Evening star., 1942-02-26

can be heard. It's the real thing
too. The pesky stingers came In
with the trees and shrubbery. Here
1t is s"replanted" on the wooden
floor, six inches thick with mud and
dirt.
But, now for the topper. In the
middle of the stage, among trees
that have been snapped off and
crushed, lies the shattered fuselage
of a great r. A. F. flying fortress.
One of its motors, free of the ship,
is half buried near some rocks. One
great wing is in three sheared Sec
tions.
This is the spectacle" set Of ''Des-
perate Journey" Enrol Flynn's new
starring movie. For artistic realism
one would have to travel far and
long over Hollywood stages to match
it. 1t took three weeks to build"
that plane in broken parts, Director
Raoul Walsh tells us. Ordinarily,
it would have been erected out OF
doors.
The magic of this set goes even
farther. Big gas jets, Smoke pots,
and wind machines have been so
adjusted that the battered plane
may be set afire, its gas tanks made
to explode.
Flynn Is now getting ready to do
this. He is the captain of the
downed bomber, helpless In the
Black Forest of Germany, with only
four members Of his crew surviving.
They are Ronald Regan, Alan Hale,
Arthur Kennedy and Ronald Sim
clair. Flynn gets them out of the
plane, somehow, and then prepares
to set the fire with a shot from a
very pistol.
You'll have to get off the stage
now" a uniformed studio fireman
says. "Only ones allowed here while
they make the scene are five actors
and the crew. No visitors means you
this time" Six other firemen come
up dragging hose line taut with
water right up to the nozzle.
It's a disappointment that we
can't watch the filming Of such an
exciting sequence. Before war re-
strictions were imposed it would
have been all right. Then it would
have been taken out of doors at
the studio ranch. But now night
fires, deliberately lighted, are not
wanted by the Army anywhere on
the Pacific Coast. Even Hollywood
make-believe fires, which can be
blacked out in a hurry. Unless, OF
course, they get out of hand.
One Of those amusing "all is not
as it seems" situations turns up on
the set of Highly Irregular" at
Columbia, where Franchot Tone and
Joan Bennett are co-Starring.
The set is a military courtroom in
Nazi-occupied Holland. Tone, as
an r. A. F. flyer charged with espi-
onage, Is about to be sentenced by
three grim looking German generals.
Hanging above the judges bench
is menacing swastika banner, Is
4COV cAuo4Cs
The three generals quickly SEN
fenced Tone to be executed at once.
They gave him nothing but an ugly
sneer. Miss Bennett wept. Tone
hung his head, staggered.
Director Dick Wallace thought 1t
was great, yelled primo it" to the
cameraman-and then the whole
atmosphere Of the room changed.
Tone took a chair at the edge Of the
set and Lit q cigerette. Miss Bennett
wiped away the glycerin and
launched q funny story. A bunch
Of elderly extra women pulled out
their knitting and set to work for
the Red Gross.
What about the three nasty Nazi
generals? Let's see if we can't over
hear their conversation.
I'm not so sure about that baby
food you spoke about a minute ago"
said one: Some friends of ours
used it and their kid lost weight" ."
The gruffest of the Nazi generals
grunted Indignantly. He stood up,
reached under the folds OF his be-