{"id":287022,"date":"2025-11-16T15:44:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/287022\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T15:44:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:44:19","slug":"the-16-wildest-old-hollywood-pr-stunts-ever-attempted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/287022\/","title":{"rendered":"The 16 Wildest Old Hollywood PR Stunts Ever Attempted"},"content":{"rendered":"

These days, movie promotion can get somewhat out of hand with fake costar relationship rumors<\/a> or seemingly limitless product tie-ins<\/a>, but that’s nothing on the lengths studios went to promote their films back in the industry’s early days!Here are 16 wild PR stunts from the Silent Era and Old Hollywood:1. Harry Reichenbach was one of the most notorious press agents in the early days of Hollywood. To promote the 1918 film Tarzan of the Apes, he had<\/a> an orangutan styled like a movie star in a glamorous evening gown and silk hat. The primate was brought to the lobby of the Knickerbocker Hotel.\"Tarzan<\/p>\n

First National courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

2. For 1920’s The Revenge of Tarzan, Reichenbach’s ideas got even wilder! Posing as a musician named T. R. Zann, he checked<\/a> himself into the Hotel Belleclaire in NYC. Claiming he wanted to put a Steinway piano in his room, he got a team of bellhops to help carry up a massive wooden crate. A short time later, he called room service with a strange request \u2014 15 pounds of raw steak brought to his room.\"Historic<\/p>\n

Edwin Levick \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Befuddled, the hotel manager called back 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 grand piano, but a 450-pound lion!\"Vintage<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Related: Most People Can’t, So Let’s See How Many Rom-Coms You Can Match With Just A Single Screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

Naturally, the employees rang up the house detective. Then, the cops were called in. Soon, the media showed up, too. The pieces fell into place \u2014 T.R. Zann stood for Tarzan, and his new movie was swinging into theaters soon!\"Vintage<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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3. In 1920, Reichenbach told the New York Times<\/a> that he once planned to have actor Clara Kimball Young kidnapped and held for ransom by Mexican bandits until she was “rescued by eight blonde cavalrymen.”\"Young<\/p>\n

General Photographic Agency \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

He said, “I went abroad for the Creel Bureau, doing exactly this same type of work. I spent $8,300 of my own money and got shot up with shrapnel. I could not get the money back, and so I tried to get it back in trade. I got the assurance that President Wilson would back me in this little bandit raid. Clara Kimball Young did not even know it was going to happen.”\"Young<\/p>\n

Bettmann \/ Bettmann Archive \/ Via Getty<\/p>\n

4. Sixty-eight years before Bugonia hosted<\/a> a free early screening for people willing to shave their heads, Universal Pictures paid<\/a> aspiring actor Patricia Smith $300 to have her head shaved in the middle of a San Francisco movie theater lobby to promote The Girl in the Kremlin. The movie has a famous scene<\/a> where Natalie Daryll’s character’s head is forcibly shaved.\"SmithHere’s the video:<\/p>\n

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5. When silent film star Florence Lawrence \u2014 aka the “first movie star” \u2014 made the jump from the Biograph Company to IMP, she already had<\/a> a famous face, but audiences didn’t know her name. Suddenly, a rumor emerged that, while filming in NYC, she’d been hit and killed by either an automobile or a streetcar. In response, IMP famously placed an ad titled, “We Nail a Lie.”\"Lawrencee<\/p>\n

Everett Collection<\/p>\n

The ad copy read, “The blackest and at the same time the silliest lie yet circulated by enemies of the ‘Imp’ was the story foisted on the public of St. Louis last week to the effect that Miss Lawrence (the ‘Imp’ girl, formerly known as the ‘Biograph’ girl) had been killed by a street car. It was a black lie because so cowardly. It was a silly lie because so easily disproved. Miss Lawrence was not even in a street car accident, is in the best of health, will continue to appear in ‘Imp’ films, and very shortly, some of the best work in her career is to be released. We now announce our next films…”\"Vintage<\/p>\n

IMP courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Over the years, many have speculated<\/a> that IMP founder Carl Laemmle planted the rumors of Florence’s death, but nothing has ever been proven. However, he definitely capitalized on the attention. Several weeks after his ad, he actually took the actor to St. Louis so that the public could see for themselves that she was still kicking.\"Smiling\u00a0Laemmle<\/p>\n

Keystone-France \/ Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Related: Nobody Born After 1995 Can Identify These 15 Movies From Just One Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

6. To promote the 1947 rom-com<\/a>, The Egg and I, press agent Jim Moran went<\/a> to the Los Angeles<\/a> Ostrich Farm and \u2014 with the memoir the movie was based on in hand \u2014 sat on an abandoned ostrich egg until it hatched 19 days, four hours, and 32 minutes later. He reportedly squatted in a specially designed wheelchair during the day and slept in an ostrich corral at night.\"Moran<\/p>\n

Bettmann \/ Bettmann Archive \/ Via Getty<\/p>\n

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7. The Ten Commandments director Cecil B. DeMille’s publicity stunt still has political implications today. In 1956, he learned<\/a> that the Fraternal Order of Eagles was passing out copies of the Ten Commandments as a measure against juvenile delinquency. So, he convinced them to donate large stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments to be displayed outside government buildings and in public parks nationwide.\"Charlton<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Film buff and historian Parker Riggs told Chron<\/a>, “DeMille knew how to promote his films in a real bombastic way. But it wasn’t just about that. His enormous ego \u2014 he even narrated The Ten Commandments off-screen \u2014 was matched by his religious fervor. He was very, very religious. His biblical movies were sincere, something he believed in. They weren’t all about making money.”\"DeMille<\/p>\n

CBS Photo Archive \/ CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In more recent decades, such monuments and similar displays have been at the center of the separation of church and state debate<\/a>.\"Monument<\/p>\n

Bloomberg \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

8. After reviewing 1943’s The Outlaw, Joe Breen, who enforced the Hays Code in Hollywood, ordered<\/a> producer Howard Hughes to remove dozens of “unacceptable” shots of actor Jane Russell’s breasts, which he felt were “shockingly emphasized and, in almost every instance, are very substantially uncovered.” However, Howard ignored him and, playing into the controversy, hired a skywriter to write the movie’s title and then draw two circles with dots in the center, representing boobs.\"Vintage<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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He also released promotional posters depicting Jane lounging in a haystack, along with tag lines like “How Would You Like to Tussle With Russell?” and “Mean! Moody! Magnificent!”\""The<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Related: We Finally Know Which Actors Are Returning For The \u201cDevil Wears Prada\u201d Sequel, So Let\u2019s See How Much The Cast Has Changed Since The Original Came Out In 2006<\/a><\/p>\n

9. In 1958, Allied Artists promoted<\/a> the horror movie <\/a>Macabre with this chilling advertisement: “The producers of the film MACABRE undertake to pay the sum of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in the event of the death by fright of any member of the audience during the performance.”\"Christine<\/p>\n

Archive Photos \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

And they really meant every word! Before taking their seats in the theater, moviegoers had to sign $1,000 life insurance policies. To really sell it, the theaters also had nurses and hearses on standby.\"Dorothy<\/p>\n

Courtesy Everett Collection \/ Everett Collection \/ Everett Collection<\/p>\n

The idea was the brainchild of director William Castle, who made macabre entrances at the film’s premieres in a coffin or hearse. Film historian Catherine Clepper told the Smithsonian<\/a> magazine, “Reportedly, he was pissed no one bothered to die, because it would’ve been great press. He was kind of a genius when it came to promotion, anticipating what would delight audiences or differentiate his product, which in many ways was an average, low budget horror-family film of that period.”\"Castle<\/p>\n

John Pratt \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

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10. Castle became well-known for his eccentric PR campaigns. For 1959’s The Tingler, he convinced<\/a> theater owners to install electric buzzers on their seats, which would jolt the patrons at certain points in the film. He dubbed the technology “Percepto.” Before the movie started, viewers were greeted with a video message from Castle himself.\"Vintage<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He said, “I feel obligated to warn you that some of the sensations, some of the physical reactions, which the actors on the screen feel, will also be experienced, for the first time in motion picture history, by some members of this audience. I say certain members because some people are more sensitive to these mysterious electronic impulses than others. These unfortunate sensitive people will at times feel a strange tingling sensation. Others will feel it less strongly. But don’t be alarmed; you could protect yourself. If at any times you are conscious of a tingling sensation, you can obtain immediate relief…”\"A<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He also planted<\/a> a woman in the audience to fake hysterics and collapse at the moment the narrator told audiences that the titular monster had escaped into the very theater they were watching from.\"Vincent<\/p>\n

Archive Photos \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

11. Castle’s 1961 thriller Homicidal included<\/a> a “Fright Break” right before the climax. If moviegoers were too afraid to finish the movie, they could leave and stand in the lobby’s “Coward’s Corner” for a full refund.\"Vintage<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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12. Pre-Psycho, this was the norm for movie theaters: Patrons could arrive<\/a> at any time and take a seat midway through the movie, and if they missed part, they’d simply stay and watch it again. However, director Alfred Hitchcock<\/a> went to great lengths to protect its many twists and turns, namely the first act twist where Janet Leigh \u2014 who was marketed as the star \u2014 is murdered. So, he banned moviegoers from coming in after the film started.\"Janet<\/p>\n

Bettmann \/ Bettmann Archive \/ Via Getty<\/p>\n

At first, the theaters didn’t want to comply with his demands. However, having a scheduled start time led to lines of waiting patrons buzzing with anticipation. The campaign was so successful that it changed the moviegoing experience into what we’re familiar with today.\"Director<\/p>\n

Hulton Archive \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Related: If You Can Identify 12\/17 Of These ’60s Movies From A Single Screenshot, You’re A Film Expert<\/a><\/p>\n

13. To promote Dracula’s Daughter, the 1936 horror movie about a female vampire who targets other women, Joe Weil, who worked for Universal’s publicity team, hired<\/a> an actor to lie on a couch in a Pittsburgh storefront, pretending to be one of Countess Marya Zaleska’s victims. A curtain periodically opened and closed around her until the premiere, where she was “revived” onstage at the theater.\"Vintage<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In addition, Universal published “birth announcements” from Dracula.\"Marya<\/p>\n

Donaldson Collection \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

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14. To generate buzz for 1939’s Gone with the Wind before it was even filmed, producer David O. Selznick embarked<\/a> on a casting search across the American South the find the perfect actor to play Scarlett O’Hara. On the Southern Talent Search, he and talent scout Katherine Brown met with debutantes, visited women’s colleges, and spoke with Junior League groups.\"Classic<\/p>\n

Hulton Archive \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Amateur actors responded to newspaper ads. Some even showed up to the audition in period costumes. Eventually, however, they cast Vivien Leigh, a professional but mostly unknown actor from the UK.\"Leigh<\/p>\n

Bettmann \/ Bettmann Archive \/ Via Getty<\/p>\n

15. The 1915 film Trilby is about an evil mesmerist who hypnotizes and kidnaps a young model he’s obsessed with. After a screening, a girl was discovered<\/a> still sitting stiffly in her seat. At the hospital, she lay in a coma for 12 hours before shouting, “Those eyes! Take them away.” The girl, it turns out, had been planted by our old friend, the press agent Harry Reichenbach.\"ClaraThe incident caused a lot of controversy in the press, and several prominent psychologists spoke about what happened to her. The risk paid off, as Trilby and Reichenbach profited handsomely.\"in<\/p>\n

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16. And finally, not every planned publicity stunt was actually made public. For the 1933 Mae West-led black comedy It Ain’t No Sin, Paramount’s publicity team came up<\/a> with an idea that honestly sounds a little birdbrained! They trained 50 parrots to say the movie’s title. The plan was to install the birds in movie theaters to promote the film a week before its release, but the idea was scrapped when the title was changed to I’m No Angel at the last minute.\"Mae<\/p>\n

LMPC \/ LMPC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

What’s the wildest modern movie promotion you can remember? Share it in the comments!Do you love all things TV and movies? Subscribe to the Screen Time<\/a> newsletter to get your weekly dose of what to watch next and what everyone is flailing over from someone who watches everything!\"<\/p>\n

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Read it on BuzzFeed.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"These days, movie promotion can get somewhat out of hand with fake costar relationship rumors or seemingly limitless…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[130167,49,48,361,130170,75,105458,3484,130166,130171,130168,130169],"class_list":{"0":"post-287022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-bettmann","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-clara-kimball-young","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-everett-collection","15":"tag-getty-images","16":"tag-harry-reichenbach","17":"tag-jane-russell","18":"tag-lmpc","19":"tag-william-castle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}