Noahs Ark(Warner Bros.) (1928)

° gay _ TRAVIS, AS ONE OF THE FIRING SQUAD, DOLORES COSTELLO in ““NOAH’S ARK” with GEORGE O’BRIEN—The Spectacle of the Ages AGHAST TO FIND MARY THE VICTIM FEATURES FOR NEWSPAPERS HOW “NOAH’S ARK” DIRECTOR KEPT HIS CAST IN TRIM Dolores Costello in “Noah’s Ark’’—Vitaphone Special at the... . Theatre, Now Scene From Noahs Ark” starring Dolores Cos toll Q Warner Bros. Production | | with George OBrien Production No. 14—Cut or Mat MILLION FEET OF FILM IN TALKING “NOAH’S ARK” !Dolores Costello in “Noah’s Ark,”’ with George O’Brien .... Theatre Now How long does it take to pro duce a motion picture? ‘The answer depends on a thousand and one things. A story is told of a man who, believing he had a good script, rented a studio on Hollywood’s Poverty Row for a week and completed his picture within that time. The picture scored a hit, the producer cleaning up, to use _ the vernacular, thereby affording a new hope to the army of men known as shoe-string gamblers who with chance on the fringe of the movie industry. Of course, this was an exception to the rule. Good pictures have been turned out in four or five weeks in the well equipped studios, that is, in four weeks of actual work before the cameras. chance. Out at the Warner Bros.’ studios nothing is allowed to lag, but no wild rushing is permitted on anything. The allotted time to most pictures with simple interiors and requiring no heavy sets is about eight weeks. There have been several pictures that required three or four months of hard work to get ready, but the’ banner one of all is undoubtedly , “Noah’s Ark,” which was in the | making, with Dolores Costello as its star, for over three years. author says that he carried around flirt( No producer | wants to be hurried or dally with’ The! the idea of the picture for many} years before he placed it on paper| and when this was done and the| | Warners accepted it, there followed | the years of research work to see that it was correct in all its de-/: tails. Two hundred carpenters and mechanics worked for over six months on the sets, and the costume department toiled over the costumes night and day for even a longer period, for in some of the scenes over ten thousand people are massed. Ground plans were prepared for all the big scenes in| this spectacle to facilitate matters so that various groups could take up positions marked out for them without delay. There were five months of | camera work on the picture before | the last scene was shot. The| average movie fan is probably of | the opinion that once the last shot | lis taken of a picture it is a finished | product. Not a bit of it. The pic-| ture merely passes from one department to another. Once camera work was completed on ‘“Noah’s | Ark” over one million feet of film was turned over to the editing | room and there the gigantic task of going over it all was done. | How important this work is no one outside the industry has the | ‘slightest idea. It took fully a| month to edit “Noah’s Ark” to the l satisfaction of Warner Bros. proval. i William Koenig’, studio manager, | reports that more than eleven hun | large numbers of lever built for a SOME INSIDE FACTS ABOUT “NOAH’S ARK” Now Playing .... Theat A thirty-eight acre lot which was formerly the Vitagraph studio in Hollywood was used for the Warner Bros.’ tion, “Noah’s Ark,” in which Dolores Costello has the starring role, and George O’Brien the leading male role. Sets of mammoth were built for the Biblical se | quences in which the Festival of Jaghut is a dramatic high-point of | the One group of these representing the ap story. building's, | proach and court of the temple, | |occupies more than two. city blocks, = three “prineaal Sat 'dred carpenters were engaged on | this one temple group alone. There were approximately two thousand workmen in all employed on the “Noah’s Ark” sets, including carpenters, cement workers, and other laborers. Numerous trucks and great steam shovels wete used in filling in and carrying away mounds in the court. Huge tents were erected for the “extras” on the |set, and a cafeteria was built to | feed the workmen and players. Art creations, which it is estimated took hundreds of persons a |lifetime to make, were reproduced for the screen as decorative |background for ‘Noah’s_ Ark,” prominent among which is a great tapestry hanging which the art department of Warner Bros. designed and executed in likeness to originals believed to have hung in the pagan temples of Noah’s aay. The tapestry measures 200 by 200 feet and is said to be the largest interior decorative piece motion picture. Two other features of the mammoth temple in which the tapestry was to hang were the ornate idol towering at one extremity, and the raised throne of the pagan lord at the other. Michael Curtiz was in charge of the direction of this picture, which iis the supreme Vitaphone attrac| tion—now showing rh desta A ot: pee Theatre. Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn. —Burns. “‘Noah’s Ark’? — on Vitaphone . . . . Theatre “NOAH’S ARK” LE LLL LOL LL IE, kL ENTE TTS, spectacular produc| | always One of the things which will reflect to the credit of “Noah’s Ark,’ Warner Bros.’ | greatest effort, is the enthusiasm ; | which was displayed by every one proportions | in any way connected with its filming. Out in Hollywood it is common talk that there has been more pep and vim put into the filming of this picture than was evident in any other picture that has ever been made. From the gorgeous Do gues pee through the # S ; tatatatetes Be army of men o/Ores helping in the ed i r tock S-78 picture, though pos eet aN never seen in it, and it has been the boast of most of these people in talking with their friends that they were engaged on the biggest picture ever to be made. They all took pride in their connection with the picture. Order Separately “Noah’s Ark,” Warner Bros.’ Vitaphone super. special, now playing at .... Theatre. In the filming of all big pictures there are, perforce, many tiresome moments for the people taking TALKLESS GENIUS DIRECTS TALKIES Too many words may prove a handicap, or so think members of the cast of “Noah’s Ark,’ Warner Bros. Vitaphone super-special now atathe: =.= heatres Michael Curtiz, whose assignment to the opus was regarded as one of the real plums of the current season, rapidly acquired repute as the director who accomplishes more with fewer words than any other megaphone wielder in the industry. Though something of a linguist, Curtiz is less schooled in English than in other tongues. His words are few, but, curiously enough, members of the cast of ‘“Noah’s Ark” agree that he expresses his thought quite as adequately by mere skeleton structures of speech ” to do this. part in them. There is a good deal of waiting and much that is deadly monotonous until everyone is in focus of the cameras. There was nothing monotonous, however, about any of the scenes in “Noah’s Ark. Even though the players knew what to expect in certain scenes there was surprise in the very immensity of them. Something was always turning up to keep the enthusiasm afire. Michael Curtiz, the director, was always ‘careful MO seen tO «thiseasdbesknew aie | << 5 Pay sattitude was resource vi tollywood. omravtey of eT he didn’t have ‘He had a square mile of open space in Hollywood that he could have used. But he figured that as the people had been working for months in Hollywood, a change of scene would act as a tonic. So he saw the necessity of taking the entire working cast down to Mexico for some exterior scenes of great depth and breadth. Then followed the excitement of the preparation for leaving, the trip itself and the new surroundings with the usual discomforts. No one was more excited than Dolores Costello. Her mother had to accompany her so that she would be well cared for. It all worked like a charm. All tired out the cast returned to Hollywood to find anew that it was one of the most comfortable places in the world, and the studios a perfect heaven of delight. WARNERS INSURE “NOAH’S ARK” CA . A completely equipped hospital with two nurses in daily attendance was fitted up by Warner Bros. in preparation for the filmin of the spectacular Vitaphone supe. production, ‘“Noah’s Ark,” now showing at the... . Theatre. Every precaution to prevent accidents was taken in view of the fact that more than 10,000 persons participated in many of the thrilling scenes. The hospital was entirely separate from the first aid station on as another does by a multiplicity|the 38-acre auxiliary studio being of words. Dolores Costello is starring in “Noah’s Ark” with George O’Brien in the male lead. The cast includes Noah Beery, Louise Fazenda, Guinn Williams, Paul McAllister, Nigel de Brulier, Anders Randolf, Armand Kaliz, Myrna Loy, William V. Mong, Malcolm Waite, Noble Johnson, Otto Hoffman and Joe Bonomo. The story was written by Darryl Francis Zanuck. “Noah’s Ark,” made to top any picture ever made, is at the .... Theatre, now. devoted exclusively to the filming of “Noah’s Ark,” the latter serving for the big staff of skilled workmen employed in construction work on the imposing sets utilized in the opus. Dolores Costello is starred in “Noah’s Ark” with George O’Brien in the leading male role. The story is by Darryl Francis Zanuck. Michael Curtiz directed.