The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra

Name: The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra
Director: Robert Florey
Genre: Drama
Released: 1928
Duration: 14 min
Cast: Jules Raucourt, George Voya, Robert Florey, Adriane Marsh

1928 Drama 14 minutes Directed by Robert Florey

About The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra

A man, played by Jules Raucourt, comes to Hollywood to be a star. Casting offices treat him as one more body and write 9413 on his forehead. He stays an extra, falls into poverty, and dies with the number still on him. Robert Florey and Slavko Vorkapić wrote and directed the short. Most of it was shot in their homes, on walls painted black, with cardboard, paper cubes, tin cans, cigar boxes, and toy trains standing in for the city.

Cast & crew

More about The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra

Gregg Toland, early in his career, shot much of it. Douglas Fairbanks helped the film along. Charlie Chaplin and Joseph M. Schenck helped promote it. FBO Pictures released it in more than 700 theaters in North America and Europe. Wikidata times it at 14 minutes. The story uses George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as an inspiration. Gershwin did not write a score for the short. A Commons file uses the full title.

Themes

A number written on a forehead
An extra who never becomes a star
A death with the number still there
9413
Hollywood extra
Jules Raucourt
miniatures
Florey
Vorkapić

Making

With no studio and no equipment of their own, Florey and Vorkapić built Hollywood out of household junk and cut the actor’s face against it.

Look

Gregg Toland shot the close-ups. The city is miniatures, superimposed and cut against those faces.

Technique

Close-ups, miniature sets, abrupt cuts, and superimposition stand in for a studio backlot.

Preservation

The short survives. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.

Notes

The number is painted on the forehead, not pinned to a costume.
The sets are miniatures. The faces are close-ups of the actors.
The budget figure given for the production is $97.
George Voya, Florey, and Adriane Marsh are on the catalog cast list.

Scenes

A hand writes 9413 on his forehead.
Cardboard towers and toy trains stand for the studios.
He dies with the number still on him.

Influenced by

George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, as a story inspiration
Robert Florey’s own time trying to work in Hollywood

Also available

Wikimedia Commons (The Life and Death of 9413 a Hollywood Extra (1928).webm)