Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-09-19
Wings viii Show Warfare
From the Air, Director SAYS

T Is safe to say that no mimic war.
fare has ever been staged on a
scale which will be carried out in
Wings, according to Lucien Hub
bard. who Is at San Antonio, Tex,
where preparations are being made
for production Of this big Paramount
special.
Hubbard is supervising editor Of
the Wings company and has asso-
ciated with him in production Of he
,icture William Wellnan. former
World War flyer, who will direct. The
comprehensive plans for recording the
part played by the Air Service in the
World War are set forth as follows:
Eighteen miles from San Antonio,
at Camp Stanley. an Army maneuver
ground, trenches are being laid out
and a war area constructed that will
carry as far as the eye can see. About
o'clock each morning the entire
city Of San Antonio is shaken by the
first blast of explosives set off to dig
out the monster shell holes which are
necessary to give an appearance of
No Mans Land Throughout the
day, at intervals, other such blasts
occur.
THE Government has turned over
to Paramount some 1900 of the larG-
III oil JULIUS Ill Tic <aLIiy lSt. '7OiiiN
of these are buds, and the whole issue
was declared unfit for Government
use, so they are bound together in
clusters Of eight or nine. buried in the
ground and set off electrically.
THE very first discharge slightly
wounded a laborer at the mess hall,
a half mile away, and thereafter those
in charge Of the work became more
cautious. The whole area is Uttered
with fragments of twisted steel from
these bombs. Shell holes In which a
two story house could he buried have
been caused. At each explosion a
burst of black smoke pillows into the
air to height of 500 feet.
This is only a part Of the tremen-
dous amount of preparation neces-
sary a small army OF laborers. un-
der the charge Of war staE OF Army
officers drawn from all branches OF the
service, are constructing series OF
trenches which begin at the American
reserve line before St. Mihiel carry on
past the American advance trenches
across NO Mans Land through the
German advance and reserve trenches
and over the ridge Of a hill to a forti-
fed hill position, similar to that oc-
cupiel by the German high command
in this salient for year after year UNI
Americans and the French Here
series of luxurious dugouts. such as
the German officers occupied. will be
constructed, and the capture of this
by the Americans will be the culmina-
ton of the battle which Is to be the
climax of Wings
Being a picture of the air, 1t was
necessary in Wings to perfect this
battle terrain in a degree that would
not he necessary if the action was
shot from the ground. But Wings
will give an aviator's view of war
fare, and as the camera will be skim
ming along through smoke and burst
ing shells at an elevation of 100 feet
or less above the ground and moving
at the rate of , miles a minute. the
amount of territory covered in each
shot will he unprecedented.
Each detail Of the trench systems
and other defenses will he literally
perfect. Army officers who fought at
st. Mihiel. each an expert in his own
line, will see that this is 70.
THE entire operation will be shot
from a platform 100 feet high, as well
as from the air. Then series OF
closer shots from the ground Will
carry the action forward"