Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 15, 1923, Page 5

—— By an Assistant Directon OTION picture patrons have become so used to the me- chanical achievements in the A.J amount of work which lies behind AJ the scenes enacted on the screen forward amid massive sets and huge crowds of people. The spectator, sitting in a com- fortable chair in his favorite movie theater, sees on the screen an army of archers milling about before the towering wails of Richard’s castle. They probably gasp at the beauty and impressiveness of the scene, but the next instant their attention is held by a close-up of some dramatic bit of acting and they have no time to dwell further on the mob scene that has just passed. But, while that particular scene flashed before their eyes for only a few minutes, the production of that Scene probably took weeks of thought, planning and labor on the part of an unbelievably large num- ber of people. In the last two years the German producers have acquired a reputa- tion for the skillful handling of big crowds of people amid big sets. But I think the American producers hayo surpassed them. Some Blg Ones. | We have had the early Griffith pic- /tures, “The Birth of a Nation” and “Intolerance.” I remember when “Intolerance” was the talk of the town, before Los Angeles really hit {ts stride as a center for motion pic- ture productin. We used to think you could not build bigger sets or use more people or spend more money than Griffith did in “Intoler- ance.” But in the last few years we have had bigger pictures made by Nf directors who had never been heard SQ of when Griffith made “Intolerance.” Rex Ingram’s “The Four Horse- MAAS men of the Apocalypse” was a big 9 picture in which large numbers of i) people were used. Eric von Stro- CRORE ITE SOA V- Ee WITEL LIVSERQTS’ OF O2CEL, AND DELP PURDLE T/2LD PLE LINE OF ai VRIVECP Things and Thoughts of Beautiful Bebe EBE DANIELS, one of the screen’s best dressed wom- en, doesn’t like hunting because, as she says, ‘‘I don’t like to kill things,’’ “T love animals,’’ she declares, ‘‘I have two dogs upon whom I lavish a great deal of affection—a collie and a bull- dog. Horses, too, I am very fond of. I have ridden almost ever since I can remember—when I was 8 I rode horseback to school every day. This is my chief diversion outside of | my screen work—which is so enjoyable as to be practically a diversion.”’ | Further insight into her character is had from answers | to a questionaire recently sent her by an admirer. She wrote | the following: | What is your favorite virtue!—Strength of character. | Your favorite quality in a good woman—Good morals. | | | Your favorite quality in men!—Refinement and manli- ness. Your favorite occupation’—Next to the screen, the stage. f Your idea of happiness!—To be able to adapt one’s self to circumstances. | Your idea of unhappiness!—Being dissatisfied. | Your favorite color ?—Orchid. Where do you prefer to livet—Any place with my | | family. | Who is your favorite prose author?—Vicente Blasco Ibanez. | Your favorite poet !—Oscar Wilde. Your favorite painter and composer?—Ella Buchanan and Carot, Mendelssohn and Irving Berlin. | Your favorite hero in real lifei—General Pershing. | Your favorite heroine in real history !—Joan D’Are. | seeing that the large numbers of people necessary to make a picture He had to see that the hundreds of 4 FAVORITE AFILLZIVOQV ZIALPLLIVG GON get something to ent and have places to sleep. A Man-Sized Job. I have handled some big jobs in my day and have talked to men who say they have handled bigger ones. J. M. East, for example, says he had the world’s biggest transportation problem in taking 500 actors from Los Angeles to Great Salt Lake and then up into Nevada for the making of “The Covered Wagon.” fs heim went on a financial orgy and lad spent nearly $2,000,000 in making sets for “Foolish Wives.” Allan been used byany American director. Dwan smashed all previous records Now, what I am getting at is that . with his sets for Doug Fairbanks’ in all of these pictures—in fact, in Paes picture, “Robin Hood.” And then all pictures—the director gets the 4, \ Jimmy Cruze came along and used credit for the success of handling the more people in making “The Cov- people and building the sets. But I ered Wagon” than had ever before want to go on record that we assist- NA ant directors are the chaps who do He had to build a whole city up the work. there on the plains of Nevada, 30 We look after the little incidental miles from a railroad, and provide things like finding locations, seeing food and shelter for 400 Indians and that the sets are built, seeing that 600 extra people in addition to the the electrical equipment 1s on hand, company of 500 which was trans- transporting the extras on location, ported from Los Angeles, covered wagons and the thousands of horses and oxen were on hand when Director James Cruze needed them. Of course, he admits that James Cruze produced “The Covered Wagon,” but J. M. East handled the transportation and without that there wouldn't be any picture playing at the Criterion today. Because of the excellent job Mr. East did in han- dling “The Covered Wagon” he was engaged by Cecil B. DeMille to look after the transportation problem in connection with the filming of “The Ten Commandments.” I have just received a letter from Hollywood, and from what my friend tells me Mr. DeMille has shat- tered all previous records in filming “The Ten Commandments.” lt. ‘ 8 pe 2 iN A SLOLININING ZVENING GOWLT DeMille built a set larger than any used in making “Robin Hood.” Four miles west of Guadelupe and thirteen miles west of Santa Maria, Califor- nia, he had I. 8. Liner, assisted by Ben Lewis and East, established a camp of 2,500 people and 3,000 ani- mals. He constructed a reproduc- tion of the Temple of Rameses, de- scribed in Exodus 1:11, which the Pharaoh Rameses II. forced the chil- dren of Israe) to build to his glory. This city was 750 feet wide and 109 feet high, It was approached by an avenue of 24 sphinxes. Under the direction of Paul Iribe, 350 carpen- ters and plasterers worked night and day, using 550,000 feet of lumber, 300 tong of plaster, 25,000 pounds of nails and 75 miles of cable and wire to brace the set. Nothing but Sand. When they found a suitable sandy expanse of ground near Guadelupe, California, about the middle of April, there wasn’t anything there but sand dunes. In less than a month tele- phone wire was taken three and a half miles and electric wires five miles, water was brought one mile into the camp and they had to build their own pumping system. Two pumps were established with a ca- pacity of 100 gallons a minute and four tanks with 18,000 gallon ca- pacity were filled twice a day. You can appreciate the importance of having plenty of water for shower baths when you understand that hun- dreds of people were forced to wear make-up on thelr bodies out on this hot, sandy location. They built 30 showers for men and 24 for women. They also built 20 sand sleds to carry supplies, as wagons and motor cars could not proceed through the heavy sand. Twenty trucks and seven motor trucks were used to carry supplies to the foot of tha sand dunes. The reports from tho commissary indicate that the food supplies required for a single day were 750 pounds of sugar, 1,200 pounds of potatoes, 1,500 pounds of meat, 1,200 gallons of coffee and tea, 4,000 eggs, 900 pounds of butter, 1,200 pounds of bread and 150 gallons of canned fruit What They Did. The letter goeg on to say, “More- over, our camp butcher prepared, during their stay at camp, 50 whole cows and 40 hogs. Some of these modern childre.. of Israel, you see, forgot their roles in the hunger at meal times. There were 125 people working in the commissary dopart- ment. They fed, during the actual filming of the picture, from 1,400 to 25,000 persons every day. “In addition the to Players, 202 soldiers and seven officers of) the United States Army were present. ‘These comprised two troops of the llth Cavalry and Battery B of the 76th Field Artillery, boty of the Pre- sidio, Monterey. These men’were on field duty, and their activities as chariot drivers in the production con- stituted a practical hike, Had Camp Hospital. “The camp hospital had a capacity of 30. There was a United States army medical major, with two sol- dier assistants, and a civilian doctor with four assistants, making a total of eight, 2 “Two hundred and twenty.four orthodox Hebrews were part of the camp population. These He'prews ate a special Kosher mess, On) hun- dred and eighty of them covjd not speak English, and 90 of thera were over 60 years of age. These Hebrews would gather in groups of ten in each other’s tent every morrding for their devotions, and on Friday eve- nings they gathered in the recrea- tion hall for synagogue services, led by Rabbi Aaron Markadov and as- sisted by Sam Mintz, interpreter for the group, who {ts the son of Rabbi Moses Mintz of Spokane, Washington. “The oldest man in the camp was Chief Sheriff, an Arabian, who wag an acrobat with Barnum & Batley and with Buffalo Bill; while the youngest person was a baby of five months, “At the camp canteen, nearly four tons of chocolate candy was sold during the period of the camp. “For the animals, 10 tons of hay a day wero required. Some 3,000 dif- ferent animals used, prin- cipally in the great scenes represent- ing the exodus of the children of Israel with their animals'and their household goods. These included 900 horses, 30 camels, 200 burros, sheep, goats, cows, oxen, guinea hens, chick- ens, ducks and dogs. “The players were brought to Gua- dalupe from Los Angeles, a distance of 200 miles, in two special trains. were “Immediately following the depar- ture of the players on June 10 the big set was pulled down. Part of the salyaged lumber was sold to Father Francis Piearilly, pastor of the old Catholle church at Gaudelupe, which was built in 1844. This was the first church in this section of California, built following the decay of the mis- sions, and it was a shrine visited by the gold seekers of 1849. Six of the sphinxes were saved and presented to the city of Santa Maria, at the re- quest of the city officials. These sphinxes will be used as permanent landmarks and will be placed at the various entrances to the city.” There are two things that will make us happy in this world if we will at- tend to them. The first is never to vex ourselves about what we can not help and the second is never to vex ourselves about what we can help. —Chatfield (golden