International photographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

castinq For traveIoques One of the toughest jobs connected with the shooting of travelogues and that type of short film in color is commonly referred to as CASTING, and about which so many stories have been told, casting aspersions on the industry and we who are connected with it. Yet nothing "flowers" a beautiful short quite as lastingly as pretty gals. Of course one might say that other casting up here is better, out on some lake or stream, after speckled beauties of the mermaid class. Yes, the fishing is excellent here in the vacation land that has everything. Leon Shelley, the producer and our pleasant boss, is the type of workman who believes whole-heartedly in the adage that "ones best work is that which one enjoys most." No wonder I love it here; myself and others enjoying our hobby and getting paid for it. To think some folks work and save all their lives to do things in their spare and retiring years, that we do every day, and have done, all this happy life ? Oh yes, CASTING. Well it all goes back to those days of successful pictures with Jerry Fairbanks and Bob Carlisle who produce those top-notch shorts, "Popular Science" and "Unusual Occupations," also in glorious and magic breath-taking supernatural color. We don't get it either, but color pictures are fun, and often quite pretty, especially if the casting is adroitly done — beforehand. Jerry and Bob well know the advantage to every film of gorgeous gals and feminine pulchritude, as Jerry calls it. They always stressed that angle. I took it to heart and once overdid myself, overtrained, or something. An assingment arrived from them in Hollywood as I lolled on the sands at Provincetown, Massachusetts, out on the tip of Cape Cod. Seems a verv nice lady had hit on the hot idea of utilizing plain old fish nets for ladies wear. Painted, lacquered, or dipped in gold, those nets made glamorous turbans, belts, evening gowns, bathing suits and. OH, BOY, play suits. . . . What a picture the imagination conjured up . . . and immediately! So I looked into it and wrote a script. Then to casting. I called on several ladies who ran local clubs and eating emporiums. They knew everyone in town as well as from elsewhere. I asked for several gals to act and model in my chosen fish net oufits. Twentyfour showed up. I was told how important it was not to hurt anyone's feelings so I shot film on all. It was a good picture, but drew forth a classic wire from Jerry, towit, and with wit, thus: "Have just viewed with amazement your film on the lady with the fish nets. You devoted exactly seventy-eight feet to the star. The balance of your eight hundred feet coverage was entirely devoted to what we are titling Fernstroms Follies of 1938." For months after that experience I was kept on such assignments as United States Submarines, High Altitude Aerial jobs and General Motors Proving Grounds, as well as Texas Rangers. Not a girlie show until Valentine's Day. Last year, finally, when Shelly and I toured thousands of miles through British Columbia shooting material for Columbia Pictures' "Beautiful British Columbia," another grand chance offered itself for deft casting. The results were quite startling. It seems they have a setup here to build Trooper taking a hurdle, "Here Comes the Cavalry." liy Clifton L. Kling By Ray Fernstrom up the form and figure of the mass of healthy young people in this vicinity, called Pro-Rec, Provincial Recreation Activities, going in for mass gymnastics and mass bending, hopping, jumping and kicking. Really a spectacular show as all the gals wear pretty blue silk shorts and jackets. It took a week to get the group together, but with Shelly's patience we managed to set a date and place. SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY GIRLS showed up in their blue outfits and a group of men. Never did count 'em. As a matter of fact I didn't know they were there until I saw the picture. After we covered the mass movements I was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. (Maybe it was the sun.) Why not, thought I, make a scene to end all scenes of gals in a line? Roxy had his, Ziegfeld his, and the Music Hall theirs, so why shouldn't Shelly and Fernstrom have theirs? We lined up those six hundred and fifty girls and made a shot down the line. History was being made. Didn't I say, "This is the vacation land that has EVERYTHING"? This year we are up here shooting another; bigger, better super-colossal short, for just as Ralph Staub says he is long on shorts, we are longer, stronger and go much farther to get ours. This year we should improve. Ed Taylor is up here, too, in charge of the various and interesting shorts Vancouver Motion Pictures turn out. Casting this year is done in the same manner I used when I joined the hundreds of others who discovered Linda Darnell. That was down Dallas, Texas, way. I needed a cute little girl who could put over in pantomime a rapid bit of acting in between a series of fast lap dissolves in the camera. Following fashion shows, poring over newspaper files, calling on commercial photographers and theatre managers I finally heard of a girl through Taylor Byars, a top-notch commercial cameraman. He brought her over, Monetta Darnell, who struck me as a "natural" immediately. She had been to Hollywood, had a screen test and sent home to grow up. I couldn't understand how such a thing could happen. She said she photographed "too young." I used her and gave her a high front key light that narrowed her pretty round baby face. That did the trick and she is now a Hollywood star going places fast. In addition to the above methods we are running a talent search in all the local papers, so we expect not only to cast this epic, but perhaps locate some talent interesting to you scouts at home, for this land here certainly develops a gorgeous crop of cuties. »