Chapter 35

It was a little easier to get up at four-thirty on Thursday, but not much. By the time I was finished running and had my shower I decided that I might live. It was still easier to get coffee at the studio than make it at home or pick it up on the way.

The mornings acting was just like a job, with a lot of hurry up and wait. There wasn’t anyone my age on the set so I hung out with the production crew. Mr. Wayne seemed to be conducting business if he wasn’t on the set.

After lunch he always disappeared, so I never had a chance to talk to him. The other actors weren’t rude to me but they weren’t interested in socializing.

This left me the crew to talk to. It did give me a chance to learn a lot about the technical end of the business. Since I helped Raul with the breakaway lariat they always had time for my questions.

They even brought a few of their technical problems to me to see if I could help. I was able to help in small ways but nothing earthshattering. It must have been enough because they treated me as a member of the team.

That meant my horses were always saddled first, my lighting exactly right, my sound checks adjusted till they were perfect. It seemed to me like one professional courtesy was being returned for another. I couldn’t understand why others didn’t work in this manner.

The actor who played the ranch foreman, Lee Somerset, acted like he was above everyone. He wouldn’t extend himself in any way to make it easier for others. If he had been a King, the peasants would’ve had torches and pitchforks.

My eleven o’clock date as I thought of her was it. She was perfect in her lines and presentation. At lunch, it was like we had known each other forever. Her mother who had accompanied her sat back and let us talk; unlike the girl’s mother on Tuesday.

Her real name is Alice Shellenbacher. Her stage name is Ellen Shelly. She was originally from Texas but her accent was very soft, almost not there. It suggested the west but could be understood very clearly.

She had grown up in a small farm community and was attending a local high school. She now lived in what they called the Valley across the mountains from LA. That was the only reason she could audition for parts. While she wanted to be in movies it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she didn’t get selected for the part.

Our backgrounds were close enough that we clicked. After a while, I realized that we had been talking and goofing around and forgot all about her mother and our Director sitting there. I turned to Ron and raised my eyebrow.

He said, “I will cancel the Friday girl.”

For some reason the way he said it made me think of one of Mum’s nursery rhymes. It partly went, “Thursday’s child has a long way to go; Friday’s child is full of woe.” I had read several versions but this is the one I remembered.

School was cool. Well, it didn’t rhyme but it was fun. Nina and I got along very well. Today we stretched out some worms to dissect. Well, I did the worm thing while she kept notes and drew our diagrams. There was a pattern here. But I knew her time was coming. I had cheated. I had read the course material for next week.

After our session was done she accompanied me to my car. I had told her about my new purchase and she wanted to see it. She didn’t come across as a gold digger or a user like some of the girls in Bellefontaine, but I was still a little leery. She oohed and aahed, as I showed her the various features. I offered to take her a ride, but she had to get back for her next class.

Back at the lot, I went through my sword routine as usual. I could now hold the two swords out straight for five minutes at a time, one in each hand. I was now doing two sessions a day. Once at the studio and once at the apartment with two swords I had checked out and taken home.

My weight lifting was starting to show some results. My body was beginning to look ‘cut’ as some of the guys called it. There was definitely a definition of my muscle groups. I was finishing up my routine earlier and earlier each day. I didn’t even have to wait for Dick anymore but felt that I shouldn’t get in the habit of leaving the studio in case something came up.

One of the guys saw me starting to sit down.

“Oh no you don’t, it is time for you to start your boxing lessons.”

What! He took me over to a gym which served as a set that required a boxing ring and was a real gym for training boxers. He introduced me to Don Palmer the Studio trainer and walked away. As he left I realized I didn’t even know his name.

Mr. Palmer explained to me that to do a boxing scene first you had to know how to box. Since there was a fight scene in my movie and I was an English student it would be assumed that I had been trained in formal boxing at school.

I didn’t know if that was how it was actually done in England in 1890 but very few people in the audience would know the real facts. Besides, it would be fun to know how to box.

They had clothes in every size so I put on some shorts and canvas shoes. They didn’t put me in a ring. They introduced me to a punching bag. Actually to two bags a heavy bag and a speed bag. Wearing light gloves they had me spend fifteen minutes with each after some basic instruction.

Mr. Palmer stopped me and told me to be back at the same time tomorrow unless I was in a scene. Everything now revolved around the shooting schedule.

Since it was now six o’clock I went over to the set and found everyone had left. They were done for the day and so was I. I drove home, showered, changed clothes and took off in my new car. I drove pretty aimlessly around the Burbank area just to learn it. I spotted a small restaurant which I thought I would try for dinner. I wasn’t there very long.

It was self-seating so I selected one, the ashtray hadn’t been emptied all day. Stuck under the booth top was a ton of chewing gum. The deal-breaker was the four strips of flypaper hanging from the ceiling. They were loaded with dead flies. I decided that I didn’t want ptomaine poisoning and left.

I did find a drive-in called In-N-Out, it was pretty good. I wasn’t used to fountain drinks instead of out of the bottle, but the Coke was okay.

Later I tried to read my biology book instead of fiction. I found that reading a biology textbook in bed could put me to sleep quickly.