REAL DANGER AT EVERY STEP

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 354, 11 September 1933, Page 8

REAL DANGER AT EVERY STEP

The Cameramen on the “Doomed Battalion,” Had the Toughest Task Ever Grinding a camera while shooting at breakneck speed on skiis down the precipitous slopes of the Alps! Swinging out over bottomless chasms at the end of a rope for a shot of a hidden ledge! Scaling treacherous cliffs with one hand and cranking with the other! These were some of the nerve testing feats necessary to film Universal’s tremendous production “The Doomed Battalion” at the Kings Theatre.

Nor was the cameraman, alone exposed to those hazards of II) •< ni'ghty Alps. Every member of 'the oast, directors and production staff braved bitter cold, snow blindness, main;; storms, precarious positions, avalanches and all the other dangers attached to the production of this great drama of the war-torn Tyrol. Days were spent transporting equipment across treacherous cravasses. One scene alone required eight days to film, owing ■to the difficulties encountered. An assistant director lost an eye.

Universal, however, considered Itself well compensated for its great effort by the enthuiasm demonisfafated wherever this photographic masterpiece is shown. “The Doomed Battalion” has for its theme the struggle of ' friendship with duty to country. It tells of the sacrifices an Austrian, mountain soldier and am Italian officer make in the name, of patriotism. Tala Birell, brilliant European sensation, is featured in the production along with Victor Varconi, Luh Trenker and Henry Anneitta. Cyril Gardner, who has established an enviable reputation for .handling pictures with human themes, does some of his best, work ip “The Doomed Battalion:”