MORE HAIRY

Whoops! When Universal Pics had to scare up additional prints of “Harry and the Hendersons” for sneak previews on June 3 and 4 (this after two poorly attended sneaks were held on May 29 and 30), it found itself in a bind. Besides having to hastily arrange newspaper ads for their unprecedented four sneaks in seven days, the studio had to strike new West Coast prints.

A reel from a Canadian copy of “Harry” was inadvertently used.

The result: At the June 3 screenings, moviegoers who spoke French had a distinct advantage.

As a Universal spokesman put it: “Unfortunately, one reel did get printed in French. I don’t know how many theaters it played in, but I doubt that it was the entire West Coast. I think it was at least 20 theaters.

“In the theaters where it did occur, we canceled the screening the following evening.”

He hastened to add: “Although the incident wasn’t funny, we want people to know it’s a very funny movie.”

One exhibitor detailed the mix-up this way: “Suddenly kids were asking their parents why everyone in the film was speaking French. They watched 80 minutes in English, only to suffer through 20 minutes in a foreign tongue. We gave a lot of refunds.”