He nodded. “I hope so.”
Then Nita saw Phillip and Sally on the floor. The young doctor noticed her and nodded. She saw Sally speak to him angrily and they moved to another area of the floor. Shortly afterwards he and Sally left. As Sally passed Nita’s table on the way out she held her shapely chin high in the air. Phillip slowed a little and offered her a small smile, then hurried on to join Sally.
Billy looked amused. “They’re not even married and she already has him on a leash!”
“He’s a fool,” she said bitterly. “Why doesn’t he get out of Hollywood? He’s not tied to movies like the rest of us.”
“A scandal about an abortion wouldn’t be an ideal way for him to open a medical practice,” Billy said. “And Sally would ruin him without even worrying about it.”
“I know,” she sighed.
They went back to dance again. While they were moving about the floor she saw the smiling face of Eric Gray moving towards them. He came to Billy and touching him on the shoulder, asked, “May I cut in?”
Billy raised an eyebrow at Nita and said, “Why not?” The comedian let Eric take his place and went back to the table to wait for her.
Eric smiled at her. “I didn’t expect to have this pleasure tonight.”
“Are you here with Barbara?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Richard and I decided to stop by for some food. I saw you and wanted to talk to you.”
“What about?”
“I know you’re being lent to Classic.”
“You ought to,” she said. “Since you and Barbara are responsible.”
Eric shook his head. “Not me! Just Barbara! But you need not worry. Rudolph Von Eltz is a friend of mine and I promise you will be given good treatment.”
“Not drugged, whipped or raped?”
“I know the stories,” Eric said. “Only part of it is true. I’ll make sure that Von Eltz builds up your part in the film and in the end it will do you good.”
“I wish I could believe that,” she told him.
“Don’t worry about it,” the leading man said. “Just leave it in my hands.”
“Why are you doing this for me?” she asked.
“It’s quite simple,” he said. “I’m in love with you.”
She glanced to the table on the edge of the dance floor where Richard Wright was seated alone. She said, “What about Richard?”
Eric’s face flamed red. He said nothing.
The dance ended and he took her back to Billy Bowers. The two men chatted for a few minutes and then Eric returned to Richard.
“What was that all about?” Billy asked her.
She told him, ending with, “He says he has influence with Von Eltz and he’s going to help me get a good part.”
“Maybe he has some plan,” Billy agreed.
“He says so.”
“Is Eric in love with you?”
“You know Eric.”
“He had several interesting affairs with women before he married Barbara,” the comedian said. “I think the right girl could change him.”
“That’s what he tells me,” she said. “And he thinks I’m that girl.”
Billy gave her a knowing glance. “That would be really paying Barbara back in spades!”
Classic Films was a larger company than Master. Nita reported for work at nine on Monday morning and waited in a studio until eleven when Rudolf Von Eltz arrived. He carried himself in arrogant style and his expression was surly. At his heels followed a small, dark man with thick glasses who apparently was his chief aide.
Nita was surrounded by a number of younger players whose names and faces were unfamiliar to her. It was typical of Von Eltz to use comparative unknowns with good looks and bodies. The director was the star of a Von Eltz film, with the actors playing only a secondary role. The top billing was always for the director, Rudolf Von Eltz.
Now he stood before the semi-circle of seated and standing actors and eyed them all with disdain. In his heavily accented English he told them the film was to be the story of a slave girl in ancient Arabia with a parallel story of modern New York where the same actress would play the office slave to a wicked financier. He indicated a pretty, dark-haired girl named Carol True, who would play the leading role. Nita found herself cast as the leading lady’s jealous sister.
The surly director handed out copies of the script and told them all, “You will be here at seven tomorrow.” Then he and his aide vanished.
There was much discussion and complaining among the actors. Carol True turned to Nita with a smile and said, “Is this your first Von Eltz film?”
“Yes,” she said. “What about you?”
“I played a bit part in his last film,” the dark-haired girl said. “It was an experience.”
Shooting began the next morning. Nita was in only a few scenes at the opening of the film, so she sat much of the time on the sidelines waiting to be called. Von Eltz proved most demanding about the camera work, lighting and sets. If all did not suit him he would halt work until whatever bothered him was corrected. Nita spent several days waiting to be called to work.
His direction was precise and helpful, and Nita began to understand as the days went by why the Prussian was hailed by the critics as a genius. Nothing out of the way took place in the early stages of the film.
Then one afternoon he halted the filming to make an announcement. He tapped his whip against his puttees and, eyes fixed on the actors, his expression stolid, said, “Tomorrow we will shoot the orgy scene. It is the most important! But first, we much establish the proper mood. You will come prepared to remain in the studio as long as I deem necessary. The last time we worked around the clock for twenty-four hours. While this is in progress the set will be closed to outsiders. Those employed in the film will not be permitted to leave.”
Discontented murmuring followed this announcement as Von Eltz made his usual strutting exit, after letting it be known that actors and extras would be paid double for the time they were involved in filming the orgy.
Nita arrived at the studio the next day filled with apprehension. She noticed that her nervousness was shared by most of the rest of the cast and began to understand why they had been chosen chiefly for their youth and physical good looks. She was one of the few better known players in the group.
Nita went to make-up and then donned the low-cut evening gown she was to wear in the party scene which Von Eltz had described as a bacchanal in a New York penthouse. The other girls and men arrived on the set, the women elegantly gowned and the men in full evening dress.
One of the men crossed the big studio floor to her and she was startled to see that it was none other than Eric Gray.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
He smiled. “I told you I had a surprise for you. I’m playing a small role in the film.”
“There was no mention of it.”
“We decided to say nothing so Barbara wouldn’t have a chance to complain to Lew Meyers. As it is, I have his permission.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “There are a lot of rumors going the rounds and we’re all more or less prisoners here until the orgy scene is completed.”
Eric patted her arm. “Don’t worry.”
“Will I be working in the scene with you?”
“Not this one,” Eric said. “But Von Eltz is considering adding another scene in which we will both appear. I’m going to speak to him about it now.” After a moment more of conversation he left her to seek out the director.
A handsome young man whose face reminded Nita of Valentino came to her and said, “I see you and Eric Gray are friends.”
“Yes,” she said.
“Interesting man,” the fellow said. “I’m new in Hollywood, but I’ve heard a lot about him.”
She couldn’t help wonder if the good-looking young man had ulterior motives. She said, “He has many friends.”
“Of both sexes,” he said knowingly. “Are you looking forward to the orgy?”
“Not really,” she said.
“Might as well enjoy it,” he told her cheerfully. “That’s why most of us are here. To decorate the set with our bodies and provide Von Eltz with some really wild doings.”
Von Eltz appeared shortly, also in evening dress, accompanied by Eric. The Prussian ordered the actors to give him their attention and a hush fell over the group.
“There are three scenes,” he told them. “The first is in the banquet room where we will all gather to feast and drink fine champagne!” This brought a murmur of approval. He lifted a hand for silence and continued, “The next is the fountain scene in the courtyard of the millionaire’s home and the third is the living room where the principal scene will be filmed. Now on to the banquet room!”
Nita followed the others onto a set representing a banquet hall with a huge table at which nearly a hundred people could be seated. It stretched the length of the room and was set with the finest china, silverware and crystal. Over heard, great chandeliers provided light. Camera men were located at all corners of the studio and two assistant directors were busily seating the actors.
She saw that Eric was at the head of the table with Von Eltz. Nita was seated between the handsome man with the Valentino face and a pretty ginger-haired girl who seemed excited and amused by it all. She was strikingly pretty and had a luscious figure much revealed by her scanty costume.
Von Eltz rose as waiters appeared to fill their wine glasses, and announced, “We will eat, drink and be merry!”
It was the beginning of a banquet which lasted more than two hours. Wines and liquors flowed extravagantly and there was squab, lobster, and a number of Continental delicacies to delight every taste. Nita tried to hold her drinking to a minimum but soon her head was reeling.
She gazed around her and saw that chaos was beginning to take over at the long table. A girl had leaped from her seat mid-way along the table and climbing onto the table itself had torn off her dress and was now dancing wantonly in her filmy underthings. Men were rising and toasting her with champagne. Von Eltz watched it all quietly.
An arm encircled Nita and she turned to find the handsome man on her left leaning close. He kissed her and whispered an indecent suggestion.
She shook her head angrily and turned away from him in horror, his delighted laughter ringing in her ears. She gazed at the pretty girl next to her and saw that her dress had slipped from one shoulder so that one breast was entirely exposed.
More frightening than the noise, drunken laughter, and blatantly erotic actions going on around Nita was the relaxing of her own inhibitions. Feelings coursed through her which she had known before only in the most thrilling moments of passion. Vaguely she realized that she, like the others around her, was no longer in control of her emotions. She laughed raucously at a suggestive remark from the man across the table from her, and found herself eagerly returning a stranger’s lascivious kiss.
Her head was growing lighter every moment and in her last few seconds of coherence thought she realized dimly what had happened. Von Eltz had put some subtle drug in all their drinks, some strong aphrodisiac which made them all his puppets. This was the secret of his great success as a director of powerfully erotic films.
Von Eltz rose in his place at the table and barked out orders in German. The assistant directors appeared again and now herded Nita and the others out of the banquet hall and on to the set representing a courtyard with a fountain at least fifteen feet tall and a wide pool around it. The young men and women were laughing and embracing. Then Von Eltz appeared on one of the several platforms above the fountain and lifted a megaphone to address them.
He shouted, “The fountain is flowing with champagne! You are to revel in the spray. You must tumble around and show boisterous amusement. Do not worry about ruining your costumes, that is expected and dressers will be waiting to look after them!”
The ginger-haired girl let out a cry of delight, kicked off her slippers and ran into the fountain, laughing under its spray. She was joined by dozens of others, men and women in elegant evening clothes, stumbling about in the water, lifting their lips to the spray as if drinking fine wine, embracing and kissing each other. Some of the men were ripping off the women’s dresses, exposing their bodies. One of the assistant directors seized Nita and literally shoved her into the pool.
“Make something of the scene!” he shouted to her.
The scene proceeded and above the noise Von Eltz went on barking out further orders in German as the camera men on precarious perches above him continued to grind away.
Nita stumbled around, laughing young men propelling her one way and then the next. She felt she was in the midst of a madman’s nightmare.
Now the assistant directors shouted at the actors in the pool, “Off with your clothes! The boss wants you all nude! Hurry it up!”
Nita listened in a daze and saw the boisterous, drugged crowd begin to disrobe. Suddenly a nude young man was tearing off her dress.
“No!” she cried, trying to push him away.
“Von Eltz ordered it!” The young man cried and laughingly tore away underclothing, leaving her stark naked along with all the others.
Now the uproar was greater than ever. The sight of so many naked bodies overwhelmed Nita. She knew it was only her drugged state which kept her from-fainting. To her horror she was overwhelmed with erotic urges, as she watched the young men pairing off with the young women and carrying them away, their bodies dripping wet and shining, into secret corners of the studio.
Above it all, Von Eltz watched the carnival impassively. Nita was standing with her hands covering herself as best she could, when a handsome nude man came straight at her. It was Eric Gray and there was no mistaking his arousal.
He lifted her into his arms and amidst the bedlam carried her off to a small dark cubicle with a canvas cot behind the main set. He placed her on the cot and proceeded to take her greedily. Nita, overcome with passion, was unable to resist, and abandoned herself to the fires of lust. The drink and the drugs had done their work.
Nita had no idea how long their love making went on, but she was amply convinced that Eric could satisfy a woman and enjoy it.
Eric told her, “I love you! I had to take this chance to prove it!”