The Washington times., 1936-10-03
Con n oily
EN-
At 7 rou t

HUI OlEhICAD, Ndl'J OCCs D.
Roughing it with a pair Of
motion picture stars is some
thing to write home about. II
is a memorable event, yet it
has happened.
William Powell and Myrna
10y are isolated here, high in
the snow-capped Sierras, for
their trout-fishing scenes in
Metro oldywn-Mayer' four,
star picture, "Libeled Lady"
which also includes Jean Har-
low and Spencer Tracy.
Powell and Miss 10y reached
Kennedy Meadows with a
company of 40 film workers
by detraining at Modesto, Cal,
and then by auto caravan for
12O miles into the heart of
the rugged mountains.
The caravan wound through
mile after mile Of peach and april,
cot orchards, vineyards and graz
ing land. At Riverbank, hundreds
of peach-pickerS were at work on
the edge of their mushroom town
of auto trailerS and tents.
Through sleepy Oakdale, ram
bling ranches, Jimtown, where
they still play stud poker on the
front porches, and into Sonora it
continued.
At Sonora, one of California;
early widest and wooliest mining
towns, Powell, Miss 10y and others
paused for lunch. They took a
side trip to Columbia, which
almost became the capital of Cali
fornia in the days Of '49 and which
even today is as ancient as it was
three quarters of a century ago.
Then into the mountains the
parade of autos and trucks headed,
through thousands of acres of
stately pines, past abandoned gold
mines, always climbing upward.
Winding Mountain Road
At times, the film stars gazed
down into gorges 1000 feet deep,
their cars clinging perilouSly to
the steep, narrow winding noun
tain road. Civilization and worldly
cares were left behind and five
hours later the company reached
it's destination.
Over an area of 10 miles, the
company was distributed in three
mountain camps. Director Jack
Conway, Mrs. Conway, their two
boys and the directors staff were
housed in the rustic log cabins of
Nelson's camp.
Powell, Miss 10y, Walter Con-
molly, the sound and electrical
crews were carried on to Kennedy
Meadows, studded with towering
pines and nesting in lush green
meadow. Cowboys loafed on the
hitching rail at the general store
as a welcoming committee. The
roaring, rushing StaniSlauS River
wound in a graceful arch around
the camp, and two mighty walls
of granite rose in front of and be-
hind the camp.
They Got Up Early
Miss 10y, Powell and Connolly
each occupied a small mountain
cabin, with rustic front porches on
the edge of the cabins. Others were
placed in community cabins and
tents beneath the tall pines.
A 6 o'clock each morning Bert,
the property man, made the
rounds of the camp to awake the
crew. At 7 Miss 10y, Powell and
Connolly were aroused. A few
minutes later doc" Dearborn,
PowelTs secretary, wendell his way
through the boulders to the gen.
eral store and mess hall for a
pitcher of coffee to be boiled over
the small wood stove for Powells
breakfast.
Margaret, the wardrobe mis-
tress, assembled Miss Logs cloth
ing to be used that day. Eleanore,
the hairdreSSer, arranged Miss
Logs hair. Sam Polo, the make
I'D artist, always arrived on time
to apply the makeup for the
three principals.
At 7 a. M, the working crew de-
parted for the location site. Usual
", Powell, Miss 10y and Connolly
left an hour later.
THE "location" was on the
banks of the Stanislaus, three
miles away, where the rushing
river arched in a wide curve, a
meadow on one side, a preclpltous
granite wall on the other.
Three tents stood on the
meadow, dressing-rooms for the
stars. A fourth tent was occupied
by the company physician.
Before the cast arrived, crew
members, in rubber WaderS, strug-
gled back and forth across the
stream, building a bridge for the
two camera crews, planting gold
and silver reflectors and parallels
for the lights in the channel.
Director Picks Location
Half mile away was the big
generating plant, beyond sound
of the cameras, with the cables
wriggling down to the river.
Director Jack Conway always
was one of the first arrivals.
Mrs. Conway and their two sons,
Pat and Mike, could be seen fish
ing farther down the stream,
SINrV