A&D P.2 - Artist Research 2

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).