Screenland (May-Oct 1930)

for June 1930 When we got back to the hotel Farrell Macdonald put up his telescope in the back yard and we all looked at the stars and the moon. The moon looked like a piece of putty with bubbles in it. Some of the stars were lovely, brilliant like diamonds. This is the first location upon which I played lazy in the morning — I must be feeling my age. The third morning I managed to pull myself out at six-thirty but Lila beat me by an hour and a half. The second evening of my stay, Mr. and Mrs. Badger invited Lila, Sidney and myself to their home for dinner. I was terribly thrilled because I had heard a lot about it and I wasn't a bit disappointed. It has the most livable looking living room I've seen for a long time. Very large, plenty of windows and tables and enormous leather lounging chairs that one can rest in, not merely sit upon. The windows at the west end of the room are placed in such a way as to frame the view of the mountains as though it was a picture. One large one in the center and two smaller ones. At night the effect is extraordinary. There was a moon and the snow reflected the pale cold light. The mantlepiece was noteworthy in that it was made of lava and over the top bits of it were twisted like elephant's tusks. And there were five gorgeous Angora cats, live ones, the pride of Mrs. Badger's heart. There was an astounding cake in two tiers made by the Badger chef, beautifully decorated with pink roses, and five little brown quail that looked as though they were about to fly away. Lila was given the job of cutting into them which nearly broke her heart. Another cake was shown us to be used the next night which had a perfect duplicate of the house and grounds painted upon it in colored icing. Even the mountains in the background and the sky were there and across it one read, "Under Western Skies" in honor of the picture. It looked like an oil painting so exquisitely was it done. After a tour of inspection in which we were shown Mr. Badger's den which is a perfect workroom, we tried to solve a few of the dozens of puzzles Mrs. Badger has gradually accumulated, fascinating things. The next morning, Sol Polito, the camera expert, was looking anxiously at the sun through a dark glass which he wore on a cord around his neck. John Daumery, first assistant director, called him Abdul because, until he said the word, no scene was given the "A.C." which is the signal to start. "Well, you may be the last word with the light, but if the wind whistles, no matter how hard the sun shines, we don't go," laughed Joe Kane, the mixer. "So that evens up our importance." Clarence Badger smiled. A director just has to be a double for Patience on a Monument these hectic days. Next morning, it was Sid who had the late call while poor Lila was up before dawn. Farrell asked where Sid was. Lila answered with spirit, "He's probably asleep. I'll bet he is in a warm room this minute with the heat on and the windows down — yes, and the kitten asleep on his pillow!" referring to a stray kitten Sid had taken to his heart. It was very cold that day and the wind blew terribly, making work an almost impossible thing. David Newell and Lila were the only ones at it during the morning and the others gathered round Farrell's telescope to see what the stars looked like in the day time. David plays the young man whom Lila would have married if she hadn't met Sid. Sand blew in their eyes and mouth and 119 sent Lila's skimpy muslin dress whipping about her. I couldn't help wondering whether the gooseflesh on her pretty little arms was going to pick up in the camera. The weather was no help to histrionic art that day, but no one grumbled — much! There is that schedule to meet and everyone knows that it doesn't matter how, just so it is met. In case you don't know it, I must tell you that Lila Lee is an adorable kid. One of the most beautiful girls on the screen to my mind, and one who has made a great come-back. Like a little mouse she was last year, quiet, with a bewildered look in her eyes that went straight to your heart. How different now! She decided to go back to work in earnest, no half measures. She became interested, too, in a certain young man, which may account some for the radiance that shines about her. In the last year she has risen to one of our most sought-after leading women. Just shows what setting your mind to do a thing will accomplish, and she looks as happy as a child. Luncheon each day was served in the cars. "Our private dining room," said Lila, bowing me into it. Sidney ate with us, too. After luncheon he read one paper while Lila worked on the cross-word puzzle in another and I caught up in my notes. Edna, Lila's maid, saw to it that we had plenty of hot coffee. The William Anderson outfit was catering. They used a rough board shanty not far from the hotel and we all trouped there for meals, except the lunches that were brought to us, and how good the sandwiches were! There is lots more to tell about the location, but no more space to tell it in. Out of one hundred people only eight or ten were acting. The other ninety were camera men, technical men, 'grips', electricians and drivers. How different from the old days. Now it's like moving the world to take a company on location. Close to half a million dollars lay scattered over those rocks. That may sound fanciful but let's look into it. There were five Technicolor cameras and each one of them cost ten thousand dollars. There goes fifty thousand dollars. There were about twenty sound trucks averaging about fifteen thousand each. There were ten Cadillac limousines and several touring cars and there were the sound booths, 'mike' booms and a hundred other necessities. In the old days all they needed were the cameras, the film, reflectors, props for the scene, chairs and the commissary. The gang was a good-natured one, always cracking jokes and turning trouble into fun. When a sound booth weighing eight or nine hundred pounds had to be moved in the sand on top the promontory and into and over ridges of rock a shout went up: "Hey! All the minute men! Come, or we'll be defeated. The light is going!" And every available man came running. Once they had one of the unwieldy things on a rope and all hove to like seamen to get it swung into place. John Daumery had been clambering over the rocks looking for angles. He returned to find everything at a standstill and demanded jokingly, "Now, what is the situation?" He was a comical sight in his blue overalls, heavy fleece-lined driving gauntlets, sweater, muffler, but never a hat. The situation was that the talent was waiting for the sound which had broken down because of the gale that was blowing. 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