Local woman's father filmed first "talkie"

Ernest Hemingway congratulates Lou Jennings on his catch.

Seventy-five years ago, Warner Brothers produced a film that would make motion picture history.

"The Jazz Singer," made in 1927, was the first feature-length Hollywood "talkie" film in which spoken dialogue was used as part of the dramatic action.

Lou Jennings was the man behind the camera who captured it all on film.

"My dad started out as a stunt man in the movie industry," said Pat Farr, the younger of Lou Jenning's two daughters.

Both women currently live in Sisters.

"One day, a guy at the studio asked him if he wanted to learn to run the camera," Pat said. "Those were the days when the cameras were hand-cranked. My dad agreed, and he worked as a camera man for Warner Brothers for the next 40 years."

Hand-cranking required a deft touch.

"Back then, projectors ran at about 24 frames a second," said Karl Farr, Pat's husband. "The camera man had to crank at that speed or the film would be in fast -- or slow --motion."

Jennings was a private man and didn't share a lot of the details of his work. But Pat and her sister, Lois Hector, had a few good stories to tell on their father, who passed away in 1984.

"He and Ernest Hemingway became good friends," Pat recalled. "That was because they both liked to drink and fish. Dad filmed 'The Old Man and the Sea' with Hemingway, and actually went fishing with him to catch the blue marlin they used in the film."

"They started fishing near Cuba," said Karl, "but didn't catch a big enough fish. They finally landed a blue marlin that weighed 1,040 pounds off the coast of Lima, Peru."

Jennings never admitted to having favorites in the movie industry, but he did make several films with John Wayne.

"'The Alamo' is probably the most famous film he worked on," said Pat. "He also filmed 'Rio Bravo," and 'The Horse Soldiers.'"

Besides making movies, Jennings filmed several television series.

He worked himself into the position of Director of Photography and oversaw the shooting of shows like the sitcom "F-Troop."

Jennings never took his children to the studio with him, but every now and then, he'd bring a famous friend home.

"I can remember Rudy Vallee coming to the house," said Pat. "He played tricks on me, I think he pulled a quarter out of my ear!"

Pat's parents divorced when she was young, but she made it a point to see every movie her father filmed.

"I used to go to the movies about twice a week," she said. "There wasn't much else to do back in those days."

Even though they grew up around the film industry, neither Pat nor Lois ever had any interest in that vocation.

"Everyone always thought it was so wonderful that our dad worked for the movie industry," said Lois. "But he never wanted us involved -- it was a strange occupation. There was no way I wanted to be a part of it."

"I just never had the desire to go into that business," said Pat. "I think my dad was careful not to expose us to much of that lifestyle because it wasn't very moral.

"He tried to keep the mystique of how they created illusions with the camera."