New-York tribune., 1921-05-01
Checks for Five
Gents Lead Wav
ictureShowr
Publicity Stunt Explains
Why Mother Eternal
Is Giving Away Wealth

ceive in the mail this week check
which they do not expect. II you ham
pen to be one Of them do not become
unduly elated and jump to the conclu-
sion that your -wife's cousin has at last
decided to pay back the money he bor-
rowed from you the first year you were
married, or that the oil stock in the
trunk in the attic is about to pav a
dividend. Careful examination Of the
check will reveal the fact that, while
genuine enough, the check is merely
another publicity stunt" designed to
attract attention to feature film now
running on Broadway.
The checks in question are for five
cents each and are drawn on the Chat
ham and Phenix National Bank. They
are signed "Mother Eternal" the title
of Ivan Abramson's picture which has
been running at the Casino Theater.
Accompanying each check is a letter
which purports to explain why "Moth-
er" is giving away her wealth. She
states that she has known what It is
to be unhappy, but that now she has
found happiness and wealth she wants
to share both with all her children.
Mother" explains that there are so
many millions of her children in the
world that her financial contribution to
each must necessarily be small.
The first checks mailed were sent to
national and city officials and others
prominent in public life. John D.
Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan were
among those remembered by Mother
Eternal" Checks are now being mailed
out to the Joneses, the Smiths and the
others who make up the bulk Of the
theater-going public.
The check "stunt" Is the latest Of
series Of exploitation schemes that
have amused Broadway and its en-
virons for more than year. Some Of
these schemes have been ingenious in
the extreme and have worked out to
the entire satisfaction of the men who
originated them; others have failed to
achieve the result hoped for. and one
or two have come near bringing down
upon their perpetrators the wrath Of
the Police Department and the Dis
trict Attorneys office.
Since the recent passage of the bin
making it a misdemeanor to supply
false or misleading information to
newspapers, the heated imagination Of
the movie publicity man has been
somewhat curbed and the various
stunts Of recent months have been Of
the legitimate variety and conceived
with the idea of antagonizing neither
the newspaper editors nor the police.
One of the most sensational and in
many ways most successful fakes
perpetrated to exploit a picture took
place about twelve months ago, and
serves to illustrate to what lengths
some publicity men are willing to 20,
and what elaborate plans are laid IN
order to get space in the daily news
papers.
A short time before this particular
picture was about to be exhibited on
Broadway, the veteran night city editor
of well-known newspaper received 8
telephone call from the head of =
famous private detective agency. Tho
latter told his newspaper friend he
wanted to give him tip on wonder
ful news story. His firm, he declared,
had been retained to discover the
whereabouts of beautiful young girl
who had fed to. this country from
turkey and who was being sought for
by a band of wealthy sheiks. The
girl, he said, had gone through some
narrowing experiences before reaching
this country and had been located BY
his operative in a fashionable New
York hotel.
The night city editor listened patiently
and then said to his friend: "Thst is
all very interesting, old man, but what
IS the name of the movie" The de.
tective protested vigorously that the
story was a real one and not press
agents dream, but the night city
editor refused to be convinced, and ss
Tar as that paper was concerned it was
not printed.
The next day, however, an equally
influential and even more conservative
daily received the same tip and fol-
lowed it up eagerly. Reporters for this
publication found the beautiful and the
distressed damsel, also the sheik, and
her thrilling story was seriously told IN
print even before it was shown.
A few months later virtually all tie
newspapers in the city carried long
stories telling of an explorer who was
so fond of wild animals that he had
MS pet lion smuggled to his suite IN
hotel on upper Broadway in piano
case. The hotel management declared
that the first they knew of the presenes
of their unregistered guest was when
terrified waiter ran into the office sne
informed them that there was "a wild
lion" on sofa in one of the guesns
rooms.
The management notified the polies
and the story thus came to the atteas
tion of the newspapers through offisia'
channels. A few days later both sa'
man and the lion made their appearances
on Broadway in connection with MN
dealing with jungle life.