International photographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

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Welles has simply added one more thing to the art. He uses every trick in the hag. There is a good deal of special effect work, by Vern Walker and his crew and it should be stated that Toland's veteran crew ( the) have been with him for years) were able to get what he wanted with a minimum of time. The camera operator was Bert Shipman: assistant cameramen. Eddie Garvin and Ledge Haddock: head electrician, W. T. McClellan: the grip. Ralph Hogge. "Citizen Kane" was more than a pleasure to shoot. In the first place, of course, there was Welles, who is an enormously engaging and cooperative subject. He never let down for a minute and was practically always doing something worth a picture. Then the story of "Citizen Kane." with its 110 settings, lasting through one man's lifetime, presented endless backgrounds for stills. Welles, who carried his character from the age of twenty-five to seventyfive, wore a series of amazing costumes. His face and figure, also altered, and he never looked the same from day to day. It got so after a while that he wouldn't get past the gate man on his own face. "Citizen Kane" is the story of a millionaire whose ambition wrecks his life. As a young man he buys a New York newspaper and marries a prominent young debutante. He runs for governor and his wife leaves him when a political opponent exposes the fact that he is living with another woman. Defeated, but not broken, Kane marries his mistress, | and though she has small talent he decides to train her so she will become a famous singer. He goes so far as to build an opera house for her. Her debut as a singer is a rank failure and the newspaper critics do not soften the blow in their columns. Despite the tremendous home and luxuries he has bestowed upon her. his lack of love and understanding have made her unhappy and she leaves him — alone, with all ambitions shattered. Bombs Destroy Camera Eqpt. German bombs dropped recently around a 20th Century Fox film crew working in Wales, Director William Wyler learned today in a cable from Frances T. Harley, studio production chieftain in London. The crew was filming background shots at the time for Darryl F. Zanuck's production of "How Green Was My Valley," the Richard Llewellvn best seller about the Welsh coal mines. The cameramen took to cover at the lust air raid alarm. When they returned after tin all clear signal, they found their equipment destroyed. Harley advised the studio thai the cameramen would continue working in Wales for the next four weeks in spite of the dangers. CO'OpERATJVE RESEARCh LAboRATORy Needed "There is an urgent need for an experimental studio or laboratory, co-operatively owned by all the producing companies, where special effects men could work and try out in advance new devices and ideas in their highly specialized field." This is Larry Butler's conclusion after a lifetime in the business. His views on the problems of the trick and special effects man are simple and to the point. "It is unfair to expect a producer to be more than ordinarily sympathetic to the problems of special effects. Most of the time, experiments have to be made at the producer's risk. "This is why I feel there would be so much time and money saved bv having this sort of research lab where we could conduct experiments in printing and developing between pictures. Where we could exchange ideas for the good of the business. Where we could try out innovations without the risk of holding up production." After five years in England working at thQ Denham Studios of London Films for Alexander Korda, Larry Butler returned to Hollywood, where he is now working strenuously on the unusually large number of special effects required for "Lady Hamilton." His first job here was to complete work already started in London on "The Thief of Bagdad." This picture was in the nature of a Roman holiday for a special effects expert. The flying horse, the magic carpet, the spider and his web, the Genii and his materialization from thin air. the world wide soaring of the Genii, a score of other minor effects, and all in Technicolor, with most of the job done in war-time — well. Larry was surely glad to get back to the peace and calm of Hollywood last June. He sums up this "Thief of Bagdad" assignment as chiefly "making, or trying to make, traveling mattes work." Larry is a firm believer in this technique. "There are only two ways of handling film for special effects. Double printing or double exposing. It seems to me that traveling mattes have been too long neglected. "I had a good chance of seeing whether I was reasonably right in this assumption on 'The Thief of Bagdad' job. Time was always an element. So decisions had to be made quickly and the results had to prove the experiment." There is no office marked "Lawrence Butler" at the Korda studios, although they tried their best to furnish him with one. He can usuallv be found anywhere between the prop department, the lab, this, miniature stage, the process department and the tank. When he was in London, he inherited a 5ne suite of offices, complete with leather covered chairs, a battery of telephones, a swell mahogany desk, and a good-looking secretary. He never used any of them. There was too much to do, working with eager but plodding mechanics, technicians earnest and ambitious but in many cases inexperienced compared to the Hollywood men. Thoughtfully he says, "Five years in « Traveling matte set-up. International Photographer for January, 1941