Friday, February 08, 2008

Clyde Beatty #1 (From Joey Ratliff)


clyde2, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Posted by Buckles at 2/08/2008 06:20:00 AM

3 comments:

Roger Smith said...

A publicity still from Universal's THE BIG CAGE (1933). Aboard the elephant, whom someone else will have to name, sits Vince Barnett, in the striped shirt, as Soupmeat. Behind him, look closely, as Scoops, is 28-year-old Andy Devine.

The arena shots were made from a camera box inside the cage. Before exiting, Director Kurt Neumann and Cinematographer George Robinson would always ask if the cage was empty of animals. One day, assured all was clear, the two men emerged, highly pleased that their shots were prints. From around the corner, Vince and Andy, convincingly attired in tiger suits, roared loudly and pounced on their victims. Neumann and Robinson almost hurt each other scrambling back inside the box. They both failed to share the fun when the actors took off their tiger heads and rolled laughing in the sawdust. Neumann fired everyone on the set, and Robinson quit. It was late the next morning before everyone returned for filming.

Watch Mickey Rooney as the little boy showing up to steal all his scenes. And look for an uncredited Walter Brennan as a ticket taker.

Roger Smith

08 February, 2008 23:24
Anonymous said...

Rog,
Clyde(sorry Mr. Beatty) appears to be holding a lockhart hook, from past blog discussion's.
Wade Burck

09 February, 2008 09:13
Roger Smith said...

I wanted to recommend blowing this photo up to the largest size for a better look at the lash and popper, for whip fans, but these features remain mostly a blur. The boots Mr. Beatty wore in this shot he later gave to Dave Hoover. In 1981, I brokered a transaction with Hoover that saw this pair delivered to a private collection.

Roger Smith

12 February, 2008 04:05

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