The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-08-18
. HARRISON IN
HOLLYWOOD
ny PAUL HARRISON

IL quinine and his trusty ma
chete. your correspondent has been
down the hill visiting universsls
South American jungle. Right
where the Atlantic ocean, the
Dead Sea and Lake Michigan used
10 he. they have installed a first
class swamp. with dsnk tropical
underground. and around It rub
Der trees and csnehrakes. Also
some big ant hills. complete with
tenants.
Basil Rathbone and Irving Ba-
con stood around painting In rag
ged convict uniforms. dark body
makeup, short boards. mud. slime
and mineral oil. The latter was
sprayed on them AZ intervals 10
look like perspiration: nobody paid
any attention TO their protests
that they could do their own
sweating.
When the scene was begun. the
two actors staggered from n patch
Of dense underground into an
open space between two ant hills
Rathbone then drew a long knife
and to all appearances rsmmed II
to the hilt In Bacon's back. II
seemed that Rathbone had engi-
neered break from a prison
camp and had taken along the
other prisoner 30 that he could
kill him and fool pursuers into
thinking that Rathbone had died.
He knew that the ants would
leave only a skeleton after a few
hours.
At this point the camera was
stopped and moved in for a close
up. A makeup man applied the
oil spray and a prop man opened
jar and spilled lot OF ants on
Bacon's face. The next take be-
gan hurriedly and lasted only long
enough for Rathbone TO change
Identification tags with the
corpse" Bacon didn't flicker a
muscle. but he clawed wildly at
his face the instant the director
called "Cuti'
Ten thousand ants were on the
property list for Rio" and Bob
Laszlo found he couldn't buy them
for less than IS per thousand. SO
he collected some jugs, put In
little syrup, and took them out
into the desert for a few hours.
Caught plenty of big red ants. but
he hasn't bothered TO count them.
CHINA's MOVIE
IDOLS
T HAVE some Far Eastern movie
L notes from Del Goodman, who
sells 20th-Fox pictures from Bali
to Afghanistan. Besides American
and European films. he has TO
compete with local products. which
are ground out cheaply-and bad
ly--in China. japan and India.
The latter made 2s5 last year.
Most players and directors work
for very modest wages In the ORR
emit, but two or three favorites
amass fortunes. China's screen
queen, Butterfly WI. gets $4,000
year. The death OF Yuan Lung
Yu brought 10000 waiting fans
to their idols funeral. more than
were turned out by the Valentino
rites.
The Chinese know and like most
American stars. and collect their
autographs and pictures Just rs
our fans do But the greatest Of
all stars for them II Charlie Chap
lin. whose psntomime n inteilig-
ible in any dialect. Oriental
glamor gals don't have to watch
their weight carefully. One Of the
Chinese stars specifies in her con-
tracts that a fresh five-pound box
of chocolates always must be kept
in her dressing room.
LAST WORD IN
EXPLOITATION
TNHEATERs there fix up flashy
i lobby displays ~ elaborate AZ
anything you see at American
movie places. but their ideas Of
showmanship have almost no limi-
tations. Once, after five people
had been killed In a theatsr dur
ing q Japanese bombing raid on
Shanghai, the open collins OF the
victims were put In the lobby for
day. Business A. usual
The original titles OF movies
often are uninteiligibie 10 Chinese
fans-snd 10. for that matter. are
quite a few Of the pictures them
selves. So many of the films are
given new names. wife. Doctor
and Nurse" was billed as In His
Right and Left Arms" Il Met