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SUPERSTAR SURVEYING: HOLLYWOOD STYLE !! (II)
20th
Cadastral Surveyors Conference John Brock Bachelor
of Surveying (UNSW 1978)
Who would believe that there is a minimum number of 69 Hollywood style movies that contain references or scenes to our profession of surveying ? Twenty years ago I first saw surveyors in a background scene on the movie "The Color Purple", with Whoopie Goldberg, and ever since then I have seen cameo appearances pop up on various television programs and advertisements. I thought that it might be an enjoyable and rather brief undertaking to attempt to collect as many film segments of surveyors as may be available, but to my delighted astonishment I have tracked down at least 69 Hollywood style movies which feature surveyors or surveying in some way. Amazingly, many of the Silver Screen's favourite sons and daughters star in these epics of celluloid, including George O'Brien (twice), Allan 'Rocky' Lane, Randolph Scott (four times!!), Cary Grant, John Wayne ('The Duke'), Dean Jagger, Robert Young, Robert Taylor, Syd Saylor, Maximillian Schell, Charlton Heston (twice), Gene Raymond, Fred McMurray, Charles Bronson (once as assistant and once as the Surveyor), Val Kilmer, Harrison Ford, Nigel Stock, Edmund O'Brien assisted by Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo, James Mason, Patrick Bergin and Hugh Grant. Indeed, there are even "new boys" on the block playing surveyors, like in the recently released movie "The Claim", so the cameras roll on with surveying even now. Most of the survey segments are poorly performed in a technical sense, or historically totally out of context, but they do provide some very humorous incidents, nonetheless. The greatest element amongst the whole project is that such a large volume of footage survived the cutting room floors, even of monumental producers such as the great Cecil B. de Mille ("Moses"). Obviously, surveying and surveyors are highly regarded as worthy inclusions in some of these wonderful sagas of world and cinematic history. As an appendix after the paper I provide a precis of each movie believed or known to have surveying content and each is rated in my original reference system in such a fashion as to distinguish the extent to which surveying is contained within any of the movies, right from just a few words about surveyors to the ultimate entity where the whole plot is based around surveying and the main star or stars play surveyors. I invite everyone to view this wonderful production and be proud, be very proud, of the fact that you are all members of an eminent, important and colourful profession. Please join with me and enjoy the production !! INTRODUCTION My first six video compilations of snippets featuring surveyors, "The Duke Was a Surveyor … And So Was God!!", "Cinematic Exposure: Movie Star Surveyors - From The Duke to Brad Pitt", "Star Observations - More Surveyor Heroes of the Silver Screen", "Surveyor Heroes of the Silver Screen: From Audie and the Duke to Hugh Grant and Brad Pitt", "Sustaining Superstars: More Screen Legends As Surveyors", and "Silver Screen Surveying: De Mille, 'The Duke', The Grants - Cary and Hugh, and a cast of hundreds !!!", I continue to come across more movies showing surveyors and their equipment. Apart from John Wayne, Edmond O'Brien, Cary Grant, Dean Jagger, Robert Young, James Mason, Maximilian Schell, Randolph Scott, Fred MacMurray, Charlton Heston, Patrick Bergin, Charles Bronson, Hugh Grant, Val Kilmer, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt and others playing surveyors, Appendix B provides a list of all movies that I have so far tracked down which contain any reference or scene portraying surveying or surveyors. Naturally, the content dedicated to the topic varies from film to film, and to this end I once again identify the extent of surveying which could be expected in those movies, through my survey content referencing system. REFERENCING SYSTEM FOR SURVEY CONTENT Of course some movies merely may have the mention of a surveyor having done or endured something, while others reach the pinnacle of the entire plot of the movie revolving around the main character/s who play/s a surveyor/s. For this reason I have devised a system of ready referencing for easy identification of the content of the production which could be expected to contain surveyors or surveying. VS - Verbal reference to surveyors/surveying only BS - Background/minor scene of surveying SS - Star or one
of the main characters are surveyors or do survey work Table - Reference System for Survey Content in Movies The manner in which the producers interject surveying scenes into their movies for effect varies markedly in both amount of such content and the style in which the activities are choreographed. Some segments such as the footage in Middlemarch and especially Rockets Galore range from aggression to slapstick humour and are really great entertainment for everyone including surveyors. Most utilisation of survey instrumentation, even by the great producer Cecil B. De Mille himself in his epic Moses, is used out of context, particularly with regard to historic authenticity and correct usage. Whatever flawed demonstrations of surveying knowledge are immortalised matters little to the fact that the producers see fit to retain much inclusions which portray their image of surveyors or which provide special depictions offering affect to the screenplay. TV SHOWS AND ADVERTISEMENTS Even the renowned public relations offices have made liberal incorporation of surveying scenes or instrumentation to promote product or services for their clients. For the last few years it would seem that surveying has been the flavour of the selling season, and I must say that there have been some very creditable creations to further enhance the image of surveyors, or, at the very least, thrust our profession into the face of the general population. Rather expectedly one such advertisement is an Australian beer commercial, but there others such as four wheel drive vehicle ads, scratch lottery, sports footwear promotions and Australian Army recruitment drives, I include some of these television commercials in my presentation. Television series
are another fertile hunting ground for surveying features, but, unlike
movies, they are usually not on video, and, even more daunting, are held
by the commercial television networks, making them particularly difficult
to retrieve, if at all possible. Despite such obstacles I have still managed
to include in my presentation some very tantalising TV show segments from
shows like the X-Files and The Simpsons. I shall leave for another day,
when I have much more quantity of spare time, to track down the other
shows within which I know there is excellent footage of surveyors. However,
I do have some more footage from the TV shows Dharma and Greg, and Backyard
Blitz just to keep me going !?! Even now more films come out with surveying in them. Only recently the movie "The Claim" was released into picture theatres, and one of the main characters played by Wes Bentley is a railroad surveyor, who utilises his fine polished brass theodolite to woo one of the leading ladies by showing her how it works in a similar fashion to the techniques employed by tennis coaches for centuries. In addition to this, I was provided with some fantastic footage from an SBS foreign movie called "Mararia", in which the geological surveyor is killed in most grisly style and, along with all of his gear, his body is stuffed down a steaming volcanic fissure on the Canary Islands !?! CONCLUSION Our fickle geological surveyor mentioned in the previous paragraph is not the only such character to make a gruesome departure from his movie, that is for sure !! A television program produced on the British BBC is set in Kenya, shortly after World War One, following the life and work of a British policeman now based in southern Africa, such show being called "The Heat of the Sun". In one episode a slave trader poses as a surveyor for a French oil exploration company, but discovers in dramatic and horrible fashion what can befall anyone who dares to impersonate a surveyor !!! Please keep the children out of the room during this gut wrenching scene !!! APPENDIX A Bill Stinson, Walter Robillard, Russell Wenholz, Louisa Wenholz, Ian Brock, Tony Atkins, Laurie Rose, Bob Linke, Alan Cavanagh, Institution of Surveyors NSW Incorporated, Members of History sub-committee of Institution NSW, Ian Iredale, Anthony Berbari Productions and Reel.com.
Brief snippets of these first 21 movies will be played at the start of this presentation. 1/ The Englishman
That Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain Director : Christopher
Monger A marvellous production of a true story about two surveyors played by Grant and McNiece who are sent to Wales during World War I (1917) on a cartographic assignment to determine the height of all the peaks in Wales. Their mission is delayed by locals in a Welsh border town who are trying to have them re-measure their "mountain" which the two surveyors have determined to be 16 feet short of the required height for a mountain. All available townsfolk put in a monumental effort to build up the "hill" to mountain status, Grant re-measures it accordingly and wins the heart of the lovely starlet as well. Great for the whole family and surveyors especially! 2/ Dersu Uzala Director : Akira
Kurosawa Splendid and graphic epic of a true story about army surveyor Vladimir Arseniev and his survey party who carry out topographic surveying in the harsh climate of Siberia between 1906-10. They meet up with a Goldi bushman named Dersu Uzala who guides them through the unforgiving terrain and saves them in many memorable scenes filmed on location in the wilds of the Ussuri River region of Eastern Siberia. Don't be put off by the subtitles, because this brilliant saga richly deserved its 1976 Best Foreign Film Academy Award and is a wonderful experience. 3/ The Fighting Kentuckian A light-hearted western about two Kentuckians played by Wayne and Hardy who are looking to settle down after their years in the fighting Kentucky forces, but are made to feel unwelcome by a shifty group of businessmen and gamblers who have planned to dispossess French settlers who have built up grand homesteads and farms on land upon which the boundary markers had been deliberately moved. Wayne finds himself in the position of pretending to be a surveyor sent to check the boundary stakes after he is persuaded to do so by the glamorous Windsor who appeals to his male ego for help. Good fun and the dialogue and action related to surveying will tickle any surveyor. 4/ Map of the Human
Heart The moving story of the bond which materialises between a cartographer (Bergin) mapping the Arctic North and a young Eskimo boy (Joamie), and the effects of human prejudice upon their lives. Humorous scene of the young boy's first encounter with surveying instrumentation. 5/ Journey to the
Centre of the Earth Jules Verne's fantastic epic of a journey to the centre of the earth prompted by the discovery of a lava-encrusted surveyor's plumb bob bearing an inscription from a fabled explorer to the inner depths named Arne Sachnusen in the previous century. A good surveying scene involving Mason finding the entry point to the core from atop an extinct volcano. 6/ The Great Escape Based on a true story the star-studded cast playing Allied P.O.W.s plan a mass breakout from a Nazi prison camp. Cavendish the surveyor (played by Stock) believes that he has measured the correct distance, by estimation, to the tree line so that the tunnel would surface behind cover, but falls about 20 feet short. Many prisoners escape, but most are caught and dealt the ultimate punishment. Graphic portrayal of heroism and savagery in war. 7/ The Big Land Story of a gunman (Ladd), wanting to settle down, with the stunning sister of an alcoholic architect, O'Brien, by helping some farmers build a town to secure a rail link to ship their produce and stock. However, a rival cattle farmer, Caruso, with hired guns sets out to sabotage their plans. Good surveying scene with O'Brien, Ladd and Mayo (the first screen siren to play a female chainman!) just completing the first stake out of the proposed town. 8/ Carson City Director : Andre
De Toth 1870's western about railway engineer Scott who is sprung from gaol to push through a railway line in the face of opposition from hostile cattlemen against it. Good scene in which Scott shows his skills at surveying the track direction through a mountain. 9/ Raiders of the
Lost Ark Director : Steven
Spielberg Adventurer/archaeologist Indiana Jones (Ford) races against time to locate the lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis gain it to use for their evil purposes to overthrow the world. Ford surveys the correct location with theodolite among the excavations which in turn show the Germans also engaged in their own measurements with instrumentation. 10/ Red Dust Director : Victor
Fleming Set in Vietnam, Gable plays the tough, womanising overseer of a rubber plantation, who has engaged the services of Willis, played by Raymond, to survey irrigation channels and tracks on the estate. Living down to Gable's expectations of a desk bound city boy, Willis arrives on a steamboat resplendent in white suit with tennis racquets and unwelcome wife. However, Gable eventually warms to his task of despatching the surveyor (after he nurses him to health from malaria) to three weeks field duty in monsoon conditions, while he sets about illiciting an affair with the wife (Astor). Great scene of surveying in heavy storms. 11/ The Ghost and
the Darkness Director : Stephen
Hopkins The true story of two ferocious lions called "the Ghost" and "the Darkness" (by the natives) who terrorise the native labour force engaged by the British Home office to carry out the construction of a railway line through East Africa. Brief scenes of Kilmer standing in front of his surveying instruments and performing some survey observations.
Director : Michael
Winner Story of a man driven to become a vigilante after his wife is killed and daughter mentally devastated following a brutal home invasion. Bronson carries out some survey work on a rural land development project before cutting loose on his vengeful rampage.
Director : Anthony
Minghella Flashbacks take the viewer from the bed of a badly burned English pilot into the background of his horrible accident. There is a brief scene showing very basic aerial photography from old aircraft to expedite charting of the topography and route.
Director : Jean -
Jacques Annaud Mountaineer (Pitt) flees to Tibet in search of peaks to tame in place of the horror of World War II only to befriend the young Dalai Lama, and find an inner awakening and self discovery. Pitt is engaged in a survey when told by his Tibetan assistant of the wars end, at which he jettisons all the gear and heads back to Austria. 15/ The Color Purple Director : Steven
Spielberg Adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the cruelty and hardships endured by a black girl, her family and friends in the prejudiced south of the U.S.A. A brief, but highly charged encounter of a survey party in Africa with villagers whose homes are being bulldozed to make way for a road. 16/ Far and Away Director : Ron Howard Poor Irish farmer Cruise experiences many adventures with Kidman as the headstrong daughter of a wealthy landowner. Ultimately the story ends in the great land-grab of the 1893 Oklahoma land rush. Surveying scene takes place with Cruise working as a labourer with a railroad gang out in the American West - the surveyor flees for his life, instrument over shoulder, from inside the tunnel dig seconds before an explosion. 17/ The Celluloid
Heroes Volume I A wonderful collection of often very old archival footage showing developments of cinema in Australia, containing a superb clip of a 1908 movie "The Pioneers", in which a man and wife in a covered wagon find a survey reference tree at the start of their portion of land. 18/ When the War Came
to Australia - Saviours, Heroes, Lovers Another great collection of historic cinema with one "public relations" piece of a U.S. army surveyor completing plane table work, then ordering his black assistant to pick up the gear. 19/ Wyatt Earp Director : Lawrence
Kasdan Re-make of the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earps and Doc Holliday and their gun-toting lawless adversaries. Very brief railway surveying scene as Wyatt Earp rides into town. 20/ Blazing Saddles Director : Mel Brooks Madcap western spoof in the Brooks tradition of scene setting highlighting the bizarre but with social parallels in prejudice and bias. Near the start of the film Pickens, as the foreman of the rail construction team mentions that the surveyor warned of quicksand ahead, to which two of the black workers are sent on a rail car to investigate with obvious results.
Director : David
Butler Enjoyable musical about tomboy heroine Calamity, her adventures and efforts to romance Wild Bill Hickock (played by Keel). Near the early part of the show in the bar room survivors of an Indian attack stagger in to tell that the two surveyors had been killed.
Director : Steven
Spielberg and Douglas Trumbull UFO sightings worldwide lead to disappearances and finally alien contact. The analysts call upon Geodetic Survey maps for direction. 23/ 20,000 Leagues
Under The Sea Brief scene of antique surveying geodetic instruments on the bridge of the Nautilus, Captain Nemo's submarine. The gear was hired from Bill Kitson's museum in Brisbane for $3,000.00 for two days!!!!! 24/ Reprisal Director : George
Sherman Part Indian Madison tries to buy his own land only to be falsely accused of murder. The land agent's pretty daughter has no difficulty in describing exactly what the boundaries of his homestead are, on site.
Director : Mikhail
Kalatzov The true story of the Italian team which flies via the dirigible "Italia" to the North Pole to ultimately crash and await rescue. At the start of the flight over icy terrain Finch drops a red dye ball, timing its fall to ascertain that they are at a height of 500 feet. Very crude surveying. 26/ My Secret Place 27/ Middlemarch 28/ Rockets Galore
( also called Mad Little Island) 29/ The Ten Commandments The biblical epic
of the life of Moses shows the fabled character surveying 30/ Campbell's Kingdom A very large and
rich dam building contractor falsifies the oil surveyor's report, so 31/ The Castle A very dark Franz
Kafka satire on the inept workings of the bureaucracy. Appeared 32/ Oscar and Lucinda A moralistic, well-scripted
movie on the evils of gambling and its toll. A very brief 33/ Heritage of the
Desert (also known as "When The West Was Young") Director : Henry
Hathaway Scott's first starring
role is in this movie, and he plays a land surveyor engaged to 34/ The Howards of
Virginia Director : Frank
Lloyd Probably Grant's
first starring role, as a land surveyor, set in Virginia before the War 35/ The Far Horizons Director : Rudolph
Mate The true story of
the adventures undertaken by Merewether Lewis and William Clark 36/ Miss Grant Takes
Richmond Director : Lloyd
Bacon Gambling racketeer
Dick Richmond, played by Holden, employs Ellen Grant (Ball) to Movies believed to
have surveying references in them 37/ The Iron Horse
(1924) - MS, Starring George O'Brien as a railroad surveyor. IMPORTANT NOTE Movies 37/ through
69/ have not been observed as at 15th January, 2002 and survey REFERENCE: 1. CINEMANIA ON LINE
- THE INTERNET APPENDIX C
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