SCREEN LIGHT and SHADOWS

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1937, Page 5 (Supplement)

SCREEN LIGHT and SHADOWS

PRODUCERS' TRICKS.

Realistic Faking Is An Art.

tfEW STARS ACTUALLY RIDE REAL HORSES.

(By SHEILAH

Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, Into the Valley of Death, rode— Errol Flynn on a rocking horse! MOTION pictures, as you probably know by this time, are crowded with trickery. The liero riding * horse across the plains or desert is usually astride a mechanical device in the studio. Intrepid hunters shoot African jungle lions from the eafety none of the Hollywood sound stage. Fog, snow and rain are created in a snowless, fogless—and usually rainless— 'California. Villains are shot in the head and appear next week in another piece 'of "movie" treachery. Chairs, tables and rocka are hurled at men who suffer no more damage than a slight bruise. Rivers are created in studio back "lots." Aeroplanes stage terrific air battles—on terra firm*. And «o it goes on.

Faking in the "movies" is indulged in Tiot so much to fool the public, but to protect players and enhance the technical and entertainment value of a picture.

The only way to achieve the "close-up" shot of Errol Flynn at the head of his novel "Six Hundred" in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" .iras to use & stationary mechanical horse with a microphone nearby to pick up the dialogue. If this sequence had been "shot" with real horses, on a genuine battlefield, the sound of camera trucks, flying hooves, etc., would have created a bedlam of sound. The mechanical horse is covered with the hide of the genuine article. A rocking arrangement jerks the animal -up and down, simulating the movement of a real horse.

Similar trickery took place in "Under Two Flags," when Ronald Colman and Claudette Colbert raoed each other across the desert. - Neither Colman nor Miss Colbert is a horseback enthusiast, and they were relieved to perform their race on rocking horses in the studio, against a background of retreating desert. That "San Francisco" Earthquake. Grafting authentic background scenes is an important advancement in the making of pictures, and has saved the industry untold millions of dollars. In "To Mary—With Love," the DempseyTunney championship flight at Philadelphia was reproduced. Many wondered how the studio was able to show Mr. Baxter and Miss Loy observing the. fight between the heavy-weights. The explanation is simple. -

GRAHAM.)

The usual recipe for ma-king "movie" snow is showering bleached corn flakes on the set. That snow storm you saw in 'Swing Time" was none other than your favourite breakfast cereal. In "One In a Million," however, "snow" was produced by scraping ice and blowing it in the direction of the players.

Gary Cooper is supposedly shot by Porter Ha.ll in "The Plainsmen." To prevent possible damage to Cooper's classical features, technicians held a pane of plate glass in front of the actor's face while the pistol shot was fired.

Most of the jars, chairs and tables hurled by angry movie players are made of papier mache. The rock that hits Jack Oakie in "The Texas Rangers" is composed of this harmless material— for obvious reasons.

Rivers running their courses in "Banjo On My Knee"' and "Winterset" were started on a wide wooden slope, with little paper ribs running longitudinally and water flowing from top to bottom to create ripples.

Even shadows are not exempt from "movie" trickery. "Cainille," starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor, images reflected in the water stand out with amazing clarity, due to the purple dye added to the water.

CAMERA FLASHES.

NEWS XS PARAGRAPHS. Lita Grey Chaplin Aquirre, a former wife of Charles Chaplin, has filed a suit for divorce from her second husband on the ground of cruelty. The death occurred last week in New York of Mrs. Lionel Barrymore, known on stage and screen as Irene Fenwick. They were married in 1923. King Gustav V. of Sweden has awarded (treta Garbo the medal for literature and art, which is the highest Swedish distinction for artistic talent. Mrs. Lillian Coogan, mother of the film actor, Jackie Coogan, has married the latter'* business manager, Arthur Bernstein. Mr. Coogan was killed in a motor crash a year or two ago, Junior Durkin being another victim. Jackie Coogan was in the rumble seat of the car, but leapt clear as the car left the ro«d.

Director John Cromwell called in Fred derson, of the process department. "Fred," lie said, "I want the DempseyTunney battle. When can I have it?" "In 20 minutes," replied Serson. "What part of it do you want?" "The first and last rounds," Cromwell answered. "But I won't need it until to-morrow morning."

The following morning a special camera projected the first and last rounds of the fight, "shot" at the time by Newsreel photographers, on a screen. In front of the screen were seated the players and 1000 extras who saw reenacted before them an event that had occurred maiiv years ago. The second camera, used in filming the picture as a ■whole, photographed this composite, ■which included a group of fight fans, the principals and, in the background, a ncwsreel of Tunney expertly dodging the vicious haymakers of an outraged l)ei!n«cy.

The "fake" earthquake featured in "San Francisco" erupted on a stage within n stage which had a double floor on rollers. The floor was jolted by hydraulic pressure, which hit the springs and bounced the top floor back. The terrifying wide crack in the ground was also accomplished by hydraulic pressure, the "crack being pulled open and lifted. When They Need Fog and Snow. For the current production of "Lloyds of London," a thick pea-soupy fog was necessary, and so the special effects department brought a 1001b cake of dry ice to a position near the set. A jet. of steam was blown across the dry ice, while a wind machine directed the "fog" to where it was needed. Another method for creating synthetic log— mineral oil vaporised under tremen/j>' dous pressure—was used in the Samuel Coldwyn picture, "Beloved Enemy," ftarring Merle Oberon.

Jane Withers, whose mother has received threats against the child's life unless 50,000 dollars is paid, was guarded by special detectives and a bodyguard on a visit to Boston, Massachusetts. Another film star made the object of attention by extortioners was Ginger Rogers. In her case a 20-year-old naval rating was arrested and sent to gaol. He was more modest than those in Jane Withers' case, demanding only 5000 dollars. What price Greta Garbo ?

Samuel Goldwyn's production, "Come and Get It," spells near-future stardom for ingenue Frances Farmer. Two years ago Miss Farmer worked as an usher for 36 cents per hour at the Liberty Theatre, Seattle. She wrote an essay which won her a trip to' Eilrope, but her family objected, so Miss Farmer left Seattle on a bus for New York and Europe, anyway. She arrived in Hollywood little more than a year ago, went supperless to bed for a long few months, received her big chance in Bing Crosby's "Rhythm on the Range," and is now sought after by every sensible producer.

Arthur Wenzel, who offered ex-King Edward Vffl. and Mrs. Simpson £300,000 to come to Hollywood and make "The Right to Love," a proposal which the Hays Office officially banned, said in an interview: "All three of us could make a lot of money. I'm offering Edward 1,000,000 dollars and a Hollywood mansion. That sounds like a lot of money, but he's worth it. I figure he'd be twice as good as the Dioune quintuplets, and they got 500,000 dollars for appearing in their first baby pictures." Wenzel agreed that the British would not like the film he is planning, so that America would be the only big market for it.