The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-08-29
Prepared by the National Geographic Society
WASHINGTON. D. C.-WNU Service.


w THEN Hollywood had only 300
IA people and not even nickel
w OdeOn," pioneering actors rent
ed an old barn there and be-
gan to film 1.-The Squaw Man" Armed
cowboys, dashing through dusty streets
to fight" Indians, alarmed the village.
If the play called for scene on a
front porch, the actors simply got per-
mission to use somebody's porch. No
one, at first, built special "sets." Such
colossal structures as Babylonian pal
aces 300 feet high, built later to film
Intolerance" were undreamed of.
Now studios that are walled cities
within themselves house this stupen-
dous industry, whose feats smack al
most of witchcraft.
To make horror" picture, the IL
fusion of prehistoric monsters invad-
ing a modern city was achieved with
Texas armadillos Shot at 20 times
normal size, while waddling past the
toy buildings of miniature city, the
final effect on the screen was realis-
tically hideous.
One studio has a toy shop where
boats, airplanes, cities, railroad trains,
and automobiles are all made In mini
AZURE. In "The Invisible Man," tiny
automobile, loaded with gasoline soaked
cotton and fuse, was run off toy
cliff, bursting into flames. In the same
picture a railroad train with cars 2
feet long) tumbled down a mountain
side. Both accidents" were strangely
convincing.
Coral and marine plants for under
sea views are cleverly counterfeited.
when we found ocean stuff wouldn't
transplant" said a Universal director,
1--WE dipped cactus and other desert
growth in a plaster solution. Dried
and painted, this bottom Of the sea-
fooled everybody"
Octopus tentacles and snakes may
be merely jointed tube, strung on
piano wire, coated with sponge rubber,
and painted.
Human Actors of All Kinds.
But it is human beings and their be-
havior, as much as tricks with cameras,
that make Hollywood, which is only a
part of Los Angeles, better known
abroad than the big city itself.
Since most of the worlds movies are
made hereabouts. the millions paid in
salaries lure performers, real and
wOuld-be, from every other cline. Be
sides stars and plain five-dollar
"extras," these actors range from real
pygmies, as in "Tarzan," to acrobats
and bona fide bareback riders in plays
like "Polly of the Circus"
Casting offices for years have studied
hordes of people for different roles.
More than 1900 are listed on cards
for "bit" and atmosphere" work. Ev-
cry conceivable type is needed. AS one
official said, 1--WE could not use the
same crowd for an embassy reception
as for clandestine meeting of the
Black Hand"
At the Metro oldwyn-Mayer studio,
experts keep in mind the faces of some
1000 semi-regulars, and use filing sys-
TEN for thousands of extras.
Eighty per cent of the types needed
fall into such groups as dress men,
bellhops, police, collegians, buffers
riders, tall, short, and fat men, stunt
men, army and navy men, tough men,
judges, ETC.; dress women (meaning
intelligent, society types who can wear
smart clothes), pretty girls, homely
girls, stenographers, tall. short, fat
and stunt women, maids, character
women, riders, dancers, dowagers
healthy children, peaked children, Ha-
waiians, Orientals, Latins, Nordic and
Slavic types
An emergency call for zone tough
mechanic with broken nose and two
teeth missing" was quickly met.
Trained acrobats who can take rough
falls and not get hurt; sailors with
one eye; distinguished-lookin man
with continental-like spade beard
who can work as a count or diplomat
all these are in the cards!
Some of the Tricks.
'These bottles we break over each
others heads in barroom brawls
couldn't hurt anybody" explains an &C.
tor made up like Jesse James. They're
not glass; they're made of candy"
Some such trick candy costs $50 a
pound. In the form of pills, it is used
in shooting wintry scenes. The actor
holds this pill in his mouth like cough
drop; as ii melts, it gives off a vapor
that is visible, like breath on a cold
day.
Icicles of plaster, oatmeal for snow
and gales made by wind machines, all
join to simulate winter. To make il
rain over a three-acre field in Little
Women" RKO engineers built scaffold-
ing high above the lot which carried a
mile Of perforated pipe. By this vast
sprinkling system it could shower
whenever directors yelled, start the
raini''
The area drenched represented the
old home of Louisa NJ. Alcott, at Con.
cord, Mass, faithfully reproduced.
In another scene, horses hauled a
sleigh across a "snow field'' made OF
half-baked cornflakes. Being yellow
they photographed white. At the same
time battery of 20 huge motor pro-