American Cinematographer - February 1997 - 22

the

equipment storage buildings."
Greenberg used practically his
entire HMI package, choosing to en¬
hance the scene with bluish light. To
backlight the rain, he deployed a pair of
Musco Lights. "We parked them pretty
far away, on the switchback, way back
up the road [from the dam]."
Speaking of parking, the road
leading to and from the dam threatened
to become a giant, slithering parking lot
during the five days that the crew of
Fools Rush In occupied the Hoover. While
Greenberg was surprised that the au¬
thorities even granted permission to film
on the narrow roadway - a very popu¬
lar trucking route which is the area's only
state border crossing - he points out
that the production did not have carte-

lenses included Primo primes ("I've
been using them since they came out")
as well as Canon 1 50-600mm and

Angenieux 25-250mm zooms.
The Angenieux was used to
great effect on a tricky aerial reveal shot
that Tennant had envisioned of the Grand

Canyon. Using the Wescam helicopter
stabilized image system, Greenberg
"started long on the lens [around
200mm], and pulled back to about 25mm.
I don't think you can do that shot on a
Tyler mount."

Oliver Twist. The second, Richard III, was
the first Shakespearean feature made

anywhere. Eight features were made
that year, but until recently none were
known to exist in complete form.
William Buffum, of Portland,

Oregon, had nurtured

a nitrate print of
Richard III for 30 years. He recently do¬
nated it - in complete and near-mint
condition - to the American Film Insti¬

tute, which restored the print; it is now
the earliest complete American feature
film in existence. The newly revived Ri¬
chard was recently un¬
veiled at the AFI Film

Festival, held in Los An¬

geles this past October.
Richard III is a
handsome production
with flawless cinema¬

blanche access. "One of the difficulties
that [the police] would only shut
traffic down for 15 minutes at a time," he

tography, huge sets and

was

Left: A

As a result, director Tennant chose
to storyboard both of the dam sequences,
shot by shot, with his cinematographer.
In so doing, the two came up with an
uncompromising but effective schedule
says.

knightly
procession. Below: Actor
Frederick Warde makes
his mark

the

the Muscos, so that was

plan of attack."
The minimal number of setups

(seven to eight per day) proved crucial,
the Bronx-bred cinematographer recalls,
"because equipment actually had to be
moved once traffic was shut down. We
moved the actors in for the 15 minutes
that we stopped traffic, marked every¬

thing, and then moved them back, [get¬
ting the take on the next stoppage]."
Greenberg commended his
usual crew, including camera operator
Chris Hayes, gaffer Bill Maxwell, first
assistant Bill Clevenger, second assis¬
tant Karl Linde, and key grip Tim Ryan, for
their work on the dam and throughout the
production. He also praised the art de¬
partment, and production designer Ed¬
ward Pisoni, fortheir role in visually high¬
lighting the "cross-cultural" aspects of
the story.

On

dard 1.85:1 format. Greenberg used
Kodak 5298 for night exteriors and inte¬

riors, 5293 for most day exteriors, and
5247 for

some

other exterior situations.

Greenberg shot with his usual Panavision
Platinum camera package. His arsenal of

20

American

Cinematographer

dastardly

September 11, 1912, the

New York Dramatic Mirror

ran

the fol¬

lowing item of interest: "The latest fea¬
ture to be announced is a five-reel pro¬

duction of Richard III, with Frederick
Warde in the

leading role. The feature is
being put out by M. B. Dudley, who has
been previously connected with the
newspaper and theatrical business. Mr.

Warde has been absent from the stage
for several years, and... has been lectur¬

ing on famous Shakespearean plays in
which he has appeared. The production
is under the direction of James

Kean[e],
and it is expected that it will be ready for
delivery on about Oct. 15, when it will be
offered to State-right purchasers."
The emphasis on feature is
meaningful. No feature production - a
subject of 40 minutes or more - was
made in America prior to 1912, although
in Australia and parts of Europe they
well-established. American pro¬
ducers insisted that audiences would not
sit through a film of more than one or two
reels. However, the 1912 success of

were

Fools Rush In was shot in stan¬

the

Rediscovering Richard III
by George Turner

Greenberg recalls. "It meant we didn't
move

as

Richard III.

that "forced us to shoot all of our shots
toward Arizona one night, and back
toward Nevada the next night,"
have to

gauntlet of

maidens greets a

hordes of

impressively costumed ac¬
purely visual in con¬
cept, and makes no attempt to offer
Shakespearean language. In fact, it has

tors. The film is

fewer intertitles than most silents, a

blessing to anyone who has suffered
through silent dramas that attempt
literary speeches via seemingly end¬
less text.

Prior to the film's production,
Dudley, president of Dudley Amusement
Co. and Sterling Film Manufacturing Co.,
established offices on Broadway for The
Richard III Film Company, Inc. The prin¬
cipal location was the site of a ruined
mansion on City Island in Long Island

Sound, off the Bronx. Interiors represent¬

ing elaborate palace

rooms were con¬

Adolph Zukor's imported French fea¬
ture, Queen Elizabeth (starring Sarah
Bernhardt) proved otherwise. The first

structed within the walls. The cellar was
transformed into the dungeons of the
Tower of London. The courtyard, streets
and battlefield were major exterior set¬

American-made feature

tings with high "stone" walls and arches.

February 1997

was

1912's
American Cinematographer - February 1997

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