Brilliance

by Rosalind Laker

  ‘We always keep the public well back and out of danger,’ he insisted. ‘No bystander would get past us.’

  It took Daniel quite a little while to persuade the chief that for once the situation had to be otherwise. The previous day’s shots had been of Lisette at one of the upper windows of the doomed house, crying out for help with arms outflung. Behind her and out of sight one of the crew had wafted the smoke of some smouldering rags around her as if the house were already on fire. Then Ronald had been filmed running towards the house to rescue her. Now all was ready for the climax of the film.

  Two firemen set light to the building and the spectators, whose numbers were increasing all the time, cheered. As the flames took hold Jim began turning the handle of his camera. Then, before it became too dangerous, Lisette and Ronald slipped into the front entrance to be ready for him to carry her out in his arms. But when Daniel’s voice boomed through the megaphone, telling them to emerge, Ronald held back.

  ‘Let’s wait a few more seconds!’ he suggested eagerly. ‘It will build up the suspense.’

  ‘No!’ she answered impatiently. ‘If we delay now the fire brigade will ruin everything by charging in to rescue both of us!’

  The sudden crashing down of a timber beam upstairs ended any further idea he had of remaining longer. Snatching Lisette up in his arms, he rushed out of the building in a burst of genuine panic that was most effective and the camera captured it all.

  The next morning, Lisette, in bridal attire, her veil flowing from a garland of flowers encircling her head, and Ronald in his best suit were filmed coming out of the resort’s ancient church in a final fade-out. The whole film would last a new, revolutionary fifty minutes. Its subsequent success put an end to a great many debates in the press and elsewhere as to whether a screen could hold an audience’s attention in the same way as action on a theatre stage.

  Work continued every day at the Shaw Studio and the months slipped past. Lisette was not in everything that was filmed, because knockabout comedies were still being made as well as minor productions in which she played no part. During these times she dealt with scripts, some of which came by post from would-be scriptwriters. One of her former tasks on site had been keeping her eye on continuity, making sure that nothing was changed in clothing or props or anything else when the filming of one scene took longer than a day, but now an observant young woman had been employed for that duty.

  In the spring of 1899 Daniel launched another major production, which came about by chance when a jumbled collection of dusty, neglected looking garments from an attic were among the items to be sold at a local auction. Mrs Leigh, always on the lookout for anything the studio could use, examined them with interest. Afterwards she reported to Lisette, who had taken charge of many behind the scenes matters to save Daniel from unnecessary work,

  ‘We could use those silks for all sorts of costumes,’ the dressmaker said eagerly.

  Lisette went to view the garments the day before the auction and realized they were genuine Chinese kimonos. At the auction itself nobody was seriously interested in the garments and Lisette managed to get them for a surprisingly low price. Mrs Leigh and Ethel promptly went to work mending and washing and ironing what proved to be some lovely silks. They caused Lisette to remember a script that she had read not long after coming to England. She found it in a file. It was the story of a Chinese girl loved and abandoned by an English lord touring China, but rescued by the true love of a mandarin. Daniel, confronted with the need for a Chinese atmosphere and the virtual impossibility of getting any Chinese actors, baulked at first from giving the script serious consideration. But Lisette was persuasive and soon the production of Passion Flower was set into action.

  The carpenters had made rickshaws and Mrs Leigh some Chinese coolie hats. With the absence of any Chinese actors the entire cast had black lines drawn by their eyes to give them an oriental slant, except Ronald, who was playing the English lord. He had shown signs of temperament before, his head turned by the flattering attention he received from women who came to watch him act whenever the opportunity arose, but this time he was being extremely difficult.

  ‘I should win the heroine!’ he declared fiercely, his cheeks flushed with indignation. ‘Casting her aside will put me in a bad light with audiences.’

  He had an ally in Lisette, who agreed with him. Already he was an asset that she did not want the studio to lose to another company. Immediately she did some rewriting of the script to make the mandarin the villain while the English lord became the hero. It was a relief to her when both Daniel and Jim agreed that after all it would be a better ending for more reasons than one.

  Daniel was having no problem with the outdoor scenes supposedly set in China. The local owner of a fine estate had collected and planted many exotic trees from warmer climes and, having met Daniel on several occasions, gave him permission to film there. The owner and his wife and all his family, including aunts, uncles and cousins, gathered on his veranda and watched rickshaws pulled by coolies and dramatic scenes enacted that could have been taking place in China.

  For important indoor scenes Daniel went to nearby Brighton where the Royal Pavilion, once owned by the Prince Regent, had an exotic Chinese interior. Although Daniel had never visited the palace, for it had been closed for many years and was not open to the public, he had read about it. So he made his request to those in charge of the building and such was the enthusiasm for motion pictures that he was given special permission to film inside for one day only.

  It was generally known that Queen Victoria had no liking for the Royal Pavilion and, although its furniture and other items had long since been crated up and sent into storage at Buckingham Palace, a few oriental pieces did remain in situ. When the dust covers were removed and shutters taken down from the tall windows a surprising amount of light flooded into the exotically beautiful rooms, highlighting the Chinese decor, which was exactly what was required for the Mandarin’s palace. With the glow of every oil lamp from the studio combining with the exceptional brightness of the day, Daniel was able to film amid the richness and splendour that the passing of time had not decayed.

  By the time Passion Flower was being shown all over the country with acclaim from audiences everywhere, Daniel had produced two more fifty-minute motion pictures. As Maisie’s preparations for Christmas filled the air with the appetizing aroma of newly baked fruit cake and mince pies, Lisette was astonished that another year should have gone by so swiftly.

  The arrival of the New Year heralding the twentieth century was celebrated with parties everywhere. As 1900 was toasted in champagne, Lisette hoped fervently that this new century would be peaceful and prosperous. Privately she added the wish to become pregnant for Daniel’s sake. For herself it was enough that she cherished the memory of the baby that had been taken from her, but she knew that he wanted children and it was more for his sake than her own that she had not taken any preventative measures since their marriage. She felt it was a cruel irony that conception should have taken place instantly in her first coming together with Daniel, but now that she had prepared herself for motherhood it was being denied her.

  The jubilation over the arrival of the twentieth century was dashed away the following year when the beloved Queen died and the whole country went into mourning, even schoolchildren wearing black sashes to mark their respect. Daniel’s cameramen filmed the London funeral that gathered all the crowned heads of Europe, and this was duly shown all over the country.

  As the months and years went by Daniel’s motion pictures continued to be successful. Now that Lisette was taking the leading role in all his most important works her face as well as her name was becoming known to audiences. She was surprised and pleased when she began receiving mail that praised her acting. Now and again one would come from the United States where some of Daniel’s productions had been shown. Yet these were always a poignant reminder of her child growing up so far away, making her wonder yet again whereabouts in that va
st land she might be.

  Always in May on her daughter’s birthday she tried to imagine how the day would be celebrated. During the early years there would have been other toddlers to share a birthday cake and later when Marie-Louise was a little older there would be games at the parties with her playmates. But what would there be on Marie-Louise’s forthcoming seventh birthday in this year of 1902. Perhaps a Punch and Judy show – or didn’t they have those in America? Maybe a visit to the circus? Perhaps even a magic lantern show specially for children?

  She never shared these thoughts with Daniel, even though he would have been sympathetic and consoling, for she did not want him to concern himself about her when he was often harassed by delays and other complications at work. His interest in the United States was in what his American counterparts were producing. This interest had been sparked off when he had seen an American movie combining glamour and comedy when a row of pretty girls entered a rocket, which had promptly landed in the eye of the moon, which had a human face. At first most filming had been done in New York, but now the motion picture companies were all moving to California where they were building studios in what had been a large country estate known as Hollywood. He thought them fortunate to have both the right weather at all times and the space to further their productions.

  He was away on one of his business trips when Lisette found herself feeling tired and even exhausted after a day’s filming. It still took a little while for her to realize that at last she was pregnant. Daniel had planned that his next film should be the story of Robin Hood, but now he would have to find someone else to take her role of Maid Marion.

  She had decided to wait and tell him her news when he returned, although they did have a telephone installed in the cottage now and she could have told him on one of his calls. She knew he would be overjoyed, but she felt only trepidation herself, for whenever he had spoken of his hopes for a family she had never disclosed her most secret fear. It was that she would find that she could never love another child as she had loved her daughter, for she was desperately afraid she would resent the usurper taking Marie-Louise’s place.

  Yet as the spasms of morning sickness began to ebb all her doubts and anxieties seemed to go with them. She became quite tranquil in her mind, even beginning to hope with a quietly joyous anticipation that it was a brother for Marie-Louise that had taken life within her.

  It was the night before Daniel’s return when a thunderous knocking on the front door awakened her. Throwing on a robe, she came to the head of the stairs in time to see Maisie, similarly clad, opening the door to Tom.

  ‘There’s a fire!’ he shouted. ‘At the studios! I saw it from home and my dad has sent for the fire brigade! Tell Mr Shaw to come at once!’

  ‘He’s not here,’ Maisie gasped, but he did not hear her, already off at a run back to the scene of the fire. She looked up over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Lisette as she ran back into the bedroom. ‘Don’t you go, madam! Let me see what is happening!’

  Lisette was already throwing on her clothes. She was downstairs and out of the house before Maisie or her daughter knew it. The glow lighting up the sky told her at once that a fierce fire had taken hold.

  She ran to the motorcar, but the winding handle defeated her, failing to give life to the engine. Leaving it, she began to run. By now Maisie and Daisy, fully clothed, had come out of the house and set off in her wake. The fire engine, its bell clanging, overtook them as well as others that had emerged from houses and cottages to flock towards the fire, many only in dressing gowns and slippers.

  By the time Lisette arrived on the scene the hoses were already playing on the flames of the barn-studio, but it was not only there that the fire was raging. She clapped a hand over her mouth in dismay. Every building on the site was burning. Through the smoke she saw Jim and another man rolling away canisters in which reels of finished films were stored and she hoped they had managed to save others. Everywhere else people were forming bucket chains. She rushed to join one of them where people were trying to douse the flames of Daniel’s office.

  She lost count of time. It was like being caught up in a nightmare of noise and heat and smoke. All she knew was that after a while it felt as if her arms would fall out of their sockets as bucket after bucket was sloshed from hand to hand. Once Maisie tried in vain to drag her out of the chain, shouting that she must think of her baby, but when Lisette paid her no attention, seeming not to hear her, she joined the line herself, Daisy at her side.

  All around there was the sound of collapsing timbers and the shouts of those trying to master the flames. A fire brigade from Chichester joined the local one, but their hoses failed to save the ancient barn, warning shouts scattering people in all directions as it finally caved in with a vast firework display of golden sparks

  Gradually all in the chains began to drop their buckets, able to see there was nothing more they could do, for every building, large or small, had become a furnace or a blackened, smoking shell. Lisette stood staring in dismay until Maisie came to put an arm around her and lead her away. It was dawn. A man with a lorry gave them a ride home.

  Later that day Lisette miscarried. When Daniel returned that evening, Maisie having managed to leave a telephone message about the fire at his hotel, he went first to the site of his burned-out studio, not knowing that other distressing news awaited his return home.

  Nineteen

  Daniel did everything in his power to comfort Lisette over her miscarriage, but she became hollow-eyed in her grief until she realized how much he needed her support in the great financial loss that he had suffered. Then she put her own deep sadness aside to concentrate on helping him. The insurance would cover a great deal of what Daniel had lost, but he could not rebuild on the same site, for the farmer, who had always been difficult, had curtailed their agreement over the renting of the land, which meant a court case and all the expense that would be involved if Daniel should contest the matter.

  It had been established that arson had caused the fire, each building having been doused with an inflammable liquid, but no obvious culprit could be traced. Lisette suspected the farmer himself or perhaps one of his farmhands doing his bidding, but it was impossible to prove anything.

  Without Daniel’s knowledge Lisette wrote to her Paris lawyers and instructed them to sell all she owned, including the Bellecour house and the land that her grandmother had bequeathed her. It was a heart-tearing wrench to let the house go, but Daniel needed immediate financial help and at least she could do that for him.

  The lawyers replied that they were carrying out her instructions over the sale of the land, which had soared in value over the past two years, but instead of selling the house, which was a valuable property, they advised renting it to reliable tenants and that would provide her with a sizeable regular income. In view of the high price that the land was expected to fetch she accepted their advice over the house, thankful in her heart not to be parting with it, and gave them permission to arrange the tenancy.

  When notification of the completed sale of the land reached her she could scarcely believe the amount raised. Immediately she went to Daniel, the letter in her hand, and found him seated at his desk.

  ‘Look!’ she exclaimed joyously, thrusting the letter in front of him. ‘Our financial troubles are over! You can have the studios that you want wherever you wish to build them!’

  He took the letter and read it through before looking up at her, frowning incredulously. ‘You’ve let tenants into the Bellecour house!’ he exclaimed on a note that showed he was far from pleased. ‘Were you out of your mind? That meant everything to you! And that land? Why didn’t you discuss it with me first?’

  She saw that he was not going to react with total pleasure as she had expected. Quite the reverse. There was only one way to save the situation and in any case it was time that she told him what had been in her mind for so long.

  ‘It’s been my hope that one day I could become your partner in business as w
ell as in marriage,’ she said quickly. ‘You can’t deny that I have learned all the ins and outs of the animated picture industry, from judging scripts to acting, and I’ve even operated a camera on several occasions.’

  ‘Yes. I know. But—’

  She interrupted him. ‘Hear me out before you say any more!’ she implored. ‘This is just the time, now that you will be starting up all over again, for a legal agreement to be drawn up for a partnership between us. I want to buy into Shaw Studios! Don’t say you won’t accept me!’

  He turned in his chair and put his arms about her hips to draw her close, burying his face against her for a few moments before raising his head to meet her eyes again. ‘If a partnership means that much to you, then of course I accept you, but one day you must have your old home back for you alone.’

  She took his face between her hands and kissed him. ‘One day,’ she repeated.

  On his travels Daniel had seen three or four sites suitable for studios and he and Lisette went to view each one together. One was already sold with house building in progress, but they both reached the same conclusion about a favourable site on the outskirts of London. There would be easy communication and enough land for later expansion. He would continue filming outside in good daylight, but as soon as he could get electricity installed the vagaries of the weather would no longer be such a problem. Meanwhile, the additional erection of a large glass studio would allow work to progress most of the time by keeping out wind and weather.