Jack Foley; the creator of Foley
Jack raised his family in Bishop and went to work
in a local hardware store. Here Jack became interested in little theater and
wrote articles for the local newspaper. A rival newspaper in Lone Pine
reported one of Jack's theatrical endeavors, "'Stop Thief', a play, is
being put on by Jack Foley, the only non-henpecked Irish husband in America,
is a member of the cast.
Jack soon convinced the town's
storekeepers that Bishop had much to gain by luring filmmakers to that area,
and he mounted a publicity campaign to attract the studios northward. He was
very successful, and became a location scout for numerous productions. The
area, bound by snow capped mountains, beautiful valleys, and a scarcity of
people, made it ideal for westerns.
Making the most of his
studio contacts, Jack became Benny's director. Now Jack revealed another
talent. He sold a number of scripts to Universal which were produced. When
not busy directing silent films, Jack kept himself busy directing inserts for
the studio. Inserts are the close-ups of movements, such as a hand picking up
a gun, which are not bothered with during normal shooting. Jack prepared the
sets, graphics, props, models, whatever was necessary, either doing it
himself or arranging for it to be done.
"The industry was not
so happy about the U camp jumping the gun, and all we could say was 'Hell, we
didn't know it was loaded!' or words to that effect."
Jack's article was
not so clear as to actual sequence of events, but evidently a composite music
and effects track was then added to the hitherto silent "Showboat".
The music and effects were added simultaneously and the first
"Foley" session was born. Jack describes it: "Then Stage 10
swayed to the rhythm of a 40-piece orchestra under the direction of Joe
Cherniavsky as he scored "Showboat" and the rest of us watched the
screen with him putting in the sound effects of the 'Showboat', 'Dat Ole'
Ribber' and the laughter and cheers as it jus' kept rolling along. And with
'Showboat' on it's way, other pictures on the silent stages came in for sound
shots." Jack illustrated his article with the accompanying drawing,
which also shows his talent as an artist. Jack had a regular (usually
illustrated) column in the Universal International Studio Club News.
As sound was added to
picture after picture, Jack was called upon to add the sound effects.
"Jack's technique was to record all the effects for a reel at one
time," explained George Pal, who used Jack's talent on some of his
pictures. "Jack added the footsteps, the movement, the sound of various
props-all in one track. He used a cane as an adjunct to his own footsteps.
With that cane, he could make the footsteps of two to three people. He kept a
large cloth in his pocket which could be used to simulate movement."
Fellow workers say
that the results of a Jack Foley session were as good as what young editors
get today cutting twenty tracks. Joe Sikorsky, who worked with Jack, recalls,
"Jack emphasized you have to act the scene... you have to be the actors
and get into the spirit of the story the same as the actors did, on the set.
It makes a big difference."
When there were too
many effects to handle, Jack enlisted the aid of the prop men who brought him
props. They evidently stayed around all day, and he put them to work. He
occasionally pressed his friend Walter Brennan into helping him. Jack told
Brennan to put a rock in his shoe. He did, and the limp that resulted became
Brennan's trademark.
The anecdotes surrounding Jack's
strange profession grew as Hollywood columnists discovered his
behind-the-scenes activities. The movie "Spartacus" showed scenes
of slaves walking in leg chains. The director was all set to return to Italy
and restage the scene to capture the sound effects. Jack stepped in and did
the whole sequence with footsteps and key chains.
The movie "Pink Submarine"
needed a comical motor sound. Jack is reputed to have reversed a burp and
looped it for the effect.
The director of a melodrama had
a step rigged to make a squeak when the leading lady descended a flight of
stairs. After many unsuccessful takes, Jack was called in. He explained how
to do it, "I won't add the creak until the film has been cut together
into a rough print. The I'll park myself in an old rocking chair in front of
a microphone-and when the lady's foot hits the fourth step, I'll just rock,
myself back slowly.
Jack, estimated that
he walked 5000 miles in the studio doing footsteps. He characterized the
footsteps of stars in this manner: "Rock Hudson is a solid stepper; Tony
Curtis has a brisk foot; Audie Murphy is springy; James Cagney is clipped;
Marlon Brando soft; John Saxon nervous."
Jack received a number of
awards, including the Golden Reel Award, voted by his fellow sound effect
practitioners, members of the Motion Picture Sound Editors. Jack passed away
in 1967. But his name lives on in practically every studio in the world.
Philip
(n.d) The art of Foley - Jack Foley.
Available at: http://www.marblehead.net/foley/jack.html (Accessed: 03 May
2016).
Film
Sound (n.d) The story of Jack Foley.
Available at: http://filmsound.org/foley/jackfoley.htm (Accessed: 03 May 2016).
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