LAST HURRAH FOR SOLDIERS OF CELLULOID WWII FILM UNIT SURVIVORS GATHER FOR REMEMBRANCE.Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer BURBANK - Twenty-three veterans of Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . gathered Friday at the lot to drink champagne and reminisce rem·i·nisce intr.v. rem·i·nisced, rem·i·nisc·ing, rem·i·nisc·es To recollect and tell of past experiences or events. [Back-formation from reminiscence. about the World War II recruiting and training films they helped create. ``It's a bittersweet bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. thing here,'' said Dann Cahn, a director and editor for the U.S. Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, based in Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. . ``I'm glad I'm alive today. I got to come home. I got to raise a family. Here I am today. I've had a 50-year career in the motion picture business. I'm enjoying the rest of my life.'' They traded war stories, ate barbecued chicken and beef, and sipped Coca-Cola out of glass bottles. During the war, the group was headquartered at ``Fort Roach,'' the former Hal Roach Studios in Culver City. They created eight recruiting films, then went on to create some 400 military training films. Hollywood professionals staffed the FMPU FMPU First Motion Picture Unit (World War II) FMPU Force Military Police Unit (Nicosia, Cyprus) , among them Ronald Reagan, a Warner Bros. contract player at the time; actors William Holden and Alan Ladd; and director Frank Capra. ``We were 19 or 20 when guys were going overseas and dying left and right,'' Cahn said. Studio executive Jack L. Warner created the First Motion Picture Unit in 1942 after he was called on by the federal government to create recruitment films. General H.H. Arnold, head of the Army Air Forces, requested that the FMPU produce a full-length film. Written and directed by Owen Crump crump v. crumped, crump·ing, crumps v.tr. 1. To crush or crunch with the teeth. 2. To strike heavily with a crunching sound. v.intr. , the film was called ``Winning Your Wings'' and starred a young lieutenant and actor, Jimmy Stewart. The movie was credited for helping enlist 150,000 recruits. At a reunion Friday at the Warner studios, the group watched a 10-minute film, ``Remembering Fort Roach,'' which featured interviews with the unit's members and clips from the 50th and 60th anniversaries. Arnold Laven, 83, a former script supervisor at Warner Bros, said the gathering was ``kind of a last hurrah because we're fading out kinda Adv. 1. kinda - to some (great or small) extent; "it was rather cold"; "the party was rather nice"; "the knife is rather dull"; "I rather regret that I cannot attend"; "He's rather good at playing the cello"; "he is kind of shy" kind of, sort of, rather fast.'' Jason Kandel, (818) 546-3306 jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Veterans from World War II who produced training films for the troops gathered together Friday at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank for a 60-year reunion. John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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