Mr. Milton Smith, Executive Vice President in Charge of Production,
was in conference. A half dozen men lounged comfortably in deep, soft
chairs and divans about his large, well-appointed office in the B.O.
studio. Mr. Smith had a chair behind a big desk, but he seldom occupied
it. He was an imaginative, dramatic, dynamic person. He required
freedom and space in which to express himself. His large chair was too
small; so he paced about the office more often than he occupied his
chair, and his hands interpreted his thoughts quite as fluently as did
his tongue.
"It's bound to be a knock-out," he assured his listeners; "no synthetic
jungle, no faked sound effects, no toothless old lions that every
picture fan in the U. S. knows by their first names. No, sir! This will
be the real thing."
A secretary entered the room and closed the door behind her. "Mr. Orman
is here," she said.
"Good! Ask him to come in, please." Mr. Smith rubbed his palms together
and turned to the others. "Thinking of Orman was nothing less than an
inspiration," he exclaimed. "He's just the man to make this picture."
"Just another one of your inspirations, Chief," remarked one of the
men. "They've got to hand it to you."
Another, sitting next to the speaker, leaned closer to him. "I thought
you suggested Orman the other day," he whispered.
"I did," said the first man out of the corner of his mouth.
Again the door opened, and the secretary ushered in a stocky, bronzed
man who was greeted familiarly by all in the room. Smith advanced and
shook hands with him.
"Glad to see you, Tom," he said. "Haven't seen you since you got back
from Borneo. Great stuff you got down there. But I've got something
bigger still on the fire for you. You know the clean-up Superlative
Pictures made with their last jungle picture?"
"How could I help it; it's all I've heard since I got back. Now I
suppose everybody's goin' to make jungle pictures."
"Well, there are jungle pictures and jungle pictures. We're going to
make a real one. Every scene in that Superlative picture was shot
inside a radius of twenty-five miles from Hollywood except a few
African stock shots, and the sound effects—lousy!" Smith grimaced his
contempt.
"And where are we goin' to shoot?" inquired Orman; "fifty miles from
Hollywood?"
"No, sir! We're goin' to send a company right to the heart of Africa,
right to the—ah—er—what's the name of that forest, Joe?"
"The Ituri Forest."
"Yes, right to the Ituri Forest with sound equipment and everything.
Think of it, Tom! You get the real stuff, the real natives, the jungle,
the animals, the sounds. You 'shoot' a giraffe, and at the same time
you record the actual sound of his voice."
"You won't need much sound equipment for that, Milt."
"Why?"
"Giraffes don't make any sounds; they're supposed not to have any vocal
organs."
"Well, what of it? That was just an illustration. But take the other
animals for instance; lions, elephants, tigers—Joe's written in a
great tiger sequence. It's goin' to yank 'em right out of their seats."
"There ain't any tigers in Africa, Milt," explained the director.
"Who says there ain't?"
"I do," replied Orman, grinning.
"How about it, Joe?" Smith turned toward the scenarist.
"Well, Chief, you said you wanted a tiger sequence."
"Oh, what's the difference? We'll make it a crocodile sequence."
"And you want me to direct the picture?" asked Orman.
"Yes, and it will make you famous."
"I don't know about that, but I'm game—I ain't ever been to Africa. Is
it feasible to get sound trucks into Central Africa?"
"We're just having a conference to discuss the whole matter," replied
Smith. "We've asked Major White to sit in. I guess you men haven't
met—Mr. Orman, Major White," and as the two men shook hands Smith
continued. "The major's a famous big game hunter, knows Africa like a
book. He's to be technical advisor and go along with you."
"What do you think, Major, about our being able to get sound trucks
into the Ituri Forest?" asked Orman.
"What'll they weigh? I doubt that you can get anything across Africa
that weighs over a ton and a half."
"Ouch!" exclaimed Clarence Noice, the sound director. "Our sound trucks
weigh seven tons, and we're planning on taking two of them."
"It just can't be done," said the major.
"And how about the generator truck?" demanded Noice. "It weighs nine
tons."
The major threw up his hands. "Really, gentlemen, it's preposterous."
"Can you do it, Tom?" demanded Smith, and without waiting for a reply.
"You've got to do it."
"Sure I'll do it—if you want to foot the bills."
"Good!" exclaimed Smith. "Now that's settled let me tell you something
about the story. Joe's written a great story—it's goin' to be a
knock-out. You see this fellow's born in the jungle and brought up by a
lioness. He pals around with the lions all his life—doesn't know any
other friends. The lion is king of beasts; when the boy grows up he's
king of the lions; so he bosses the whole menagerie. See? Big shot of
the jungle."
"Sounds familiar," commented Orman.
"And then the girl comes in, and here's a great shot! She doesn't know
any one's around, and she's bathing in a jungle pool. Along comes
the Lion Man. He ain't ever seen a woman before. Can't you see the
possibilities, Tom? It's goin' to knock 'em cold." Smith was walking
around the room, acting out the scene. He was the girl bathing in the
pool in one corner of the room, and then he went to the opposite corner
and was the Lion Man. "Great, isn't it?" he demanded. "You've got to
hand it to Joe."
"Joe always was an original guy," said Orman. "Say, who you got to play
this Lion Man that's goin' to pal around with the lions? I hope he's
got the guts."
"Best ever, a regular find. He's got a physique that's goin' to have
all the girls goofy."
"Yes, them and their grandmothers," offered another conferee.
"Who is he?"
"He's the world's champion marathoner."
"Marathon dancer?"
"No, marathon runner."
"If I was playin' that part I'd rather be a sprinter than a distance
runner. What's his name?"
"Stanley Obroski."
"Stanley Obroski? Never heard of him."
"Well, he's famous nevertheless; and wait till you see him! He's sure
got 'It,' and I don't mean maybe."
"Can he act?" asked Orman.
"He don't have to act, but he looks great stripped—I'll run his tests
for you."
"Who else is in the cast?"
"The Madison's cast for lead opposite Obroski, and—"
"M-m-m, Naomi's plenty hot at 34 north; she'll probably melt at the
Equator."
"And Gordon Z. Marcus goes along as her father; he's a white trader."
"Think Marcus can stand it? He's getting along in years."
"Oh, he's rarin' to go. Major White, here, is taking the part of a
white hunter."
"I'm afraid," remarked the major, "that as an actor I'll prove to be an
excellent hunter."
"Oh, all you got to do is act natural. Don't worry."
"No, let the director worry," said the scenarist; "that's what he's
paid for."
"And rewrittin' bum continuity," retorted Orman. "But say, Milt,
gettin' back to Naomi. She's great in cabaret scenes and flaming youth
pictures, but when it comes to steppin' out with lions and elephants—I
don't know."
"We're sendin' Rhonda Terry along to double for her."
"Good! Rhonda'd go up and bite a lion on the wrist if a director told
her to; and she does look a lot like the Madison, come to think of it."
"Which is flatterin' the Madison, if any one asks me," commented the
scenarist.
"Which no one did," retorted Smith.
"And again, if any one asks me," continued Joe, "Rhonda can act circles
all around Madison. How some of these punks get where they are beats
me."
"And you hangin' around studios for the last ten years!" scoffed Orman.
"You must be dumb."
"He wouldn't be an author if he wasn't," gibed another conferee.
"Well," asked Orman, "who else am I takin'? Who's my chief cameraman?"
"Bill West."
"Fine."
"What with your staff, the cast, and drivers you'll have between
thirty-five and forty whites. Besides the generator truck and the two
sound trucks, you'll have twenty five-ton trucks and five passenger
cars. We're picking technicians and mechanics who can drive trucks so
as to cut down the size of the company as much as possible. I'm sorry
you weren't in town to pick your own company, but we had to rush
things. Every one's signed up but the assistant director. You can take
any one along you please."
"When do we leave?"
"In about ten days."
"It's a great life," sighed Orman. "Six months in Borneo, ten days
in Hollywood, and then another six months in Africa! You guys give a
fellow just about time to get a shave between trips."
"Between drinks, did you say?" inquired Joe.
"Between drinks!" offered another. "There isn't any between drinks in
Tom's young life."
