The Petrified Forest (Warner Bros.) (1936)

a “THE PETRIFIED FOREST” Leslie Howard Gets Lost At Least 4 Times A Day Retinue Of Assistants Kept Track Of Him While | Filming ‘Petrified Forest” By CARLISLE JONES Kor at least half the time he works in a picture, Leslie Howard is lost, so far as his director and his fellow players are concerned. He simply won’t ‘‘stay put.’’ Once a scene has been completed and a change of set-up ordered, Howard disappears. Sometimes the other members of the cast and crew see him wander aimlessly away. More often they just suddenly notice that he is gone. Finding him again is not always easy, but the assistant director on the set of “The Petrified Forest,’ Howard’s current picture for Warner Bros. which ¢omes=tothe: 225s s. .... Theatre O8 ois , and one or two assistants who are kept on hand for just such purposes, have a routine they follow more or less closely while looking for hin. First they investigate the stage rafters. He may be up there, lying flat on his stomach along a cat walk, his pocket camera glued to his eye. He likes to take pictures of the sets of his pictures and his actor associates from odd angles and while they are altogether unsuspecting. If he isn’t up there, the searchers look inside the automobiles parked around the stage entrance... They know from experience that Howard may be curled up in any one of them, either sound asleep or playing possum. Howard’s Hiding Places But if he is neither in the stage attic or in some other person’s automobile, the human blood hounds assigned to the case deploy and start combing the lot. Wloward may be found almost any place except where one might naturally expect to find him. He has been found, for instance, ten feet below ground, in a hole which workmen were digging to house a power relay station to some distant sound stage. Ile came up with the astonishing observation that one could never tell where gold might be found. The studio fountain, where several aged and dignified gold fish and an occasional visiting trout, swim leisurely about, is another favored spot with Howard. During the filming of his present picture he absentmindedly put his feet, shoes and all, in the water, while sitting on the rock curbing, that surrounds the pool. Empty portable dressing rooms tempt him always and he can fall asleep in them with little effort. He likes to visit other sets, too, and hides out in the monitor booth where the voices of the players are received and modulated to fit the scene. Because Howard knows every line of dialogue in “The Petrified Forest,” (he played it for seven months in New York), he had no work to do between scenes in that picture, no speeches to memorize, very little business to rehearse. The temptation to wander is consequently much greater than it has been during the making of his previous pictures. Sleeps In Ship’s Rigging He hid away in the home-made fog on the “Ceiling Zero” set for an hour oneée, and had Archie L. Mayo, his director, half-crazy with alarm for fear some unobservant chauffeur might have carried the actor, asleep in the back seat, off to some unknown destination. They found him, however, high in the rigging of the good ship Arabella, which had previ Transplant Arizona Cactus For Film A erew of eight men with four large trucks was sent from Hollywood to the Arizona desert to dig up several varieties of large cactus plants for use in the Warner Bros. production of ‘‘The Petrified Forest’? which comes to the ................ eee Theatre0n= 38 with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis co-starred. The plants were transplanted in several feet of sand on a sound stage at the stu dio. His Real Sweetheart The little lady with the lunch is Leslie Howard. The big man in the foreground is also Leslie Howard. They’re sweethearts, when big Leslie is not selling his life to buy a trip to Europe for Bette Davis as he does in ‘‘The Petrified Forest’’ in which he will appear at the .........00..... ns eae 8 (RETAIN RAY | ee Ba hee . Little Leslie is the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs, Howard, and is her father’s inseparable companion. Mat No. 202—20ce ously been rather thoroughly shot to pieces in the battle sequences of “Captain Blood.” This led to a suggestion on Mayo’s part that Howard always occupy the front seats of strange automobiles when he decides to use them for short naps. Howard agreed, reluctantly, no doubt. . One question was heard hundreds of times on “The Petrified Forest” set during the weeks that to} picture was in production. The question was: ‘“Where’s Howard?” Mayo asks it, Bette Davis, who shares leading roles, asks it. The assistant director and his assistants shouted it through the studio highways and byways at least four times a day. He always showed up, generally in plenty of time to saunter into place on the set, and begin the performance. “The Petrified Forest” is the thrilling drama of a man who has drained the bitter cup of disillusionment but who finds himself through an heroic sacrifice for love. Howard and Miss Davis have the stellar roles while others in the cast include Genevieve Tobin, Humphrey Bogart, Charley Grapewin, Dick Foran, Porter Hall and Joseph Sawyer. The sereen play is by Charles Kenyon and Delmer Daves based on the play by Robert Emmet Sherwood. Leslie Howard’s Son Acts As His Father’s Double Autograph hounds seeking the signature of Leslie Howard during the production of the Warner Bros. picture, ‘‘The Petrified Forest,’’ which comes to: the= 75. =. Theatre+0n sae » were taken for a ride. What they thought was the autograph of Leslie Howard was that of Ronald Howard. Ronald who is the image of his father, took it upon _ his young shoulders to act as a decoy when Leslie started work on ‘‘ The Petrified Forest.’’ His son impersonated his famous father. The deception was first practiced unwittingly. Later, Ronald, who is 17 years old, took up the job seriously. He wore the same type of clothes as his father and imitated his voice. When approached by autograph seeking fans, he graciously signed their books and gave them a pensive smile. “*T think it’s fine,’’ said Leslie. “Tt relieves me of a great responsibility.’?’ ‘<The Petrified Forest’? ig the stirring drama of a man who has lost his soul and wins it back by giving his life heroically for love. _ fF it were Joe E. 4 2 , Publicity @ Actor Eats Six Pounds Of Hamburger For Film Leslie Howard Also Consumed Three Dozen Buns In “Petrified Forest” Leshe Howard went into intensive training for a bout. with a knife and fork. The star held a hamburger-consuming marathon in econ neetion with his role in his new Warner rified Forest,’’? now showing at the 3ros. picture, ‘‘Pet.. Theatre. The story contains a long scene in which Toward, while deep in. conversation with Bette Davis, eats a ‘‘Today’s Special,’’ which consists of a large hamburger on bun, with sliced tomatoes and string beans on. the side. Ie also has a bottle of beer to wash it down. Unfortunately, Howard doesn’t care much for hamburgers. And Director Archie L. Mayo, because of the jength of the scene, added many close-ups to the usual shots from all angles. It took several days to shoot. all, Howard consumed = six finds of meat and three dozen re Brown who Played in the scene, it wouldn’t Joe probably holds the hot-cake and banana-eating records of all time, from his baseball pic ture, ‘‘Eimer the Great.’’? © But Howard, of slender build, and with discriminating tastes when it comes to food, never before attempted such an ordeal. be news. When he played in the drama on the stage, he just ate the one meal each performance, with plenty of time in between to work up another appetite. To prepare for his bout with the sandwich — or more correctly, sandwiches, Tloward went with out meat for several days. While the scene was being taken, he shunned breakfast and also lunch He partook of a little dinner, but it wasn’t hamburger. The English star got a break, however, in the quality of hamburger chosen for his sandwich. Instead of the ordinary variety in which the contents are often more mysterious than pure, Howard was given lean sirloin. The picture is the thrilling drama of a man who has drained the bitter cup of disillusionment but who finds himself through an heroic sacrifice for love. Howard and Miss Davis have the stellar roles while others in the cast include Genevieve Tobin, Humphrey Bo gart, Charley Grapewin, Dick Foran, Porter Hall and Joseph Sawyer. Killer Taken. from the Broadway stage where he created the role, Humphrey Bogart portrays the bloodmad bandit in ‘The Petrified Forest’? now showing at the ................ Mat No. 110—10e. Worked Without Pay Some men become actors without any effort at all. But Joseph Sawyer, now appearing in ‘‘The Retrified SMorest??-atsthe ines... Theatre, didn’t find it so easy. For four years, Sawyer worked all day and played small bits at the Pasadena Playhouse without pay. Love Rides The Mesa When Leslie Howard, who had nothing to live for, looked deep into the eyes of Bette Davis, he found something to die for—and he gladly paid the price, in ‘‘The Petrified Forest’’ in which the lovers of ‘‘Of Human Bondage’’ are scoring: a hit at the ea ee Theatre Mat No. 207—20c Page Nineteen