Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-25
MOVIE PROP MAN
MUST HAVE
MACICIAN'S WAND


course Of erPm one motion picture?
NoticC the furniture, the hdhgingS,
the books. roses. clocks. papers, lamps.
pIdros-ercrything necessary 10 make
q scene complete. ....
Where do they come from Are they
dll kept at the Sfudios' HoW can n dc.
pdrtment store aud iHdcr such q
multiplicity of things!
We rere struck tcith hr immensify
Of the Job as ice ,odtchcd picture
some fine ago so nee rirGd CORE
spondcnt at Holypood. See prop man
and get story hop his ,cork Is DONE
Here is the story he has sent US;
UNOT to have six mountain trout in
~ fifty minutes. Arbuckle going
away tonight and we will bare'y have
time to finish the picture.
4 property man had rushed breath
lcssly into the Office of the property de-
partmcnt. blurtcd out this startling bit
of intelligence and then dartcd out the
side door.
had inst sat down n interview
Howard Wells, head of the property
department M the Lasky studio. and
tbiS interruption had come before had
nut "A single oues,.on. As the door
closed behind the departing prop boy
I had a vision OF my proposed interview
taking wings and flying out the window
and into the thin air.
Even as reflected bc had picked
nm the phone and called number,
talked with his party for two minutes.
hung up the receiver and turned around
in his swivel chair with triumphant
smile.
''The trout will BE- here in thirty
minutes" he said. Now we can go
on with that interview.
need not attempt to describe M
amazemcnt. How did you do it?'
! queried.
''One OF the most important tricks
IN this game he contided. ''is TO know
in advance where you can find anything
under the sun on short notice because
naking motion pictures is INST one long
series of short props when some one
rushcs in and wants il in few min
utes.
My men and | are on the job all
the time. We keep our eyes open all
day long and sleep with one eye open
al night. Props are our creed, our
philosophy. our ideal. our main aim in
life. The more information we can get in
are,
WNE TAKE particular pleasure in
w uncovering the hiding place OF
some unusual and unthought- of prop
erty. We don't wait until we are call
cd upon to furnish something.
why. only the other night chased
a Ford taxicao. 1913 model. for twelve
blocks and finally caught it at Fifth
and Main. I saw that it had an un e
usual feature and one which we are
constantly on rho lookout for. Despite
its age il had been kept in perfect
condition. WAS we'll polished and looked
almost like new issue Of an old mode,
II obtained the address where ;hr
car ,ou'd be secured. description of
the car and next day entered II IN
my index at the studio. II WASH
over two weeks until | was informed
that Director james Cruze would want
,inst such car for Fatty ArbuCklc 20
drive in his picture. Gasoline Gus,
| lined UP tho Ford and on the day the
director was ready for it. it was sent
our.
Our list of obtainab!c props AMI
all necessary information about them
is two or three times as lengthy as
our list Of properties on hand in the
department. And we add To IL daily.
EVERY article on hand here in the
department bears 4 stock number and
j. entered in an index book under that
number This book gives complete
description "f the prop, . record or
when it is given out, the number OF the
picture and the set in which il is used
and wnen it is returned 10 tho stock.
" A $ IN other branches of produc-
"a tion work, the property depart E
ment Of three years ago, compared TO
the present department, was a joke.
II was housed in small, one story
building which is now occupied by our
shipping branch alone. There was
vcrv small stock of props--not sum
ciently large 10 require indexes files,
Now, We have a stock a. something
like 6J 900 articles and 5000 different
items or varieties. And our index ot
obtHinable props runs up into a much
higher figure and is growing every day.
That little word props covers u
bigger field than any other word IN the
dictionary. for there is not one article
under the sun that may not, sooner or
later. be converted into prop,
4 prop = any article that is handler
or used by the characters in picture
scene. 1t covers everything from pins