LOCATING THE LOCATIONS

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 7

LOCATING THE LOCATIONS

Film Page

P , there 18 on « job in film studios A 1 envy, it i, that of the locat.on manager. He doesn't get much publicity. He never becomes famo Us He doesn't even «et the kudos he deserves. But h.s ,s one of the most interesting aspects of film-making. Locations play an important part in movie production.

' '"'it Imrk-rouniN is u,„k It , "f kn..«i...L- .imi 'V, >■«'»»* h.... i Jik( . , ' eonnecfc.l will, filing tim,H ii.iv,. i,,.,.,, wil , M iittl|ll| .j j l'\ itun«• imi| !\ (» wrif ors.

l|i' S are safe for hinmakjnjr and as accessible as pos'""k - 1

Ihe location manager's office is a ot tiles, with towns, estates, rivers In >uses. streets, forests, hills, valleys— • <">ietul|y indexed and cross-indexed. are invaluable, but knowledge >■>' »""'e iinporta.it. A . 0 0, l location ■ uanaycr should be able to surest at a moment's notice suitable baTk»roumls I'M most sce„e.s_or should at least know roughly where to look.

'<mii sc. ..lies kiio\vlc(l<> ( > is , "'7* 'ioi.r««. (•rossTnit 1,. .'>11(1..11 I- iII,IS locution MiHiia-cr. coin ii..Mit(Ml t., most fascinatiii" l»"t "t til,, j.,1, is tliHt it. lihs intro-<l'"-»',l t.. in,, s,. thoroughly >«•(■ there is ii I\\m y s soin,, tiling new t,, l**nrn. Dili;,nit locutions iii-,. nattirallv lit. most interesting to hunt out. I'rol'.l>"t v.ui on your mettle!

All \ out iin-s; (| u f.. L- #» ,c *, , «»iKi» phiro, of cniir-ip- "" 1 1 "•'< i '•«! «•>V I, «.,iii, - >»ni.'l I, iii_' «• 111 irclv ,}ifT«- r .• ,it. The '"••• "0" IJi;i navel's j„|, is JlW|i(| I,IMIU ' , "" 1 n,,t «'> '""k for t licui. ||t'

J The story of how the film companies find those natural bacf(- J , grounds for their pictures. i

By--Clynton Masters

oik- day. Ho sat at tin* wheel of liis i"ir. ;i ii<l kept his eyes open for suitable back;; rounds. He stopped suddenly. He had toiind an ideal spot for certain scenes. It \v;is a beautiful grassy incline. above wliicli town red the mountains. He returned to his hotel and picked up the executives. Tliey all \isited tlie spot, and agreed that it looked perfect. 'I lieu tliey decided to into the valley on foot. A yell from one revealed that it was not so perfect, alter all. I'he "round was jiivinjr wa v under his feet. Before they had (piite realised what was happening, the whole Ipiiiicli of movie moguls floundered kneedeep in mild. It was then discovered tliat the valley was aliont l(( inches deep in mud all over. It will not he Used as a location spot, after all! Hollywood is more fortunate. There is every type of scenery within easy reach of the studios. In fact, some districts exist almost entirely on films ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ IRISH. COMIC JUIKSSKS .T. C. WILLIAMSONS Christie! mas attraction for His MajestvV llieatre. Auckland, is 'to he a revue company headed by tlie fa in on* Irish r- ill 11 co Will Alahonev. who will lie supported hv a number of international artist*, including Violet Carlson. the diminutive comedienne of the recent production of "Uala la ika." Will Mahoney achieved a triumph ill Aiirtialia and his original entitlement of three months was extended to „i\. Other artists in the company include Mr. and l MIN. Carroll. Tax Morton. •\lilii»e." | • foliimv Itryant and L;l \vrr> 11 re Brooks. all of whom come with favourable reputations from London and New York.

—Copyright "For iustnnee. when 'Knight \>'itlioiit Armour' was bcijijr made. I whs asked to hurl a typical view of Russia. We didn't. want to nr.. to Russia for it: we " anted it smiiPtt lipri' in F.njJand near the studios, if possible. | found it not far from London. It was at Hiuli Wycombe. There was a eliureli with Jjolden halls oil it. From a certain aiiyle it jjave the count r\—ide a distinctly hastern effect, and it was just rijrlit for the screen. "f had another difficult ta>k for 'Con <|iiest of the Air.' We wanted a s|>ot to represent t lie coast of <'a rolina —t lie wide. desolate space where Willnir Wrijrht first tried to ? et into the air. It buttled me for a lonjr time. When er T found suitable spots, there wore houses to spoil them. But T succeeded at last. "And. of course, it is fpiite well known that parts of the Welsh mountains were used as the North-West Indian Frontier in 'The Drum'—only for certain scenes. (tcniiine backgrounds were used for the most part, but on the screen even experts tripped up when they tried to spot which was really India 'and which was Wales." An amiisinir story in this connection was told to me by Fred fliinn who. in his capacity of production manager for • Jainsboroufih. looks after locations. He was looking for scenes for "Hob Hoy."! Several studio executives were in Scot- j land with him. but lie went off alone

''Spawn of the North" 'The First 100 Years" "Alcatraz Island" "Love Is On the Air" "Smashing the Rackets" Always Cood-bye" Speed to Burn" in Numbers" The Gladiator"

Ceorge Raft. Dorothy Lamour, Henry Fonda Drama Robert Montgomery. Virginia Bruce Drama John Litel. Mary Maguire, Ann Sheridan Drama '\onald Reagan, June Travis Drama Chester Morris Q ra ™ Barbara Stanwyck. Herbert Marshall Drama MiJ.ucl Whalcn. Lynn Bari Drama I nr. Jones Family Comedy Joe L. Brown, Man Mountain" Dean Comedy

AUCKLAND RELEASES FOR NEXT WEEK

Paramount M.G.M. W arners W arners R.K.O. Fox Fox Fox Columbia

—as, for instance, the town of Lone Pine, where it is reckoned that the studios spend £140.000 a year. It is an ideal spot for "Westerns, and nearly all the Hopalong Cassidy pictures have lieen produced there. Local cowboys are hired, and local hotels, restaurants, pet i 01-ti II ing stations and shops are r . kept bus\. In fact, a special street is I being built for use by the studios, which ■ will be hired out at £20 a day. ! In Kngland. the same spot is rarely ■ used twice, unless it has special advaiij tages. It would hardly do for two films to have exactly tlie same background. unless, of course, it is specific- • ally described. In the ordinary way, l! well known landmarks have to lie • avoided, with the same proviso. of ' course. If they are part of the storv. it is a different matter. I'or instance.' (Jeorge Orossmith told J me. "we wanted to use Buckin-rliain Palace for one recent picture, so we t obtained permission from tlie Office of 1 Works to film it from the outside. An i amusing incident occurred. One of the • camera assistants was measuring up for ' focus purposes, and he decided to measure to a sentry's nose. A 20-stone policeman lumbered up and protested >ti ongh . I Ik 1 assistant stood there, with the measure an inch from the sentry's nose, and listened to the policeman's arguments. And all the time the .-entry stood still and didn't even blink!'' 1 ntil <|iiite recently, public authorities were suspicious of film-makers. It was almost impossible to get permission to film public buildings and places. Officialdom has relented now. and permission is much easier to get. Owners of country estates are surprisingly kind to studios. Most, will give permission for their estates to be used. There is one condition. The owners take advantage of the opportunity to benefit their pet charity. The lands are loaned in exchange "for a cheque made out to named charities. Farmers, in these hard days, are often glad of a little extra money for the lending of their land; but there are many who refuse to have anything to do with film people, and nothing in"the world will persuade them to change their minds. Into the location manager's files go all particulars—type of land, treatment, measurements, price asked, amenities! The average location manager, whenever he visits a new place, goes out of his way to become friendly with the local

police. Their friendship counts for a lot! Locations are necessary both for actual filming and back-projection work. For the latter, cameramen only visit the places, and the films are flashed on to a bare screen behind the actors later on. According to (ieorge Orossmith. lilmgoers are beginning to see through backprojection. The trend is towards the genuine thing. Of course, the genuine thing has its disadvantages. People will get in the way. and try to edge in front of the cameras. Historical pictures have their own problems in these days of motor cars—though in these cases, outdoor scenes are often filmed (luring the night. '1 lie location manager also has to worry about looking after the actors. He lias to arrange transport, food and sleeping accommodation. The major problem is—tea! Wherever he is. the I'.nglishman demands his afternoon cup of tea. whether miles from civilisation or not. "And T. at any rate." (Jeorge Orossinitli told me, proudlv, '"have never vet failed!"