The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-05-14

Director Lloyd, in filming the story
of romance and fighting by the
French Foreign Legion, put a size
able army in the field, equipped 1t
for 10 weeks Of desert warfare,
planned strenuous operations.
Quartermaster Task Large
Arthur NJ Levy. wardrobe depart
ment head, became we'll acquainted
with duartermaster duties when he
supplied $3.50 uniforms for the
French Foreign" troops engaged IN
battle scenes, and an equal number
of costumes for Arab tribesmen."
Unlike the army quartermaster,
who sends ont copies of the latest
uniform regulations when he calls
for bids, Mr.. Levy had to solve
research problem before having his
outfits manufactured. The Legion
uniforms have been changed from
time to time, and the quartermaster
had to duplicate those used in the
period represented by the picture
about 1900.
Another far from easy task which
was Mr. Levy's was the procure
ment Of saddles for the numerous
cavalry units engaged on both sides
of the desert warfare in Under
Two Flags"
Arsenal Fully Stocked
Thomas K. Little, who had charge
of the property department, is ex-
perienced for chief of ordnance in
Director Lloyd's army" His senior
aide could be Lou White, who was
in charge of the arsenal during the
filming of the picture.
Mr. Little supplied 1900 rifles for
Director Lloyd's forces. Many of
these weapons were built to re-
semble the guns used by Arab
tribeSmen in real life.
Mr.. White. on location in Arizona
for filming of Under Two Flags"
supervised the issuance of more
than $4,000 rounds of ammunition
fired in battle scenes. He also plant
ed in desert sands an intricate lay
out of explosives. Set off from a
central control panel which he oper-
ated, these explosives were deton-
ated to resemble spurts of sand
kicked up by bullets and light shells
In this delicate task, an error by
Mr.. White might have caused in
jury, yet for full effectiveness he
had to discharge them as close as
possible to the men supposed to be
under fire
Wireless Aids Direction
Director Lloyd for his army staff,
might choose Edmund Hansen,
sound supervisor, for his signal
corps chief, Long before the 10000
persons who aided filming of
Under Two Flags" assembled on |
the desert, Mr. Hansen organized
and installed a communications
system which is expected to become
a model for other large location
ventures.
Within the camp telephone lines
connected three main tent cities,
and in the field signal men trans
mitted Director Lloyd's orders to
units close at hand. 1t was for his
radio work. though, that Mr.. Han
sen won most praise. With a wire
less station in the central camp.
he maintained contact with Holly
wood headquarters, and also sent
out orders to field units and re-
ceived wireless reports from these
units which often we're more than
five miles from camp.
Chief of engineers in the imagi-
nary army staff probably would be
William Darling, art director of
Under Two Flags" Two forts, bar
racks and native encampments to
be seen in the movie were designed
under his direction.
The forts are reproductions of
actual structures that the French
Foreign Legion built in the Sahara
area in its penetration and sub
lection of the territory.
A veteran of the United States