Exhibitors Herald (Apr-Jun 1922)

vpril 29. 1922 EXHIBITORS HERALD 69 One Million Cost of "The Prisoner of Zenda" Nearly Fifty Miles of Film Used Herd's some statistics which will gh'c a clear idea of the great task 'which confronted Rex Ingram in the production of "The Prisoner of Zenda:" 1. Total cost, $1,11S,4S3.16. This would make the cost of every foot of finished film approximate $111, provided the picture is in ten reels. 2. Twenty -three thousand persons, including actors, technical men, etc., contributed to the making of the picture. 3. The footage of raw film exposed was 257,521, which totals about forty-eight and one-half miles. It would require a champion sprinter 2 hours and 45 minutes to cover the distance. 4. The scenario, detailing every set and action, comprised 1,622 pages — more than H. C. Wells' "Outline of History." 5. A village and six blocks of city dwellings to represent the kingdom of Ruritania were constructed. 6. It required twenty-six costume designers and other artists four months in the creation of costumes. 7. The value of the coronation robes used by the principals in the cast was $105,000. 8. Rex Ingram utilized the radiophone in directing the big scenes. 9. In the costume factory 540 persons were employed — tailors, cutters, dressmakers and special workers. H. Two weeks were required in shooting the coronation scenes. During this time the blocks of city streets housed more than 10,000 persons. In the kitchens were 432 cooks. 11. Building material weighing 124,000 tons were used in the construction of the sets. 12. Art works valued at $2,000,000 were loaned to the director for use in the larger settings. Statistics compiled by Metro on the production of "The Prisoner of Zenda" illustrate clearly the magnanimous task confronted in the making of a modern photoplay. In its finished form, this picture, according to Metro, represents an expenditure of $1,118,453.16, and this sum represents but a little more than half of the total value of the art treasures loaned to the director, Rex Ingram, for use in the big scenes. Not until it is known that about 23,000 persons were engaged in one capacity or another in the production of "The Prisoner of Zenda" are the figures of the picture's cost credible. Counting extras, camera boys and emergency employes as many persons were concerned in the filming of this story as there are inhabitants of Oswego, N. Y. During the several months required in the production of the photoplay, 257,521 feet of raw film was exposed by the photographer, John F. Seitz, and his assistants. This is not so great a footage as was used for the transferring to the screen of Vicente Blasco Ibanez's "The Four Horsemen of the Apolcalyse," by Rex Ingram, but it is a strip of celluloid over 48yi miles long. For a sprinter, say of the speed of the world's record holder, Charley Paddock, to cover that distance at his rate of running 100 yards in nine and three-fifths seconds, would require two hours and three-quarters. 1,622 Pages in Script This mass of preparatory work was no less impressive. The scenario, for example, by Mary O'Hara, of the Metro staff in Hollywood, contained 1,622 pages of typewritten material, single-spaced. This is more voluminous than the two volumes of. H. G. Wells' "Outline of History." Lest it' seem impossible that in two screen hours enough action can occur to require such length in its sketch, it must be remembered that in the modern motion picture script, every detail must be recorded, from the position of chairs on a set to the manner in which the heroine's hand goes unconsciously to her throat in the dramatic scene to be enacted there. The scenes are not shot in the sequence of their appearance on the screen, and thus there is no possibility of carrying in one's minds the multitude of details which must be observed for the thorough simulation of reality. Preliminary art work required the creative efforts of 26 artists under the supervision of the director, for a period of four months before the first scene was photographed. The costumes in "The Prisoner of Zenda," being of a sort not found in any country, must be original designs. The architecture of the city streets and the village wherein most of the exteriors are laid was an adaptation of that of countries in Europe, somewhere among which Ruritania. the imaginary kingdom, must lie. But it could be neither German, nor French, nor Italian, nor Austrian. It must be different from the basic characteristics of all these, yet be European. The costume factor and the draughting rooms which were built for similar work on "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" were enlarged soon after the completion of that gigantic picture and were immediately given over to the staff which was to work on "The Prisoner of Zenda." In this manufactory, 540 -persons were employed — cutters, fitters, tailors, dressmakers and special workers. Resembles Army Camp Seventy-two buildings in all were se* up, many of them finished throughout. These made up the six blocks of city streets and the Ruritanian village. The two. in the nicture, are represented as being many miles apart, whereas actually they were separated by only about 400 yards. Mr. Ingram made practical use of these dwellings in the course of the photography of the coronation scenes. He himself never left the lot, and in order that all extras be on the ground in the morning at 8 o'clock, he required them to remain also. Sleeping accommodations were provided in army cots, and army methods of serving food were used. The number of cooks at one time on the Metro payroll totaled 4S2. They took care of the appetites of the slightly less than 10,000 extras for two weeks. The total tonnage of stone, wood, iron fittings used in the building of the village and the city backgrounds came to 124,000 tons. Radiophone is Used The director of "The Prisoner of Zenda" used, in the mass scenes of the coronation events, the radiophone in controlling the huge crowds. This he experimented With when it first came into popular prominence, and found it superior to the telephone with wires. To each ■nib-director of a unit of the crcwd, Mr. Ingram,, calling him by name, would issue orders at exactly the moment he perceived, from a raised platform overlooking the great scene, was the right instant. A small item, from the point of view of expense, was the cost of the costumes worn by the principals in the coronation scenes. Not including jewels, the capes of ermine and other furs, the gowns of cloth of gold, and the heavily braided uniforms of the men. came to $105,000. Morris Goes Abroad to Take Charge of Select And Selznick Interests A farewell dinner was tendered Sam E. Morris shortly before his departure for England by employes and officials of Select and Selznick organization. , Mr. Morris will handle Select and Selznick interests abroad, opening offices in London and organizing Select Pictures, Ltd., of which he will be president. Approximate+v 80 people attended the banquet, included among which were numerous of Mr. Morris' friends in the industry as well as many Select managers in the East. Mr. Morris was accompanied to England by his wife and son.