Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-01-07
eChe DailyMovie Magazine
EACH DIRECTOR HAS
OWN WAY OF
H1NDIINC MOPS

LEW people realize the enormous diff
4 fculty confronting motion nic. -.
rure director when the script calls for
mob scene. Most movie fans are
under the impression that all thnt is
oone when such an occasion arises is
70 hire few hundred extras, nut them
Into q ballroom set or out on an
open field and the picture is "shot. ="
Inc truth of the matter is that making
mob scene realistic is one oe n di-
rector's greatest problems. Cecil B.
de Mile, ID. w. Griffith, Rex Ingram.
Ernest Lubitsch and joseph May are
some of the directors who have become
prominent through their ability to ham
ole mobs intelligently.
Although all of these directors reacb
the same desired end. each seems TO
nave a different method of attaining IL.
ID. w. Griffith handles his mobs almost
exclusively by the megaphonc. Al
though this is probably the most diff
cult way of controlling them, Mr.. Grif-
nth relies upon their intelligence, max
- DNl'lt Jlt tNlIUS are HlTpu
that they have brains enough to re-
ouire not more than two rehearsals in
order to go through the scene without
n break.
Cecil B. De Mile in one of his most
spectacular productions. Joan the
Woman" had telephone wires laid out
all over field used as a battle-ground
5or several big scenes in the picture. 4
temporary switchboard was erected be-
hind the camera, with Mr.. De Mile as
the operator. Hidden behind the EN-
battlementS or other vantage points in
visible to the spectators were num-
Der of assistant directors, each with a
section of wire leading to him. Thus
Mr.. De Mile could centrol the entire
field of men merely by phOnng the
assistant director nearest to that group
of SOLDIERS" Mr.. De Mile wanted
moved or drawn. from the scene.
pEX INGRAM in his production,
IL "The Four Horsemen, engaged
real soldiers for the battle scenes. The
most natural way of handling them
was by means of bugle The men
were taught the different notes of the
bugle and what each meant. In this
manner the loud, clear notes of the
horn warned the men of desired change
of action.
But there has been much speculation
rs to the methods used by foreign film
directors in obtaining the utmost from
the thousands of extras used in some
of the spectacular productions sent from
the other side. "DcCcption." "Pas-
sion, THE Golem" and The Mistress
of the World" the latter soon TO be
released in the United States. all con-
tanned crowds Of extra people, from
which excellent results were obtained.
In fact, it was the work of the mObs
in these pictures that brought Ernest
Lubitsch, director of Passion and
Deception" and Joseph May, direc-
tor of The Mistress of the World"
into prominence in American firm cir
cles.
The system used by these two direc-
tors is simple but effective. When
Mistress of the World was being
geen I'd Mr.. May was confronted with
Vie problem of controlling mob of
10000 extras. Instead of tearing his
hair out he simply hired about thirty
prominent actors and actresses, ex-
planned the situation to them and dis
tributed them among the crowd. The
extras were instructed to take orders
from these people. When n scene was
being filmed these thirty men and women
had their own part of the mob to han
die, and the extras merely followed
their leaders in whatever they did. With
this method all that was rfcedcd was
Mr.. Mays instructions to his "licu-
tenants" and the thing was done.