thing helium believed in. They weren't each astir making money."

8. After reviewing 1943's The Outlaw, Joe Breen, who enforced the Hays Code successful Hollywood, ordered shaper Howard Hughes to region dozens of "unacceptable" shots of histrion Jane Russell's breasts, which helium felt were "shockingly emphasized and, successful astir each instance, are precise substantially uncovered." However, Howard ignored him and, playing into the controversy, hired a skywriter to constitute the movie's rubric and past gully 2 circles with dots successful the center, representing boobs.

He besides released promotional posters depicting Jane lounging successful a haystack, on with tag lines similar "How Would You Like to Tussle With Russell?" and "Mean! Moody! Magnificent!"

9. In 1958, Allied Artists promoted the horror movie Macabre with this chilling advertisement: "The producers of the movie MACABRE undertake to wage the sum of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS successful the lawsuit of the decease by fright of immoderate subordinate of the assemblage during the performance."

And they truly meant each word! Before taking their seats successful the theater, moviegoers had to motion $1,000 beingness security policies. To truly merchantability it, the theaters besides had nurses and hearses connected standby.

The thought was the brainchild of manager William Castle, who made macabre entrances astatine the film's premieres successful a coffin oregon hearse. Film historiographer Catherine Clepper told the Smithsonian magazine, "Reportedly, helium was pissed nary 1 bothered to die, due to the fact that it would've been large press. He was benignant of a genius erstwhile it came to promotion, anticipating what would delight audiences oregon differentiate his product, which successful galore ways was an average, debased fund horror-family movie of that period."

10. Castle became well-known for his eccentric PR campaigns. For 1959's The Tingler, helium convinced theatre owners to instal electrical buzzers connected their seats, which would jolt the patrons astatine definite points successful the film. He dubbed the exertion "Percepto." Before the movie started, viewers were greeted with a video connection from Castle himself.

He said, "I consciousness obligated to pass you that immoderate of the sensations, immoderate of the carnal reactions, which the actors connected the surface feel, volition besides beryllium experienced, for the archetypal clip successful question representation history, by immoderate members of this audience. I accidental definite members due to the fact that immoderate radical are much delicate to these mysterious physics impulses than others. These unfortunate delicate radical volition astatine times consciousness a unusual tingling sensation. Others volition consciousness it little strongly. But don't beryllium alarmed; you could support yourself. If astatine immoderate times you are conscious of a tingling sensation, you tin get contiguous relief..."

He besides planted a pistillate successful the assemblage to fake hysterics and illness astatine the infinitesimal the narrator told audiences that the titular monster had escaped into the precise theatre they were watching from.

11. Castle's 1961 thriller Homicidal included a "Fright Break" close earlier the climax. If moviegoers were excessively acrophobic to decorativeness the movie, they could permission and basal successful the lobby's "Coward's Corner" for a afloat refund.

12. Pre-Psycho, this was the norm for movie theaters: Patrons could arrive astatine immoderate clip and instrumentality a spot midway done the movie, and if they missed part, they'd simply enactment and ticker it again. However, manager Alfred Hitchcock went to large lengths to support its galore twists and turns, namely the archetypal enactment twist wherever Janet Leigh — who was marketed arsenic the prima — is murdered. So, helium banned moviegoers from coming successful aft the movie started.

At first, the theaters didn't privation to comply with his demands. However, having a scheduled commencement clip led to lines of waiting patrons buzzing with anticipation. The run was truthful palmy that it changed the moviegoing acquisition into what we're acquainted with today.

13. To beforehand Dracula's Daughter, the 1936 fearfulness movie astir a pistillate vampire who targets different women, Joe Weil, who worked for Universal's publicity team, hired an histrion to prevarication connected a sofa successful a Pittsburgh storefront, pretending to beryllium 1 of Countess Marya Zaleska's victims. A curtain periodically opened and closed astir her until the premiere, wherever she was "revived" onstage astatine the theater.

In addition, Universal published "birth announcements" from Dracula.

14. To make buzz for 1939's Gone with the Wind earlier it was adjacent filmed, shaper David O. Selznick embarked connected a casting hunt crossed the American South the find the cleanable histrion to play Scarlett O'Hara. On the Southern Talent Search, helium and endowment scout Katherine Brown met with debutantes, visited women's colleges, and spoke with Junior League groups.

Amateur actors responded to paper ads. Some adjacent showed up to the audition successful play costumes. Eventually, however, they formed Vivien Leigh, a nonrecreational but mostly chartless histrion from the UK.

15. The 1915 movie Trilby is astir an evil mesmerist who hypnotizes and kidnaps a young exemplary he's obsessed with. After a screening, a miss was discovered inactive sitting stiffly successful her seat. At the hospital, she laic successful a coma for 12 hours earlier shouting, "Those eyes! Take them away." The girl, it turns out, had been planted by our aged friend, the property cause Harry Reichenbach.

The incidental caused a batch of contention successful the press, and respective salient psychologists spoke astir what happened to her. The hazard paid off, arsenic Trilby and Reichenbach profited handsomely.

16. And finally, not each planned publicity stunt was really made public. For the 1933 Mae West-led achromatic drama It Ain't No Sin, Paramount's publicity squad came up with an thought that honestly sounds a small birdbrained! They trained 50 parrots to accidental the movie's title. The program was to instal the birds successful movie theaters to beforehand the movie a week earlier its release, but the thought was scrapped erstwhile the rubric was changed to I'm No Angel astatine the past minute.

What's the wildest modern movie promotion you tin remember? Share it successful the comments!

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