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The Times (29/Aug/1963) - The Birds caused traffic trouble

(c) The Times (29/Aug/1963)

"THE BIRDS" CAUSED TRAFFIC TROUBLE

The sound of screeching birds caused a flutter in the West End yesterday. The cause of the trouble was publicity by the Rank Organisation for Alfred Hitchcock's new film The Birds.

A talking poster site — the first in Britain — had been set up. Behind a poster advertising the film, a tape recorder magnified the twittering of thousands of birds. A Rank spokesman admitted later: "I suppose the sound could be pretty terrifying." The order was given for the tape to be switched off.

Complaints flooded in to Ranks from the police, the Noise Abatement Society and Westminister City Council. A spokesman for the Noise Abatement Society said: "Before Ranks agreed to stop that terrible row, there was complete chaos in Shaftesbury Avenue. Taxi drivers were so startled by the sudden noise that they stopped dead in the traffic, and cyclists almost fell off their bicycles.

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