The New Movie Magazine (Dec 1929-May 1930)

n B.C. — Before Commotion Motion Pictures "Babies" than any mother that ever lived. You couldn't hire one of them to touch the other's animals, they wouldn't even go in the cage with them unless it was a case of necessity and then they hated to do it. Bondedi, the baby of the three cute little kitties, only weighed about 400 pounds. But he was the best of the bunch. Captain Jack had trained him from a baby. He wasn't lazy, he just wasn't interested unless the captain was working him. Peter, the next in size, came from Mrs. Batti's group of cats. Talk about your rounders, that he-devil was the champion sheik of Liondom. And how he loved to show off before the females of the group. They was each placed on the pedestals at the side. Peter spent most of his time trying to reach Bondedi with his paws. Bondedi would just have slept soon if it hadn't been for Peter's flashing paw and lashing tail. Leo, the biggest lion in captivity, and no press agent bull either, was on the point of the triangle away from the camera. He belonged to Gay's group and while fairly quiet nobody knew what he would do. They set up the camera for the marriage scene just so the lens was inside the iron bars. Then they brought in the cats from the back of the cage. One at a time they was able to get the cats on their pedestals but couldn't keep 'em there. It was all too strange to them. Finally after about half an hour they gets 'em sitting pretty. Then Montague, the director, decides that Leo should be set up higher, they couldn't see him from the camera. So in goes the trainers again — out goes the cats and in comes the carpenters to build up Leo's throne to a good five-foot while the others were just about four. Again the cats come in but thank fortune they know their places and climb up without much fuss. Right there Joe's troubles started for fair — it had been all fun up to then. He had been outside the cage all of the time. Watson was called for the set. Gay and Mme. Ottowa was standing right at the emergency exit watching the cats. Batti, Teats, Arthur and all the rest of the trainers except Captain Jack were outside with their prods in their hands and with revolvers, loaded with blanks, in their right hands. The kiddies by this time had had about all the thrills they expected and were quiet as mice. They called Watson again. Monty paced back and forth like one of the animals, the sun was slowly sinking down behind the high fence of the adjoining baseball park. They had to get that shot soon or wait until the next day. TOE. who had been busy as a skater on thin ice, finally *-* decides to hunt up Watson himself. He found him ail right. Watson was in his dressing room, too, right where the boy had said he wasn't. But Watson was slumped over in a big chair drunker than a hi-jacker on his night off. He had been making half-hourly trips over to the corner all day. Every time he landed in the palace of spigots and brass rail he had taken a big snorter of high-powered whisky to keep up his courage. He had just acquired too much courage, that was all or else he had acquired enough to tell the boss he wasn't going into any lion's cage. Which he did in stuttering but not uncertain terms. Lucky for me I had just torn a finger half off getting out of the road of a leopard that wanted a taste of Irish ham. I was bandaged up like King Tut. As a substitute for Watson I was a flivver. Whoever heard of a minister, even a motion picture one, all bound round with tape. No. they would have to look further for a man to wear his collar backwards. They tried every place, they phoned, they cussed but still nobody could be found to play the minister. Xo minister, no wedding, so Joe does the usual assistant's job. He shakes Watson loose from his black clothes and dons them. Of course they don't fit. Watson is about twice as large as Joe, but that don't stop the show. We help Joe into the outfit but he looks too young. So I grabs a stick of white grease paint and grays his hair while Monte and the cameraman line his face with the black stick. When Joe steps up to the cage he looks old enough to be his own grandfather. Geez, but I did wish for Betty to see her little boy friend right then. But she was out on location so missed the get-up. Monty noticed that I had forgot to put white on the back of Joe's hair so I had to daub it on in gobs. Joe couldn't find a book to use as a prop Bible. I hustled over across the street and bought one — a real one as I afterwan found out. (Cont. on page real ard J 07