Evening star., 1940-11-03
Sneak Test
Of New Film
Is an Ordeal
Maker of Picture
Suffers Agonies
AT Premiere
Rv H1roId HoHorunu
BY Harold Hefernan.
HOLLYWOOD.

movie maker a couple of minutes
before the curtain ascends on the
first sneak preview of his latest pic
ture.
Many and complex are the prob
lens attending the manufacture Of
a motion picture, but executives
agree that the struggle for self
control on one of these soul-searing
occasions has all previous worries
backed against the wall.
First l get a pain in the pit of
my stomach, and then I seem to be-
come paralyzed all over" said Mer-
vyn LIE Roy, one of the most affable
producers in Hollywood. after 10
minutes or so I'm all right again
I'm only numb"
No one up close to the production
helm can get away from the heavy
suspense attending sneak showings.
A prominent director once tainted
as the main title of his opus flashed
on the screen. The head of a major
studio, about to watch audience
reaction for the first time on
S2000,000 epic he had been nursing
for more than year, was stricken
with heart trouble. His chauffeur
had him under a doctors care be-
fore the first reel was unwound.
Everything can, and frequently
does, happen at a SNEAK" If the
film is going to break or the sound
fade out. count on it to do so at the
most dramatic moment in the his
tory. Other miseries, ludicrous to
the moviegoer with neither money
nor career at stake, but torture to
the producing faction, are constantly
popping up. Let's look over a few.
Mr.. Sturges Has Trouble.
Preston Sturges, Paramount's
puckish writer director producer,
had one terrifying experience with
his Christmas in July" a few nights
ago. He'll never erase from his soul
the marks left by the sneak pre-
view of his picture in Pasadena.
1t should be explained that sneaks
are conducted by the theaters with
out preliminary fanfare. No ad-
vance notice to the audience. All of
sudden they get brand-new pic
ture on the Screen-and that's all
there is to it.
Sturges and his aides arrived at
the theater shortly after 8 pm. On
the stage was the house manager.
For As minutes, he stalled through
the award of SO 900 in prizes on bank
night. A chain of theaters was tied
into the award. Not a soul in the
Pasadena theater won a dollar. The
patrons were obviously disappointed
and disguised. Cat calls and boos
rent the air.
The manager walked off the stage
and Sturges' comedy suddenly came
on the screen.
The first scene showed Franklin
Pangborn in perfect imitation of
the theater manager.
And now, ladies and gentlemen
said Pangborn, I'VE are about to an
nounce the winners in the S25, 900
coffee slogan contest"
Boo" chorused the Pasadena
theater audience. 1t was 20 minutes
or more before the fans settled down
and began enjoying the comedy.
Meanwhile, Sturges, in panic, walked
out of the theater.
Producer Wesley Ruggles was
happy, confident and proud as he
sat with an Alhambra audience
waiting the SNEAK" of TOO Many
Husbands" with Fred MacMurray
and Jean Arthur. The theater was
packed. The chuckles began in the
first 20 seconds and by the end of
the first reel Ruggles was hearing
roars of laughter. The second reel
came on the screen.
Comedy Frosted Out.
Out of blue sky, Blonde ap-
peared and cavorted on the screen
throughout the reel, then disap-
peared. During the rest Of TOO
Many Husbands" the patrons Won
dered where Blonde came from,
what she was doing in the picture
and where she went. Some one IN
the studio had erroneously included
a reel of one of the Blonde series
instead of the second reel of the
Ruggles picture. .
Then. there was the sad case OF
T,ove Thy Neighbor' few nights
ago at Pomona. That town IS the
capital of the orange-growing in
dustry. It's swell place for sneak
previeW-normally
Studio executives regarded this
sneak as very important and there
was a large group present When
the title of the Jack Benny-Fred
Allen comedy flashed on the screen
Suddenly, in the midst of the title,
the projectiorist inserted the famll-
lar frost warning slide:
Frost Due-Smudge Tonlght!"
In unison, the audience arose and
trotted from the theater. Lighting
smudge pots to protect the orange
groves from frost was more lmpor-
tant than anything Benny and Alien
had to crack at each other.
Until the final editing is done, the
picture itself and the sound track
are printed on separate films. This
sinplif1es the cutters job when
changes are ordered after the
SNEAK" But this greatly compli-
Gates the projectionist's job in the
booth.
When Lady of the Tropics" was
given, its first sneak, the first reel
of the picture became mixed up
with the second reel of the sound
track. AS a result, instead of the
Introductory roar of M.G.M.'S IA
nous Leo the Lion, audiences heard
Hedy Lamarr's voice announcing,
"I think I'll go home now"
Scared Audiences Away.
At a Riverside theater during the
climactic air raid scenes of idiots
Delight" the sound track went dead
and bombs exploding and masonry
tumbling in were completely silent.
Clarence Brown, the director, was
Ill for two days after that sneak ex-
perience.
When "San Francisco" was
"sneaked" in Long Beach, the lat
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