Royal Reels

Terrific was the excitement in news-reeldom last fortnight as the French Government for 48 hours suppressed films of King Alexander's assassination. All U. S. newsreel syndicates had their films snatched at Cherbourg or Le Bourget, air field. When pressure from French public opinion grew too strong, the Government released in France a carefully cut version. It showed Killer Georgieff on the running board of King Alexander's car but suppressed footage proving that he got there with the greatest of ease because the police cordon was scandalously inadequate.

Same day the U. S. newsreels were finally permitted to put their cans of film aboard U. S.-bound ships. Meanwhile Fox Movietone had received word that their films, aboard S. S. George Washington, were apparently the best. They showed more clearly than others the smart sabre work of Lieut.-Colonel Piollet as he slashed down Georgieff. Also Fox cameramen were alone in getting unobstructed pictures of the killer on the running board as he blazed away. To beat all rivals to Manhattan, Fox decided to risk sending a $50,000 plane out to try to pick up their film from the George Washington 600 miles at sea.

Aboard the plane was Movietone Editor Edmund Reek, primed to edit the assassination and compose sound captions on the flight back to Manhattan. Since the dangerous pick-up at sea would itself be news the plane carried a $20,000 sound camera.

Tossing the Fox film overboard in a sealed can, Captain George Fried of the George Washington, famed for his sea rescues, trailed it behind his ship. Circling around the ship Pilot Marion Grevenberg let down a grappling hook, grappled again & again until his rope broke.

By this time the George Washington's photographer had excitedly unlimbered his camera. He caught the foam-flecked wave that heaved up and tore off the right pontoon of the low swooping plane. As she floundered in a mountain of spray, Swedish Mechanic Henry ("Happy") Johnson was drowned, but within 50 minutes a smart boat crew had saved everyone else as both plane and camera sank. The can of film that had now cost an additional $70,000 was hauled back aboard the George Washington and Fox faced a possible lawsuit from the owners of the plane.

Starting on page 18, TIME presents King Alexander, Louis Barthou, Colonel Piollet, Assassin Georgieff and Queen Marie as caught by Fox Movietone in the supreme crisis of their lives.

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