by Hugh Fraser
‘I’m being picked up from here at one o’clock.’
‘If we leave for Rackhams at ten you should be back in good time. Shall we meet in reception?’
‘Yes.’
‘Sure you won’t have a nightcap?’
‘I think I’d better get some sleep.’
‘OK darling,’ she says.
As I’m closing the door I hear her pouring another one.
17
The alarm call wakes me at eight and I make coffee and get back into bed. The script is on the bedside table, where I left it after I finished reading it last night. I’ve never read a film script or a play before and I was quite gripped by it in places.
It’s the story of a brass from a poor East End background called Mary, who’s being kept in a flat in Dolphin Square by Harold, a rich client who’s fallen in love with her. Mary’s older sister Jane is mentally ill and living with their mother in a high rise council flat in Islington. Jane falls pregnant and has a baby. When the mother, who was looking after the baby, dies suddenly and Jane is put in a mental home, the council want to put the baby in an orphanage but Mary steals it and takes it to Dolphin Square. Harold turns nasty and threatens to throw her out if she won’t get rid of the baby.
Mary meets a villain called Challoner, who we see receiving a shipment of drugs at the docks and fighting off a rival gang. Mary falls for him and Challoner takes her and the baby to his flat in Hoxton. Harold comes after Mary but Challoner kills him and dumps his body in the tar pit at Kensal Green Gasworks. All goes well in Hoxton until Challoner begins to drink heavily, take drugs and abuse Mary and the baby.
Mary’s younger sister Ella, played by me, who models underwear, and has always helped Mary out, goes to visit her, finds her badly injured and takes her and the baby from Hoxton to their mother’s flat in Islington to escape Challoner and stays there with her to help look after the baby. Challoner breaks into the flat, looking for Mary, but she’s at the hospital with the baby. He finds Ella’s portfolio of underwear advertisements and looks through it. When Ella arrives and discovers the unlocked front door, Challoner pulls her into the flat and rapes her. Mary walks in on them and tries to pull Challoner off her sister, but he gets up and throws her into the kitchen. Mary hits Challoner with a cast iron frying pan and accidentally kills him. When the girls are trying to think how to dispose of the body, Ella remembers an underwear shoot she did at a farm in Essex and they take the body there and feed it to the pigs.
It reads like a really good story, apart from the pigs, because they would only eat the flesh, and maybe the bones, but not the skull, which could be identified. I might tip Mike the wink about that, but then again he might wonder where I’ve got the expert knowledge, so maybe I won’t. I’m not too sure about the underwear pictures for the portfolio either, it’s more Lizzie’s game than mine, but I suppose I can grit my teeth and do it, if we get that far.
I go over my lines, which I learnt last night, and find I can remember them. I say them again while I’m in the shower to make sure, then I put on my jeans, shirt and boots and order some breakfast from room service, hoping the lovely girl with the dark hair and the soulful eyes will bring it. After a while there’s a knock on the door and a matronly lady with a big arse bustles in, puts the tray down, proffers the bill for me to sign and sweeps out again.
I make short work of the scrambled eggs and a couple of pieces of toast and go down to the foyer. There’s no sign of Deidre so I sit in an armchair near the front door. There are papers and magazines on a table so I pick up a Daily Express and leaf through it until I notice a report about a couple of murderers who were hanged yesterday, one in Strangeways and the other in Walton Prison in Liverpool. It says they killed a bloke while robbing him and one of them left his coat behind, with a note to him in it, and they were arrested the next morning. The judge described them as being of “low intellect” in court, which is putting it mildly. I’m reading how the Labour Party under Harold Wilson are trying to abolish the death penalty, but that the Tories remain all for it, when Deidre appears in front of me.
‘Ready to go?’ she says.
‘Sure.’
I drop the paper on the table, follow her through the front door and we get into the back of one of the cabs that’s waiting outside. She tells the driver to take us to Rackhams and sits back. ‘Sleep well?’ she asks.
‘Yes thanks. You?’
‘I was so pissed I went out like a light and slept through the alarm call. I could cut glass with this headache.’
‘I’m sorry if you’ve had to get up on my account.’
‘Don’t be, darling. It serves me right. I’m not a big drinker normally but there’s something about hotels.’
‘I know what you mean.’
She closes her eyes and rests her head back. I have a look out of the back window in case there’s any sign of a black Ford Zodiac with Gerry at the wheel, but it’s clear.
The cab stops outside Rackhams. Deidre wakes up, pays the driver and we go inside and up the escalator. When we get to the Ladies Fashion department I take a quick look round in case Auntie Fran is refreshing her wardrobe and follow Deidre to the dress racks. She goes straight for Mary Quant and takes a black and white striped skirt and blouse off the rail, holds them up against me and nods. She does the same with a pair of Emilio Pucci check trousers, a silk blouse and a short Ashleigh Verrier dress in a red chiffon. I follow her to the fitting rooms, she puts me in a cubicle and asks me what size bra I take. I tell her, she asks me to try on the Mary Quant and disappears. By time I’ve changed she’s back carrying an armful of frilly bras, pants and suspenders. She dumps them on the chair in the cubicle, stands back, looks me over, tells me to do a twirl and nods her approval. I change into the trousers and blouse, which get the OK, as does the Verrier dress.
Next it’s the underwear, and as a few people have now come into the changing rooms, she joins me in the cubicle to view the items she’s found for me and shuts the door. Now she’s close to me I can smell last night’s booze on her breath and I feel embarrassed to be taking all my clothes off in front of her. She senses my discomfort and turns away as I start to undress. I put on different bras, pants, chemises and suspenders, and most of them find favour apart from a few that she rejects for being “far too mumsy and boring darling”. When she’s seen me in the whole lot she collects everything up, leaves the despised underwear on the floor and tells me to get dressed and meet her at the till.
We go down the escalator to the shoe department and buy a pair of medium heels and some Courrège boots. Deidre decides that we’ve got all we need, picks up the carrier bags and heads for the escalator. I follow her out of the store and she hails a taxi. When we stop at the hotel she rummages in her handbag, finds a piece of paper and gives an address to the driver. She tells me she’s going on to the location in Erdington and that she’ll catch up with me later. I get out of the cab and as it drives off I see her take a hip flask out of her bag and have a swig.
I’ve got an hour before I’m being picked up so I go to my room and run through my lines a couple of times, then I lie on the bed with Rebecca and read about Maxim getting grumpy with our girl after they’ve been to the beach where Rebecca drowned, and him saying he should never have come back to Manderley and stomping off. She follows him back to the house and meets Frank Crawley the estate manager who’s nice to her and tells her to forget about trying to measure up to Rebecca and enjoy Manderley, and that no one wants to remember the past. Just as I’m thinking she should have married Frank, the phone rings and I’m told that my car is waiting. I put on my leather jacket, take the Smith & Wesson out of the pocket and wonder if I should take it with me. It could be awkward if someone finds it, but even more so if I need it and haven’t got it, so I put it in my handbag along with my knife and go down to reception.
There’s a tubby little bloke in a brown suit that’s seen better days, standing by the front door. He sees me and raises his hand.
‘Miss Walker?’ he says, as I approach.
‘Rina,’ I reply.
‘My name’s Harry. I’m your driver.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ I say, as he opens the door and leads me to a Ford Consul parked outside. I settle into the back seat and he drives off.
‘Your first day then?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you from here?’
‘No, London.’
‘Like me.’
Rather than give Harry any more information, I take out my script and open it.
‘I’d better look at my lines.’
‘Sure,’ he says, and drives on. As we go down Aston Road, past Chain and Hook, I remember what a mess I made of finishing Brindle the other night and wonder if I’ll have any chance of getting to him today. He’s an evil bastard and there’s no telling what he’ll do when he knows I’ve muscled in on his movie.
We pass a sports ground on the left, go up a long hill, turn right at the top into a tree-lined street with terraced houses on each side and I see the trucks and trailers of the film unit. Harry pulls up alongside the catering van, gets out and opens the door for me. Kirsty is standing by the table with the tea urn on it and she sees me and comes over.
‘Good morning Rina.’
‘Hello Kirsty,’ I reply.
‘Shall I show you to your trailer?’
‘Please do.’
I follow her along the pavement to a row of four caravans and she opens the door of the first one for me. As I’m about to climb in, Brindle steps out of the one next door. He sees me, stops dead and fixes me with a look of pure loathing. I thank Kirsty, go into the caravan and close the door. Moments later it’s yanked open and Brindle walks in, slams the door shut and stands glaring at me, rigid with rage. I open the clasp on my handbag, put my hand inside and wrap it round my gun.
‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ he snarls.
‘I finally thought it over.’
‘You’re not…?’
‘I should be learning my lines.’
He takes a step towards me. ‘I wouldn’t bother. You won’t live long enough to say them.’
While I’m slipping the safety catch, there’s a knock on the door.
‘Come in,’ I say.
The door opens and Mike steps in behind Brindle. ‘Good morning Rina, my darling.’
‘Morning Mike,’ I say, taking my hand out of my bag.
Mike sees Brindle and claps him on the shoulder. ‘Johnny, I was just on my way to tell you the good news but I see you’re ahead of me. Isn’t it great that Rina’s decided to join us and play Ella?’
Brindle grins and grasps Mike’s hand. ‘I’m over the fucking moon about it!’
‘I’m sure you had a lot to do with persuading her,’ says Mike.
‘If you only knew. I begged, pleaded, blackmailed, plied her with presents and she only agreed to do it when I promised to take her to Monte Carlo after we wrap.’
Mike laughs. ‘Well I’m very grateful to you and I hope you enjoy the trip. She did an excellent test last night, and with the wonderful work you and Kim are doing, I now feel I’ve got the cast who can make this film the success it deserves to be.’
‘She’s going to be great,’ says Brindle, putting his arm round me. ‘We’ve known each other for years and she knows the lay of the land, like I do,’ says Brindle, winking at me.
‘I can’t wait to see you working together,’ says Mike, turning to the door. ‘By the way Johnny, Hal Wallace the American distributor is calling at five o’clock our time and he wants to talk to you about your availability for a promotional tour of the States with Kim in the spring, so would you mind going over to the Grand to take the call in Don’s room?’
‘Sure,’ says Brindle.
‘We should be ready for you in an hour or so Rina,’ says Mike, as he leaves.
Brindle’s looking at me as if he’d like to tear me apart with his bare hands.
‘I never knew you could act that well,’ I say.
‘Just wait till the rape scene, bitch.’
As I’m feeling for the gun again there’s another knock on the door.
‘Come in,’ I say.
‘Can I get you some lunch?’ asks Kirsty.
She hands me a menu and waits by the door. While I’m looking at it, Brindle gives a kind of snort and leaves.
When I’ve eaten some very tasty lamb cutlets with mashed potatoes and peas, Kirsty takes me to the makeup trailer and introduces me to Colette, who’s slim and elfin with auburn hair in a pageboy cut and about my age. I find out she’s from Shepherd’s Bush and while she’s putting foundation on me we talk about the clubs and pubs we’ve both been to and different bands we’ve seen. She does my eyes really nicely so they look a lot bigger. I note the way she’s done the lines and lashes, and when I ask her what she’s used, she tells me what the various products are and where to get them. She does a great job on my hair as well, with different gels that she also gives me the names of. When I’m done, Kirsty takes me to wardrobe, which is in a room on the top floor of the house.
‘Come in darling,’ says Deidre when she sees me through the open door. ‘Ooh I like the make-up. Very modelly. Colette?’
‘Yes,’ I say.
‘She’s so good.’
Deidre looks through the clothes on the rail. ‘I think it’s the Quant for this scene darling. OK with you?’
‘Sure,’ I reply.
Deidre holds the suit for me while I take off my clothes. When I’m in my underwear she looks me up and down. ‘Do you know, I think we could do with a bit more “lift and separate” in the bosom department.’
She picks a Rackhams bag up off the floor, searches through it, pulls out a black lace Playtex bra and hands it to me. I put it on, she does up the clip and makes another inspection. ‘Yes, much better darling. Jayne Mansfield had better watch out!’
She gives me a white blouse and the Quant skirt and jacket to put on, then a black velvet jacket that she takes off the rail. When I’m dressed, she walks round me once. ‘I think we’ve got it. How do you feel my love?’
I look in the mirror. ‘Good.’
‘Excellent. Not sure if you’ll need the jacket but we’ll have it there in case. See you later darling.’
I leave the jacket with her and follow Kirsty across the landing and down the stairs. As we come out of the house I nearly bump into Kim Daley. She’s smaller than she looks on the screen but her eyes are that clear blue, her skin has a lovely glow to it and her hair is a rich mixture of deep reds.
‘Oh, hello. It’s Rina, isn’t it?’ she says.
‘Yes,’ I reply.
‘Great to meet you. I’m Kim, playing Mary.’
‘Good to meet you too.’
‘I’m late for costume I’m afraid but I’m sure we’ll have time to talk on the set.’
‘See you then,’ I say.
She gives me a big smile, goes into the house and up the stairs. Kirsty and I walk to my trailer. As she opens the door for me, a long car sweeps past. It turns at the end of the road and I see Brindle sitting in the back seat.
18
I’m sitting on a canvas chair between Jean and the sound trolley. Mike has introduced me to some of the crew and they seem like a nice bunch of people. Some of the lights are being adjusted and the camera’s being moved to a new position. Mike and Ed are talking together in a corner.
‘I love that costume,’ says Jean.
‘It’s nice, isn’t it?’ I say.
‘You should keep it afterwards.’
‘Do you think I could?’
‘As long as you keep Deidre sweet.’
‘Buy her a drink?’
‘Or ten.’
As we’re having a quiet laugh Kim appears. I’m shocked to see she’s got a black eye and blood on her face and I nearly run to her, but then I realise that she’s made up for scene. Mike sees her and comes out of his corner. ‘Thank you everyone, if you’d like to give us the room for rehe
arsal.’
‘There’s tea downstairs, boys,’ says Ed, as he opens the door.
The crew start to leave except for Jean who stays seated. I stand up and Kim comes over to me and points at her face. ‘Another glamour part.’
‘At least it washes off,’ I say as the last of the crew leave.
Mike closes the door and turns to us. ‘We’ll rehearse without the baby first.’ He stands in the middle of the room. ‘So, if you’re over there by the cot Rina, and you’ve just settled Amanda down. Let’s take it from where you see Mary lying on the sofa, and going to her.’
Kim goes to the sofa and lies on it.
‘Perhaps you should be turned away from the room Kim, so that it’s more of a shock when your face is revealed,’ says Mike.
‘OK,’ says Kim, turning her face to the cushions.
‘When you’re ready Rina.’
I go and stand by the cot and I suddenly feel cold and a bit faint and I want to be anywhere but here with Mike and Jean looking at me. I take a couple of deep breaths, remind myself why I’m doing this and look over at Kim. I walk to the sofa, kneel down and touch her shoulder. She turns to me and I’m looking at her ruined face. I know I’ve got to speak but I can’t think what my first line is. I feel all frozen up and Kim’s looking at me and Jean says something and more time passes and my mind’s blank, then an arm goes round me. ‘It’s all right Rina my love,’ says Mike, in a soothing voice. ‘Just relax for a moment and we’ll try it again.’
I stand up and move away from him. I look at Jean sitting in her chair with the folder on her knee and she smiles and then I feel calm and I know I can do this.
‘Sorry about that. It’s “What’s happened to you?” isn’t it?’ I ask Jean.
Jean nods and smiles and I go back and stand beside the cot, looking down to where the baby should be. I look up and see Kim, then I go to her and this time the words come to me and I’m really feeling sorry for her and she’s crying and I’m trying to wipe the tears and the blood away and comfort her. When we get to the end part where she’s sitting up and defending Challoner, saying she still loves him and I’m having none of it and making her pack up and leave, the sparks are flying and it feels like real life.