This Hollywood PR stunt pioneered the motion picture publicity spectacle. | cbcradio
Lions and waiters and police officers - oh my! This Hollywood PR stunt pioneered the motion picture publicity spectacle.The Hollywood publicity stunt has been around for a long time.
Many film historians point to Harry Reichenbach as the pioneer of motion picture publicity spectacles. Born in 1882, Reichenbach was just 13 years old when he ran away with a circus. It was while working with carnival barkers, magicians and travelling acts that he learned how to draw a crowd. Many years later, he brought his brazen circus smarts to Hollywood., Reichenbach pulled off one of his best-known stunts. He checked into New York's Hotel Belleclaire under the name T. R. Zann. He said he was a musician and wanted to install his Steinway piano in his suite.
When the manager raced to accompany the waiter to Reichenbach's suite, they knocked on the door. When it was opened, they were greeted with a full-grown lion prowling the room. The house detective was called, then the police were summoned. Next thing you know, the press was crawling all over the hotel. What the hotel didn't catch on check-in was that T.R. Zann really meant Tarzan, and with the lion stunt, the premiere ofWhen it came to Hollywood stunts, Harry Reichenbach was king of the jungle.