Captured! (Warner Bros.) (1933)

CURRENT FEATURES (Continued) Largest Indoor Movie Set Is Built In Record Time Took Only 5 Days to Erect Replica of Prison Camp With Scores of Buildings for “Captured!” HE seemingly almost impossible task of transforming the interior of a huge sound stage at Warner Bros. Studio into a realistic and authentic reproduction of a German military prison camp such as was in use during the late war, was accomplished by studio artisans in the amazing time of five days. For use in ‘‘Captured!’’ the stupendous production, starring Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paul Lukas and others, now SHOWING. ah NO <cetres es E Nea tre, the set is said to be one of the largest, if not the largest, ever built indoors, comprising as it does a dozen or more buildings complete with interiors, and with the whole | enclosed by triple barbed wire en-| tanglements. While the set itself was built in five days, no less than four weeks of intensive preparation and _ research preceded the actual construction work. Robert M. Haas, studio Art Director, who designed it and under whose direction it was constructed, worked night and day for a month studying the requirements of the story, the type and number of buildings necessary, and as well as a hundred and one other problems involving extensive research for technical accuracy. This was an officers’ prison camp as distinguished from one for en-| listed men and following the practice prevalent during the war, consisted mainly of abandoned farm buildings with the addition of a few erude barracks and the necessary barbed wire stockade. A shell torn French Chateau with the usual wood shed, cow barn and other outbuildings served as the central) building for the camp. rere ee tc a eae Building this sort of a set indoors, however, presented a number of difficult problems for Mr. Haas and his crew. First of all, how could he reproduce on a stage, the rolling character of the country represented. Tons and tons of dirt would have to be deposited on the wooden floor of the stage and in the process the floor itself would probably be ruined by the heavy trucks rolling over it in a constant stream for days. And then when it came time to blow up one of the buildings as depicted in the story, the resultant explosion would probably wreck the stage as well. Another problem was how to get the required number of buildings on the stage and still leave sufficient room Numerous Problems moves with entrancing rapidity. for the action which involved at times several hundred actors. On the other hand, the advantages of an indoor set were manifold. As much of the action takes place in the rain and mud, the actors of necessity wear their wet garments for hours at a time. Inside they would have at least some protection from the chill winds. Day and night sequences could be shot at will and it would be infinitely easier to install the necessary perforated pipes for the rain scenes inside than it would out. Lighting problems likewise would be simplified. Instead of hauling in dirt to stimulate the uneven ground, Mr. Haas built a framework covering the entire stage and resembling somewhat a beach roller coaster stepped on and “squashed” by a giant monster. In spots this false floor was as much as twenty feet above the original flooring—at others only a_ few inches. Over this framework, floor! Acclaimed by critics everywhere, “‘Captured” will be seen at the Strand Theatre beginning on Cut 60c Mat 20c Out No. 37 ing was laid in irregular waves. To cover the cracks and to protect the permanent floor underneath, several inches of concrete was then poured over the entire framework and over this went dirt to a depth of four or five inches, soon to be mud. | Built False Floor | The buildings themselves were then constructed on the false floor, the rough barbed wire barriers installed and with the addition of a few trees “planted” in the background the set began to take on a most realistic appearance. The in | stallation of over three hundred lamps of five and ten kilowatts each and consuming enough “juice” to supply a good sized town was necessary to light the set. A cat of the stage to house these lights and their operators. Hundreds of feet of pipe containing spray jets every few feet, was likewise suspended from above to form the largest rain effect ever attempted indoors. The destruction of one of the buildings called for in the script, was accomplished outside and for this purpose a portion of the set was duplicated on the Warner ranch adjoining the studio. “Captured!” is a thrillingly dramatic picture, most of the scenes of which take place in a German prison camp during the war. While it is based on the novel “Fellow Prisoners” by Sir Philip Gibbs it is essentially a story of a most unusual love triangle during the hectic days of 1917-18. Others in the cast include Margaret Lindsay, Arthur Hohl, Robert walk four feet wide and 1500 feet | Barrat, John Bleifer and _ Philip long was suspended from the root; Faversham. Roy Del Ruth directed. “CAPTURED” OFFERS NEW DRAMATIC THRILLS ‘With a glorious cast headed by LESLIE HOWARD, DOUG. FAIRBANKS, JR., PAUL LUKAS and MARGARET LINDSAY, “Captured!” bids fair to take its place among the immortal pictures of the screen. The locale of the picture is a German prison camp and the action Bobby Jones Gets Tangled Up in Sets for ‘Captured!’ Became So Engrossed in Prison Camp Scene For Lesle Howard Picture, He Forgot His Own Work OBBY JONES, who was working on a new series of golf pictures at the Warner Bros. studios at the same time that ““Captured!’’ was being filmed, got all tangled up in the ‘‘barbed wire’’ of a German prison camp scene and other technicalities one afternoon, which held up his own picture for the rest of the day. Bobby was on his way to one of the stages where he was working, when he caught sight of a vast set for ‘‘Captured!’’ a picture now showing at the .. eae ... Theatre. This is one of the largest and most compre something of a technician himself, hensive sets ever constructed at the : ; — entirely apart from the smooth prostudio. ‘The stage door was open : : ; ; cesses of his golf swing. He was a he set was receiving its finish| ; ; : nd the set a ee 8} : : | graduated as a mechanical engineer ing touches. The overhead pipes in : at the Georgia School of Technology. the “delousing shed” were turned : He knows a surprising lot about on, experimentally, and the rush and | eyryes and plotting and perspective spatter of water attracted Bobby’s and strains and stresses. He also attention. He stepped aside. And|speaks German pretty well—he one entire afternoon was written studied that at Harvard. off from the laudable endeavor of And on this prison camp set he the former champion to instruct aj found Robert Haas, the art director, who speaks German naturally; and Roy Del Ruth, director for the production; and Robert Barrat, the wicked German commandant, who is waiting world in the best way to accomplish an ambition to break 90 on a golf course. Bobby, you may remember, is Page Eight in a cast that includes Leslie Howard, Doug. Fairbanks, Jr., of others. Mr. Barrat was rehears Paul| ing some crackling German orders Lukas, Margaret Lindsay, and a lot| and dialogue, and inspecting his com BRITISH WAR ACE DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, Jr., plays the glamorous role of Lieutenant Digby of the Royal Air Force in the new hit picture “Captured” which is now showing at the Cut No.19 Outi15e Mat 6c forfable quarters at the camp, in contrast to the squalid barracks for the prisoners. Next thing, of course, Mr. Jones was making a tour of inspection of the enormous set—it occupies the entire space of one studio, which, in a general way, is half the size of a city block. Mr. Jones is of an investigative turn of mind. That perhaps is one reason he has learned a lot about how to hit a golf ball. He asked Mr. Haas plenty of questions. He learned that this set for “Captured!” was on a wooden base, contoured into hillocks, covered with concrete, and then with a layer of six inches of earth, suitable equally for dust or mud. “T noticed your ‘sky’ was piped for rain,” observed Mr. Jones. “There was always much rain in all prison camps,” said Mr. Haas. “Tt is a great thing for bad, commandants to make prisoners’ stand out in. Also soldiers on parade.” And he told a harrowing tale of how he and some 250,000 other German soldiers and officers stood at attention forty-five minutes one day, while the King of Saxony, who was celebrating his birthday, was get ting around to start an inspection. “They don’t stand you up so in a golf tournament, no?’ Mr. Haas asked Bobby. “Not for anybody’s birthday,” replied Mr. Jones. “It took me three hours and forty minutes, once, to play one round in the British open championship at St. Andrews. But that was gallery. Bobby noted the German newspapers on the tables and desk in the commandant’s office and stuffed in place of broken panes in the barrack windows. “Can’t read those on the screen,” he suggested. “Just one of the details,” said the art director. “Going to have real cooties for the delousing scenes?” Bobby inquired. “Don’t the barracks look like it?” countered Mr. Haas. By the time he had finished with the technicalities, Bobby found the afternoon had been entirely spent in the German prison camp instead of on the golf set. “Captured!” is a stirring drama of an unusual triangle with exciting scenes which take place almost entirely in a detention camp. It is a startlingly realistic drama based on the novel by Sir Philip Gibbs, adapted by Edward Chodorov and directed by Roy Del Ruth.