The Coolidge examiner., 1935-08-30

made of candy"
Some such trick candy costs $50
pound. In the form Of pills, II Is
used In shooting wlufry scenes. The
actor holds this pin In his mouth
Ike a cough drop; as Il melts. II
gives or a yapor that IS visible.
Ike breath on a cold day.
Ic!cles of plaster. oatmeal for
snow. and gales made By wind ma.
chimes. all join 20 simulate winter.
To make lt rain over a three-acre
field In Little Women" RKO en-.
glneers built scaToldIng high above
the lot which carried a mile OF per.
forated pipe. By this vast sprlRkllng
system II could shower" whenever
directors yelled. start the rain :"
In another scene. horses hauled
a sleigh across snow field" made
of half.baked corn1akes. Being yel-
low. they photographed white At
the same time a battery OF 20 huge
motor propellers az one side OF the
Geld blew the air thick with corn
flakes, making Il blizzard" Dur
ing a pause In the work one horse
got az big bag OF extra corn
flakes, oyerate, was foundered. and
a movie veterinarian had 10 give
first aid Just then an actor. bun
died up 10 face the cold" got a
sunstroke
Realism OF Berlin"
Berlin was only about 10 feet
from Mexico" on the Universal lot.
"Rain" poured down In Berlin
street where actors In Little Man.
What Now" walked along In rain
coats. carrying umbrellas; cab
horses paved the water. and boys
pedaled along on gllstenIng-wet
cycles. From out ia the dry a dl-
rector called his orders.
For yersimllitude an exact mod
el of a Berlin street car. all paint
ed with boua-dde names and mum
bers. clattered along nnder its own
power. About a kiosk, or news
stand, draped with illustrated Ger
man weeklIes, a group OF old Ger
man types recruited from Los An
geles lodging houses talked in Ger
man about German politics.
Barely a stones throw away, on
another set" a cowboy actor. the
idol OF small boys the world over.
was struggling through Mexican
border brush a few jumps ahead OF
a Texas sheriff.
Any kind OF scenery desired. from
Alpine 10 Sahara. can be found or
easily manufactured somewhere In
southern California.
To film an Australian drama.
some rolling plains were wanted
like the terrain near Melbourne,
where the principal action OF the
story took place. They were found
IN Los Angeles county.
Sometimes, however. nature plays
a Joke. Once rain interrupted the
were used big leahess gum trees.
Two weeks later, when the actors
went back 10 complete the scene,
the trees had leafed out. In or
der 10 match the old setting, the
trees had to be picked like chick
ems, which made two days job
for % men.
From snow scenes In mountains
back OF Hollywood to seaside set
ups Is only a three hours drive.
Covered Wagon" was filmed on a
ranch near Burbank, now seldom
used because two air lines fly over
Ii and the roar OF planes spolls
sound effects.
Near Santa Monica Is an almost
perfect bit Of Cuba.
About Oxnard Is a made-to-order
Sahara. The "Alps" are In San
Bernardino county, and the fisher
mems village on the Los Angeles
harbor has often been pictured as
Southern Italy"
Orders for the Property Man.
One company has its own hand
made jungle In which wild animal
scenes are filmed. Under the jungle
trees life nets are used in case Of
accidental falls by wild men" and
others who leap from tree to tree.
An odd order for one picture
called for 5000 moths and 200
cockroaches."
In "Stingaree," a tale Of Aus
tralia in 1870. the background in
cluded bull carts, dingoes. and even
kOokaburra bird. or Laughing
jackass," all brought from Aus
tralia.
The bird enacted his own comedy |
role by sitting in a tree and insult |
Ing the players with his raucous
"rasDberrv" crv