Evening Star Newspaper, May 31, 1931, Page 74

. ‘A comedy script calls for a “horse laugh,” so this Dobbin actor obliges. And his owner gets $50. BY ALICE L. TILDESLEY. INCE animal epies have been accorded pcpular favor, the script of a talking picture is likely to eall for anything from an armadillo to a zebra. And anything from a gnat to an elephant can be produced before the cameras by an always resourceful property department, “The hardest problem confronting me at the present moment is finding a number of drome- daries for Ramon Novarro’s next picture,” said Joe McDonald, ‘whose job it is to fill such orders for one of the big companies. “There are very few camels in this eountry and still fewer dromedaries. Right now what dromedaries there are are on the road with a big circus. Unless we can persuade it to re- lease one or two, we’ll have to use camels and build up the two humpe into one. And every one who sees the picture will write in and lambast the director because the dromedaries ‘weren't correct! OR a new De Mille picture we needed bussards to hover over a carrion in the desert. For the first time I discovered that buzsards and migratory birds and all Cali- fornia’s supply had gone down to Mexico for the season. We advertised, sent out scouis and at last managed to corral two buzzards that bad been in a 300. We bought them, and after the scene was finished one of the things got away. Night after night I was wakened by the telephone bell. ‘I've got your buzzard in my back yard!' some one would say. I'd rush over, only to find that the buzzard was no longer in the back yard. Finally a woman caught the thing and put it in her chicken coop. You see, it was a tame bird and didn't know how to fiy high, so it couldn’t take care of itself in the air. “Armadillos are difficult to round up out of season, too. Once we used one in a Lon Chaney picture during the off-period. Had to send to Arizona for it, and when it arrived it was dead. An animal expert advised that we tell them to send the next one wrapped in cabbage leaves, which insured safe delivery. “There are no bats in this State, so when another Chaney picture required them, we had to get a supply from the depth of a 600-foot mine. They were unusual little things, very elean, not like the variety we knew back East; but they were, of course, blind in the lights and when they were put on the set they flew into the great arc lamps and some were birned. Affzrthttwdecidedtmt we'd bave to manu= facture our bats. “When they use animals or other ae-curcs as atmosphere, there is no attanpt made 1o direct them. They are put in a scene and do as they please. But animals required to do special stuff are hired from trainers, who come with them and direct their own pets.” The Humane Society acts in relation to animals used in studios a8 the Board of Edu- acts in relation to children so used. rule as to how many hours an animal may work, how much rest it must have, how i shall be cared for and sees that & veterinar- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 31, 1931 Noah’s Ark Needed in Moviedom Nowadays to Pro- vide Beauty With the Beast--and Humane S oaety Stands by Ever Alert to See That ‘ \ - Four-Legged Film Friends Get the- % Best of Care in Training and Per- formance. jian examines each ecreature before it is per- mitted to appear. At a Culver City studio where a company of dog actors is making a series of talking com- edies, the canines have their own stage, with impressive quarters, consisting of electrically heated and cooled kennels, runways for exer- cise, baths, chairs on the set and special vet- erinarians always in attendance. The dogs in the cast are recruited from well known trained dogs of filmdom, and in each case trainers accompany them and put them through the action required. To the unitiated, the things these dogs do may seem more adiffi- cult than the things done by a single dog star in a talking picture. However, in a talking picture vocal direction is impossible; the animal must be given signs or taught his role before the scene begins, since the sound track will record every word uttered by any one on the set. A ball held up or moved to right or left is sometimes used as a signal to a four-footed actor; other trainers have more or less intricate hand movements; with the more intelligent dogs, simply rehears- ing the action and explaining it carefully will suffice. HE dog comedies are made silently and human voices “duped in” on a sound track, s0 the necessity for silence on the set does not exist. “People who have never seen a picture do not realize how very short a single silent ” explained Jules White, one of all-dog pictures. “The than t mtn- enter & room tioeomeln,do-uml- b b hit the drum and so on, as they would do be- “Our dogs are fitted with dresses, coats and so forth, but they never wear the clothes for more than a few minutes. As sooen as they feel uncomfortable under the lights their owners undress them and et them go to sleep or for a walk. We have learned that no one can do anything with a tired or nervous dog. anything from any animal 'un)ess it confidence in the person q!reedn‘ This movie director and his crew are urging Jiggs to register “excitement” for @ dog jungle comedy. They are using a “prop” skull as the lure, . Chick, another famous canine character actor, registers the effects of too inti- mate an acquaintance with one John B. Barleycorn. can't scare a dog into doing & thing and expect his fear of you not to be apparent. “When we take a close-up showing expression, we get the dog’s attention by dangling a ball from a stick or blowing a whistle, showing it a moving toy or by other methods. Our more talented dogs enjoy doing different things. Buster drank a bottle of ginger ale through a straw recently. Jiggs did an intricate scene with a telephone. But in each case praise and rewards effected the result. No successful trainer will permit any one to strike his dog or to frighten it, for the minute & sensitive trick dog becomes fear-conscious it ls through with the movies. “If a dog does a scene well, nseemswknov #t and comes running to us for approval. If the dog fails, it goes away until called back to repeat the action.” A dog in a recent talking picture was called upon to snap at its own reflection in a mirror. In rehearsing the scene the animal was shown a mirror on which a sheet of paper had been pasted. The trainer ordered it to snap at the paper before he went further. Then the paper was cut down, but each time the dog was or- dered to snap at it. When it was no larger than a pinhead, acticn was begun. The dog was turned loose, wandered about the set, reached the mirror, saw the pinpoint of paper, invisible to the audience, and snapped at it realistically. The scene showed the dog snap- ping at itself in the mirror and was the hit of the shew. Russell Pierce, property man at another studio, thinks it is impossible to direct the un- usual creature, but sometimes a director gets a break. “In a current boy comedy the little boy has a small mud’ turtle that he carries about with him in his pocket,” said Pierce. “In one scene the child takes the turtle from his pocket and puts it beside him, whereupon the turtle stretches out its head and legs and yawns. The turtle just happened to do that and the came eras caught it. “Obtaining grasshoppers for use in this same picture was our hardest assignment, because they were out of season. I found one in my garden and fortunately it lasted through the scenes necessary before it got away. “We used parrots as atmosphere in one of Gary Cooper’s pictures. All the things had to do was hop about on their perches. But when they had been registered in an important scene one of them suddenly began to imitate the director. ‘Camera!’ it would scream when the scene was in progress. Or ‘Cut!” It in- sisted on saying these words all afternmoon so that no .scene was any good. - Next day we substituted another parrot. “I read the script of each story to see what is required. If a scene calls for a small dog to sit on a girl’s lap and snap when the villain into the room, I decided to use a Peke.