Saturday, December 26, 2020

hollywood trompe l'oeil / catastrophic film tomfoolery

MOVIE CAMOUFLAGE DRIVES CAT CRAZY in Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Pittsburgh PA), February 24, 1944—

Camouflage experts of the cinema industry had an alley cat going crazy recently.

They had constructed a backing for a set being used in Paramount’s Ministry of Fear… The garden depicted a garden scene with a wall painted at one end.

Into the scene strayed one of the cats which has made Paramount its home. Frightened by the sudden booming voice of C[ecil] B. DeMille over a public address systems, the cat took off, intending to clear the wall in a mighty jump. Instead, he banged into the painted background above the wall. Unhurt, he scrambled to his feet, gave one belligerent “meow,” and took off in another direction.