Sally Wentworth - Set the Stars on Fire

by Sally Wentworth

  They strolled along together, talking inconsequentially, but when they passed under a lamp he stopped and said sharply, `Have you been crying?' Hastily Lori put up a hand to wipe her eyes. No, of course not ! ' Then, because it was obvious that she had, she added, `It's nothing, really.'

  He nodded and started walking again, but added diffidently, `Okay, but if you feel you want to talk about it I'll be around for a couple of weeks and maybe I might even be able to help.'

  `It's very kind of you,' Lori said gratefully, `but you don't want to be burdened with my worries.'

  He smiled, the devastating smile that had made millions of women fall for his celluloid image. `It's no problem, my shoulders are pretty broad.'

  He waited for a moment, but when she didn't speak changed the subject and let the matter drop. But the next night they walked together again and two days later, when the news from home was still negative and she was almost sick with worry and desperately needed someone in whom she could confide, Lori told him about her mother's illness. Of her break-up with Lewis she said nothing; that was something she had to face alone, in the privacy of her own mind and heart.

  He was very kind, trying to reassure her and quoting several instances of similar cases he had known which had proved successful, and which Lori latched on to greedily, but perhaps the greatest good it did her was to talk about it and by doing so relieve some of the built-up tension that grew worse every day.

  They turned to walk back to the hotel and Craig said, 'As a matter of fact I have some trouble at home too. My wife is unable to have children and we've already adopted two boys and were going ahead with adopting a girl last month. But then the mother changed her mind and took the baby away. That's why I was late getting here; I was involved in a mess of legal business and my wife got very upset by it all.' 'That's terrible,' Lori said sympathetically. 'Did you get the little girl in the end?'

  'No, but we hope to find another one very soon.' He put a casual arm across her shoulders as they walked up through the garden. 'Hey, is that right we're doing a scene together tomorrow?'

  Lori smiled. 'Yes. I'm supposed to get captured by your army and you add me to your harem.'

  He raised an eyebrow expressively. 'Is that so? One of the great things about being a star is that I get all the best-looking dames in my harems. But I don't recollect we have a love scene?'

  'No, I just tell you what a vile and horrible old Sultan you are for attacking the Knights, and you get terribly angry and have me dragged away to a fate worse than death.'

  'And then Lewis Brent calls cut,' he added resignedly. 'I guess they think I'm getting too old for love scenes any more. What do you think?' he asked, drawing her close and giving her a mock hug and leering at her.

  Lori laughed. 'Not at all,' she reassured him, returning the hug, but mention of Lewis had brought back the hurt and they walked the rest of the way in silence. She was dreading having to face Lewis again tomorrow. Dreading having his eyes run over her so coldly, so contemptuously, and even more afraid of not being able to control her own emotions, of letting him see how much he had hurt her. Because pride, and a sense of helpless outrage, was all she had left now to carry her through the last few weeks of filming.

  There was a new set for her scene with Craig Denton that had been built in a disused warehouse, although now one half of it looked like a sumptuous marquee and inside it all the props you would expect to find in the tent of Suleiman the Magnificent. Luckily, Lori didn't have to wear a wig for this scene, but she was again in a long and rather heavy dress. Lydia grumbled when she put it on because she had lost weight and it had to be taken in.

  `Don't you know you shouldn't go on a diet in the middle of a film?' she remonstrated. `Or is it that you're-upset about something?' she fished, looking at her closely.

  Lori's chin came up and she managed a travesty of a smile. `No, of course not. Why should I be?' she challenged.

  Lewis looked her over as he did all the actors, making sure the costumes and make-up were exactly as he wanted. His eyes paused for a moment on her face and Lori tried to look past him impassively, hoping against hope that he would put down her paleness and the tiredness round her eyes to the make-up man's skill and not to nature. With a sigh of relief she heard him tell everyone to take their places for the first run through and she went to wait on the edge of the set.

  Because Craig was such a big star and his time so precious, he had a stand-in who had taken his place while the cameras were being set up and the lights arranged, and Lewis's assistant director had gone through the scene with them both separately so that they needn't waste too much time on rehearsals. At least that was the theory. But they had hardly rehearsed for five minutes before Lewis stopped them and abruptly told her to put more spirit into it. They tried again, but he exclaimed impatiently, 'No, no! You sound as if you're just telling off a naughty little boy. You hate this man for all the suffering he's caused to the Knights and the people in Rhodes. There's got to be venom in your voice. You've got to spit the words at him.'

  Three times more they went through the scene, but still Lewis wasn't satisfied, interrupting harshly until

  Lori was shaking with the effort of controlling her emotions and would have given anything, anything!

  just to be able to go away and be alone.

  Craig had been very good and tolerant, but he could see better than anyone the state she was in and he suddenly rounded on Lewis and said, 'You're pushing her too hard! Give her a break, can't you?' And he firmly put an arm round her and led Lori to some chairs at the side of the set. 'Go get her a drink,' he ordered one of the staring assistants, and the man immediately hurried off to do his bidding.

  'There, how do you feel now?' he asked when she had had an ice-cold drink of water.

  'Much better, thank you. I-I'm sorry. I'm not usually as bad as this,' she said apologetically. 'It's not your fault,' Craig replied. 'Lewis Brent is handling you all wrong. I don't know what's got into him, he's usually on the right wavelength with his actors. Why don't you tell him about your mother's illness?' he suggested. 'If he knew what you were going through…'

  'Oh, no! ' Lori interrupted hastily. 'I don't want anyone to know. Promise you won't tell him-anyone. Please!'

  `Okay, if that's the way you want it.' He looked at her shrewdly. `There isn't anything between you and

  Lewis is there?'

  Lori looked away so that she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. `No. No, of course not.' But the way her face paled as she saw Lewis walking purposefully towards them gave the lie to her words.

  `I want to talk to you,' he said abruptly. `Come to my office.’

  'Now wait a minute…'

  Craig started to intervene, but Lori said hastily, `It's all right.' She put a hand on his arm and smiled up at him. `But thank you all the same.'

  His voice glacial, Lewis said, 'When you're quite ready.'

  Biting her lip, Lori followed ?aim to his office, which was a caravan on a vacant piece of ground nearby. He held the door open for her and she preceded him inside, then turned like an animal at bay to face him.

  But the attack, when it came, was completely unexpected.

  For a moment he stared at her, tight-lipped, then he said grimly, `I've got to hand it to you, nothing puts you down. Lose one lover and within days you're making it with another!'

  Lori stared at him. 'I don't know what you mean?' she stammered.

  He laughed, a harsh, unmirthful sound. `Yes, I've got to admire you, you never give up. You're even still trying that look of wide-eyed innocence with me when you know I've seen right through you.'

  Stiffly Lori said, 'Would you please say what you've got to say so that I can go?'

  'All right. I've no wish to prolong this interview any more than you have.' He paused, then added deliberately, 'I just want you to know that I'm not going to let you get away with seducing Craig Denton. He's happily married and I'm going to make sure he's still that way when he leaves here!'


  Lori's mouth opened in stupefaction. 'Are you-are you crazy?' she gasped. 'Why on earth should I want to-to seduce him, as you call it?'

  'Because I'm not the only one who's seen through you. Nicholas Hayman must have as well and flew out here to tell you it was all over between you.' 'That isn't true!'

  'No?' he answered tauntingly. 'Why else would you have been so upset that you locked yourself in your room all day and wouldn't answer the phone? And you lost me, so now you're trying to get your claws into

  Craig Denton.'

  'That isn't true!' Lori repeated, aghast. 'I saw you with my own eyes,' Lewis said harshly. 'The producer and I were taking a late night drink on the balcony of my room and we saw the two of you walking up through the gardens.'

  'So what of it?' Lori flared. 'We walked and talked, that's all. But I suppose even that's a crime in your eyes!'

  'We saw you, remember? You were all over him,' he said disgustedly.

  With sinking heart Lori recalled the playful hug that Craig had given her. She shook her head helplessly. 'But he's old enough to be my father.'

  `So was Nicholas Hayman, but you didn't let that stop -you. I wonder just how many marriages you've broken up,' he added acidly, but before she could answer went on, `But this is one you're going to keep out of. Do you understand me? You keep away from

  Craig, because if you don't,' he threatened, `I shall have no option but to tell him about your past.' Lori gazed into his eyes, dark and cold as new steel, and felt rage and bitterness well up like a great fountain inside her. `I hate you,' she said fiercely. `God, how I hate you !

  His jaw tightened. `That suits me just fine. Now, you're going to get out there and you're going to play that scene the way it should be played, and then we're going to shoot the rest of your scenes just as soon as I can arrange it so that you can get the hell out of this film!'

  Later that day, Lori sat alone in the lobby of the hotel waiting for her call from England when Lewis walked through the entrance with a briefcase under his arm and carrying several cans of processed film. He paused when he saw her and then walked over to her table.

  Looking down at her enigmatically, he said, `After our little talk you played the scene opposite Craig brilliantly. I could almost have believed you really hated him.’

  'It was easy,' Lori replied balefully. `I just pretended it was you.'

  He smiled thinly and raised his left eyebrow quizzically. `Really? Then I wonder who you're going to pretend you're with in the love scene!

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  As it happened, however, Lewis was unable to get rid of her as quickly as he wanted. He had to shoot the rest of the scenes with Craig Denton and then his

  Turkish ships were finished at last and he concentrated almost entirely on the battle scenes for over a week.

  Lori took advantage of this to go to the producer to ask if she could fly home for a few days on compassionate grounds, without naming them. The poor man looked uncomfortable and said he would let her know, evidently wanting to consult Lewis first, but after a short while phoned to say that she could go, but she was to leave a phone number where she could be contacted in England so that she could fly back immediately they needed her. Within an hour Lori was packed and heading for the airport and the first available plane to London.

  During the last few days her mother had been given a new drug and was at last responding to treatment, so Uncle Nick raised no objection when Lori phoned him and told him that she was going straight to see her. Even if he had it wouldn't have made any difference; there was a quiet determination in her manner now and she wasn't to be put off any longer. After the first few shocked and emotional moments on seeing her mother looking so pale and thin, Lori talked to her brightly and encouragingly, not letting her see past the cheerful mask to the unhappiness beyond. She visited twice a day, during which time the older woman improved remarkably, recovering all the lost ground, and the doctors were so pleased with her that they spoke of letting her go home before too long. The rest of the time Lori spent alone, taking long walks beside the Thames and slowly coming to terms with herself. It was a relief to get away from the close knit community of the film crew, away from the hotel where she always felt as if she was living in a goldfish bowl, but most of all to get away from Lewis. The pain was still there, a real, physical pain, every time she thought of him, but gradually over those few days she built a wall, solid as those of mediaeval Rhodes, about herself. She became far more self-contained, but lost some of the sparkle and impetuosity of youth in the process. All I've done is grow up, she told herself, and wondered wryly if an unhappy love affair was an essential part of that process.

  Perhaps her mother sensed the change in her, perhaps it was only the recent acknowledgement of her own mortality, but by the. time Lori returned to Rhodes there was a far better understanding between them and they parted on better terms than they had. been for years, as adult equals rather than mother and daughter.

  When Lori arrived back on the island it was almost as if she had never been away; everyone was still working seven days a week in a desperate attempt to finish on schedule, there were the usual problems of last minute changes in the shooting script, lack of supplies from England, and trouble with the locals. The sun was hotter than ever in the cloudless sky, drying the earth to dust and spreading a layer of greyness over the vivid green polish of the hibiscus leaves and the brilliant crimson of its flowers; only in the hotel gardens which were watered every day were the plants and lawns still the bright green of spring.

  The next morning, at the location site, the first person she met was Dean. He greeted her warmly, giving her a hug, and telling her he was glad to see her. 'How's the film progressing?' she asked him. He groaned and raised his eyes heavenwards in mock agony. 'I tell you, Lori, you were real lucky to get away. Lewis has been working us worse than any slave driver. I've hardly been out of this tin can for two weeks,' he told her, indicating his armour. 'And look,' he walked away from her in a rolling, wide-legged gait. 'You see this? I've been in the saddle for so many days on end that I can't even walk straight any more. But at least today will probably see the end of the scenes with all the local extras who've been playing soldiers of one side or the other.'

  'You've finished all the battle scenes?'

  Dean nodded. 'Yeah. Today we're shooting the Knights leaving the town and sailing away from Rhodes, which will come at the very end of the film., There's still quite a bit of shooting to do, but Lewis wants to pay the extras off as soon as possible.' He nodded his head in a pointing gesture. 'Talk of the devil! Come on, we'd better go and let Lewis give our costumes the once-over. Although why he wants to see mine again when he must be as sick of it as I am, I'll never know. You know what?' he went on. 'The day I take this darn thing off for the last time I'm going to pour a can of gasoline over it and set light to it, or Perhaps I might…'

  He continued in the same vein, but Lori wasn't really listening. She followed him with the other actors to line up in front of Lewis as he looked carefully over each person, although at this Late stage in the film the wardrobe department had become so efficient that he had few criticisms to make. As he walked slowly along.

  Lori had time to observe him, if not dispassionately, at least without any visible show of emotion. He looked drawn and very tired, his face thinner than she remembered, and for a few wayward seconds she felt her heart contract and an overwhelming surge of love, of wanting to hold and comfort him, well up inside her. But it was as quickly and determinedly fought down and the face she turned to him when he reached her was completely remote and impassive.

  He stopped in front of her and she saw his jaw tighten. His eyes ran over the long, dark gold gown she was wearing and he gave a curt nod, whether of greeting or approval she didn't know, perhaps both. Then he moved on down the line.

  At the skull session shortly after, he said in his usual crisp and businesslike manner, `For Lori's benefit I'll explain that we're undecided on the romantic ending o
f the film and are going to shoot two different versions. In both you go apart from the general exodus of the Knights from the city and go to a boat with an English flag, obviously on your way back to England. You stand and watch the Knights leave. In one version, Sir Richard, having previously rejected you because of his chastity vows, stays with the other Knights and embarks with them. In the second version he leaves them and joins you. We'll have to see how the rest of the film works before we decide which version we'll use.'

  Lori's part was easy; she had nothing to say and had only to stand on the gangplank of the ship and watch and wait. It was very early in the morning, the dawn only just breaking behind the ancient walls of the city, now made to look battle-scarred and breached, as the great gates near the harbour slowly opened and the first of what was left of the once glorious company of

  Knights filed out of their home. The actor who played the Grand Master headed the procession, a grey-haired, venerable old man who still managed to sit his horse with dignity in face of his humiliation and sadness, and behind him came the last of his brave men, many of them wounded and carried on stretchers by their servants, and all the townspeople who had chosen to go into exile with them.

  Lori knew it was only a film, had seen all the actors having their 'wounds' applied, had only to turn her head to see the cameras being backed away from the head of the procession, but even so it moved her and tears came into her eyes as she realised that it must have looked very, very much like this in reality. Trust Lewis for that; he would make sure that every detail was just as authentic as he could make it.

  They managed to finish both versions that day and everyone heaved an audible sigh of relief. Working with local extras, especially the large number that was needed for a film such as this, and particularly with those that spoke a different language from the crew, was always a difficult and trying time, but now everybody felt as if they had surmounted a huge obstacle and the end was in sight at last.