The Moving Picture Weekly (1920-1921)

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22 THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY WAKING UP SLEEPY BROADWAY (Continued from page 10.) The best show in town is THE GREAT AIR ROBBERY, at B. S. Moss' Broadway Theatre." This unique stunt attracted tremendous attention. As it was quite an unruly cow it actually stopped traffic several times. The second day of the cow's march proved the last one. The police again interfered and stopped further work along this line. By this time business was picking up nicely at the theatre. B. S. Moss, owning a string of theatres in New York, decided that he could circularize his other patrons and get them down to see the picture. A cleverly worded "Aerogram" in the form of a telegram was therefore printed. Thousands of these were given away at theatres in all parts of the city. This brought a good deal of extra business. A man dressed in an aviator's uniform and carrying the skull and cross bones insignia of the robber band in the picture on his garments with the sign announcing the ipicture, walked daily through the busy thoroughfares of the city handing out Aerograms to the passing throng. His striking costume attracted a good deal of attention. By his time the picture was going so strong at the Broadway that the manager decided to hold it over for another week. The permit for the street parade having been denied, a plaji was made to frustrate the police in their attempts to stop the exploitation of the picture on the grounds that it interfered with traffic. A Fifth Avenue motor bus was hired to run its regular route daily and carry a special party. The sides of the bus were completely covered with huge signs announcing Locklear and "The Great Air Robbery." The Naval and Militia Band sent a contingent of players to ride on top of the bus and furnish the music. This bus travelled up and down Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the thickest of traffic and the music heralded its coming. The idea was not original, but it was exceptional that it could be put over on New York's busiest fashionable drive. In the meanwhile airplanes had been making bombing flights over the city. Among the passengers carried were Miss Agnes Smith of the New York Telegraph, Miss Delight Evans of the Photoplay Magazine and other prominent moving picture writers. Besides Miss Bromwell. Bertrand de Acosta, Eddie Killgore, Casey Jones and other well-known pilots were included in the flying contingent. The New York exploitation stunts were primarily intended to acquaint the metropolis that the picture was playing at the Broadway. Interest in "The Great Air Robbery" already had been excited by the widespread publicity campaign mentioned above. The newspaper and magazine stories were depended on to draw the people to see the picture. The methods, judging by the crowds which attended, proved very successful. " ' ' lllllllll IIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII UNIVERSAL CITY SELF-SUSTAINING. IF Universal City was besieged by an invading army the world's film capital would be able to sustain itself indefinitely. The two thousand workers withm its gates could be fed, clothed and cared for without the necessity of leavmg the 680 acres comprising the great producing metropolis. Universal's vast ranch acreage would be put under cultivation to supply food. The immense herd of cattle could be slaughtered for meat. T^ie electrical engineering corps under Harry Brown could illuminate the biaildings and keep the stnictures warm. The technical department would erect fortifications. The arsenal would supply guns and ammunition. The ranch could mount a full company of cavalry on the best horses in the west. From among the regular Universal employes an arniy of former service men could be i-ecniited that could easily repel invadei's. This force would be officered by former officers of the army who would restmie their rank and supervise the movements of the troops. It is not anticipated that it will ever be necessary for the world's film capital to beat its camera into a sword but the little city of dreams-cometrue would give an invading force a very pleasant evening. \et hep] BONNIE HILL A "FAIR VIRGINIAN" •THEATREGOERS all over the country have been asking questions concerning Bonnie Hill, a comparative newcomer to the screen, who played the haughty society roles with Viola Dana in "Tlie Microbe," with Nazimova in "The Brat," and who has now ioined the Universal forces, her first role being a society beauty in "The Peddler," based on the Saturday Evening Post story by Henry C. Rowland. Miss Hill is one of the most beautiful women in photoplays, and came to the screen after two years as special model for Vogue, during which time she attracted the attention of almost evei-\' important artist in America and received numerous offers to go on the musical comedy stage. She can be well described as a statuesque beauty, and there are few women in fildom who can wear stunning clothes with such natural erace. Miss Hill was bom at Peterboro, Virginia, and comes of a socially prominent family in the South. She ioined the Greenwich Village colony in New York just for a lark about four vears aeo. and it was there that she became interested in modeling, at the request of several artist friends. Her success on the screen seems assured.