The Richard Jackson Saga
Copyright© 2021 by Banadin
Chapter 15
Tuesday was more exams and cleaning under the bleachers on the Bellefontaine side of the field. I only found ninety-eight cents there. The bleacher cleaning business was definitely not going to happen, at least by me. While I was raking under the stands I was thinking about my trip to Hollywood.
I would be flying from Dayton to Los Angeles on TWA. The studio had sent coach class tickets. I wondered if I could upgrade them to first class. There was so much more legroom in the front seats. The Constellation was a nice aircraft, but rather cramped in the back.
At lunchtime, I walked down to the AAA travel agency and explained my problem. They told me if I brought the tickets in, and the additional eighty dollars to upgrade I could do it if the space was available.
My exams were like yesterday, one step above boring. There wasn’t one question that I had any doubt as to the answer. Still, I went back over every question at least once to make certain I had read it correctly.
When I got home, Mum had something to show me. She had read the cover of a magazine in the grocery checkout line. One article caught her eye so she bought it which was highly unusual. On the cover were two pictures, Paul Grant and me.
Dateline: Hollywood January 20, 1959
The Good Boy meets the Bad Boy
In a Movie Magazine exclusive, we have inside information on the new John Wayne movie The Cowboys. Working together will be the teenage heartthrob bad boy Paul Grant and teenage Eagle Scout Rick Jackson.
Speculation is running high on the set on how Grant and Jackson will relate. Will Grant corrupt the All American Boy or will Jackson redeem the brat?
Paul Grant who is famous for his drinking and womanizing has recently been suspected of using drugs. His famous temper tantrums and poor work habits have made him high maintenance on the set. Add this together with a huge ego, along with the habit of bringing his own hangers-on, onto the set, and you have a problem for any director. If his show The Outlaw Kid was not numbered one in its time slot he would have been let go some time ago. However, the young ladies seem to love the bad boy.
When Grant was asked about Jackson his only comment was, “Who? Who cares?”
Contrasting is Rick Jackson, sports star, life saver and bane of the bad guys. Jackson a straight-A student is the youth golf champion of the State of Ohio, and the National Champion Youth Brahma Bull rider. He is an honorary member of the Texas Rangers for breaking up a gang of rustlers, he killed two murderous bank robbers in a botched bank robbery, and he’s pulled people out of burning car wrecks. The world-famous picture of a young man carrying a young girl out of a burning building is Jackson at his finest.
The only blot on Jackson’s record is that he was involved in a fight in Tijuana and had to bail Elvis Presley and Tab Hunter out of jail.
While not having the strong entertainment credentials that Paul Grant has, he appeared in It Never Happened with John Wayne and also several episodes of Spin and Marty on the Mickey Mouse Club. To a point, he can even sing, having reached the top ten playlists with Rock and Roll Cowboy supported by the Beach Boys.
Strong credentials but how will it come out when the good meets the bad, Ugly?
I didn’t quite know how to react to the article.
I finally ended up saying, “It will be interesting.”
“Yes it will,” replied Mum. “We called them Good Time Charlie’s when I was young. Always up for fun, but they would run at the first sign of work or trouble.”
“My best bet will be to go there and do my job and ignore the rest.”
“Easier said than done boyo, you will have to be careful. He will try to drag you down to his level or do you in.”
“You don’t think he would try to hurt me?”
“He wouldn’t survive the experience. He would try to humiliate you. That would be his style.”
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