Picturegoer (1922)

48 THE PICTUR&GOE-R MAY 1922 <0 Inimals cue often the bugbear of the General Utility Man's existence. He may be called upon to supply any animal from a tut i an elephant nt short i ding ? Pearls of great grizzly bear ? A cobra ? Don't " ask me something easier I in the G.U.M. at the studios, and what I don't know about " props, isn't worth writing an article about. Publicity comes the way of most "movie flesh." You hear and read a lot about the " beautiful star," the scintillating genius which is the producer, the handsome hero, and the " world-famous author," but the G.U.M. to you, dear Mr. and Mrs. Public, is a nonentity, I've managed to wriggle into this series of articles, which claim to enlighten you on the " inside " of film work, because I think I ought to be here. I'm a useful and clever, though modest and retiring, member of the studio personnel. I hide my light beneath a bushel, because I cannot find a vacant spot in the film firmament for my own particular star to shine in— but if it ceased to twinkle " behind the sets," films would be a bit of a frost — I humbly assure you ! I'm like the currant that makes the plain cake " fancy " ; the bone in the ham where the meat is sweetest , the breath of life to every film -play that's born into this jolly old world. This sounds strangely like " selfrecommendation," but I can't get publicity through any other medium — and, anyway, it you doubt my right to assume such a gigantic proportion in the element of " necessity " in the studios, ask the producer where he'd be without his G.U.M. Again, with all the modesty of the " hidden light," I nssure you that he would be rliief mourner at his own funeral. And now to justify my inordinate vanity, I will introduce you to a few of the representative duties of the G.U.M. — and leave you to judge what size I should take in laurel wreaths. The scene is a room in an " oldworld country cottage." The set is ready to receive the producer and his company of players. With a forlorn hope that everything is O.K., and that the producer will be satisfied (yet, withal, an almost certain conviction that this amazing thing cannot be), we await the verdict. " Very nice," from the producer ; " but, personally, I think we should get a little more atmosphere into ' Aunt Matilda's ' part if we had a parrot in a cage. Can it be done in fifteen minutes ? " Can it be done ? The query is almost an insult to the G.U.M. The producer knows he'll have " the parrot in a cage " in less than fifteen minutes. What's the G.U.M. there for ? At the moment, his main object in existing is to discover — and deliver— " the parrot in a cage in fifteen minutes." A house-to-house tour of the neighbourhood inevitably results in the " discovery " of " the parrot in a cage." But that is by no means the easiest part of the G.U.M. 's job. Invariably he has to call upon that store of tact and charm, that gift of gentle persuasion which will draw from the fond owner of " the parrot in a cage " the permission for the valued bird to appear in the film. Heaven, the parrot, its owner, and the GUM. alone know what powers of elocution are necessary to the success of the mission. But parrots are easy, and won't serve to justify the vanity. The pursuit of parrots is merely a pastime in the life of the G.U.M. His real work consists of doing " far, far greater things " than hunting parrots. With all due respect to pretty Polly, [Conlinutd on fiiigi <<•.