Remembering Many Unnamed Horses

&

Los Angeles based Animal Activists.

With many notes added – for folk who want to dig a little deeper into anti-vivisection history / animal rights history / vegan history.

~ A THR investigation has found that, unbeknownst to the public, these incidents on Hollywood’s most prominent productions are but two of the troubling cases of animal injury and death that directly call into question the 136-year-old Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit’s assertion that “No Animals Were Harmed” on productions it monitors. Alarmingly, it turns out that audiences reassured by the organization’s famous disclaimer should not necessarily assume it is true. In fact, the AHA has awarded its “No Animals Were Harmed” credit to films and TV shows on which animals were injured during production. It justifies this on the grounds that the animals weren’t intentionally harmed or the incidents occurred while cameras weren’t rolling. ~ 

– a quote from – Gary Baum’s 2013 article in The Hollywood Reporter –

‘No Animals Were Harmed’

 Click to read full article

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Copied below – an item in our Ernest Bell Library.

A 4-sided leaflet from 1925 – documenting & protesting the, seemingly deliberate, abuse of horses in the making of the movie Ben-Hur & other atrocities against animals by the movie industry.

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In those days Los Angeles activists had a standard meeting place.

The Vegetarian Hygienic Restaurant at 259 S. Hill St.

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From the Wiki –

Ben-Hur: A Tale of  The Christ

Shooting began in Rome, Italy in October 1923 under the direction of Charles Brabin who was replaced shortly after filming began. Additional recastings (including Ramón Novarro as Ben-Hur) and a change of director caused the production’s budget to skyrocket. After two years of difficulties and accidents, the production was eventually moved back to Los Angeles and production resumed in the spring of 1925. B. Reeves Eason and Christy Cabanne directed the second unit footage.

Costs eventually rose to $3.9 million, making Ben-Hur the most expensive film of the silent era.

The MGM studio’s publicity department was relentless in promoting the film, advertising it with lines like: “The Picture Every Christian Ought to See!”

It helped establish the new MGM as a major studio.

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The American Animal Defence League

The American Animal Defence League was a corporation registered in the state of California.

It was a domestic corporation, meaning it was formed, as well as registered, in California. Its articles of incorporation were filed on November 26, 1924.

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Rosemonde Rae Wright

Rosemonde Rae Wright (née Fenn) Born September 05, 1873 in Iowa – Died January 26, 1956 in Los Angeles.

She was the Chairman / Chairperson – of the Los Angeles – Board of Humane Animal Commissioners (Today it is the – Board of Animal Services Commissioners).

Appointed:  September 08, 1914 ~ Completed:  July 01, 1915 & again – Appointed:  July 01, 1915 ~ Resigned:  June 01, 1917.

She was also at times, president of the California Anti-Vivisection Society – this Society was very active at least until the 1930s.

A June 11, 1941 news article – Rosemonde Rae Wright supporting some of  William Randolph Hearst‘s actions –

“humanitarians are especially grateful for the magnificent opposition of Mr. Hearst to the California senate pound bill which would have permitted vivisectionists to experiment of animals from ‘public’ pounds” – Rosemonde Rae Wright

In 1941 Rosemonde Rae Wright was leading the – California Animal Defense & Antivivisection League (it still existed in 2007  – at 23406 Orchard Ave, Carson,  CA  90745 ).

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More notes on – William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies & Irene Castle

Marion Davies – the mistress of William Randolph Hearst was an ‘extra’ in Ben-Hur – appearing in crowd scenes. Both Marion Davies & William Randolph Hearst were active anti-vivisectionists.

Irene Castle was a friend & co-collaborator of Marion Davies in her anti-vivisection work. Irene Castle found the Illinois animal shelter Orphans of the Storm.

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Notes on B. Reeves Eason

B. Reeves Eason – was famous for staging spectacular battle scenes in war films and action scenes in large-budget westerns, but he acquired the nickname “Breezy” for his “breezy” attitude towards safety while staging his sequences – during the famous cavalry charge at the end of Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) that Eason directed, so many horses were killed or injured so severely that they had to be euthanized that both the public and Hollywood itself were outraged, resulting in the selection of the American Humane Society by the beleaguered studios to provide representatives on the sets of all films using animals to ensure their safety.

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Notes on the last page of the 1925 leaflet

Hanns Schwarz was an Austrian film director. He was born in Vienna in 1888. He directed twenty four films between 1924 and 1937 in both English and German. During the late silent and early sound eras he was a leading director at the German giant studio UFA. In the early 1930s he worked on several Multi Language Version films for UFA, producing the same film in distinct German and foreign-language versions. Schwarz was Jewish and was therefore forced to leave Germany in 1933 when the Nazis took over, going into exile in Britain. His last film was the 1937 British thriller Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel. He died in California in 1945.

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