Hollywood (1938)

He Wanted an Easy Job [Continued from page 32] ■ As a youngster, "Biff" was taken from England to the West Indies where, with other youngsters, he used to amuse himself by diving into deep water to explore certain ancient wrecks. There were sharks in the water, but the boys went diving nevertheless. One day Wilcoxon swam into a cabin on a wreck and the current closed the door after him; he had a heck of a time getting out and a heck of a tussle with his own psychology before he dove down into the cabin again to prove to himself that he wasn't scared! In the midst of this sheltered existence, he discovered Shakespeare's plays and found that he liked to read the lines aloud. So, what with soccer, tennis, hunting, boxing and other sedentary pursuits, he found time to go upon the London stage and thence into American pictures. His first American film was DeMille's The Crusader, in which he played "Richard, the Lionheart" with Loretta Young as his queen. His second was Antony and Cleopatra, in which he played "Antony" to the "Cleopatra" of Claudette Colbert. "Right away I realized that the movies were the spot for any fellow who wanted an easy job," he explained; "my first hour on the lot, I heard about an actor who leaped off a roof to catch a rope dangling from an airplane — a scene in an ad venture film, with a real roof, real plane, and real rope, too. Then I got talking with a chap who had been chased through the jungle by a lion; a sound stage jungle, but positively a genuine lion. "Pictures? A cinch! An actor? A fellow with a soft handshake who lives on velvet. Ho hum." In The Crusades, they threw him immediately into a spirited fist fight with a blacksmith. Nobody pulled punches. "Richard, the Lionheart" took it on the jaw, and the blacksmith got buffeted into a drinking-trough. "Then came the battle scenes," Wilcoxon recalled, "marshmallow stuff where we clanked around in sixty pounds of steel mail and clunked one another over the head with iron battle-axes so sturdily that more than once we knocked one another out." Yes, and the classic scene — remember? — when Wilcoxon, on a hillside full of milling warriors, snatched a Saracen from a horse, wheeled the horse about, and leaped into the saddle; all in practically one gesture. It had to be a darned quick gesture, too. "I was new to the movies, and when they asked if I could do it, I said I'd try," Wilcoxon commented, "but if I'd known more, I wouldn't have attempted it." Because of the physical danger? "Because, without knowing it, I was depriving a stunt man of a job," Wilcoxon answered. ■ From this gentle introduction to the cinema, "Biff" progressed to adventures equally marshmallow in character. For Antony and Cleopatra they had a brisk fight with Roman broadswords; real swords, the short, broad blades with which Roman legions carved a way across Europe. The fight had to be a bona fide fight, except that Wilcoxon and his antagonists knew what the other fellow would do next — or thought they did. Well, the fight went along beautifully, Wilcoxon fencing with four men at once, until one of his opponents unintentionally did the unexpected. According to the script, "Antony" smashed down on this fellow's sword and broke it. The soldier was supposed to fling the splintered blade at Wilcoxon's face, and Wilcoxon would fend it off with his shield. But the soldier stumbled. Wilcoxon raised the shield and the broken blade went deep into his leg. So much easier than working in an office. Sure. | But there came an occasion when Wilcoxon got back at a director; and without intending to do so. The thing was due to his days in the West Indies. They were filming Souls at Sea. 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