Evening Star Newspaper, March 23, 1930, Page 87

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 23, .1930.° 5 .. e 3 ul - - The Making of Any Great Picture Is Romance Itself, Says Director Van Dyke, but the Film- ing of ‘“‘Trader Horn’ on Location on Barren Shores, 12,000 Miles From Home, Is an Epic of Moviedom. way, leaving details to be worked out by the @irector and property builder. In the scene we took today, for example, there were about 12 different shots which, chironologically arranged, portrayed the arrival of Little Peru in Africa, his introduction to Trader Horn, and, at the same time, Horn's meeting with a missionary lady who is bound for the interior to give away a shipment of Bibles to the natives. So much for the action. NOW let’s see what the props are. The script, .Y again, tells us that there must be a lot of natives—some of them slaves (this was 50 years RBgo)—some native canoes, a native dock, typical ‘African foliage, a trader’s store with a cluster of native huts about it, and anything else that may add color to the scene. There must be slaves being marched down the path past the store. This involves the building of a concealed wooden runway over which the camera wagon can be puiled without jarring or vibrating, at ghe same speed as the file of marching natives. 1 have 100 acres of typical African shore line, absolutely barren of anything but elephant grass and papyrus. I have three accomplished actors for my major parts, Harry Curey, to take the part of Trader Horn, Duncan Renaldo for Peru and Edwina Booth to play Nina I have a village full of natives two miles P me. I have Red Golden, one of the best } nt directors in the business, to persuade that it is worth their time to act—and 80 do so punctually. I have a studio generator anchored off shore on a large barge capable of feeding 20 arc lights on shore which can pro- duce better photographic light than the sun fitself. I have Louis McAfee, chief of the elec- grical staff, an expert in the ways of arcs and Ralph Morgan, property gnat’s wrist watch to a reproduction of the Teviathan—in a moment’s notice. I have a property man, Harry Albiez, who can produce from the depths of his magical trunks the pro- werbial four-headed baby or a toupe for a bald hyena. And last—and most important of all—I have Clyde de Vinna, George Nogle and Bob Roberts, my camera crew, who can guarantee that after a scene has passed their lynx-eyed %okeh” it will reach the negative truthfully and in focus. fl"HDOUGH Mr. Barnes, one of our white . hunters, I gained the confidence of the sultan of the neighboring natives. He agreed ¢to hire out to us all the males in his village to act as porters, laborers and actors during the time we remained in Panyamur. We hired the whole crowd, without knowing how many there were. These I turned over to Morgan, with the order that he construct in two days a trading store, five native huts, and enough trees and foliage to form an adequate background. These were to be built a few yards from the spot where the dock touched shore. . I gave orders to the electrical crew fo run the barge as close to shore as possible, to bring every light over the locality of the set and to be prepared to throw the switch in two days. I explained to my assistant director the action required of the natives and suggested that he rehearse them each evening after they finished helping the property man. I felt a sense of pride in my crew when I reached the set this morning, when I realized that my orders had been executed almost to the letter in spite of the indolence of the native African, the inaccessibility of supplies, the scar- eity of natural materials, and the impossible in- tricacies of the Swahili tongue. On the scene of complete desolation two days before my eyes beheld a thatched store, built on stilts in the best approved manner, and look- ing for all the world as though it had been there always. Two monkeys were amusing themselves by scampering about on the crude sign nailed above the door, which .bore the weather-beaten inscription, “River Store, L. McAfee, proprietor.” The interior of the store, open to view from the front, revealed shelves Iaden with bolts of cheap cotton cloth, articles “And the villain still pursued her. ” all the way to darkest Africa, where Harry Carey, Edwina Booth and Duncan Renaldo are shown enacting a scene in the midst of the jungle. W. S. Van Dyke, who moved a section of Hollywood to Africa. of clothing, jars, knives, etc. An ancient wine cask adorned the counter. OUND about the structure I found large trees, transplanted from the verdant country a mile from the water. The elephant grass had been trampled into a rough trail leading past the store, bordered here and there with a low bush and ecactus. At the dock four or five native dugout canoes were tied up. And surrounding the entire scene were more than a hundred natives, some garbed as slaves, others as villagers, each one clothed enough to pass the American Board of Censors. Standing back a little were my lights, ranging from the smallest—about five feet tall—to the enormous sun arc—four feet in diameter and mounted on a motor-driven tower capable of raising it to any height up to 25 feet. 5 Carefully arranged on the ground between were the 15 ivory tusks, the slave shackles, the Arabian rifles, and a pile of sundry emergency costumes and supplies, In the middle of the picture was the camera platform, standing about three feet off the ground, with the cameras mounted, waiting to be focused for the first shot of the day. My principals were there, garbed in clothing unmistakenly worn and creased by constant usage. Nothing was wanted but the sun, Just before 12 the sun broke through the last cloud, the arcs sprang into life one by one, I waved to the hunters to start the natives, and, with joy in my voice, shouted “Camera!”—the battle cry of distant Hollywood. (Murchison Falls, Uganda, July 1.) ITwumelntdnyo(mmmg‘tPnnymur during one of the interminable intermissions when the sun refused to shine that Harry Al- biez, our property man, decided to give the natives a thrill. Looking through his trunks on location he came upon a_gorilla suit which he had brought along to be used in case we were unable to locate any real ones. There were at least 100 natives gathered around, and it occurred to Harry that it would be a great moment to experiment with the suit. Concealed in the prop tent, he slipped into the outfit and then called some of us over to give the alarm and start the panic. At a given sig- nal a couple of the boys rushed out of the shed, screaming at the top of their lungs, followed closely by the “gorilla.” In less time than it takes to say i, most of the natives had left.the scene completely, bound for the tall grass. Others had taken to the trees, and one or two were hidden in the trading post store. Just when we were getting a great laugh, my eyes fell upon. the figure of a giant native, standing directly in the path of the charging Albiez, reaching nonchalantly for his pagna. At the time, I am rather ashamed to admit, the seriousness of the occa- sion escaped me. I was consumed with the realization that I had found the character to play the part of Renchero. Fortunately, one of the hunters interceded in time to prevent any calamities. After an exploring trip upstream yesterday, I have formed a fair idea of our plans for the next two weeks. About 100 yards above camp a small stream flows into the river from a swamp 50 feet back from the jungle. An island in the center of the swamp serves an an excel- lent rendezvous for hundreds of the largest crocs in the world, who become tired of fight- ing the currents and decide to walk up the narrow stream and lie down in the seclusion of the junglé. I had to see the place only once to realize it was an ideal location for one of our scenes, which pictures Trader Horn and Renchero climbing through trees over ground swarming with crocodiles, making good their escape from a tribe of hostile natives. Ac- cordingly, I have sent Morgan and 10 natives up to the swamp to build camera platforms in the trees and to fence in the narrow stream which forms the only ecape for the crocodiles. We plan to wait until enough have collected, and then cut off their exit to the river. (Murchison Falls, Uganda, June 28.) SOLID week has slipped by in the manner of solid African weeks, the crocodile pool is yet without the number of crocodiles re- quired, two cloudbursts have swept our shoes and boots out of our tents and I have killed a buffalo, a crocodile and a hippo. One day fol- lows its predecessor with tiresome monotony. Arriving: at the pool one day last week .to view the results of our baiting the evening previous, I.was gratified to witness a great scurrying about in the waters, much thrashing and churning in the mud and every evidence, in fact, that a great many crocodiles had fol- lowed their noses to the carcass of the water buck we had secured in the center of the in- closure. When frightened, the croc submerges at once, and it is only by the occasional swish of his talt that you may detect them even in shallow water. In our pool, the trail leading into water from the river is left open; a thatched wonden fence surrounds the acre or more of wates and a drop gate stands ready to fall over the wrall Continued on Thirteenth Page