Chapter 23

In the morning when Dick and I went running I related my failure to call home and asked if I could use his telephone. He laughed.

“Your Dad won the pool.”

“What pool?”

“About how long it would take you to remember to call home. Your Mom, Dad, Janice and I all had bets going on how long it would take you. Your Mom thought it would be right after you landed, Janice and I divided up yesterday and your Dad got from today on out.”

“Ouch, I’m going to be in trouble.”

“Not really, I let them know you arrived that night, and Janice talked to them last night. You will never be allowed to forget it, but I don’t think you will be in trouble. They realize this is one heck of a life change for you.”

It was early in California, but midmorning in Ohio so I called home from Dick’s. When I called Mum answered the phone. When I said this is Ricky, she replied.

“Ricky who?”

I was toast. She gave me a hard time for a little while then got serious about my trip and how I was getting on. We talked for half an hour.

This would be an expensive call. We agreed that I would call once a week on Sunday to get the cheapest rate. I would send a weekly letter with more detail so the whole family could keep up with me. Dad wasn’t available but I got to say a quick Hi, to Denny, Eddie, and Mary. Mary wanted to know if I had gone to Disneyland yet. I promised her I would buy her a present when I did go.

After the call, I gave Janice twenty dollars for the call and told her I would pay whatever extra appeared on their phone bill. After breakfast, Dick and I headed out to the studio. This morning was to be the first scene that I would be in. I had to go to the costume department then makeup.

The people in costume took one look at me and asked if I knew that I didn’t have to provide my own costumes. They then proceeded to have me change into my costume. The Levi jeans they had me wear actually had buttons on the front instead of a zipper. That was so odd.

The shirt was a plain brown or which they called butternut, it had no collar. I wore suspenders instead of a belt. The boots were battered and plain looking but they fit well and were very comfortable. I wasn’t wearing a hat in this scene.

From there I went to makeup, the studio had me skip my haircuts for the last two weeks. The first thing the makeup people did was give me a haircut. It looked like they had placed a bowl over my head and trimmed around it. When I mentioned this I was thanked for recognizing the effect they were trying to achieve.

They touched up my face with some stuff they said would cut down on shadows, so I wouldn’t look like a corpse. Other than that, there wasn’t much to it. The lady doing it told me for some movies they would have to spend two or three hours in makeup for a two-minute scene.

The scene being shot today was all of us boys hearing a speech from John Wayne about how we were too young for a cattle drive. I had no lines, I just had to pretend I was listening then look disappointed.

I arrived on the set five minutes early. It was interesting to see the various prop people, cameramen, soundmen, and others doing their preparation. Mr. Wayne was there but didn’t look like he was in a good mood so I only nodded to him. He nodded back and that was it.

Everyone was there but Paul Grant. Starting time came and went. The Director wasn’t happy. Since Wayne and Grant had dialog they needed him for the scene. A runner was sent to Grants trailer. That is how I found out that real stars had a trailer to retreat to during the time they weren’t working. The runner came back and told the Director there was no one at the trailer.

We waited till lunchtime, which was the end of the filming sequence for the day. We were all excused for lunch and told to be back here in the same place at the same time tomorrow. I heard the Director talking to an Assistant. I won’t repeat what was said. It wasn’t nice.

After lunch, the schoolhouse and Latin test were next so I headed there. I was allowed up to three hours for the test. I took the whole time. I was very lucky the essay question was on the test. It was about the life of the average Roman. I wrote about the life of the average Roman farmer as that was what most Romans were. At least that is what I said, I have no idea if it was true or not. Of course with that introduction, I wrote out my prepared two hundred word essay.