John Wayne started out as a prop guy. He was a college student, and he picked up extra cash doing props for movies and occasional extra work. This was how he met John Ford. He almost got fired from a couple of Ford’s films (as a prop guy – never as an actor) for various snafus – which are HYSTERICAL to hear about.
Here’s my favorite one. I laughed out loud, again, reading it.
Wayne was a prop guy working on Ford’s Four Sons in 1928:
That was the next time I pretty near left the business. I was just working vacations, wasn’t really interested in the business as such, but I really liked Ford. He had this wonderful woman, Margaret Mann, who had never done anything before, and he was talking a performance into her — taking two, three hours to talk her into the right mood for this scene. It was the fourth son bringing the letter from the third son she’s lost in the war. It’s fall, and when the door opens, my job as property man was to throw up the maple leaves, and they had a fan there to blow them out — it was a silent picture, remember. The fan turned on, and down came the breeze into the middle of the set and the door closed and I relaxed. Then I’d go out and sweep the leaves away and get ready to do another take. We kept doing this over and over, and it got to be fairly monotonous for one who wasn’t as interested yet in the business as he should have been. So this one time, they opened the door, the son went in, I threw up the leaves, the leaves wafted in, I figured the scene was over, you know. The fellow turned off the fan and I picked up the broom, went in, and started to sweep. And I looked up and I’m looking right into two cameras — and they’re turning! And looking at me are the cameraman, and John Ford, and the wife of the man who was head of the studio then. Shit, there I was. I just threw down my goddamn broom and started to walk off. There was that moment of tension and then, again, Ford broke up laughing, so they all laughed. They said, “Woah now!” They had Archduke Leopold’s Serbian heir working on the picture, and a lot of German guys, so they played a martial piece of music and marched me around, and then took me to the Archduke and bent me over in front of him and he pinned the Iron Cross on me. Then they took me back to Ford and he bent me over and kicked me in the ass. And then they sent me off the set, because this actress laughed every time she looked at me — she couldn’t stop laughing. I was never so goddamned embarrassed in my life.
Shouldn’t that be –
“Then they took me back to Ford and he bent me over and kicked me in the ass. And [only] then they sent me off the set..”
hahahaha.. I don’t know whether I’m laughing more at the story itself.. or the revelation that they had “Archduke Leopold’s Serbian heir working on the picture”.. a wonderful tale.
I know – Leopold? Serbia? Hollywood? What?? So random!
Oh, and peteb – it occurs to me that your addition of “only” is not correct. What he’s saying is: They had to kick me off the set because the actress couldn’t look at me without laughing.
Not “and only after all that, did they kick me off the set”.
He actually COULD have kept the job – even after the Iron Cross and the martial music and kick in the ass – except the actress couldn’t look at him without laughing.
true, true..
I will retract the ‘only’.. and instead suggest the removal of the comma –
“And then they sent me off the set because this actress laughed every time she looked at me”
But this is a transcript of a verbal interview. People don’t speak with commas in the correct places.
Well they, should dammit..
[/pedant]
Meanwhile.. On a completely unrelated topic.. No Applause – Just Throw Money is now available from Amazon, both US and UK.. my copy is in the post. Yeah!
I’m going to his book party on Monday, peteb! I can’t wait!!!
It’s being reviewed everywhere – can’t wait to hear what you think about it!
Pete – your little rant about speaking with proper punctuation reminds me, randomly, of one of my favorite lines from The West Wing – it TOTALLY stands out to me …
The little Republican lawyer with the long blonde hair is in her office in the basement of the White House. She does not feel welcome.
John Laroquette comes down and kind of banters with her … to see if she needs anything, but not reaaaaaly in a friendly way. He asks her about a speech she was working on.
She says, stiltedly, and the way she speaks it – it sounds like this:
“If you would let me know …
if there is anything I can do …
to help you …
that would be — by me —
greatly appreciated.”
There is a long pause and Laroquette says, “Not speaking in iambic pentameter would be a good start.”
hahahahahaha
hahahaha
Gotta love those random reminders, Sheila.
[sotto voce] little rant indeed.
I’ve just started reading London’s Leonardo.. another Robert Hooke biography [sort of].. but I’ll clear a space near the top of the list for No Applause