Screenland (May-Oct 1929)

SCREENLAND 105 On Location With Harold Lloyd Continued from page 69 "You're darn right the wind's blowing. What's that got to do with it?" "Well, it wasn't blowing in the last scene. You don't • want shadows dancing all over the place, do you?" "Oh, shoot! The wind blows in Chinatown same as anywhere else! Let's go!" And go they did. The action called for Harold and Noah to run around the corner and down the street after having dodged some Chinamen. They stuck close to the wall under the balcony, hanging on to each other and shivering in their boots, their eyes as big as saucers. When they came to one of the mysterious doors Harold had a hunch that they would find what they were looking for in that building. The door was locked. Together they heaved into it with their shoulders, once, twice, and were hauling off for a third belaboring when the door opened of its own accord! To make it still funnier the wind was blowing their clothes, making their coat tails wave, their pant's legs flap and slap about and shadows dance on the wall cast by the various gadgets on the set. It would have been a swell gag for a ghost scene. At that, the air of spookiness was well placed in this sequence. Gene Kornman, the still cameraman, was yawning his head off. "This night work sure is tough on a guy who can't sleep in the day time!" he said grinning. Gene is the proud papa of the Kornman kids, Mary and Mildred, who have served successively as the sweetheart of 'Our Gang.' Most of the people on Harold's staff have been with him for a long time. 'Dude' Lundin, head cameraman, has been with him twelve years; 'Hank' Kohler, second cameraman, seven years; production manager John L. Murphy, technical director Bill MacDonald and art director Liell K. Vedder — all have been eight years on the job; while Lex Neal and Felix Adler, gag men, date from the days of "Lonesome Luke." I noticed that all the potted plants were wired to the balcony. "Yes," said Mai St. Clair, reading my thoughts. "At first they weren't wired and one fell spang on Noah's head during the action of the .scene. We had a still made from the film to send to his folks." The next scene was where Harold and Noah crashed a Chinese rooming-house, got tangled up with a handful of humans and found themselves hurtling down the steps in a barrel which broke when it bounced on the sidewalk. "There goes the barrel scene from Anheuser Busch," said Felix Adler, who, by the way, is a relative of the late Jacob Adler and of Dr. Felix Adler the philanthropist. Mr. Adler is always being_ confused with his older relatives — "but it's my own name so I don't see why I should change it when I can't think of a better one," he remarked. Watching the barrel crash down the steps and split into twenty pieces with Harold inside and a mob of fighting Chinamen on top, Mai St. Clair said he had never known a star to take as many chances as Harold. "He seems to know just how far he can go and it is a miracle how many times he escapes a crack-up." While waiting for the next set-up Harold took me to another set which they expected to take during the wee sma' hours of the morning. The action here requires him, and Noah, to hide from the Chinamen underneath an awning. The Chinamen look all over and come within a foot of the shivering fugitives. Each time they come Harold pulls one of his breath-taking gags until finally someone rips down the awning and there they are, dangling in space. Then they have to make a thorough and instantaneous get-away. I asked Flarold what he thinks is the most important thing in the making of a comedy. "Everything is important," he said, "but perhaps if you split hairs I would say timing and spacing were the two most important things. A gag can be made or killed by too sudden or too slow action. Another thing: an actor must forget that he is acting, forget that he is facing a camera to be a good comedian. It requires the most difficult technique in the business. In tragedy or serious drama where the emotions are challenged there is a chance for letting down once in a while. But in comedy the spectator is on his toes, so to speak, every moment. His emotions are not gumming up his thinking apparatus and consequently the scene has to be pretty well played to get over. A comedian has to know his stuff so well that it becomes second nature to him. Whatever other qualifications he may have, this is the most important thing: he must learn the mechanics of his trade thoroughly, and forget them, before he can put humor into his character." Harold is one of the most painstaking stars in pictures. For months he and his gag men work on the preparation of his story. When things become dull at the studio and ideas are coming slowly Harold says, "Come on boys, let's go to the bungalow." There, after a game of tennis, golf, or a swim their wits are quickened and the scenes move with more spontaneity. Lloyd owns forty acres at Westwood Hills. There he has kennels for his thoroughbred Great Danes— forty or sixty, I have forgotten the exact number. When a set is required too large to be built at the studio Harold has it built at Westwood. You'd never think he was the popular star that he is; the wealthy producer and successful business man. His manner is modest, thoughtful and unassuming, rather as you expect a less important man to be and as you don't always find that they are. Only people with greatness of soul are so genuinely unassuming, whether they are rich or poor — people who know that there is something in the world too great for them to know all of. They are usually diligent workers, seeking to do their bit and respecting the achievements of others. Outside of working hours Harold dislikes to talk 'shop' and most of his personal friends are in other walks of life. That is about all I found on that location because it was too cold to remain through the night. Harold and Mai kept moving me about to lights and salamanders to keep warm but Joe Reddy had not prepared for the bitter wind and was almost frozen to death, so we called it a day just before 'lunch' was served at midnight. So when you see this scene in Harold's new picture which goes under the working title of "Welcome Danger," don't forget under what wild conditions it was made. Freckles Can be Secretly Removed! 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