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Movies & Million-Dollar Mansions, Behind the Scenes at the "Flying A," & Silents on the Islands

MOVIES WAY BACK WHEN

Image: Rhea Mitchell (Film Fun, December 1916)

A Daredevil Actress

 

The "Flying A" actors were not the only ones who were caught up in stunts that did not go as planned. Actress Rhea Mitchell was gobbled up by a steam shovel, during the 1916 filming of the silent film Overalls. A nearby railroad was being repaired after having been damaged in a storm, and the studio was able to get permission to use the steam shovel in a scene.

 

"Advantage was taken of the operations by the gigantic steam shovel, which is removing a hill. It was so arranged in this scene that Miss Mitchell should not observe the shovel as it gnawed its way up to the brink where she was standing. She was caught with several tons of earth and dropped and caught on the edge of the shovel and remained hanging while it swung away. Within a few feet from the ground, she dropped . . . Miss Mitchell was not satisfied with the first try and made it again." – Santa Barbara Morning Press, January 23, 1916

 

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