Screen Mirror (Jun 1930 - Mar 1931)

HERE is the star of one of the most extraordinary films ever made, “Rango,” and this is little Rango, in the flesh, coyly nibbling on a nice piece of wood. Rango, it is said, gives a performance that will probably net him an Academy award, but they will have to go back into the interior of the Sumatra country to find the little rascal. This picture is another achievement of Ernest Schoedsack, the explorer-director who was mainly responsible for the excellent camera work and unusual drama in “Chang” and "Four Feathers.” Photo by Paramount Jungle Film Accomplished Over Great Hazards • MEMBERS of the cutting room at Paramount Studios were surprised not long ago by a tall, taciturn fellow who walked into their building, dropped several tin film containers on a desk and said, “Here’s a new picture about apes, tigers, a man and a boy.” Then the fellow walked right out again. After a few inquiries, the amazed cutters discovered that their unobtrusive visitor was none other than Ernest Schoedsack, the man who made “Chang” and “Crass,” and the tin cans contained his latest film, “Rango.” Some two weeks later Schoedsack came in again. “How does it look?” he asked. “Great!” said the head cutter. “O. K.,” Schoedsack said. And with that walked right out again. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Just bring in some cans full of film and you have a great picture. Oh Yeah? Just stick around awhile and find out how Mr. Schoedsack does it. You’ll be content to stay home and mind the baby. Fourteen months ago, accompanied by his wife blj t'Poq orr and Alfred Williams, a cameraman, Schoedsack sailed from San Francisco for the Malay Archipelago with four crates of camera equipment and an original idea for a jungle drama. After a forty-nine day journey across the Pacific, the adventurers arrived in Java only to learn that the location they desired was situated many miles in the impenetrable equatorial zone of Sumatra. In spite of warnings of government officials in Java against an expedition into what they termed the most dangerous jungles of the Malay Islands, Schoedsack determined to make “Rango” in Sumatra, the only place in the world where tigers and apes are found inhabiting the same country. Establishing a base camp in a tropical wfldemess, so dense that sunlight seldom penetrated the foliage of the trees, required the concentrated efforts of the entire expedition for weeks. First an interpreter was found in a Dutch mission, a Chinese named Wong Hoe Choeng, who spoke seven languages fluently, and knew the habits of the Malay natives. With Wong, Schoedsack traveled more than 1 00 miles to the tiny jungle village of Bang Rakal to secure members for his cast and porters for the camp. The head man of the village and his son were easily persuaded to “set” before the white man’s black box, but it took a high-powered sales talk to get thirty young natives to join the hard-working expedition. Only when the unheard-of wage of thirty-eight cents a day was offered, did the Malays show any interest in the proposition. Under the guidance of Wong, the natives proceeded to the base camp to build two bamboo huts in time for the arrival of Mrs. Schoedsack, Williams and the equipment. By truck the party moved quickly to the edge of the jungle, where the boxes were hoisted on the heads of the waiting porters, and the trek into the menacing forest began. Schoedsack was aware from past experience in Siam and Africa where he made “Chang” and “The Four Feathers,” that one good “shot” of unsuspecting animals requires from one day to a month. The climax of “Rango,” a blood-chilling battle between a tiger and his only jungle conqueror, kept Schoedsack waiting tensely behind his camera for twenty-two days. Waiting for the life of the jungle to perform was more than a matter of lying behind an ambush of tropical foliage in an average temperature of 1 30 degrees listening for movement in the brush beyond. The endless fight between decay and life kept the “waiter” occupied. The mosquitoes and black ants found the unmoving white man excellent provender. The thorny bushes, whose slightest scratch meant infection, required wary movements and an eagle-eye. The threat of the python as he slipped through the underbrush, and the bullet-like charge from the tree-sitting leopard, made things interesting for the Schoedsack party. The added discomforts of rain and an equator heat of 1 40 degrees were taken as a matter of course after the first month had passed. The expedition was not without its comedy relief. Schoedsack found that orang-outans are the clowns of the jungle and a source of constant amazement. The human characteristics of these red-haired apes comprise an affectionate disposition, an extraordinary sense of humor, keen curiosity and a remarkable love for their offspring. One young orang-outan became attached to Mrs. Schoedsack and often followed her about the camp, but in one of his playful moments he left twenty-eight painful bites on her right arm. After dark it was almost impossible for Schoedsack to get a native to leave his hut. Their dwellings were built with tiny doors and windows that are barricaded against the tiger from sunset until dawn. “Only one living thing in the jungle defies the striped cat,” asserts Schoedsack. “He is the hero of the picture, and no one will guess his identity until the final scenes.”