Picture Play Magazine (Jul - Dec 1929)

48 He Dug His Wajl In Photo by FWv Big Boy eats steak for breakfast, because "you gotta have muscles to act," he says. "I found out that in the oldfashioned, cheap Westerns they had a good-looking guy for the lead, and had somebody who could ride to double for him. I got to be the double," Big Boy relates mournfully. "But I wasn't licked yet. I thought I'd get me a good horse and train him the way Fred Thomson and Tom Mix had — and I'd get to do some pictures where I could do my own riding. "Well, I got the horse. And, say ! What a horse he was ! I've ridden horses and broken 'em, and worked with 'em all my life, but I've never seen a horse like that one. Beautiful, intelligent, gentle, easy to train, spirited — he had everything. I spent a lot of time and money on him — getting ready to make pictures with him. And then he took the flu and died. "That did nearly finish me. After that I had appendicitis, and the doctor said I wasn't to get on a horse for at least a year." There was a lugubrious silence at this point in the narrative. We were lunching: at the "Munchers" Charles Farrell and Guinn Williams v^/ are real pals, but they don't talk about it. l'lioto by Kahle on the Fox lot, and Charles Farrell joined us. Charlie and Big Boy are great pals. "Tell her about the plumber!" urged Charlie. "Oh, the plumber! That was a part in a picture," Big Boy explained. "It was an independent picture, and it wasn't so much of a part, but I was plenty glad to get it. It turned out to be a pretty good role for me — an easy-going, good-natured, funny, diamond-in-the-rough sort of chap. Lots of comedy. And it went over pretty well." "Pretty well!" snorted Charlie. "Very well," admitted Big Boy. "I've never had an idle moment since. Of course the role in 'Noah's Ark' did me a lot of good. It was the same type of character. "Funny thing about 'Noah's Ark.' When George O'Brien and I got those parts in that picture, we thought it was on account of our ability as actors. We felt pretty good about it. Or at least I did. But we figured out afterward that we weren't chosen because we could act at all. Uh ! Uh ! We were picked because we were husky guys who could pack a lot of weight without collapsing. "You know — you saw the picture. George had to carry Dolores Costello all around, and I had to carry about two tons of suit cases ! You gotta have muscles to act in pictures like that one. There was hardly a scene where we didn't carry something." He looked extremely adequate as a candidate for muscular roles as he sat stowing away roast beef, while Charlie toyed with chicken salad. Big Boy urged his friend to have a "steak or something" and insisted, worriedly, that he eat a piece of custard pie with cream on it. "When I first knew Charlie, he didn't eat any lunch at all!" he told me in a for-heaven's-sake voice, adding, "I eat steak for breakfast !" And Charlie volunteered proud remarks about how well Big Boy was doing in "Lucky Star," Charlie's new picture in which Big Boy plays the heavy. "I wasn't a bit sure I wanted him to do this part," Charlie said, "though of course I wanted him to work with me. It's a real heavy, you know, and I thought it might not be good for him. He has played those lovable characters for so long that he has made a name for himself in them. But he's doing awfully well in this I guess it won't hurt him. What do you think?" I was sure it wouldn't harm the big actor in the least— which seemed to relieve the Farrell boy amazingly. There is real affection between these two. They were going out to Big Boy's ranch to ride that afternoon, it being Saturday and the director of "Lucky Star" having a desire to play golf, which released the company from work. Big Boy's cowboy proclivities persist, you see, even after ten years in Hollywood. He has a miniature Continued on page 111