by Ed Nelson
This sounded very doable as this was set in the old west and wouldn’t have a lot of high-tech stunts like jumping out of airplanes or car chases. Though filming a runaway stagecoach could get interesting.
Then there were cattle stampedes. Strike that thought that it would be easy. Things could go very wrong.
I had read the script over several times I thought I understood the movie they were trying to make.
There was a cattle drive involved, it was based on a combination of one of the last great cattle drives from the Texas Panhandle to Montana but was called the in the movie The Chisholm Trail which was completely inaccurate but recognizable by theatergoers.
The Panhandle to Montana drive was enormous. They had ten herds of 2500 cattle to move. There were over 100 hundred cowboys involved. John Wayne was to play trial boss Tom Coffee; I was to be a young Charles Goodnight. As I said accurate history isn’t Hollywood’s strong suit. At least I wasn’t Bill Pickett.
As Charles Goodnight, I would be a messenger for Tom Coffee. I would spend my days riding back and forth between the ten herds reporting on and trying to solve problems.
There would be a young lady named Molly hired as a cook on one of the herds that would be my love interest. That was about the only thing in the movie true to life, the real Charles Goodnight married a Molly.
We would have to turn stampedes, ford rivers, and quicksand streams, and fight Indians and cattle thieves. We would endure hunger, thirst, and other physical hardships.
There would be the stopover in Abilene, hey I know that’s not accurate at all, but we had to have some saloon scenes and a showdown on Main street. We might even have a jailbreak but that was under discussion.
It was a movie to make money not win an Oscar. I was typecast as the young cowpoke but didn’t care. I wanted something to do, and the movie set was always fun.
There was mention of a town named Shawnee, I wondered if I could get some work for my real Shawnee friends. Maybe even work in a cute-looking Shawnee Indian girl to make Molly jealous.
There was a note on the edge of my script that they should check on the Easterly ranch and see if that would be a good setting.
If nothing else, they had an ornery herd of cattle. It would be good to see Mr. and Mrs. Easterly again, though I would skip the bank robbery reenactment this time.
I decided to get ahead of the curve and ask if my siblings could addition for bit parts, and maybe Nina could play Molly.
Nina being in the movie meant that I would have to be careful about a good-looking Shawnee girl. Someone might get scalped, and it could be me.
Chapter 16
I had second thoughts about trying to get family members and Nina in the movie. I had seen others try, some succeeding others failing. It never sat right with me when I saw it happening, so I shouldn’t do it.
Now if someone else brought it up, that was fine.
Monday morning started with my usual run and exercises. I had fallen behind on weights while in China. Considering my schedule, I felt lucky about even getting to run.
After cleaning up I went over to the Forestry Service for my golf practice. I had a surprise waiting for me. The sod people were back and unloading what looked like a massive practice green.
Sam and John were there. Sam was rubbing his hands together in glee.
“What's this about, guys?”
“Your Dad heard about two more golf courses being torn down for housing projects in the Valley, so he bought the practice greens and the actual greens.”
“Why did he do that?”
“He was here earlier to get it started. Sam has been given the project of recreating the major greens or at least the obstacles like shelves, tilts, and curves of all the greens on the four tournaments in the Grand Slam this year.”
“Because of grass differences he won’t be able to get the speeds to match but they will still give you a good insight on how to play the shots. Once you are at the actual course you can factor in the true speeds.”
“Wow, I would have never thought of this. I must thank Dad. How are you going to find out how all those greens are shaped? That is four times eighteen greens with a least four possible pin placements on each one. That is at least 288 possibilities.”
John spoke up, “Your Dad and I talked about that. I will be making contacts with several caddies at each course, and we will build a model of each green.”
I could see a lot of travel in John’s near future.
“Take good notes on your trip, you will be able to write a book on this project.”
He got a look of wonder, “Who could imagine that. Me, an author.”
Then a look of frustration appeared as he stated, “But grammar, spelling, and punctuation have never been my strong suit, just the opposite.”
“That’s why God invented editors and proofreaders.”
Sam frowned at my blasphemy but let it pass. He seemed to appreciate that he had a good thing going here and wasn’t going to mess it up.
While those two went over to supervise the sod people I got to work. I was still improving my percentages, it was slow. My progress now was measured in tenths of a percent of shots made.
The driving range was being kind to me. My drives, pitches, stock shot, pitch and run, knockdowns, and blind shots were coming together. I could even hook and slice the ball pretty much where I wanted it.
I also knew that any of these shots could go away from me on any given day. My practice area was set up for everything but bunker shots. I suspect John and Sam had a plan for that as well.
No sooner than I had the thought than dump trucks started pulling into the area and dumping piles of sand. I didn’t even bother looking for the front loader machine that would be digging the bunkers out and hauling sand. It would be here.
Several of the Forest Service people wandered over and asked what was going on. My operation was taking a lot of space. Not that it was a problem. We were next to a mile and a half runway with the fencing at least a quarter mile from the runway. That is a lot of room.
I updated them on the plan. I asked them to not spread it to the press. If the press got wind of this then the Forest Service would take a lot of heat for a problem they didn’t create. Besides, I had paid for all of this, including the airport itself.
They saw the wisdom in not talking about it outside of their group. It also would be cool to practice the putts the pros faced on the tournament trail.
I spent half a day putting hundreds of times. I didn’t have anyone keeping track of my shots as both John and Sam were engrossed in the new greens being installed around the area.
As I was getting ready to leave, they came over and we talked about what was going in. There would have to be water lines put in so all the greens could be watered. Here in California, you could lose a green almost overnight in the dry season. It looked like Sam had a lifetime job.
I went back to the house driving the jeep at my speed. I managed to bounce it into the air twice on the way back.
After cleaning up and lunch I headed over to the Warner Brothers lot for the first meeting on the movie.
This meeting would talk about the schedule, locations, and start the costuming process. From what I read in the script I suspected there would be more dialog changes than normal. The action scenes in a western were standard.
What could you do besides, gunfights, bank robberies, stagecoach robberies, stagecoach runaways, jailbreaks, stampedes, and oh yes throwing Rick into a water trough? That last had been a staple of every movie I had been in and I doubted it would change now.
They managed it even in OTO. Not when in Death Wind mode, but as Lew the cheerful fiddle player.
Mr. Wayne laid down the law about budget and schedule, we were to meet both. At one point the discussion turned to the movie cast. With a need for a hundred cowboys, it would take a lot of people. The casting people pointed out that it wouldn’t really. There were only a couple of times in the movie when they would show
all of them as a group.
For that they would hire extras, for all the other shots twenty full-time actors could change costumes, and horses and no one would know the difference.
Speaking of real cowboys some of those would have to be hired to manage the livestock, both cattle, and horses.
John Wayne asked me if Mary and a friend would be available for bit parts. It seemed that cute seven-year-olds helped the human dimension of the movie. The audience could relate to them.
Their parts would be skipping rope as the cowboys rode past or some such scene. It showed that the cowboys were part of what we considered the real world.
I told him that Lady Mary would be all for it, but I thought she was only six. He gave me a funny look.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“How much older than Mary are you?”
“Ten years.”
“Math wasn’t your strong suit was it?”
“I guess I just got used to thinking of Mary being six and have never changed. Anyway, it is Countess Jackson who had to be asked if seven-year-old Mary can be in the movie. I’m sure that you will ask politely.”
He muttered, “Coward.”
I thought discretion was the better part of valor.
The girl that was to play Molly was there, so that left Nina out, which was probably for the best.
One interesting thing happened. One of the writers who had worked on OTO with me asked if that Indian Chief would be available to help. There was a town named Shawnee on the way, it was a good bet that the Chief could help there.
John Wayne wanted to know who the Chief was. I told him and the others present about Chief Redfoot who was director of the Shawnee heritage museum. How he had given technical advice on ‘Over the Ohio’.
Wayne was interested and asked me to make a phone call. I agreed, it wasn’t like having to ask my Mum to do something that I knew she wouldn’t be wild about. Heck, the Chief probably wouldn’t even scalp me.
That meeting took up the rest of the afternoon. We all got to know each other a little in the breaks. The actress playing Molly was new to the business but seemed to have her act together. I liked her and thought we could work with each other.
I found out she was two years older than me, single but dating a guy steady. He was a senior at UCLA by the name of George Takei. He also hoped to be an actor.
Not being a complete rat fink, I told Mum before dinner that she would be getting a call from John Wayne, he would be asking if Mary and a friend would be interested in a bit part in the movie we were about to make.
To my surprise, she thought it would be okay. Before she had restrained what Mary could do as she wanted her to be a little girl.
I asked her about that, and she told me that ship had sailed. Now she was trying to help Mary adjust to a life of fame and fortune and not have it turn into a life of sex, drugs, and alcohol. Her words, not mine.
Wow, that is a burden for a seven-year-old. Now I’m not sure that I want Mary in the movie.
I asked Mum if she would ask her friend Patty to be in the movie with her or would it depend on what day of the week it was.
Mum told me that Mary was realizing she couldn’t count on a stable relationship with her best friend in the world. She approached Mum and told her she wouldn’t be inviting Patty to be a model because she never knew when they would be fighting. My little sister is growing up.
Instead of Patty she probably would invite her new friend with who she was on the phone almost every day.
“Who is that?”
“Princess Carolyn.”
Chapter 17
The young Princess keeps calling Mary. Mary is very patient with the younger child. I spoke with her mother. She is more enthused to talk about fashions with Mary than anything else going. They have used it as a method to teach her to read and her numbers, you must use both to be a fashion designer you know.
At first, she was forbidden to make calls, she would sneak off and do it anyway. The Grimaldi Palace staff humored her until Princess Grace said no and stopped placing the calls.
Then Princess Grace saw how Carolyn was improving in her studies, so she told the staff to put the call through, but it was to be as though Carolyn was getting away with sneaking. Let her have the fun.
Mary was part of the plot as she would ask questions, she had been fed which the young Princess would have to do her homework to answer.
I wondered what the Monacan orders of merit were. I asked Mum more as a joke and found out that Mary was being considered for the Order of Grimaldi for her contribution in getting a stubborn little girl to learn.
This took me aback; I was happy for Mary but a seven-year being given an award people would spend a lifetime earning didn’t seem right.
I voiced that to Mum. She laughed at me.
“Rick, at times you are so easy. She is being considered for a lesser award but not for her actions with the Princess.”
“Her foundation has opened a shelter in Monaco. This is of note as the people of Monaco voted not to put down any healthy animals. Both the French and Italians have been using them for a dumping ground for unwanted pets.”
“Won’t her shelter fill up?”
“A network has been created between all of Mary’s shelters, they share Polaroid pictures between them. If you adopt a Mary save it will have had its shots, and if old enough house training started.”
“I didn’t know that she had such a sophisticated operation going.”
“You do know that she is only the front person. Her money supports it, and she does the ads, but professionals are running the shelter program.”
“I hadn’t thought about it, but it makes sense.”
“As to Princess Caroline appearing in a movie, her mother won’t allow it. I have heard and respect her reasons for not wanting her daughter to go into show business. The only reason Mary is allowed is that we can protect her in ways the Rainer’s can’t.”
The way she said it I thought of Popeye and sterling silver. I will never forget my thinking a sterling machine gun was silverware.
The next morning after my usual exercises I went over to the Forestry Service practice golf course. For short John, Sam, and I had taken to calling it the greens.
They had beat me there. Sam was supervising crews unrolling the sod for the greens. This was so he could duplicate the different greens. John wasn’t there as he was visiting the various courses. I think he was in Augusta right now.
Someone had been thinking because Denny was there taking photographs of the work in progress.
Earlier crews had been in and dug down for the underlayers of sand and gravel. Drainage tile and irrigation had been put in. The light fixtures were still set up on stands where they had worked through the night.
This had all been done on an urgent basis so was costing Dad almost double. When he told me at breakfast that it would be close to two million dollars I almost choked on my toast?
I could see the potential of all sorts of screams of rage if I did well in the upcoming tournaments. I was cheating! No other golfer would have my advantage.
Nothing would be said about all the other golfers who had the time and privileges to practice on the real courses.
Oh well, they would get over it. It might even start a new industry. Maybe John and Sam could run a camp every year for the upcoming grand slam tour. There might be issues about it being on a Forestry Service land. I think I will leave the whole issue alone. This is one battle I don’t need.
I went ahead and started my daily routine of practice greens, then the driving range. The improvements were incremental, but they were there as my muscle memory improved.
Finishing up I chatted with Sam a bit. He was concerned about fitting the sod from the greens so that a seam wouldn’t interfere with the putting line being practiced.
I next returned home, showered, and then had lunch. l cleaned up and refueled and headed over to Warner Brothers. Toda
y I would spend hours putting on and taking off costumes for lighting checks and comparisons with others in the same scene.
Boring was the best I could say about it, why couldn’t they use stand-ins? Too cheap was my guess?
It was a wonder of wonders, I finished up an hour early. I stopped by the stunt lot on my way out. I talked to a few of the guys but didn’t get involved in anything.
It did make me realize that I hadn’t done any boxing, martial arts, sword fighting, or using a staff for months. I had done some archery, for real not practice.
I needed to get back at it soon. It made me think about the upcoming movie and the hours on horseback. Just thinking about it made my thighs sore.
Later at home, I went for a ride on George, it only confirmed that I was in for some pain. I pledged to myself to ride him every chance I got from now on.
I made good on my promise the next morning after completing my daily routine. I rode George over to the Forestry Service. I had a stake and long lead line, so he was happy to spend the morning munching on a new set of grass.
I set up for my putting. I was focused on putts at about thirteen feet when an object thudded down between me and the hole. It took a moment to put it into context.
I realized it was a smokejumper who had drifted off course. They were doing practice jumps on the other side of the field, but a wind gust caught this one and dumped them on my green.
After I got over my shock it was interesting to see what all they carried. The guy could barely walk with all the gear he had on him.
I helped him bundle his chute up. A jeep came driving up to collect him. He thanked me and apologized for interrupting the putt. It seems he also played golf and had his priorities in order.
I told him no worries. I learned that saying in Australia.
He invited me over to their little field canteen set up for a beer after work. I told him I would be leaving at noon so couldn’t take him up on it but would like to talk to him about his job.
