OCR Text |
Show BEVERLY HILLS. Well all I know 13 just what I read in the papers, pa-pers, and what I hear as I keep the old ears to the (:: 2k ground. We been working for the last three or four weeks on a movie, written by Irvin Cobb. Its one (or a dozen rather) for while we bought one I think it was, Cobb says he recognizes parts of about 20 of his stories in it. Vou know those wonderful stories are really what made him so widely known. There were many, many of them. Then of course he went on to war reporting, and 'to a still greater success with his short stories of all kinds. But 1 sorter think the old Judge Priest stories are dearer to hi3 heart than any. I hope I dont gum it up, and that this one is good enough that we can at various times keep the character char-acter going, for the material is sure there. Its Just being able to get the spirit of the character. You know Cobb himself is in the movies now. Hal Roach, the producer, pro-ducer, (of which there is none more far sighted) sees the great possibilities possi-bilities of Cob j on the screen. I cant see how he can fail, he has been hanging around with Mr Jack Ford, the director and all of us on the "Set", and he is the most Interesting Interest-ing man I have heard in many a day. Or maby farther than that, the most interesting I ever heard, and it dont ; all have to be stories either. He does know his Civil War His- : tory. There was an old time picture i on the walls of my home, (in the . movie, its laid about 1S90,) and it i was of Robert E. Lee and all his generals, and I would ask Cobb about any one of em and off he would go, just rattling off the exploits ex-ploits of each one. Now while 1 dident know whether he was just making it up or not, there was many a one on the picture that did. This old boy Ford is no cluck on ours or anybodys history, and there is many a smart educated fellow around a movie outfit, in all kinds of jobs. I was greatly interested in, 1 think it was Forrest. He was the greatest cavalry general any war ever produced. pro-duced. Somebody asked Cobb if Forrest For-rest was a West Point man. Cobb said he never went to any school, he couldent hardly read or write. Cobb told of going, during the war in England with John McCutcheon, the great cartoonist of the Chicago Tribune. They were m England ana were taken to see Lord Roberts, "Bobs". Right over among his pictures pic-tures was one of Stonewall Jackson, whom both Cobb and Ford had' praised as the greatest general in America, if not in world history. Cobb and McCutcheon were elated and told Lord Roberts that they felt proud that he had Jacksons picture among hi3 favorite war library. Then Cobb told him the story of how Jackson had always with him only two books, the Bible and the Wars of Napoleon. Roberts said "They are two fine books, if you only have two books I don't know of a better selection, selec-tion, but if I was going to war, I would rather have the Bible and one on war, by Jackson, than one by Napoleon. The Germans study Jackson, Jack-son, his battles are In their text books." Cobb says his six consecutive consecu-tive battles with six different armies, in the valley, was the outstanding out-standing tactics of any general, he only had 18 thousand active men, and any one of the other armies were over 40,000. Cobb has got some great experiences experi-ences back of the lines in the Germans Ger-mans first advance into Belgium. You remember those exciting war stories we read - of his m the Saturday Evening Post. They were our first long detailed de-tailed news of the war. He has had a great and varied experience, experi-ence, backed up by a fund of knowledge, and " " ' a mass of book reading information. And on top of all that was one of the best reporters of his or any time. In his first movie short, he is doing an old river boat captain, thats what his father was, and owned a fleet of boats. I had been to Paducah several sev-eral times, but I dident know it had so much water. The Tennessee, and the Ohio, and the Cumberland, and -not far off the Mississippi. Cobb says in the early days you couldent get in town at all without a pair of oars. If Irvin hangs around us all doing this picture of his we are making, I will be a pretty fair educated guy, especially wars, and rivers. Jack Ford, the director, you get a lot from him, Dut they are mostly about Irish wars. He can lick the English for you just as entertainingly entertain-ingly as Cobb can the Yankees. Funny Fun-ny part Ford Is a Yankee from Maine. 1934, itc,VautH Smdica!4. liu. |