In
1923, twenty-one-year-old Walt Disney arrived in Los Angeles
fresh from the disappointment of his first cartoon studio
going bankrupt in Kansas City. He went to see his twenty-nine-year-old
brother Roy in the Veteran's Hospital were he was recovering
from tuberculosis. Roy, a former bank teller and navy
man was concerned about his brother's skinniness. "Hey
kid, haven't you been eating? I'm supposed to be the sick
one. So now that you're in L.A. what are you are going
to do with yourself?" "I don't know. I've given up on
animation. But I've got to get into show business somehow.
I'll think I'll try and become a director."
Walt
who had filmed some newsreel footage in Kansas City, printed
a business card stating he was a member of the press,
which he used to finagle his way onto studio lots. He
had a meeting with a secretary at Metro. "Yes, I had my
own studio in Kansas City, I made cartoons and live action
films perhaps you heard of me?" "No I can't say that I
have. And we really have a lot of people coming here looking
for work and no jobs." Metro was in a state of chaos,
Rudolph Valentino was demanding more money and they had
frozen his salary. Because of the movie The Four Horseman
Of The Apocalypse (1921) Valentino was now an international
star who was surviving by hunting rabbits in the Santa
Monica Mountains. Walt, who would later know great fame
combined with money trouble could have identified, but
he had his own problems.
Turned
away at Metro Walt decided to go to Charlie Chaplin's
studio in Hollywood and ask the great star for work personally.
Chaplin had been Walt's hero, when Disney was thirteen
he had won a two dollar prize imitating the tramp on stage,
not an easy trick. One time Charlie Chaplin had entered
a similar contest and lost.
Walt
waited all day on the sidewalk for Chaplin to come out
but he never did. Disney didn't know that Chaplin buried
himself in his work, afraid to go home where his 16 year
old pregnant wife Lita and her mother were filling his
mansion with unwanted relatives, turning the Beverly Hills
estate into the 1923 version of the Jerry Springer show.
Or that the liberal Chaplin was infuriating his United
Artist partner the conservative Mary Pickford by taking
forever to finish his films, sometimes emerging from his
editing room with a long beard looking like Robinson Crusoe.
Walt had his own concerns.
Once
again, Walt used his makeshift press pass to sneak into
Universal Studios. This was exciting filmmaking! Men dressed
like cowboys pretending to shoot at each other and falling
over. And a castle. It reminded him of Paris where he
had driven an ambulance for the Red Cross after World
War I. Curious, he walked over to question some workmen
about the structure. It turned out they were building
the Court Of Miracles set for The Hunchback Of Notre Dame,
starring Lon Chaney. Walt who remained star struck all
his life, began looking around for the famous actor who
was known for playing characters who were deformed, sometimes
armless and legless with incredible body contortions.
Back
in the twenties there was a saying, "If you see something
unusual on the floor, don't step on it might be Lon Chaney."
Suddenly Walt felt a tap on his shoulder. Sitting on a
horse behind him was the famous Austrian director Eric
Von Stroheim, known as the man you love to hate. Completely
bald with a monocle, riding crop and thick boots, which
early film directors working in the Hollywood hills wore
to protect from snakes, Von Stroheim made an imposing
figure. "What are you doing here". Walt confessed he snuck
in and asked if there was any work. But he was talking
to a man who used to twist the arms of his leading ladies
when he wanted them to cry in his films. "Get out now
and never come back." Years later, when he had his own
studio, Walt went out of his way to give young people
a chance to show what they could do.
With
no other prospects Walt decided to get back into animation
but this time he would get some help. One night in 1923
he returned to the Veteran's Hospital where Roy was feeling
better. Excitedly Walt told his brother about his plans
awakening other patients in the ward," But I can't do
it alone. I don't have your head for numbers." "I don't
know kid, cartoons that's risky. I was thinking about
getting a safe job at a bank, getting married. I mean
I think your talented but. . ." "Ah come on Roy, forget
about a job. We'll work for ourselves. This is better
than a job, we can do this thing." "I don't know. . ."
"Ah please." Walt would not take no for an answer. Roy
finally agreed to the new venture when one of the soldiers
in a nearby bed sat up and said, "Roy will you go with
him already so we can get some sleep!"
About
The Author
Stephen
Schochet is the author and narrator of the audiobooks
Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. The Saint
Louis Post Dispatch says," these two elaborate productions
are exceptionally entertaining." Hear realaudio samples
of these great, unique gifts at www.hollywoodstories.com;
orgofhlly@aol.com
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