TALKIES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 86, 10 November 1939, Page 2

TALKIES

WAYNE MORRIS FELLS GIANT TREE

Once upon ;i time there v,;is. :» bi;4, redwood tree, ten feet through and 300 feet tall, on the bank of the Van THisen River thirty miles south of Eureka, California. U.S.A.

it was there when Columbus cms:; ed the Atlantic. It was probably there long before that. It isn't there anymore. Wayne Morris cut it down for a scene in the Warner Bros _ picture, "Valley of the Giants" and a lumber company cut it up and hauled it away to the mill.To say that Morris cut it down is a slight exaggeration. He made the few final cuts and then stood by while an experienced faller drove in a wedge and sent the redwood crashing down But the camera gave him credit for it. Felling a tree for a Rim scene isn't a simple job. It took the better part of a day. Wh.cn director William Keighley, Morris, Claire Trevor Jaek La Rue and Frank McHugh reached the location at nine o'clock, tlie tree was almost ready to go. It didn't topple over until two-thirty The scene was a complicated one. Miss Trevor, Laßue and McHugh were supposed to be driving through the forest in a wagon. Morris, playing. the lumberman, was supposed to be cutting timber and to fall a tree directly in front of the wagon without harming the horses or occupants. The shots of the wagon moving along the road w T ere made first. That took until lunch. Then Morris was photographed on one end of a cross cut saw. sawing away at the tree. After chat Director Keighley had Cinematographer Sol Polito ->et up three technicolour cameras at

different .spots. Over the cameras wooden frames were built to protect the men from (lying limbs — 'widow makers' as the lumberjacks call them. Finally, Keighley and the members of the cast crossed tlie river and the signal was given.

STRONG LEGAL FILM

STORY OF "DISBARRED" A crusading young assistant district attorney and a brilliant and beautiful woman-lawyer who unwitt ingly serves as front for a gang of racketeers form the romantic team of Paramount':-:: "Disbarred," a startling expose of a section of Ame-< rica's legali profession. With Robert Preston, of "King of Alcatraz" fame,

cast as the young government official, and gorgeous Gail Patrick as {.lie sensational Portia, "Disbarred" tells an exciting story of a superclever "mouthpiece" Avho tries to transfer his technique to a young girl when he himself- is barred from practicing the law. Through her romance with the assistant district attorney Miss Patrick learns how she has been made a dupe, and is faced

with the choice of continuing her

sensational career or going over to the side of the law. With Miss Patrick playing what is easily the most dramatic role of her screen career, the cast of "Disbarred" also includes Otto Kruger, Sidney Toler and Virginia Dabney. Robert Florey directed the picture.

"SUNSET TRAIL"

Wen Wright, champion cowboy hails from Livingstone, Monatna, owes his role in Paramount's new Hopalong Cassidy action romance, "Sunset Trail," on the kindly efforts of his discoverer, one Robert Cobb, a popular Hollywood restaurateur. When the picture opens Wright will have a speaking role, given him by Producer Harry Sherman, on Cobb's assurance that Wright had been placed under the charge of a competent dramatic teacher to learn diction and some of the tricks of motion picture acting. Wright, who is hailed by Sherman as a future western star on the. strength of his performance in ihe latest "Hopalong" picture, is educated, youthful and handsome, and has won rodeo championships not only in America but also in England and Australia. He is expert at riding, roping and bulldogging.

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