THE MAKING OF THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH
by Phillip I. Earl
Page 3
| Rooms were reserved at the Hotel Humboldt, but Miss
Banky's arrival was delayed until the evening of July 22. Gary Cooper came
in on the same train, as did Clyde Cook and Erwin Connelly, comic leads in
the film, and E. J. Ratcliffe, a Broadway veteran who played James Greenfall,
a New York financier. Colman was delayed by some last-minute takes and rode
in with director King the next morning. Cooper was awaiting them, and they
only had time for a quick breakfast before departing for Devil's Canyon.26 Miss Banky went shopping the morning after her arrival, purchasing a camera, several dresses, shoes and other items of wearing apparel. She spent two hours walking around town snapping pictures and expressed surprise at finding Winnemucca such a pleasant place--paved streets, trees, attractive buildings--not at all what she had been led to expect. She went for an auto ride on the outskirts of town and joined her fellow performers at the American Theatre that evening. As it happened, Clyde Cook had a part in the film the movie house showed that night.27 Lewis King remained in town to arrange
transportation for the 100 extras who were going out to Blue Mountain. Miss
Banky and the others left on July 26. Henry King, Colman, Cooper and the
camera crew returned from Devil's Canyon the next morning and checked into
the Hotel Humboldt to catch a few hours of sleep before continuing on. |
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 Click on Photo to Enlarge |
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| ABOVE: Nevada Governor James
G. Scrugham (center) visited the film community of Barbara Worth in July of
1926 and was given a tour by Henry King (third from left). Vilma Banky and
Ronald Colman are at right. Photograph courtesy of the Nevada Historical
Society, Reno. RIGHT: Nevada Governor James G.
Scrugham (left) and director Henry King before a false front on the Barbara
Worth location. Photograph courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society,
Reno. |
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| In an interview with
the editor of the Star shortly after he got back, King effused over the
country he had just come from--good scenery and lighting, perfect for
filming. They had spent the night at Sweeney's Ranch, he said, completing
their trek to the canyon on horseback and hauling their equipment in by pack
mule.28 On August 1, Thomas E. Campbell, former governor of Arizona and chairman of the Federal Board of Surveys, drove out to Blue Mountain from Winnemucca. He had supervised a study of reclamation projects in the West the year before and was interested in the film because it concerned the Imperial Valley and the use of the waters of the Colorado River. Director King showed Campbell around the set, explained the reclamation theme of the film and invited him to spend the night, but he had to return to Winnemucca to catch an evening train.29 King wrapped up the filming at Blue Mountain on August 4, and most of the actors and the production crew were back in Winnemucca the next day. Carpenters and technicians were dismantling the makeshift buildings and taking down the lighting by that time. The cast,
crew and extras were on hand for the shooting of the wedding scene at St.
Paul's Church on the morning of August 6. A sense of nostalgia and sorrow at
splitting up seemed to pervade the ceremony. But most of the performers were
reported to be "homesick," and the first contingent left on the Western
Pacific that evening. |
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Governor Scrugham visits with actor Ronald Colman during
filming of The Winning of Barbara Worth. Photograph courtesy of the
Nevada Historical Society, Reno. Click on Photo to Enlarge |
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| Lewis King was
meanwhile taking care of final details. He had previously advertised for
bids on some 200,000 board feet of lumber used in the construction of buildings at Gerlach, Barbara Worth and Blue Mountain. King considered the
first
offers too low, and it was not until early September that he was able to
dispose of the building materials to the Gerlach Land and Livestock Company
to be used in the construction of stock corrals, barns and line shacks. A
dozen ranch hands showed up on September 11, and the site was cleared by the
end of the day.31 The cast took a few days off after returning to Hollywood. Henry King worked on his golf game during the time he was able to spare from working with the film editors. Ronald Colman relaxed aboard a friend's yacht off Catalina Island. Miss Banky checked into a clinic for an examination of her leg which she had injured when a horse stepped on her during the final day of filming at Blue Mountain. Her doctor could find nothing but a slight bruise, so she motored out to Goldwyn's estate at Del Monte for a few days of rest. On August 18, Goldwyn summoned her and Colman back to the studio to look over the script and costumes for their next film, Night of Love, and they were back at work the next day.32 Goldwyn had meanwhile made arrangements for the premiere of The Winning of Barbara Worth at the Forum Theatre in Los Angeles on October 14. John P. Goring, manager of the Forum, was very high on the film, calling it "probably the greatest picture of the West" ever to grace the screen. "I have seen more than 50,000 feet of rushes on this picture," he told a film writer, "and I can honestly state that never in my life have I seen a picture with such a magnificent sweep and such wonderful photography. I believe this picture will more than duplicate the long run of Stella Dallas, and I know that it will be a revelation to Los Angeles theater-goers." Goldwyn agreed, describing the film as "my most ambitious production" and "the finest thing Henry King has ever done." 33 Studio publicity focused upon the Colman-Banky romance angle as well as the underlying theme, "the triumph of man over the elements, the transposition of a barren wilderness of sand into fertile fields and orchards," as one release had it. Henry King was also interested in the "educational possibilities" of the film, one article stated, the weaving of "a tale of romance around the true facts of the pioneering days of the West." Ronald Colman was not quite as upbeat, telling a reporter that he hoped to see the day when all deserts everywhere would be reclaimed and settled so that he would never again be called upon to make a desert film.34 As it happened, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce was hosting a conference of state and federal reclamation officials at the time of the premiere, so arrangements were made for them to attend. Among those in the audience that night was Nevada's governor, James G. Scrugham, who had visited the location earlier in the summer. Not a seat was empty for the opening, and Goring declared the premiere to be the most notable in the history of his theater.
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