Carl Von Hoffman - Assignments in The East

Assignments in The East

On the basis of the exceptional quality and technique displayed, he was given a full-time staff position by Universal. The first assignment from this company was to take the first motion pictures of the United States fleet on maneuvers.

A number of years later, while on a lecture tour of Japan, von Hoffman came upon the idea of visiting Taiwan, which was then called Formosa and under Japanese control, and had wild areas not heretofore explored or photographed. Entry was not encouraged by the government, and in fact no foreigners were permitted. This made it all the more appealing to him, and by trickery he secured a ticket for passage on a government boat, with professors en route there to service the small educational system the Japanese maintained on the island. His exploration of this region permitted him to record on film some of the rites of the tribes of headhunters still living in the remote mountain areas. This seven-month effort produced a remarkable film shown at the Club. The visit also permitted him to secure a collection of treasured artifacts relating to the lives of these people and produced a lecture series on the subject.

Earlier, with his technique improving, Carl decided to make an independent film which was an anthropological and ethnological documentary on Morocco entitled "Land of the Moors" which was later featured at the Strand Theater in New York. This effort was the beginning of his deep involvement as a pioneer of documentary and educational films of primitive people, their land, and customs. These films were produced by the Urban Institute, which Carl joined, headed by Sir Charles Urban, and it was this company that expanded the use of documentary films and later its own motion picture color process.

This visit produced a number of interesting encounters, among them being the guest of the Pasha for a dinner consisting of endless courses eaten with fingers instead of utensils. It. was after such a dinner, when the many wives of the host were gathered, that the Pasha revealed that one of the guests was originally from Russia and had a Georgian mother. This was, of course, particularly interesting to the gathering, as it was common at that time for them to buy their wives in Georgia and transport them home for the wedding ceremony on the backs of small desert donkeys, a long trip by any standard.

Shortly after this encounter, a small messenger delivered a note to Carl on the back of some wrapping paper. He was requested, in Russian, to follow the young boy, who would call for him the next morning, and subsequently meet the mystery author of the note. The following day, he did as asked, and was taken to a small hut in the village where he was instructed to remove his western-style clothing in exchange for a flowing caftan, veil, and special sandals. The footwear was of special significance to Carl as each pair bore the family identification in Arabic and he had no idea just which family name he bore. Having donned the perfect disguise, and being assured in sign language that his effects would be safe, the boy beckoned him to follow. They followed a circuitous route, finally arriving at one of the entrances to the home of the Pasha. The boy had access to the area and they walked past Arabs sitting along the passageways who did not give them a second glance. They shortly arrived at the servants' entrance, passed through, and entered the main building complex. The area had many smaller buildings and areas which were occupied by the many wives, each having her own apartment and servants. It is important to note that the servants were completely devoted to the wife they served and conspiracies against husbands were carried out with their assistance. Finally, after being settled in one of these apartments by the servants, the lady of the house appeared and addressed him in Russian. She went on to explain that her husband, the host of the previous evening's dinner, had told her about Carl and his Russian background and the fact that his mother was a Georgian from a prominent family which she recognized. It was upon hearing this that she decided she must see him and began the plot to smuggle him into the harem area. The family where the costume change occurred were the parents of one of her house servants and also loyal. Carl had managed to conceal a camera within his flowing robes and was able to take one photo of the three women sitting in the apartment while visiting. He was then told the story of the Georgian wife being sold to her husband and her donkey caravan trip to her current home in the harem. At a later date, he made a second visit, though to be exposed would have meant beheading. The film, when completed, was not only one of the prominent achievements in the making of documentary films, but provided the subject matter for a series of lectures within the United States and Europe.

A little known fact was that a considerable amount of footage was taken with cameraman Von Hoffman looking toward the' rear of the camera. By religious custom, the Moroccans frowned upon reproducing their image on film, and would hide. To overcome this, Carl devised a mirror on the camera to enable him to look backwards, quieting any suspicions the populace had that they were being photographed. Furthermore, it caused many to follow his backward gaze, thereby looking directly into the camera, producing some outstanding footage.