Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-02-27
FILM SCENES OF
BEAU GESTE I'M
ARIZ.

How the endless giant sand dunes
of Southern Arizona, along the Mexi-
can border, approximately S5 miles
south of Yuma, were transformed into
the background for Herbert Brenon's
Paramount production of Beau Geste"
which comes to the Grand one day only
next Saturday, March 5, is proving one
of the most enhancing of the many ro-
mantle stories of the reclaiming Of the
/ great southwest.
Where for centuries there was moth
ing but an arid waste, there was built
| almost overnight tented city which
for more than three months served as
home for upwards of 1000 actors. me-
chanics and helpers during the film
i ing of the super road show produc-
tion, based on the widely read novel
of the same name by Percival c. Wren.
Arizona deserts have been photo
graphed for motion pictures on num-
/ erous occasions, but it remained for
Famous PlayersLasky to select it's
arid land as the location for a So
called "super-picture," one produced es-
sentially for road showing, such as is
being done with Beau Geste"
Originally it was the plan to pho
ltograph the desert scenes for Beau
Geste" on the great Sahara desert in
/ Africa, where the locale of the story
is laid. An emissary had been sent
from New York to Africa to shoot
desert scenes, and to obtain permis-
/ j,:a Il.
erect a fort in the Sahara. Things NOV
ed smoothly until Abdul Eel Krim, in
his war with Spain, CROSSED into French
territory and precipitated the wrath
of the French government. From then
on reports were so discouraging it was
evident that no motion pictures could
/ be taken there until after dhe cessa-
{ tion of hostities.
| When this information was received
at the West Coast studios of Famous
Players -Lasky, Director Herbert Bren-
on, to whom had been entrusted the
task of filming "Beau Geste,' set out
to seek suitable desert location near
er home Just south of Yuma he found
sand dunes and wasteless tracts be-
yond even his most sangune imagin-
tClOIlJ anu q Q6SlSiOll w as ISelSlSO IALI
here the great desert scenes of the
Wren story would be reproduced.
| More than a mile and half of plank
road was built across the sand dunes
along the Mexican border to the site
| selected for the camp. Six weeks be-
fore Director Brenon and his large cast
of actors, cameramen and technicians
arrived, a~small army began the build
| ing of the camp, 80 miles from any
! habitation. From the end of the plank
/ road all supplies were shot down a
| 50O-foot chute, reloaded on sand
/ sleds drawn by tractors, and hauled
! to the camp two miles distant.
At this point for three months of
{ last summer, in womanless paradise
| Gf blazing days and freezing nights
! on the desert can fit that phrase) lived
/ the 1000 men who had a hand in the
production of Beau Geste." They
| made their home in a camp that in
cluded:
Five postoffices, with mail delivered
/ from Yuma each day; a large recrea-
/ tion tent for card playing; radio re-
4 citals and concerts by the company
1orchestra; well producing $4,000 gall
/ Ions of water day; a telephone sys-
4 tenn connecting various important
/ Observation-Disclosures horse corral,
property department, important sets,
hospital, mess halls and wardrobe de-
partments; an electric lighting system;
$50 tents, floored; mess hall, 80 feet
wide by ESQ feet long; hospital with
! physicians and trained nurses; ten
mis- court; baseball diamond; a 20
foot padded, covered Noxing'
ring, and other accommodations.
/ 1t was Director Brenon's theory that
i well fed, well housed and contented
men make the best workers. To this
end the camp commissary was sup
4 piled by motor trucks and sand sleds
/ from Yuma with the best fresh meats,
/ fruits and vegetables obtainable. More
4 than 100 cooks and helpers prepared
/ the meals for this army of men.
i And for every man beast. Two
4 thousand head of livestock, including
horses, mules and camels, required in