A Stranger in the Mirror (11 page)

Bert Firestone was outside, in back of Stage Twentythree, playing basketball with the crew. They had rigged up a court and had painted in boundary lines and put up two baskets. Sam stood there, watching a moment. The game was costing the studio two thousand dollars an hour. "Bert!" Firestone turned, saw Sam, smiled and waved. The ball came to him, he dribbled it, feinted, and sank a basket. Then he strolled over to Sam. "How are things?" As though nothing were wrong. As Sam looked at the boyish, smiling young face, it occurred to him that Bert Firestone was a psycho. Talented, maybe even a genius, but a certifiable lunatic. And five million dollars of the company's money was in his hands. "I hear there's a problem with the new set," Sam said. "Let's straighten it out." Bert Firestone smiled lazily and said, "There's nothing to straighten out, Sam. The set won't work." Sam exploded. "What the hell are you talking about? We gave you exactly what you ordered. You did the sketches yourself. Now you tell me what's wrong with it!" Firestone looked at him and blinked. "Why, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just that I've changed my mind. I don't want a castle. I've decided that's not the right ambience.

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Do you know what I mean? Tins is Ellen and Mike's farewell gcene. I'd like to have Ellen come to visit Mike on the deck

(; The next problem was Tessie Brand. ' Tessie was the hottest singer in show business. It had been a coup when Sam Winters had managed to sign her to

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"Do you like me well enough to make some movies with (.me?" She looked at him and said, "Yeah." "Wonderful. I'll work out the deal with your agent." She stroked Sam's hand and said, "Are you sure you n't fool around?"

Tessie Brand's first two pictures went through the box�|office roof. She received an Academy nomination for the first gone and was awarded the golden Oscar for the second. ^Audiences all over the world lined up at motion-picture I'tfaeaters to see Tessie and to hear that incredible voice. She |had everything. She was funny, she could sing and she could pet. Her ugliness turned out to be an asset, because audiences I'identified with it. Tessie Brand became a surrogate for all the |unattractive, the unloved, the unwanted. I' Tessie married the leading man in her first picture, iMivorced him after the retakes and married the leading man gin her next picture. Sam had heard rumors that this marriage |t0o was sinking, but Hollywood was a hotbed of gossip. He I'gaid no attention, for he felt that it was none of his business. As it turned our, he was mistaken.

Sam was talking on the phone to Barry Herman, Tessie's nt. "What's the problem, Barry?" "Tessie's new picture. She's not happy, Sam.'' Sam felt his temper rising. "Hold it! Tessie approved ; producer, the director and the shooting script. We've got ; sets built and we're ready to roll. There's no way she can 1k away now. I'll --" |y; "She doesn't want to walk away." ' Sam was taken aback. "What the hell does she want?" "She wants a new producer on the picture." Sam yelled into the phone. "She what?" H "Ralph Dastin doesn't understand her." "Dastin's one of the best producers in the business. She's

108 "It means that part of Tessie's pitch is that women aren't given a fair chance in this business. Your little star has become very feminist-minded." ; "I won't do it," Sam said. ; "Suit'yourself. But I'll give you some free advice. It's pie only way you're ever going to get this picture made."

; Sam telephoned Barry Herman. "Tell Tessie that Ralph toasrin walked off Ae picture," Sam said. (; "She'll be pleased to hear that." i Sam gritted his teeth, then asked, "Did she have anyone ;else in mind to produce the picture?" "As a matter of fact, she did," Herman said smoothly. ."Tessie has discovered a very talented young girl who she >feels is ready for a challenge like this. Under the guidance of ''someone as brilliant as you, Sam --" "Cut out the commercial," Sam said. "Is that the bottom dine?" "I'm afraid it is, Sam. I'm sorry."

Barbara Carter had a pretty face and a good figure and, as far as Sam could tell, was completely feminine. He watched Bier as she took a seat on the leather couch in his office and daintily crossed her long, shapely legs. When she spoke, her Voice sounded a trifle husky, but that may have been because Sam was looking for some kind of sign. She studied him with igoft gray eyes and said, "I seem to be in a terrible spot, Mr. Winters. I had no intention of putting anyone out of work. And yet" -- she raised her hands helplessly -- "Miss Brand says she simply won't make the picture unless I produce it. What do you think I should do?" For an instant, Sam was tempted to tell her. Instead, he said, "Have you had any experience with show business-- (besides being a costume designer?" "I've ushered, and I've seen lots of movies." Terrific! "What makes Miss Brand think you can produce a motion picture?" It was as though Sam had touched a hidden spring. Barbara Carter was suddenly full of animation. "Tessie and I

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have talked a lor about this picture." No more "Miss Brand", Sam noticed. "I feel there are a lot of things wrong with the script, and when I pointed them out to her, she agreed with me." "Do you think you know more about writing a script than an Academy Award-winning writer who's done half a dozen successful picturts and Broadway plays?" "Oh, no, Mr. Winters! I just think I know more about women." The gray eyes were harder now, the tone a little tougher. "Don't you think it's ridiculous for men to always be writing women's parts? Only we really know how we feel. Doesn't that make sense to you?" Sam was tired of the game. He knew he was going to hire her, and he hated himself for it, but he was running a studio, and his job was to see that pictures got made. If Tessie Brand wanted her pet squirrel to produce this picture, Sam would start ordering nuts. A Tessie Brand picture could easily mean a profit of from twenty to thirty million dollars. Besides, Barbara Carter couldn't do anything to really hurt the picture. Not now. It was too close to shooting for any major changes to be made. "You've convinced me," Sam said, with irony. "You've got the job. Congratulations."

The following morning, the Hollywood Reporter and Variety announced on their front pages that Barbara Carter was producing the new Tcssie Brand movie. As Sam started to throw the papers in his wastebasket, a small item at the bottom of the page caught his eye: "toby temple signed for lounge at tahoe hotel." Toby Temple. Sam remembered the eager young comic in uniform, and the memory brought a smile to Sam's face. Sam made a mental note to see his act if Temple ever played in town. He wondered why Toby Temple had never gotten in touch with him. 13

In a strange way, it was Millie who was responsible for "oby Temple's rise to stardom. Before their marriage, he ad been just another up-and-coming comic, one of dozens. ince the wedding, a new ingredient had been added: hatred. "oby had been forced into a marriage with a girl he despised, nd there was such rage in him that he could have killed her 'ith his bare hands. Although Toby did not realize it, Millie was a wonderful, evoted wife. She adored him and did everything she could to lease him. She decorated the house in Benedict Canyon, and id it beautifully. But the more Millie tried to please Toby, ;ie more he loathed her. He was always meticulously polite toer, careful never to do or say anything that might upset her enough to call Al Caruso. As long as he lived, Toby would not Mget the awful agony of that tire iron smashing into his arm, r the look on Al Caruso's face when he said, "If you ever urt Millie..." v. ,' Because Toby could not take out his aggressions on his Rife, he turned his fury on his audiences. Anyone who rattled dish, or rose to go to the washroom or dared to talk while ^oby was on stage was the instant object of a savage tirade. jOby dealt it with such wide-eyed, naive charm that the ^diences adored it, and when Toby ripped apart some hapless ictim, people laughed until they cried. The combination of gg innocent, guileless face and his wicked, funny tongue made tai irresistible. He could say the most outrageous things and get away with them. It became a mark of distinction to be singled out for a tongue lashing by Toby Temple. It never even occurred to his victims that Toby meant every word he said. Where before Toby had been just another promising young comedian, now he became the talk of the entertainment circuit. When Clifton Lawrence returned from Europe, he was amazed to learn that Toby had married a showgirl. It had seemed out of character, but when he asked Toby about it, Toby looked him in the eye and said, "What's there to tell, Cliff? I met Millie, fell in love with her and that was that." Somehow, it had not rung true. And there was something else that puzzled the agent. One day in his office, Clifton told Toby, "You're really getting hot. I've booked you into the Thunderbird for a four-week gig. Two thousand a week." "What about that tour?" "Forget it. Las Vegas pays ten times as much, and everybody will see your act." "Cancel Vegas. Get me the tour." Clifton looked at him in surprise. "But Las Vegas is --" "Get me the tour." There was a note in Toby's voice that Clifton Lawrence had never heard before. It was not arrogance or temperament; it was something beyond that, a deep, controlled rage. What made it frightening was that it emanated from a face that had grown more genial and boyish than ever.