Evening star., 1953-04-21
On the Air
Man Against Crime Cameras
Shoot BeIIomy in Capital
By Harry Macarthur

gardens are next door to the Aim
studio in the Bronx, built in 1904
by Thomas Edison.
X y y y
Other advantages of film over
live television from the stand
point of players and crew are
that inevitable f1uffs can be taken
out and the show can be edited
to the proper time. If live show
runs too long it's off the air and
if it runs short somebody has
to do something to fill time. This
latter chore is sometimes nerve
racking and sometimes simple.
1.-TWO people in a scene can't
ad lib" Mr.. Bellamy said, but
with only one it's not so bad
You can either case the joint
in a hurry or take some time"
The actor once had to fill al
most four minutes on the air
with this not anticipated ad lib
action. He's not at all sorry
that film makes it unnecessary
for him to worry about doing
that any more.
Man Against Crime" had its
share of first class bloopers
while it was being done live. The
one that gave Bellamy's Detec-
tive Mike Barnett the closest
ever to an insoluble problem was
the case Of thu missing corpse.
The deceased" was covered
early in the action, not to be
seen again until Mike Barnett
identified him in the climactic
scene. Everything went smoothly
that night until the detective
walked in to identify the corpse.
Wasn't any corpse. With 20
minutes at his disposal the actor
playing dead had gone out for
a smoke and forgotten to re-
turn.
The episode suspected of driv-
ing the producer to film, even
though it costs SO per cent more
that way. occurred on another
night. This time Bellamy was
standing on a dock, looking out
over the ocean. And this timH
everything went smoothly until
a floor man, headphones neatly
in place, forgot where he was
and rose up at the end of the
dock" to find himself starring
into q T'V camera.
Friend of the stars called and
said that was a fine show but
where did he get that crazy
mermaid?
The program which brought
Bellamy and company here yes
terday will be up late in May
on the CBS-TV Wednesday night
feature. AS in the case of most
filmed half f-hour TV shows. about
six weeks elapse between filming
and release Of the finished prod
uct.
Whether such location trips
will be made in the future prob
ably hangs on the success of this
one. The camera crew did, in
a very short time, get expert
ence with almost any kind of
weather they can expect to en-
counter. Dodging hailstorms and
snow flurries and facing con-
tinually changing light, they shot
Bellamy at the airport. the JEFF
ferSon Memorial, the Capitol and
in a chase down the Mall and
through Washington streets.
One planned scene will not be
in the finished pctiure, which
bring Mike Barnett here to testify
before the Senate Gambling In
vestigation Committee" In this,
Bellamy was supposed to come
up in front Of the White House,
be struck by a flying object, then
lean down and, without word,
pick up a golf ball.
Well, the makers of all the
other TV whodunits got word
that permission had been granted
to use the White House back
ground and they began to clamor
for the same. The Man Against
Crime" people were asked If they
wouldn't desist. please. Deciding
that their joke already had
enough mileage on it anyhow,
they happily complied.