Complete Unknown Page 8

  However, I’m afraid I am going to have to cut this one short. My home health care nurse just walked in and, as usual, she needs to prick my finger to make sure I’m “okay.” (It doesn’t do any good to just tell her I feel “okay,” she still has to check.)

  With warmest regards and kindest wishes,

  Ms. C.V. Weeks

  * * * * *

  August 13th

  Dearest Marabel,

  I am back and will pick back up where we left off.

  It was a matter of months before we went to the studio chief about Nervous Tension. I had re-written the entire script and made the main female character into a very sultry, sensuous, Southern gal, a lá Tennessee Williams, whom I was very much taken by. He always wrote the most interesting characters. Carmen was perfect for the role. (My sister, Andrea, who had originally wanted the main role, conceded that it would be better for Carmen, that is, if we could get the studio to let her do it. Besides, Andrea was starring in another movie at the time and couldn’t do it.) Herbert was very excited about doing it, too, as his last project had wrapped and he was ready to move onto something else.

  Andrew Millsap was a physically small man who didn’t like to lose one damn dollar on anything. He ran a very tight ship. If any production went over budget or over time, he hit the roof, even suspending shooting on one picture for two weeks until the director broke down and begged him to let him finish. He eventually gave him three days, which was when the production was supposed to finish anyway before he suspended it. Three days to finish the entire shoot! He was always checking in on things and if anyone stepped out of line, there was hell to pay. Other than that, he was a really nice guy. (Note sarcasm.)

  Mr. Millsap made it clear that he didn’t care anything about art; he said art had no place in Hollywood. It was all about the money to him. He didn’t have a creative bone in his body. That was the problem back then, and probably still is, most of the executives didn’t understand the product they were trying to sell. Anything artsy would be tossed. He hated art and said it was for “pussies.” He didn’t understand, either, that there was an audience beyond the big cities like New York and what sold in New York would not necessarily sell in Decatur, Alabama and vice versa. There had to be a commonality in the pictures, something for all audiences to grab onto. The commonality was human emotion. You can do anything if you put a little human emotion into something—you can write about high society or poor mountain people or space aliens. As long as it has a touch of humanity, it will touch any audience. This, however, Mr. Millsap did understand and made sure that all his movies touched a nerve of some sort. He loved it when his movies made people cry because, as he put it, “Crying sells tickets.” He was right about that.

  Nervous Tension had that. It had what it needed to be a success, even a new actress who, Herbert and I were sure, would blow audiences away with her looks and charm.

  The good thing about Nervous Tension was that it was all about sex. As much it could be anyway in those days, you couldn’t just come right out and talk about it, but you could, in various ways, get the idea across as long as it was cloaked in subtle innuendo. The same thing went for titillation. As long as it was not straightforward, it was usually okay.

  Andrew Millsap, while a complete bastard most of the time, was also a smart man. He knew that sex sells, especially when it involved the sort of titillation that Nervous Tension had.

  “I like it,” he said.

  I was stunned.

  “Who you got to star in it, Herbert?” he asked.

  “A new actress. Carmen Clayton.”

  “Who’s she?”

  “She’s new,” I said.

  “What’s she been in?”

  “Well…” Herbert began. “Let me just let you look at her picture.”

  We’d had some head shots done of her. She looked beautiful. He stared at the photo for a long moment. “Umm…pretty. Looks a little like Ingrid, doesn’t she?”

  We smiled and nodded.

  “What I would give to have her on this lot,” he said, nodding. “But this one hasn’t been in anything, has she?”

  “No, sir,” I began. “But we’ve been going over the script with her and she knows it inside out. Herbert and I think she should at least do a screen-test.”

  He studied me. “That script belongs to this studio. Who do you think you are showing it to an unknown actresses?”

  He never minced words. I cringed and shrank into my chair.

  Herbert jumped to my defense, “She’s a friend of ours and when Caddy was writing it, she needed to hear the lines, you know, out loud, to help with the…”

  “Texture,” I finished.

  Andrew didn’t understand a damn word we were saying. He didn’t care, either. “I don’t care. But she’s a looker, so we’ll give her a shot. This studio needs a bombshell.”

  “Great!” I said. “Sir, if I may, I would like to…step on as a producer.”

  He eyed me. “You think you got the stuff to be a producer?”

  I nodded.

  “Listen, little lady,” he began. “That’s a hard job for a woman. Besides, You’re too pretty to be a producer.”

  It should have irritated me, but it didn’t. I wanted the job so badly, I would have said anything he liked. “But, sir, I would really appreciate the opportunity.”

  “You’re a writer,” he said. “And a damn good one at that. Stick with that.”

  “And I’d like to be a producer, too,” I said.

  “Why doesn’t she act?” he said to Herbert. “With those looks and those tits, she could be a movie star and here she wants to be a producer, which in my opinion is an even shittier job than writing.”

  Again, it didn’t offend me. He was so mall and gruff, it was almost laughable. If you could have seen him, you would know exactly what I’m talking about. He was like a miniature bulldog or something.

  He leaned back and crossed his arms. “Okay, associate producer. Duncan will take the executive.”

  “Duncan!” Herbert and I both exclaimed at the same time.

  “Yes, Duncan,” he said, eying us. “You got a problem, with that?”

  Yes, well, we did. But we really wanted to make this picture and he was giving us everything else we wanted. Besides, nepotism ruled in Hollywood and Duncan was Andrew’s brother-in-law. We didn’t have a say-so and we knew it.

  “No, we don’t have a problem with it,” Herbert said quickly. “Duncan, from what I’ve heard, is one of the best producers on this lot.”

  “Well, he ain’t,” Andrew said. “It’s just he needs to earn some of that money I’ve been giving him.”

  “Of course, sir,” Herbert said.

  “And I want this shot in less than a month.”

  “Less than a month! But we have several location shots. Besides that—”

  “One month,” he said and pointed at Herbert. “Or I’ll pull the son of a bitch.”

  We didn’t doubt it, either.

  Carmen’s screen-test came back with glowing reviews, as we knew it would. Duncan came on as an executive producer and we had our star, Carmen. But we still needed the male lead.

  “How about—” I began.

  “Use Vic Martin,” Duncan said.

  I glared at him. The son of a bitch. How dare he even suggest I use him, my ex? It was a bit much to take. Vic and I hadn’t spoken since we’d broken up and I intended on keeping it that way.

  “I know you just broke up with him,” he said. “But he needs the work before he disappears off the face of the earth. This studio has a lot invested in that prick.”

  See how it works?

  So, Vic came aboard. It was tense, at first. But after we started work, the tensions disappeared. He and Carmen had great chemistry, which was what was needed for the project. Even if it did annoy me a little bit. And, oh, how jealous I was of their kissing scenes. Any woman would have been.

  We began the
shoot the last of May. It was a very difficult project at first. Duncan was a total bastard. He was never happy with anything and would make changes on a whim just to make it look like he was doing more than he actually was. He wanted this or he didn’t like that and he was always threatening to go to his brother-in-law if we didn’t comply. It would have been even more difficult if it hadn’t been for Carmen. He would do such stupid stuff, like changing the color of Vic’s hat from black to dark gray. It was a black and white film, so you can see how this would be frustrating.

  One day, Carmen got fed up with him. She shouted, “Shut your fucking trap, Duncan, and I mean shut it now! Caddy and Herbert have worked their asses off on this thing, so you need to step aside and let them do it! You’re messing everything up for everyone!”

  All jaws dropped to the floor. This little outburst wouldn’t be tolerated by the bosses and we knew it. I was about to jump up and apologize for Carmen but then I stared at Duncan, who was staring at her. He looked at her with shame, as if he knew he was being difficult for no reason. He dropped his head, apologized and backed away, leaving us to do our work. I knew he never said anything to Andrew about it. All because she yelled at him. Something in the air changed and it was palpable. I know it was in that moment that his infatuation of her grew. We all knew he liked her, but after that, he really began to show how much.

  She didn’t do much to dissuade him, either. I mean, she was beautiful and she didn’t mind the skimpy costumes she was given to wear and she didn’t mind his or any of the other men’s eyes on her. She was an actress and she liked the attention. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. And she knew how to put men in their place, just as she’d done with Duncan.

  From there on out, all she had to do was give him a few harsh words and he’d back off. Which was a relief to us, but also a worry. Being the kind of man that he was, we knew he’d expect something in return. And soon.

  In other words, of course, he began to try to court her. Within a few weeks, word on the lot was that Duncan had filed for divorce from his wife. After that, he pursued Carmen with vigor. He asked her out. He sent her flowers and generally made a fool of himself over her. He was pathetic in his pursuit. She could have cared less about him and she let him know it. She’d already been through a lot in her short life and she wasn’t about to do something she didn’t want to.

  I told her, “Watch him.”

  “Who? Duncan? He’s harmless.”

  I shook my head. “No, he’s not. He’s becoming…obsessed with you.”

  She eyed me. “Really?”

  “It’s not a compliment.”

  “Oh.”

  “Carmen,” I said. “Just remember that.”

  She nodded. “Uh, Cadence, let me ask you something.”

  “Sure.”

  “It’s about Vic,” she said.

  “What about Vic?” I asked and immediately felt the hairs stand up on my arms.

  “He wants to…take me to dinner.”

  My face flushed. I was stunned for a long second before I replied, “Oh, really?”

  “But I’m not going to go.”

  “Do you want to?” I asked.

  She nodded. “I do, I won’t lie. He’s very handsome.”

  “He’s also very married.”

  “So? He said they’re getting a divorce,” she said. “Besides, everyone screws around in this town.”

  “That’s true,” I said and turned my eyes back to my notebook.

  “So, do you mind if I go?”

  I shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  She studied me. “No, I won’t do it. I can see that it would make you mad.”

  “No, it won’t,” I lied.

  “Yeah, it would,” she said and took my hand. “Besides, I’ve never had a female friend before.”

  I smiled at her. “Good choice.”

  She was such a liar. Of course, she went out with him and ended up having an affair. They kept it very secretive, as they should have. I didn’t find out until later. Herbert didn’t even know.

  Soon, the shoot was over and the picture went into post-production. One day, Andrew Millsap popped in to watch some of the dallies with us. He sat in the back, puffing on a cigar. I tried to ignore him and studied the screen. One of my favorite scenes was playing.

  If you’ve ever seen the picture, and I hope you have, the scene I am mentioning is the one where the two lead characters, Rachel and Cal, are on the verge of breaking up. Carmen is very sultry in this scene. And very convincing. Let me tell give you a little of the dialogue.

  Rachel turns to Cal and says, “Cal, I just don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

  He responds, “You should have thought about that when you were… You know.”

  Rachel is near tears. She looks lovely and tragic, which is, of course, the perfect combination for a woman who is trying to endear herself to a man. She wails, “But you’re the only man I’ve ever loved!”

  “Then why do you treat me like this? Why do you break my heart every time I see you?”

  Rachel places her hand on his cheek. He holds it close. She whispers, “Please don’t leave me.”

  He says, “I see no other way, Rachel.”

  To this, she responds by taking his hand and moves it to her breast. He stares at his hand, on her breast, and says, “No, I can’t. Rachel, it’s over.”

  She doesn’t move. “You say that now, but it will never be over. Not as long as we’re breathing the same air, not as long as I know you’re somewhere staring up at the same stars as me. Not as long as I love you. And I will love you, forever.”

  I was crying quietly. I always cry over the romantic parts of any movie or novel. I am quite sensitive. Some would even call me a sap, but I wouldn’t go that far.

  Andrew Millsap suddenly leapt up from his seat. “Who is this girl?”

  Herbert turned around and said, “Carmen Clayton.”

  He stared at her. “She’s the same one we tested?”

  Herbert nodded, then glanced at me.

  “I’ll be damned,” he said and grinned. “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we got ourselves a movie star!”

  Herbert and I stared at each other and we both grinned at the same time. We knew it was true. We were happy, but it saddened us. She’d soon be leaving us for greener pastures. No matter what she said.

  And, yes, that picture made her into a movie star. But I’m sure you know this already. She didn’t move out and away as we suspected she would, but she was gone a lot more. Sometimes a week would go by and we wouldn’t see her, then she’d come in, usually in the middle of the night, slam the door and demand we get up so she could make us breakfast. That was always nice but, over time, due to her schedule, it became a rare occasion. She was finally achieving what she’d come out to Hollywood to do and that was to become a major movie star. Everyone wanted to talk to her, to be with her, to date her, to be her friend.

  I must say, to her benefit, that she didn’t affect the typical movie star attitude. She never lost her personality. She was always Carmen, even at two in the morning dancing at the best clubs. She was always Carmen sneaking into her pictures to see how the audience reacted. She was surprised and thrilled when she realized most everyone really did like, if not love, her.

  She did a few more movies, most of them were of the trite and standard romantic type but she was always after me to write her another good part.

  “But a script like Nervous Tension is a once in a lifetime thing,” I told her. “You don’t get ideas and characters like that every day.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Just do it.”

  I sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let’s take a break,” she said. “Let’s go on vacation somewhere.”

  Herbert looked up from his newspaper. “Mexico is nice.”

  “Yes!” she squealed. “Let’s go!”

  So,
yes, we went. We stayed for one long, glorious week at the ocean, baking ourselves in the sun during the day and dancing in the clubs at night. It was a wonderful time. Herbert had this little movie camera and he filmed all of us having fun. An old friend of mine put them on DVD for me once. I wonder if I still have them? I shall have to look.

  One night while we were there, we stayed in and Herbert cooked dinner. He went to bed early and Carmen and I took a walk on the beach, then sat down.

  “This is the best,” she told me.

  “Yeah,” I said. “It is.”

  She took my hand. She always did that. She said quietly, “If I ever forget to thank you, remind me.”

  “You don’t have to thank me,” I said. “You did it all your own.”

  She shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I would have died back then if you hadn’t saved me.”

  Maybe that was true, but maybe it didn’t matter. I didn’t like to think about that time, to be honest. Whenever it would pop into my head, I would chase it away with other thoughts.

  “Why did you save me?” she asked quietly.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “When faced with that situation, one doesn’t think about not doing the right thing. One just does.”

  “You know,” she said and squeezed my hand. “Everything I have, I owe to you.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “It is,” she said. “And then I slept with your ex-boyfriend.”

  I pulled my hand away. This was the first time I heard about it.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just thought you should know.”

  “Why? Did you think knowing this would make me happy?”

  “No, I just thought we shouldn’t have any secrets. Does this make you angry?”

  Actually, no, it didn’t. I was over Vic and had been for a long time. If it made her happy, then it was fine by me. I told her honestly, “No, I’m not mad.”

  “I didn’t think you would be,” she said and took my hand again. “That’s why I told you.”

  She was such a manipulator and she was very good at it. I stared at our hands, intertwined there, like that. I smiled at her and squeezed her hand, then stared out at the ocean, at the way the waves made their way to shore, then crashed, almost violently.