Modern Screen (Dec 1931 - Nov 1932 (assorted issues))

to 1 (Above) A scene from the famous picture "Crass." Cooper and Schoedsack lived the actual life of the tribe whose existence they were filming. It was the only way they could secure the film. (Right) Schoedsack and Cooper in their working clothes. Schoedsack had been a cameraman with Sennett. Cooper had been newspaperman, writer, soldier and aviator. dom struck a reef. The jagged rocks gouged at her keel, as she slithered across into deeper water. Her lead bottom was torn off with an ominous wrench. THE Wisdom limped into Jidda, seaport to holy Mecca, where an attempt was made to repair the damage, but the job was only temporary and by the time they got to Suez she was unfit for further service. The cruise was ended. Then it was that Cooper and Schoedsack formed their now famous film partnership. And their first major job was the filming of the picturesque migration of one of the great nomad tribes of Persia. This was how that thrilling record of a primitive people in search of sustenance for their flocks, "Grass," had its beginning. Neither of the partners had enough money to finance the. jaunt, so they set out to earn it. They supplemented their original capital with an income from newsreels. stills, and the articles Cooper wrote for Asia Magazine. In Turkey, Schoedsack filmed the inauguration of Mustapha Kemal as president of the new republic. But the money for the expedition was the least of their troubles. For almost a year they cooled their heels in war-torn Turkey, trying to get through to Persia. The Turks were even more suspicious than usual and it was only with the greatest difficulty that they finally made their way into Kurdistan. While crossing the Taurus Mountains they were overtaken by a blizzard. The guide lost his way, and for hours they wandered in the howling storm. The guide gave out and lagged behind. Cooper took his place at the head of the column, and when he became exhausted 34 Schoedsack broke trail until an abandoned shelter on the banks of an icy stream was found. Stripping off their wet clothes, they threw themselves flat on the earth in front of the fire and lay there stark naked, while snow came drifting in through cracks in the shack. The only food they had was a small amount of Turkish candy; they dissolved it in hot water and drank the concoction To them it tasted like a drink for the gods. FINALLY, a short way inland from the Persian Gulf they reached the winter grazing land of a people called the Baktyaris. Cooper and Schoedsack were without weapons, but the innate hospitality of their Mohammedan hosts served them better than guns. "We were the only people who had ever gone into that country without rifles," relates Cooper. To the east a tremendous range of mountains stretched unbroken from the Gulf to the Black Sea, and behind that barrier was the other grazing ground, the summer home of the nomads. Twice each year the tribes make the journey across the bleak, altitudinous heights of the Zardeh Kuh. And grass is the lodestone that draws them! irresistibly. Without it their herds must die. At a meeting of the Khans, Cooper explained that they wished to accompany one of the tribes on its migration across the mountains, living with them and traveling as they did. Amir Jang, headman of the Baktyaris, liked his little joke. "All right," he said, laughing heartily. "You go with the Baba Ahmedi. But they go a very hard road. Big mountains, big woods, big river; and then big, big mountain with plenty of snow. And {Continued on page 112)