The Cinema of Lost Dreams

by Alli Sinclair

“Colin, I’m so—”

  “You’re right.”

  “Pardon?” She’d never expected this.

  “You’re right, Miss Montgomery.” He looked up, his eyes sad.

  “You can call me Claire.”

  “Claire.” He gave a small nod. “You are right. There’s been in-fighting for generations, and it’s poisoned our town. I’ve been aware of it for years, but just didn’t want to admit it. We only bond over our mutual annoyance for outsiders.”

  “You do realize this is strange, right? If you’d given our production a chance, you might have found it interesting.”

  He didn’t speak for quite some time.

  “I need a favor, Miss—Claire.”

  “Sure,” she said, then worried she’d just committed to something she’d regret.

  “Can you write a list of everything you need to complete the work? Perhaps draw up a roster of times and jobs?”

  “You’re going to help?”

  “We are all going to help. It’s high time the townsfolk of Starlight Creek came together to build, not destroy.”

  * * * *

  The next week passed in a whirlwind of activity. Once the cinema had been declared safe, everyone from Marcela to Colin to the checked-shirted teenagers lent a hand. Claire was in her element, coordinating everyone, and Luke gave sanding and painting lessons to those who needed them. Before long, the faded paintwork and chipped plaster transformed into an Art Deco pièce de résistance. The blue facade matched the sky, the yellow trims represented the sun and the broken marquee board had been replaced. The electrician worked on the lights after he’d rewired the damaged electrics.

  The ladders had been taken down, and Claire stood back and admired their handiwork, not quite able to believe everything they’d achieved in such a short time. Even more incredible was the camaraderie that had evolved.

  “Afternoon tea!” called Scarlet, who was trailed by Laura. They each carried a large tray filled with sandwiches, cakes and fruit.

  “I’m off to get my camera,” said Marcela as she headed to her shop at the other end of town.

  The rest of the locals made their way over to the spread. Laura handed out serviettes, and when one of the teenagers reached for one, their fingers touched and lingered. The guy said something quietly, and Laura laughed then looked down, her face flushed.

  “Young love?” Luke appeared beside her.

  “Maybe,” said Claire. “It’s kind of sweet.”

  Luke’s hand slid around her waist and pulled her close. In her ear, he whispered, “I can’t wait to get you alone.”

  Claire closed her eyes and wished she could stop time. The last few days had been bliss, but they still had to finish the conversation. It wasn’t going to be pretty.

  “She’s coming!” yelled Marcela, out of breath from running down the street.

  “Hattie? But she’s not supposed to be here until tomorrow,” said Claire, disappointed. “We haven’t got the letters up on the marquee yet.”

  Luke squeezed her shoulder. “This is going to be a big enough surprise for her.”

  “What if she doesn’t like the colors? What if she wanted to keep it the same? After all, she hadn’t had it painted. Oh no.” She clapped her hand her over mouth. “What if she hates it?”

  “Then I will take the blame,” he said.

  “No, no. This was my idea. I’ll deal with the consequences.” Claire tasted metal in her mouth and realized she’d bitten her lip so hard it was bleeding.

  “She’s here! She’s here!” cried Marcela.

  The taxi pulled around the corner and stopped outside the cinema. The door opened and Luke rushed over to help his great-aunt. She stood on the footpath, her eyes not leaving the cinema.

  “Dad was going to get you from the station tomorrow,” said Luke.

  Hattie kept her eyes on the cinema, her expression not betraying a single emotion. “I’m here a day ahead of schedule, and your father has enough going on with the farm. I didn’t want to trouble him.”

  Claire stood near enough to hear the conversation without being obvious. She held her breath, unsure what to do. Better to leave it to Luke.

  “I see you have been busy,” she finally said, her eyes transfixed.

  “Not just me. I had many, many helpers.” He waved Claire over. “This clever and kind human coordinated it all.”

  Claire stood next to Luke with apprehension. “This was a community effort.”

  “Claire came up with the idea.” Luke held her hand.

  “I…I just don’t know what to say.” It was impossible to tell from Hattie’s tone or expression how she really felt. Hattie reached out for Luke’s hand. “I need to sit.”

  Claire ran over to the table and picked up a folding chair. A group of eyes followed her every move, and she prayed this surprise wasn’t too much for Hattie. Luke had assured Claire that Hattie would love it, but, watching Hattie’s reaction, Claire was scared they’d misjudged the state of her health.

  She put the folding chair under the shade and Hattie sat, her lips pursed. Claire handed her a glass of water. Luke’s eyes met Claire’s and she knew he was thinking the same.

  Hattie took her time sipping. She finished the water and handed the glass to Luke.

  “It’s beautiful,” Hattie said. “I’m lost for words.” A sob escaped her lips, and Claire knelt down and reached for her hands.

  “Really?”

  Hattie nodded. “No one has ever done anything so special.”

  “This is the least we could do,” said Claire. “It’s a way to thank you for being such a wonderful, caring person, and it’s also my way to say sorry. I never meant to let you down.”

  “Oh, dear girl.” Hattie rested her shaking hand on Claire’s head. “Your heartfelt words were enough. But this…” Her gaze traveled the building. “This is so very beautiful.” She reached into her handbag, pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes.

  “Everyone helped,” said Claire. “Starlight Creek is quite the community.”

  “Excuse me.” Hattie moved to stand, and Luke held her arm. “I need a moment.”

  She went inside the cinema’s open door, her pace slightly slower than usual.

  “Should you go in?” Claire asked Luke.

  “No. Let her have a moment. She likes to be alone when she gets emotional.”

  Claire checked her watch. “Maybe we should call it a day.”

  “Good idea. I’ll deal with it.” Luke went across the road and spoke to the helpers. They nodded, polished off the food then started packing away the equipment.

  Colin walked up to her. “That was an anticlimax.”

  “I guess so,” she said. “It would have been nice to have the marquee finished.”

  “Ah, well, best-laid plans and all that.”

  “Yep. Thanks for your help. We can finish tomorrow.”

  “It is a pleasure…Claire.” Colin’s warm smile helped lift her spirits.

  Luke returned and put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder, committing this feeling to memory.

  “Maybe I should go and check on her,” he said.

  “I’ll pack up out here.”

  Luke kissed her on the forehead and went inside while Claire busied herself. He and Hattie must have been deep inside the cinema, as Claire couldn’t hear a word, which was probably just as well. Her desire to eavesdrop was not something she was proud of.

  “Claire.” Luke appeared at the door, his expression serious.

  She placed a paint tin on top of another. “What’s wrong?”

  “Come inside.”

  She followed Luke, her nerves on edge. In the foyer she hesitated, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness.

  Luke’s warm breath grazed her ear. “Come with me.”


  Claire walked into the cinema but couldn’t find Hattie.

  “Take a seat,” said Luke.

  She did so and looked around, intrigued but concerned. A moment later Hattie appeared with a metal canister.

  “Are you sure?” asked Luke.

  Hattie’s voice faltered. “Yes.”

  Luke went over and took it from her. He whispered something in her ear and gave her a quick hug, then disappeared up to the projector room with the canister.

  Claire stood and went over to Hattie. “You’re not upset?”

  Hattie patted her hand. “No, my darling girl.”

  They sat and Claire got comfortable. The aroma of freesias surrounded Claire and she inhaled subtly. The scent matched Hattie perfectly—sweet and strong.

  Hattie leaned in close. “I wish we had popcorn.”

  Claire rummaged in her handbag. “Mints?”

  Hattie popped one in her mouth and sucked on it slowly.

  The screen flickered to life. Music blared through the speakers and Luke turned it down. In black and white, a man appeared on-screen, his dark hair framing a handsome face with a strong jaw.

  “He’s gorgeous,” said Claire.

  “Shh.”

  Claire pursed her lips, worried she’d broken a rule. The man in the movie was running through dark alleys, gunshots in the distance. He wove between cars on the main street and skillfully swerved around poles and bins. When he entered another alleyway, a door opened and the silhouette of a woman appeared.

  “I thought you’d never get here,” she said.

  “I had a few things to take care of.” He entered, and the scene changed to inside the house, where the man held the woman in his arms. The camera panned back to slowly reveal her face. Her lips were painted perfectly, her eyelashes long, her hair curled and pinned in an early 1950s style.

  Claire couldn’t keep her eyes off the woman. She looked familiar, though Claire couldn’t figure out the actress’s name. She’d seen dozens of Hollywood classics over the years, but had she seen this particular actress before?

  Claire listened intently to the actress’s voice. She sounded a little like…Hattie, even though the actress spoke with a strong American accent. Claire rested her elbows on her knees as the actress glided around the apartment, giving the actor a hard time.

  “Is that Pierre Montreaux?” Claire asked, hoping she wouldn’t get shushed again.

  “Yes.” Hattie sounded distant.

  The camera closed in on the actress, the lens soft, accentuating her beauty.

  “And is that Lena Lee?”

  “Yes,” said Hattie.

  “Why are you showing me this?” Claire spun to face Luke’s great-aunt. “Oh my god. Are you Lena Lee?”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  1994 – Starlight Creek, Queensland

  Hattie waved her hand in the air and the movie shut off. A few moments later, Luke joined Claire and his great-aunt in the cinema.

  “Did you know about this?” Claire asked.

  “Yes, but only for the last few years.”

  She couldn’t quite get her head around this revelation. “When I first arrived here you pushed me away. You were super defensive about filming at the cinema, and you didn’t want me to meet Hattie.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  “You were just trying to protect her. What were you afraid of, though? That someone would recognize her? What’s wrong with someone finding out Hattie’s a Hollywood star?”

  Luke looked at Hattie, who said, “I’ve spent the best part of forty years trying to forget who I was. I have my reasons, and in due time I’ll let you be privy to them, but for now, I need you to have an open mind.”

  “Of course,” she said.

  “My time in Hollywood feels like another life, and I guess it was. I’d become so good at being someone else that I eventually forgot the essence of me. And because of my ability to reinvent myself, when the time came to come back to Australia, I was able to slip into my old life, albeit a changed person.”

  “But people in Starlight Creek would have known about your life in Hollywood, right?”

  “They did, but it was a tight-knit community back then. Just like Luke, they protected me from the outside world. As time has worn on, though, our little town has fragmented.”

  “Until this week,” said Luke. “Funny how it took an outsider to bring us together again.”

  “Indeed,” said Hattie. “Words cannot express my gratitude.”

  “It’s the least I can do,” said Claire.

  “There’s something else you can help with, but we’ll come to that shortly. First, there are some things you need to know.” Hattie told Claire about her early days in Starlight Creek, and how she came to be a swimsuit model, which eventually led her to Hollywood. Claire listened with fascination, taking in every word while closely watching Hattie’s movements, listening to the nuances in her speech. As the story unfolded, Claire’s empathy for this courageous woman grew.

  “Then I fell for a man who meant the world to me,” said Hattie. “But things happened—many things I regret, and some I had no control over—and one split second changed my entire life.”

  “What happened?” Claire asked.

  “Ah, this is where you doing me a favor comes in.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’ve been observing you, seeing the passion in your eyes and hearing it in your voice, about how much you want a project you can embrace.” Hattie shifted in her seat. “I’ve spent too long keeping this secret, and the time has come for me to lay it on the table. Even Luke doesn’t know about all of it.”

  “Why are you trusting me?” she asked.

  “I trust you because you are a woman after my own heart,” said Hattie. “You’re trying to make the world a better place, but you haven’t had a break. And I’m offering you one on a silver platter, my dear.”

  “You want me to make a documentary? I would love nothing more!” Her enthusiasm waned slightly. “Though it could take forever to get funding.”

  Hattie smiled. “I’ve lived a frugal life since coming back. I can pay for this project.”

  Claire swallowed hard. “Are you sure? This would be my first documentary. What if I don’t do your story justice? What if—”

  “Claire,” Hattie said firmly. “I would not be asking you to do this if I didn’t think you were the right person. Luke would not be in love with you if you didn’t have a beautiful soul.”

  “What?” Claire looked at Luke, whose eyes were wide.

  “Oh, please,” Hattie said. “You two have been dancing around each other like you have all the time in the world. At your age, it probably feels like you do. Believe me, though, life can change in the blink of an eye, and the future you thought would always be there can be ripped away.”

  “Aunt Hattie, Claire and I are more than capable of figuring this out ourselves,” Luke said.

  “From what I can see, you’re both off the mark, and you’re both too stubborn.” Hattie finished this with a firm nod.

  Once again, Hattie had left Claire short on words.

  “So,” said Hattie. “I want you to make a documentary about me. This is not some grandiose affair to show off what I achieved, it’s to set the record straight.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Luke.

  “Darling, I’ve never told you everything, because it’s been too painful, and I wanted to remain Hattie Fitzpatrick. That’s why I sent Amelia Elliott’s biographer packing. He started getting too interested in who I was, and he got way too close to uncovering the truth. But I’m ready now.” Hattie concentrated on her clasped hands on her lap, then looked up. “When I was in Brisbane I went to a heart specialist.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” asked Luke.

  “Because I didn’t want to wor
ry anyone. Look, the short of it is that my old ticker isn’t what it used to be, and I need to come to terms with the fact that it could give out at any moment. This is why seizing the day is so important.” She gazed from Claire to Luke and back again. “I have kept this to myself long enough, and it’s high time I cleared my name.”

  “Cleared your name?” asked Claire.

  “Yes,” Hattie said matter-of-factly. “Now, how quickly can we get started?”

  Chapter Thirty-six

  1994 – Starlight Creek, Queensland

  In the cinema, Phil adjusted the lights on Hattie while she fussed with her dark green dress. The backdrop of Amelia Elliott’s legacy was an apt setting for Hattie to tell her life story, and Claire still couldn’t get her head around how fast things had happened. The second she’d contacted Phil, he was on his way to Starlight Creek with his best friend, sound man Rodney. Getting the project off the ground so quickly meant she and Luke hadn’t had time to talk, but that would come—and she was frightened of how it might turn out.

  Claire sat off camera, her questions at the ready. Knowing Hattie so well had helped her prepare for the interviews, and as Hattie talked about her life, Claire saw that the parallels with her own journey were uncanny. Both women had entered a world where they had to fight to be heard, and despite all the challenges, they were determined to succeed. Hattie’s ability to negotiate a higher wage was impressive.

  Hattie patted her hair into place.

  “You look beautiful,” said Claire.

  Hattie gave a nervous laugh. “Bless you, lovely lass.”

  Claire placed the clipboard of questions on her lap. “Are you ready to continue? Remember, we can take a break anytime you want.”

  “No, talking about what happened is the reason we’re doing this. Promise me one thing, though.”

  “Anything,” said Claire.

  “Keep filming—no matter what.” Hattie’s determination was admirable.

  “All right.” She wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, but nothing would stop Claire from honoring this promise to Hattie.

  “Right to go, Rod?” asked Phil. The sound man nodded, and Phil got behind the camera and used his fingers to count down from three.