Evening star., 1941-12-20

any announcements OF an lmpOrtar
loud-speaker systems.
War or no war Orson Welles, the
26-year-old entertainment dynamo,
who early in 1941 got million dol
lars from R-K-O and made a NOV
ing picture whose inf1ammatory ma
ture he did not disclose until it was
ready for screening, is now busy on
his second celluloid project.
Again Mr.. Welles is working on
his own stage, far from the R-K-O
home lot, and again he has selected
his own aids. Once more he Is the
headman-the producer. the direc-
tor and the writer, although he must
share honors in the latter depart
ment with another pretty good au-
thor, a Mr. Booth Harrington. whose
novel, The Magnificent Ambersons,"
Mr.. Welles is filming. Unlike the
first Welles film venture (the
memorable Citizen Kaneo Orson
IS not this time the star. He is not
playing any kind of an acting part
except for the delightful directing
show he invariably puts on while
urging other actors through their
PAGES.
When Mr.. Welles called and asked
us to come out and have a look at
his new movie in the blossoming
stage he added that it might be
good idea if we donned topcoat and
overshoes. 1t was well that we fol-
lowed his advice.
The sun was shining In Los
Angeles and the temperature was
close to the 8O-mark, but Orson
Welles had decreed zero weather
and so zero weather it was. If Orson
wants things that way he just orders
them and the Chamber of Com
merce can 60 hang itself
Before you get the idea that
Orson is actually a miracle man,
let's explain that this particular
scene for his THE Magnificent
Ambersons" was being staged in a
huge cold storage plant in the in
dustrial section Of Los Angeles. 1t
is there that Hollywood movie
makers do all their biggest winter
scenes, for this is the only stage
in town that can be made cold
enough to register human breath
for the camera. In spite of war and
priorities, Orson Welles still gets
his perfection of detail.
The six leading characters are on
hand for the scene-an exterior
road, down which comes first an
1895 horseless carriage, followed by a
trim cutter drawn by . PAGER. A
brief aside will establish the why"
of all this. The story relates the
change that overtakes Midwestern
city when industry begins booming
at the turn of the century. The most
magnificent family in town is the
Anderson family, but their fortunes
fall while those of Eugene Morgan,
a pioneer inventor of horseless car
riages, rise.
Joseph Cotton (the standout of
Citizen Kane'D heads the cast as
Morgan, Dolores Costello plays
Isabel Anderson Minafer They
were sweethearts in their teens, but
Isabel married Wilbur Minafer
Many years later. Eugene comes
back to his home city, and his lovely
daughter, played by Anne Baxter
and Isabels son, the most arrogant
scamp in town-that's Tim Holt
inevitably fall in love.
Cotton's horseless carriage, fol
this sequence, is stalled in the
snow. Holt and Miss Baxter sal
by the antique car in the cutter
and Holt, in his character of the
spoiled George, yells Get horse
get a horse!"
Then as the speedy cutter slide!
over the expanse of snow, young
George makes an error Absorbed
in yelling insults, he fails to notice
q boulder The sleigh runner
smashes into 1t, overturning. Tin
and Miss Baxter fall down the EN-.
bankment by the road and rol
right into the full frame of the
cameras eye.
Not an easy scene to make, but
obviously an effective one.
Lets shoot it," thunders Orson
What are we waiting for?"
Arc lamps come to life suddenly
and the camera rolls.
The cutter dashes past the stalled
auto. hits the rock and down tn
hill roll the two principals. The!
windup just before the camera ir
a thorough-going kiss scene. I
looked f1ne-to every one but Orson
4 "Cut-cut!" he yells. You didn'
make 1t clear you were protecting
Anne In the fall, Tim," he scolds.
So they do it over. And they d,
It over and over. We counted Il
times. It began to get colder ant