Page:Abdullah--Thief of Bagdad.djvu/326

816 THE THIEF OF BAGDAD tion. However, some of the side lights touching them may be of interest.

It was Mr. Fairbanks' habit to come to the studio bubbling over with enthusiasm about some idea that had occurred to him the night before. However wildly improbable or infeasible it might seem, our staff was imbued with the idea that "Somewhere there is a way," and immediately proceeded to find it.

There was that memorable day when the idea of the Winged Horse scenes was born in Douglas' fertile mind!

A two-ton horse, to fly through the clouds, wings flapping and mane flying, bearing on its back the redoubtable hero! Could it be done? You certainly couldn't suspend any such weight on a wire that would withstand the movement and vibration of a clumsy gallop, when to snap it meant a fall to death for both horse and rider.

Of course, it was done, and as nearly everybody knows now, the technical staff simply took advantage of the principle that a thing painted black has no actinic value, and by com-