Chinese Sailors "Go Hollywood''''
JJOLLYWOOD ― When rats desert a sinking ship it's time for actors to climb aboard.
At least that was the case with a 10,000-ton freighter named Blue Dolphin aboard which 20th Century-Fox is filming "Morituri." The rats were displaced by Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner who may wind up playing supporting roles to the rusty old Blue Dolphin.
Producer Aaron Rosenberg saved the ship from a Japanese scrap pile, sub-leasing it from a Hong Kong millionaire at $1,500 per day.
The Blue Dolphin, 540 feet long, was built in 1942 at Perth, Scotland, and was covered with rust when Rosenberg fou nd her. For the voyage to California the Chinese owner signed on all Chinese crew and a New Zealand skipper named Capt. William Williams.
Wiliams speaks no Chinese and the crew no English. On the trip across the   Pacific   the   crew   painted and
cleaned the ship uiltll it glistened with newness, ruining the years of character it had accumulated.
Finally the Blue Dolphin was anchored off Catalina where studio specialists "re-aged" the freighter by returning the dirty dilapidated look that was necessary for the movie.
Filming began, and almost immediately ended. The Chinese crew went to Hollywood.
The sailors were paid $3 a day by the Chinese owner ― which will buy a lot of rice back home. But when the crew discovered they appeared in some of the long shots they figured themselves for movie stars.
They voted to mutiny. The word "mutiny" was not without its terrors for Marlon Brando and Rosenberg―star and producer respectively of the costly flop "Mutiny On the Bounty." After haggling with a studio representative the crew settled for a raise of 30 cents a day, or a 10 percent increase across the board.
FRESH ROASTED CHINESE PEANUTS
Tastiest Morsels on the Market Barbecued Duck and Salt Roosted Chicken our Specialty
CHINESE PASTRY FOR THE CONNOISSEUR
•   Dim Som •   Ceremonial Cakes
THE BEST IN CANADA
丁ry our •    • •
Delicious Chinese and
Western Pastries Wun Tun Chow Mein Rice Gruel Noodles
艇艰 4《餃
室茶豐益 YIGK FUNG TEA ROOM
250 Pender St. E., Vancouver, B.C. MU 2-1514
CHINATOWN NEWS, JULY 18, 1965
11