During the filming of one of
W.C. Fields' scenes, a mild earthquake struck Los Angeles. The earthquake was supposedly captured on film. In the film clip, Fields and his co-stars are standing in the hotel lobby set, when the picture begins to shake as if the camera is vibrating. A chandelier on the set begins to swing back and forth, and a lamp suddenly falls over. Fields calmly ushers his co-stars off the soundstage, telling them to stay calm and walk slowly. The "earthquake footage" of Fields was played in newsreels across the country in the weeks following the 1933 quake. Nearly forty years later, however, director
A. Edward Sutherland admitted that the "earthquake footage" was a hoax concocted by himself and Fields. It was done by rigging wires on the lamp and chandelier, and shaking the camera to simulate an earthquake. Sutherland claimed that he and Fields were amazed when the "earthquake footage" was accepted as genuine by newsreel distributors. "We shared a big laugh and an even bigger drink", Sutherland recalled. To this day, the fake "earthquake footage" is occasionally broadcast and accepted as genuine by entertainment television shows such as
Access Hollywood (1996). The footage appeared in
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983).
