Hollywood (1937)

of Death! .-/// photos by Mcvvyit Freeman had I not carried one on my camera at all times it would have been smashed to pieces. That made it government property, and hence sacred to the soldiers. Of course, I remained somewhat in the background, but when we were nearing the trenches the Chinese cut loose with everything they had. Five soldiers dropped dead right in my path. But it wasn't long until I was over the top and inside a Chinese trench. Once inside I crawled up as high as I dared and ground away at my camera with Chinese and Japanese bullets whistling over me. Camel Goes Berserk "But the narrowest escape I ever had was right in Los Angeles County at Ken Maynard's ranch, last August, when a camel which was attached to a plow took a violent exception to being portrayed in such an uncamel-like and undignified task. The camel, on seeing my camera, rushed at me with all the berserk violence of his species. The result was a twentytwo day rest — if you can call it a rest — for yours truly in a hospital. "Another occasion I'll not forget was back in 1934, in San Francisco, when I was covering the longshoreman's strike. This time I was working with the police under the protection of the national guardsmen. We were wearing bullet proof vests and gas masks and were routing strikers from behind box cars. The strikers began throwing bricks at us. Then the fun was FEBRUARY, 1937 on — the strikers throwing clubs and stones, the police using tear gas bombs. We had a pretty wild time but I guess a lot of cameramen have gone through the same experience without the protection we had. Even those fellows that went with Byrd to the South Pole didn't live in any bed of roses." During the recent trouble in Cuba. Joseph Gibson suffered four bullet wounds in his legs. Standing in the thick of the fighting down there in Havana, Joe's legs caught a row of machine bullets as he cranked his camera for Universal. That was tough luck for Joe, and tougher still in view of the fact that he had to lose a grand picture of the revolution, but such is the reward of a newsreeler! Certainly there is no deadly monotony in the life of a cameraman. One day he may be the honored guest of distinguished people, who courteously put at his service every facility for making his job easy, while the next day's job is done in spite of continuous threats and attempts to mob him, and smash his camera and, sometimes, ends with a police escort out of town and a clever smuggling out of his exposed film. Swing on High Perch Sound Technician Warren McGrath and Cameraman Jim Seeback tell of thrills (and what thrills) as they left good old Mother Earth in a little basket-like cage which was swiftly raised to a high level over the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. From there they made their pre The newsreel cameraman keeps cranking in face of disaster — in this case a camel goes berserk sending Mervyn Freeman to the hospital carious way up a spidery ladder to a sort of skeleton framework known as a "creeper truss." Then, like expert steel workers, these men scaled the uppermost parts of the framework, taking their equipment with them. However, before climbing to the top mast, arrangements had been made to have them hoisted on a small platform which was attached to the top of the tower by a series of cables that carried them heavenward. Imagine the thrills they had as they looked down — far down — from that tiny skip high in the air. Imagine the cold feet, leaping hearts, and dry throats those fellows had when they heard faint cries from the tower, screaming that their guide rope was hanging Feature for February limply from their skip. Boy, oh boy, what a sight! But then that's the life of the newsreel and sound men. Every day with them brings thrills and spills with no certainty as to the morrow. Dye-Squirting Guns Captain Herford Tynes Cowling of the National Archives, Wasliington, D. C. tells an interesting story of his filming the Maharajah of Kashmir at a celebration. The Maharajah had invited only his best friends, and everyone was dressed in white. The guests spent the afternoon in horse-play, throwing vari-colored dyes on each other with squirt guns, but when the camera began to record their actions the Maharajah and a number of his guests decided to turn their squirt guns in the direction of the camera. Maybe that was fun but Captain Cowling wasn't so sure about it. For months newsreel cameramen found death close to them in bringing you closeups of gripping encounters among the Loyalists and rebels in war-torn Spain. It never is a question of whether they will come through alive, but to get out and film whatever rival armies put on in the way of plain and fancy fighting. They see scenes that chill the blood and sear the soul, and bring them to you in picture news — if they get out alive. The same was true of the conflict in Ethiopia when II Duce and Haille Selassie pitted their respective armies in desperate conflict. The newsreel cameraman never knows when a bullet may find its resting place in his body while he cranks his camera to record martian struggles. Withal, they come through most times as if some charm rules their destinies. And, mind you, adventures like these are not unusual in the hectic lives of the cameramen. No question, they are the unsung heroes of movieland, and though their days may be filled with zip, dash and go, they are likewise filled with heart throbs and chaos. With them each day is a day of wonderment; wonderment as to where they will go next, wonderment as to what they may encounter and wonderment as to whether they will return to their loved ones. You may gamble that newsreel cameramen tackle every job with real enthusiasm — not because it's all in a day's work — but because, well, it's part of the make-up of these fellows to get the most out of the old box no matter what's in front of it. Hip, Hip. Hippopotamus! If getting a good closeup of a wild beast demands going aboard, that becomes part of a newsreel man's duty 29