Hollywood

by Ed Nelson

  Chapter 34

  I set the alarm for four thirty on Tuesday morning. That enabled me to do my morning workout and run while making it to the studio on time. The first thing I did when at costuming was grab my first coffee of the day. By the time I was out of makeup I was awake and ready to go.

  We were walking through our scene by seven o’clock and had film by eleven. I spent about half of the time watching other people do their jobs. I had brought school books with me so I made good use of the time. I was determined to do as good as I could on the State final exams even though they were pass fail in nature.

  The girl at the eleven o’clock audition was the Cheryl look alike. She was flawless in her performance. We had lunch together. After lunch I was asked my opinion.

  My response was, “In one of the few Sunday school classes I attended they told us not to say anything if we couldn’t say anything good. I shouldn’t even acknowledge this girls existence. She is the most egotistical whiney brat I have ever met.”

  John Wayne came back with, “Okay now tell us what you really think.”

  “I’m not allowed to use that sort of language.”

  “Scratch that one off the list then,” Mr. Wayne replied.

  Mr. Danson took me over to Hollywood High after lunch for my lab session. Nina was there already. The bells rang to change class. I noticed that several girls made a point of looking into our class room. I wonder what that was about.

  We played with poor old Mr. Froggie some more. This time we hooked a battery up the nerves in his leg. That was amazing. Maybe he can go a courtin some more. Nina was fun to be with; she could joke about what we were doing. I was still the one, hands on, while she took the notes.

  She couldn’t understand how I could touch the frog. I told her about how my Dad and I would gig frogs from a flat bottomed boat with tridents. Frog legs were delicious! She wasn’t impressed. I decided not to tell her about walking a trap line in the winter. Dad would get fifty cents a muskrat pelt. We needed the money that bad.

  Mr. Danson took me back to the studio and dropped me off at the stunt area. I did my sword drill and weight lifting. The guys who had talked about parachuting weren’t around. After doing my exercises I still had time so I worked on my roping. One of the wranglers was kind enough to saddle a horse and take care of him when I was done.

  When I thanked him he said, “You took care of Raul, we’ll take care of you.

  When I finished roping Dick still wasn’t there, so I waited. Time seemed to stand still but finally Dick showed up. We headed out to the Wells Fargo bank and picked up a cashier’s check. The car dealer had called the amount in for the car as promised.

  When we pulled up to the dealership the T-Bird was all ready to go. I handed over the check, Dick signed another million or so papers then they handed me the keys and the title in my name. It was really strange the State of California wouldn’t let me buy a car, but I could own one. It didn’t matter now, I had the pink slip.

  The dealer insisted on a number of pictures of me taking delivery of the car. I asked him why. He told me it was in case I became famous. He also told me he had heard about some excitement at the studio, a rabid coyote. He wanted to know if I had seen it.

  “I did,” was my answer.

  Somebody asked a question right then so he couldn’t follow up.

  When I slipped behind the wheel of my new car I felt like the King of the Road. From the white leather upholstery to the white wall tires this car was the coolest thing on the road. The Corvette was nice, this was better.

  My salesman showed me how to put the top down and he also presented me with a pair of sunglasses. That was nice of him, especially after how I had beaten him up on the deal.

  When I thanked him, he responded, “The best thanks you can give me is to direct other people who want to buy a car towards me.”

  At that he handed me business cards to put in the glove box. That seemed like a reasonable request.

  So with the top down and sunglasses on I drove my new T-Bird off the lot. No doubt about it, I’m hot stuff. That feeling stayed with me for half the trip home. At a traffic light a 32 Ford hotrod pulled up beside me. The driver asked me if I wanted to race for pinks.

  Now I’m many things but I’m not that stupid. I laughed and told him.

  “You would eat me alive. I know a dragster when I see it.”

  He waved and took off when the light changed. I don’t know what he had under the hood but he would’ve cleaned my clock. The car had a picture of a guy with his fingers in his ears. Under it was Sounds by Rocket.

  That made me realize I had a really nice car but I was not the King of the Road after all. It was a good thing that I learned that lesson early. The police had Sounds by Rocket pulled over. I thought about waving as I drove by, but that would have been tacky.

  When I returned back to the apartment complex it took me a minute to figure out which parking space was mine. They had a real complicated system. They put your apartment number on your parking space. I parked the car and started to walk away. I stopped and thought, you’re not in Bellefontaine, Ohio anymore. I went back and raised the rag top and after further thought pulled the keys.

  The keys were always in the car at home, but this was a big city and things might be different. Actually I had watched enough Dragnet and Highway Patrol to know that things were different.

  In bed I quickly fell asleep. It had been one heck’va day.

  I drove myself to the studio today. The first thing I had to do was stop at the studio office and sign for a studio parking sticker for my windshield and assigned a parking space.

  As a low man on the actor’s totem pole I was assigned to the far reaches. I laughingly thought that I could drive to work and get my morning run from the car to the backlots.

  The girl at eleven o’clock today was good in her performance and lunch was okay, but there was no spark between us. Ron Dodge agreed that while she would work, there was no extra spark. Also her mother kept breaking into our attempts to talk as though she was trying out for the part. We had two more to look at.

  When I was finished I realized that I didn’t have to wait for Dick anymore. I had my own wheels. Of course I had the top down for the ride home. I took a quick shower and changed out of my jeans and western shirt into slacks and golf shirt. I was going for the preppy look.

  I spent the late afternoon and evening driving around. I ate at an A&W root beer stand. It was cool the carhops were on roller skates. I love those frosty mugs they use to serve the root beer.

  The carhops kept skating over to me. I first thought it was the car, then me, finally I realized it was the Warner Brothers parking sticker on the windshield that was attracting them.

  I drove down Highway 101 as far as Santa Monica. I didn’t have time to go out on the pier but made a mental note to do that one day.

  Tonight I read a good time travel story. Andrew Harlan had been tasked with creating a time loop where the group which recruited him would be brought into being. It gave me a headache to think about it.

  It was neat thinking that a 1932 advertisement would show a mushroom cloud. I did like the idea of getting power from going upwhen to use the power of the sun when it went nova. The concept of the hidden centuries was also neat.

  Chapter 35

  It was a little easier to get up at four thirty on Thursday, but not much. By the time I was finished running and had my shower I decided that I might live. It was still easier to get coffee at the studio than make it at home or pick it up on the way.

  The mornings acting was just like a job, with a lot of hurry up and wait. There wasn’t anyone my age on the set so I hung out with the production crew. Mr. Wayne seemed to be conducting business if he wasn’t on the set.

  After lunch he always disappeared, so I never had a chance to talk to him. The other actors weren’t rude to me but they weren’t interested in socializing.

  This left me the crew to talk to. It did give me a chance
to learn a lot about the technical end of the business. Since I helped Raul with the breakaway lariat they always had time for my questions.

  They even brought a few of their technical problems to me to see if I could help. I was able to help in small ways but nothing earthshattering. It must have been enough because they treated me as a member of the team.

  That meant my horses were always saddled first, my lighting exactly right, my sound checks adjusted till they were perfect. It seemed to me like one professional courtesy was being returned for another. I couldn’t understand why others didn’t work in this manner.

  The actor who played the ranch foreman, Lee Somerset, acted like he was above everyone. He wouldn’t extend himself in any way to make it easier on others. If he had been a King, the peasants would’ve had torches and pitchforks.

  My eleven o’clock date as I thought of her was it. She was perfect in her lines and presentation. At lunch it was like we had known each other forever. Her mother who had accompanied her sat back and let us talk; unlike the girl’s mother on Tuesday.

  Her real name is Alice Shellenbacher. Her stage name is Ellen Shelly. She was originally from Texas but her accent was very soft, almost not there. It suggested the west but could be understood very clearly.

  She had grown up in a small farm community and was attending a local high school. She now lived in what they called the Valley across the mountains from LA. That was the only reason she could audition for parts. While she wanted to be in movies it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she didn’t get selected for the part.

  Our backgrounds were close enough that we clicked. After a while I realized that we had been talking and goofing around and forgot all about her mother and our Director sitting there. I turned to Ron and raised my eyebrow.

  He said, “I will cancel the Friday girl.”

  For some reason the way he said it made me think of one of Mum’s nursery rhymes. It partly went, “Thursday’s child has a long way to go; Friday’s child is full of woe.” I had read several versions but this is the one I remembered.

  School was cool. Well it didn’t rhyme but it was fun. Nina and I got along very well. Today we stretched out some worms to dissect. Well I did the worm thing while she kept notes and drew our diagrams. There was a pattern here. But I knew her time was coming. I had cheated. I had read the course material for next week.

  After our session was done she accompanied me to my car. I had told her about my new purchase and she wanted to see it. She didn’t come across as a gold digger or a user like some of the girls in Bellefontaine, but I was still a little leery. She oohed and aahed, as I showed her the various features. I offered to take her a ride, but she had to get back for her next class.

  Back at the lot I went through my sword routine as usual. I could now hold the two swords out straight for five minutes at a time, one in each hand. I was now doing two sessions a day. Once at the studio and once at the apartment with two swords I had checked out and taken home.

  My weight lifting was starting to show some results. My body was beginning to look ‘cut’ as some of the guys called it. There was definitely definition of my muscle groups. I was finishing up my routine earlier and earlier each day. I didn’t even have to wait for Dick anymore, but felt that I shouldn’t get in the habit of leaving the studio in case something came up.

  One of the guys saw me starting to sit down.

  “Oh no you don’t, it is time for you to start your boxing lessons.”

  What! He took me over to a gym which served as a set that required a boxing ring, and was a real gym for training boxers. He introduced me to Don Palmer the Studio trainer and walked away. As he left I realized I didn’t even know his name.

  Mr. Palmer explained to me that to do a boxing scene first you had to know how to box. Since there was a fight scene in my movie and I was an English student it would be assumed that I had been trained in formal boxing at school.

  I didn’t know if that was how it was actually done in England in 1890 but very few people in the audience would know the real facts. Besides it would be fun to know how to box.

  They had clothes in every size so I put on some shorts and canvas shoes. They didn’t put me in a ring. They introduced me to a punching bag. Actually to two bags a heavy bag and a speed bag. Wearing light gloves they had me spend fifteen minutes with each after some basic instruction.

  Mr. Palmer stopped me and told me to be back at the same time tomorrow unless I was in a scene. Everything now revolved around the shooting schedule.

  Since it was now six o’clock I went over to the set and found everyone had left. They were done for the day and so was I. I drove home, showered, changed clothes and took off in my new car. I drove pretty aimlessly around the Burbank area just to learn it. I spotted a small restaurant which I thought I would try for dinner. I wasn’t there very long.

  It was self-seating so I selected one, the ashtray hadn’t been emptied all day. Stuck under the booth top was a ton of chewing gum. The deal breaker was the four strips of flypaper hanging from the ceiling. They were loaded with dead flies. I decided that I didn’t want ptomaine poisoning and left.

  I did find a drive in called In-N-Out, it was pretty good. I wasn’t used to fountain drinks instead of out of the bottle, but the Coke was okay.

  Later I tried to read my biology book instead of fiction. I found that reading a biology text book in bed could put me to sleep quickly.

  When arriving at the studio gate Friday morning, the guard had a message. They wanted me in the front office. Mr. Pearson my studio contact and Will Jamison, Mr. Wayne’s publicist, were both waiting for me. Mr. Pearson informed me that Jack Paar wanted me on the Tonight Show this afternoon.

  That was how I learned that the Tonight Show was taped in the afternoon and replayed later. The studio wanted me there and Mr. Pearson reminded me it was in my contract. I told him I had no problem appearing but didn’t know what to say. Mr. Jamison piped in.

  “That is why I am here. John asked me to help prep you.”

  That was a relief. The prepping turned out to be basically don’t pick your nose, a lot of people will be watching, and be careful of what you say as a lot of people will be watching. Actually he was very helpful in suggesting how I dress, to watch my posture on set. When in the green room, which wasn’t green to watch what I said and did as it was taped.

  If I had coffee in the green room don’t use sugar or cream if in the little packets as they would create a mess of my clothes. I should go to the bathroom before going to the green room and on air. Most of all tell the truth and don’t try to make jokes. That was Jack Paar’s job.

  We covered the most likely questions, which centered on my relationship with Paul Grant.

  “I really don’t have a relationship. We were on the set together but didn’t communicate off screen.”

  How I felt about him running from the coyote.

  “I don’t know that he ran, I was focused on the rabid coyote.”

  He did run, how do you feel about that?

  “We all do what we have to do. I don’t know if his weapon was loaded. I won’t presume to judge him when I don’t know all the facts.”

  Mr. Jamison thought if I stuck to those answers I would be okay.

  After makeup and costume I went to the set. Today’s scene was my Uncle throwing me in a horse trough. I swear John Wayne enjoyed it too much. There were six retakes. That meant I had to dry off, change clothes, have make up retouched and hair dried six times.

  I wish I had my hand held drier there, it would have been faster and I wouldn’t have looked so stupid with the little bag over my head. Of course Mr. Wayne didn’t have to do any of that. I had fantasies of revenge. Sure I was going to throw John Wayne in a horse trough, not in this life time!

  Ellen Shelly was there to observe, she didn’t have any scenes today. Her mother accompanied her and they stayed by themselves. In between setups I tried to talk to them, but they were standoffish today so I
left them alone. This was new to them and they might be nervous.

  They did sit with me at lunch. Then it became clear. Ellen was afraid that since I was a lead that she was mine, both on and off set. I assured her that was anything but the case.

  Would I like her company sure, I was a fifteen year old boy a long way from home and a little lonely. She let me know that she was nineteen and had a boyfriend. They were almost engaged.

  I raised my one eyebrow at that statement.

  “Almost engaged?”

  She told me that they would be soon, she just hadn’t told him yet.

  Why men think they have a chance I don’t know. Anyway that cleared the air with us and Ellen, her Mother Jean and I got along fine for the rest of the film production. We were never close friends but always cordial with each other.

  School was fun. Nina found out that we had to work with a pig’s heart. We both had to open and close the heart valves. She was so grossed out it was wonderful! Hey, I’m still a freshman, we are gross by definition.

  After school I went back to the studio where Mr. Pearson had a car and driver waiting for us. We went straight down to the theater. This event was unusual in several ways. First of all the show was normally done in New York City. The second was he normally had more intellectual people appear, very seldom what you could call a mere actor like me.

  He was in California because they were experimenting with color video tape. Previously everything had been in black and white. Their concern wasn’t the technical issues of color taping or color TV, it was having make up people available who worked with color filming. I think they wanted an excuse to get out of New York for a change of pace.

  I remembered to go to the bathroom and didn’t pick my nose on air or in the green room. Since I was waiting with no company, but Mr. Pearson, I had this almost irresistible urge to pick my nose, but fought it off.