Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1924-03-20
TWENTY ACRES OF
PINES ARE BURNED
Forest Fire in "Hearts Aflame" A
Tremendous Undertaking

In staging the tremendous forest
fire in Reginald Barker's production,
"Hearts Aflame" at the Grand Opera
House Monday and Tuesday, Mr..
Barker has created a spectacle that
will stand for a long time as one of the
really great achievements of the screen
and serve as standard for similar
scenes in photoplays.
significantly, terrifying, the fire
sweeps across the screen, turning TWEEN
ty acres of beautiful, towering pines
to cinder-strewn waste. In ten min
utes it destroys what Nature took a
, hundred years to build 1t is a sight
never to be forgotten. Starting at the
top of ridge in the background and
rushing down towards the camera with
terrific leaps and bounds, the fire en-
velopes the entire forest in less than
a minute.
And through the blaze in plain view
of the spectator Anna Q. Nilsson driv-
es locomotive, sticking oourageously
to the throttle in spite of flames that
lick along the cab and dart in thru
the windows with every new scorching
draft of air. The object of her wild
ride is to secure powder to dynamite
a ridge and save the women and chill
dren in the valley settlement beyond,
and the fulf11ment of her brave mis-
sion furnishes one of the greatest
thrills in screen history.
Technically the making of the forest
fire scene was stupendous project.
For many and obvious reasons, the
conflagration could not be started in
the woods, so the forest had to be
built especially for Hearts Aflame"
Two months were spent in uprooting
the pine trees in the mountains, car
rying them down to the location, and
replanting them at the mouth of Pa
coima Canyon in the San Fernando
Valley. AS the trucks travelled in
trains of five, all transporting had to
to be done at night to avoid other
traffic.
Twenty cameras the largest number
ever used at one time on a scene con-
stituted the lens battery and forty
spotlights and three great army search
lights lit up the players who worked
in various parts of the burning forest
Altogether, the electrical equipment
employed Appropriated $85000 in val
tie. There were five motor generators
three of the largest transformers ir
Southern California four miles o.
cable, numberless ordinary studio
lamps, and built in $4,000 volt high
tension line which connected with the
main line of the Edison service a mile
from the location.
During the five nights required fol
filming the long shots and close-ups Of
the fire scenes, there were never less
than three hundred people engaged or
the location. This number included the
bilNNlOl anu lilo stall, TIC Production
staff, cameramen, electricians, police
forest rangers, 1aborers, carpenters
drivers for the emergency cars, anG
the corps of utility men. A medical
tent was erected on the grounds and
two doctors and nurse were on hand
all during the making of the scenes
to render first aid.
In order that Mr. Barker might be
in constant touch with every camera
and forest ranger station, field tele.
phone service was installed.
"Hearts Aflame" was produced fol-
Louis B. Mayer. 1t is a Metro release
The photop1ay is based on the novel,
Climber" by Harold Titus In the cast
are Frank Keenan, and Anna Q. Nils
son.