The Life and Death of 9413, a Hollywood Extra

Experimental - but accessible - movie describing the hardships of life as an extra in Hollywood that skilfully disguises the fact that it cost only $97 to make.

This experimental short film (around 1000') demonstrates some clever techniques for the time. Note the crossed title sequence so that neither director has top bill.

The camera work is by Gregg Toland who would later film Citizen Kane and Wuthering Heights. Rumour has it that the half lighting so characteristic of Toland's later work was achieved by accident when one of the two lights blew!

There is some interesting hand held camera work in there too.

Prolific television and second feature director Robert Florey teamed with Gregg Toland and others to produce this dark short around the advent of sound. It's a rather acerbic comic work that suggests instead of going west young man, better to stay put.

An optimistic fellow sets his sight on Hollywood stardom and takes Greeley's advice. Starting in at the bottom floor he is assigned an impersonal number for identification. Dehumanization of the spirit follows as reality sets in, employment wavers and bills pile up.

This avant garde word to the wise features some sharp camera work, dissolves and double exposure for its day. Well edited, it has a tragi-comic touch that remains unrelenting in its condemnation of the industry. A deceptively disturbing work in miniature.

For more detailed information on this 11 minute silent film short from 1928 see the IMDb comments submitted by another reviewer here who described this film very educational detail. I recently saw this experimental film and found it very strange and oddly entertaining. It stars unknown actor George Voya as The Star and Jules Raucourt as 9413. Raucourt had a brief film career in lead roles and became a character actor and ironically an extra himself in the later stages of his career. Here Raucourt is a Hollywood extra with the number 9413 penned across his forehead. Voya who never launched an acting career is ironically The Star with a star drawn on his forehead. Adriane Marsh is a Hollywood extra that makes good. Director/producer/writer Robert Florey is the cigar chomping, telephone talking casting director in close up of his mouth and hands only. A black background with shadowing is used with paper cutouts and masks used as props and scenery. Florey and special effects/ writer/ director/editor Slavo Vorkapich co-wrote and co-directed this film. It was also the third and final film that young cinematographer Gregg Toland worked on with Florey and Vorkapich. Toland would go on to photograph such films as Wuthering Hwights. Intermezzo, The Grapes of Wrath, The Outlaw, Citizen Kane, The Best Years of Our Lives and The Bishops Wife among the many films in his talented career that earned him an Academy Award and six nominations before his untimely death at the age of 44 from heart disease in 1948. It's interesting here to see the early work of the budding genius of Toland. Florey enjoyed a long career as a director of B movies before moving into television in the 50's and 60's and directing dozens of popular series episodes like The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Outer Limits and Thriller. Again it's interesting to the work of a man like Florey who had a 40 plus year career in film early in that career and on a small budget. This film has been selected for preservation by the National Film Registry and deemed culturally significant by the Library of Congress. It's worth 11 minutes of your time to check it out if you are interested in the history and evolution of film. It's an experimental film and I would give this a 7 out of 10.

This short experimental film tells the story of a man (Jules Raucourt) who comes to Hollywood to become a star, only to find himself branded a lonely extra.

There is clearly talent behind this little-known film. Robert Florey, better known for "Murders in the Rue Morgue", directs. And his cinematographer is none other than Gregg Toland, who was the eyes behind many a major success, including "Citizen Kane".

This short shows that even as early as 1928, Hollywood had an appeal and glamor that would draw people in, only to be chewed up and spit out by the system. Actors are a dime a dozen... and while no picture would be complete without extras, they are nothing to the audience.