The Cine Technician (1943 - 1945)

14 THE CINB-TECHKICIAN January— February. 1945 represents a tremendous saving of time. Ii a director on one oi our stages in tins country were to ask for a tower of this size, it might very easily hold up the production for an hour. Another lesson learned by Hollywood is that as long as bad feeling exists between management and labour, there can be no really efficient running of film production. Smooth running on the floor depends to a much larger extent than is generally realised on the enthusiasm of the workers. In Hollywood ever} member of the unit, right down to the most junior "grip" takes an enthusiastic inti rest in the welfare of the production, and one of the first things that we must do in England is to destroy the present disgruntled attitude of production personnel, particularly hourly staff which is one of the prime causes of the fact that we take much longer to shoot a picture than they do in America. The working day in Hollywood seems to he Wetter planned, and the various Trade Unions should 1-e asked to help us with that problem. Most Hollywood Studios work from 8.30 to 6 p.m.. very seldom going on after that time. They have only one break of an hour for lunch, which generally happens at 12 a.m.. thus giving the Unit five continuous working hours from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Once a Unit gets into its stride shooting quickens up a lot, and the continual tea breaks in England do a lot to slow up production. Would it not be possible to have discussions with the Unions suggesting, if necessary, an increased payment to the men in return for a full day's work without breaks'? Heaven forbid that the Englishman should be made to go without his tea, but could not this tea drinking be unofficial with work' going on at the same time? While dealing with general studio matters, it would be as well to mention another time-wasting element wdiich is apparent in our studios, and which has been successfully dealt with here. This is caused by the lack of discipline and control that we seem to have at home over our actors and actresses. In Hollywood artists are much more considerate to producing companies than they are in England. They allow themselves to be disciplined and pay mote attention to the requests of assistant directors, etc. Our artists of late seem to be able to do exactly as they like, irrespective of the time and money they are wasting. Clauses should be introduced into their contracts insisting on complete obedience to any reasonable requests made by the producers, such as arriving on time when called, and being prepared to stay <m the set. etc. As much as 45 minutes per da\ has been wasted on recent productions awaiting the cast. It is very difficult to prevent stars from drifting away to the restaurant, etc. In order to avoid this happening. Hollywood have found it advisable to build a number of small portable bungalow dressing rooms. Each important member ot the cast is given one and it follows the production ii' in stage to stage. These bungalows are so well fitted out and are so comfortable in every way. containing as they do a couch, easy-chair, a fir class dressing-table with make-up lights, etc. electric radiator, and the means of making coffee, thai the artists have no desire to leave the set. and can be relied upon to be there on the job when required. Jt might appear that for us to adopt this plan would be pandering too much to the comfort of our actors and actresses, but if. as it undoubtedly would do. it prevents them from leaving the floor, the outlay incurred in the building of these bungalows would be more than r ipaid in a very short time indeed. Before closing this letter, now that I have been out here for a week or two, and have become more acclimatised, I would like to say just a little bit more about this problem of the Americans understanding our dialect. There is no doubt that this is a genuine problem, but I am sure it is not insurmountable. It is not a question of altering the way we speak so much as making sure that we speak correctly. We must become more aware of the importance of good diction. All new actors out here receive instruction on voice production, and learn how to speak properly. Several of our world stars have and still do take lessons and practice voice control and diction. 1 would like to point out Robert Donat as an example. Almost everyone in Hollywood goes through a course of this description at the expense of the company," for in many cases their need is even greater than ours. Perfect screen voices from the clarity point oi view are those of: Robert Donat. Ronald Colman, Herbert Marshall, Greer Garson and Vivien Leigh. None of which, it must be admitted, are in any way American. I am leaving for home almost any day now. so this will be my last letter. There is so much more to tell you. but it would take hours to write. I could talk for ages about the efficiency of som< of the departments out here. In Rack Projection they are streets ahead of us. Paramount triple head is truly wonderful, Syd and I are bringing back full details of all technical improvements, and I sincerely hope that this information will 1 i of use to the industry at home. There is one last thing that I would like to mention here, and that is. in America at the moment an enormous amount ol potential acting talent and for that matter writing talent which we in Englad should not hesitate to steal in the same way as America lias been stealing from us almost since the beginnim: of picture making. It