Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Thursday 11 July 1940, page 19


TWO AUSTRALIAN FILMS

IN THE MAKING.

With Some of the 'Forty

Thousand Horsemen'

With the tower of a minaret rising against the skyline and slender date palms outlined against the sand dunes,El-Arish, the famous native village which was captured from the Turks by the Australian Light Horse in the last war, has come to life on the sandhills of Botany Bay for the making of the film "Forty Thous-

and Horsemen."

MEMBERS of the company are

at present on location in the "desert" of Botany Bay for the shooting of some of the village and fighting scenes in the film.

Not far fiom the palm-ringed village, which looks so realistic from the crest of the sandhills is the canvas village where the producer, Mr. Charles Chauvel and Mrs. Chauvel, who is continuity and script girl, and twenty members of the permanent staff are encamped. Mr. and Mrs. Chauvel have a modern caravan, equipped with electric light and a gas ring, and the men are living in spacious tents. There is quite a zoo attached to the camp, and several camels, donkeys, fowls and even a monkey, who all give atmosphere to the film, roam round freely.

The camp is just over the edge of the sandhills, and is sheltered from the wind by stunted trees and shrubs. As long as there is no wind, which makes

KATRIN ROSSELLE and LOU 1 *? VERNON in a laboratory ?'.arve, in which there is an cxplos'on, for "The Power and the Glory," being directed by Noel

Monkman for Argosy Ftlms.

conditions unpleasant for everyone, few major discomforts have been encountered

by shooting scenes in the sandhills, and members of the staff, in between com- plaining of the sand, which seems to drift into everything, are enjoying their outdoor life. Wells have been sunk to supply washing water, and drinking water is brought by car from Cronulla.

Brushing the sand from their uniforms and rubbing their eyes, the three main characters in the film, Grant Taylor, Chips Rafferty, and Pat Twohill, tramped across the sand to report at the finish of a battle scene. "I don't know how they managed in the last war," said Pat Twohill, as he cleaned his

gun after it had been covered in sand by an "explosion" right in front of his face. "But I don't seem to be able to keep the sand out of my gun even when I am cleaning it every five minutes." While the Sun Shines

"ONE of the chief drawbacks of loca-

tion work is that you cannot work as quickly as in a studio, where lights can be switched on and off," said Mrs

Chauvel. "All the organisation in the world cannot stop a cloud crossing the sun or stop the rain. Of course, when it is wet we cannot do anything, and everyone has to take a holiday. Rainy days are our only holidays, and the only time we stop work. We literally work while the sun shines, for we start at sunrise and keep the cameras turning till sunset. The rain last week actually came at an obliging time for once, as it formed a natural swamp, which would have had to have been specially con-structed. I think that it is the first time it has ever rained at the right time."

Mrs. Chauvel usually takes advantage of the luncheon respite to sweep out her caravan. "All feminine angles are for-

gotten on location. It is the best slim ming treatment I know of," she added,

as she tramped back through the sand to her caravan, wearing corduroy slacks and a warm polo coat. She motors to Sydney several times a week, and when

SITTING in the shelter of a sandhill, MR. and MRS. CHARLES

CHAUVEL discuss a scene before shooting begins on location at Botany Bay with the three main actors, PAT TWOHILL, CHIPS RAFFERTY, and GRANT TAYLOR, in "Forty Thousand Horsemen."

ROBERT TAYLOR and VIVIEN LEIGH in "Waterloo Bridge," to

be screened to-morrow at the St. James Theatre.

she returns is always rushed by the men in the camp for ncwspapers. With the exception of the cook, Mrs. Chauvel is the only woman in the camp, as Miss Betty Bryant who takes the feminine lead in the film, only visits the set for her

special scenes.

Crpeument in a L<_boiBtory

^T Pagewood Atgosy Films ate making

The Power and the Glory -a story eonceininp a Crecho-SIo. akian scientist

ho smashes up his laboratory i athel than let it and its secier foimulas for a deadly poldon gas fall into the hands of

the Na/is

The scientist (played by Lou Vernon) and his daughtei (Katrine Roselie) (owe to Austialia and fiorti then the film is au exciting sloiy of espionage plotting and rountei plotting in the RAAF

The icallstic laboiatory scene was set up bv a chemist and the rows of íetoits and beakeis and ciuciblcs some full of interesting coloured fluids-sky blues ciimsons yellows harsh gieens-looked much too authentic to be smashed up Mi Monkman seemed to think so too

It nearly bioke my heait to see it smashed he said Mrs Mohl man who

acts as scilpt girl vis delighted when this scene wis ovci ind done with She found keeping an eye-and i vciv c\act eve-on the scoics of glas3 tubes and rhtmicil apparatus too evicting a job Patience and Detail

JTS hud enou li srcin^ that the seien

lists tie is as uooled is it «hould b» and all the other hundieds of detiils without havinp- a laboiatoiy to keep in exact oi dei too she si Id

The pitience and ittenlion to detail which goes to the maling of a film vi" well demonstiated in the mi ins of thi

scene Quiet shod men moved about the set fixing; lights doo!s filament- ol Bliss and othet small details A man with a bucket and a pongo ins pouinv watei on the lab table heie fluids would have been spill Tie chemist was bum ing a chemical to make ti smol v hi¿c a man wis musing a compicssed iii cylinder lcady to make the noises oil for the escaping poison t,as