HUNDREDS OF FOUNDS FOR A CAT'S MEOW

Evening Star, Issue 22069, 1 July 1935, Page 11

HUNDREDS OF FOUNDS FOR A CAT'S MEOW

The strangest library in the world has been built up at a leading Hollywood film studio. It is one of recorded sounds, so complete that at a moments ■ notice the experts can provide anything from the rumbling of an earthquake to the meow of a cat (says the ‘Daily Telegraph’)- , r . on( . It is said that it costs nearly £.200 to get what is indexed as “Mad Tomcat, with hisses,” and that four m ® tt worked five nights to secure the effects. The first sound recorded by tha studio was that of a travelling 'train. It was purely synthetic—made with a little contraption fashioned from a piece of pipe and the works from an old clock. Turned by hand, it gave a tolerably realistic impression of a speeding train, rail clicks included. Now the experts have recorded a real train, and the fake has been discarded. Next the engineers set out to capture the noise of an excited crowd. They, tried a big football match and were lucky. Roy Riegels, one of the crack players for California, ran the wrong way and scored a touchdown for Alabama ; and the advice and candid comment of 70,000 roaring fans emerged from the microphone as perfect pande. monium. . , * _ . All the sounds are indexed. Imder the general heading of *‘ Biffs and Bangs ” are such items as “ Socks on the Nose,” “ A Fall Through a Door,’’ “ A Kick in the Pants,” and “ Punch on the Jaw, with or without glove.” Animal noises include “ Dogs Eating,” “Frogs Croaking,” “ Bees Swarming,” “ Hogs Grunting, ’ “ Bird* Chirping,” “ Monkeys Chattering.” “ Elephants Trumpeting,” and “ Dog Howling.” .; Miscellaneous effects include “ Chewing Gum —very juicy.” “ One Person Eating Celery,” “ Two Persons Eat. ing Celery,” screams (by Alice Doll, who used to do all the screaming for Constance Bennett and Ruth Chatterton), all sorts of aeroplane noises, such as “ Spluttering Motor ” and “ Dead Stick Landing ” (in some cases procured at risk to life), and “ Dead Man’* Groans.” Regarding the nature of tha last-named one can only speculate.