Universal Weekly (1933-1935)

«0— UNIVERSAL WEEKLY =Nov. 30, 1935 "Magnificent Obsession, ” Tenth World Wonder John M. Stahl, maker of the tenth wonder of the world, “ Magnificent Obsession.” ENOUGH time and labor to build a skyscraper, enough money to construct a zeppelin, enough people, working on two continents, to populate a good sized town went into the making of Universal's giant production, "Magnificent Obsession" and the end is only beginning to draw near Two years, one million dollars, six thousand actors, writers, technicians, research experts, doctors, lawyers, clergymen, extras and other workers collaborated in creating this gigantic work which features Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, Betty Furness and Charles Butterworth. Director John M. Stahl is now editing the film and will have it ready for release with the New Year. Almost a million feet of film were shot by Stahl during the sixteen weeks in which he had the cast of fifty principals before the cameras. Of that titanic footage, 467,000 feet, or more than 17,000 feet in excess of any picture made in the last five years, were used for the "frames" or pictures of the action. An equal number of film feet carried the sound track. Laid end to end these reels would stretch 352 miles, a distance equal to that from New York to Rochester. Just watching them on the screen would take an observer four 24 hour days, or The Movies Could Build Pyramids, and Have Done It, but the Men Who Made the Pyramids Couldn’t Make a Movie, and “Magnificent Obsession” Is a Pyramid Among Movies. • twelve 8 hour working days. Stahl expects nine weeks to elapse before he can finish cutting the film down to playing length of 10,000 feet, one fiftieth of its original extent. The first stage of making "Magnificent Obsession" began with the publication of the Lloyd C. Douglas novel. For 18 months this novel did not enter the best seller class. Then slowly and surely it forged into this select company and remained there for three years, a modern literary record. Its movie history duplicated this. Universal secured an option on the story in 1933. Nothing further was done for awhile. Then John M. Stahl visited New York and Miss Annie Laurie Williams interested him in the book. The story was purchased by Universal in April 1934. Immediately 62 research specialists were set to work in France and America. Architectural drawings to the number of 80 were made to the fraction of an inch of an entire section of Paris. Plans of the giant S. S. Normandie were secured. From these, reproductions were made at Universal City. Forty-one sets were built, including, hospitals, hotels and a gambling casino. Four months before shooting began the scenarists, George O'Neil, Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman, winners of the Academy statuette for their "It Happened One Night" began on the screenplay. Irene Dunne had always been the choice for the feminine lead, but thirty six of the finest young actors were tested in New York and Hollywood before Robert Taylor was selected as her leading man. Miss Dunne herself had to take numerous tests. Tests were also given 12 of the 50 supporting players in the cast. These tests used up more than 100,000 feet of film, all of which had to be scrutinized by Stahl. Meanwhile the property, technical, and costume departments were busy. Thirty-eight different original styles were created for Irene Dunne by Vera West, studio designer, eighteen gowns for Betty Furness and twelve for Sara Haden. Chief cameraman John Mescall assembled I I different cameras from the giant crane, as big as a steam shovel to the tiny midget two feet high to film the production. He had six assistant camera men toiling for him when shooting began on July 12th. Five thousand extras were employed by Stahl in the ensemble scenes of the picture. These were picked whenever possible according to occupation by the director whose passion is intense realism. He picked carpenters to play carpenters, waiters to play waiters and so on right along the line. For a hospital scene he signed California physicians and surgeons in active practice. His marriage scene was performed by an actual clergman. Virtually every profession and trade had been brought into play before the last camera had shot the last reel of "Magnificent Obsession."