Epilogue

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Kate Cornwall announced. She was sitting in a director’s chair and was back-lighted. All the viewers of the TV show could see was her silhouette. A rising star at WNBC, NBC’s owned and operated station in New York, Kate was an anomaly. At a time when every on-air personality wanted to maximize face time, Kate shunned it. Even while in journalism school, she had decided that reporter-as-celebrity got in the way of the story she was covering.

“For those viewers in New York, I want to assure you I’m still with WNBC. Through a combination of circumstances, I’m doing this show for the network.”

It had begun the previous November. She had been on vacation in Los Angeles just seeing the sights but had decided to visit KNBC Los Angeles to say hello to her colleagues at WNBC’s sister station. It was on the morning of the scheduled World Premiere of Kelly and because of the increasing industry buzz about the film, KNBC had decided to cover it. But just moments before Kate appeared, the woman who was scheduled to cover the event had called in sick. Furthermore, the entire station news staff had already been assigned to stories that were felt to be more important.

At that moment, Kate walked in and introduced herself to the station’s news director. Instantly, he recognized her as the answer to his problem. “Would you like to make a little freelance money? I know you’re on vacation and all, but you could help me out of a big jam, if you would.”

She agreed and found herself with a camera crew at the premiere site. Then the unexpected happened: A limousine drew up with flags flying from its front bumper. Kate recognized the flag as the white-blue-red of the new Russian Republic. Bodyguards appeared and a big man alighted. From her time in New York covering the UN, she recognized Mikhail Solov, the president of Russia.

No sooner was he ushered inside, when another flag-bearing car appeared, this one with the flag of the newly reunited Germany. The Chancellor of Germany appeared. He was followed in turn by the ambassadors to the United States from Great Britain and France.

On camera, Cornwall told her viewers, “This story began last November out here in Los Angeles. I was asked to cover the world premiere of what became the motion picture of the year, the Academy Award winning Kelly.” She then told them about the statesmen and diplomats who were in attendance.

Kate then told her viewers about seeing the premiere herself. “Following the showing, though, an interview had been arranged with one of its stars, Kimberly Kramer. This show is about her. Kim is the most remarkable young woman I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet.

“When I went for the interview, I found her conversing with the president of Russia, the chancellor of Germany, and the ambassadors of Great Britain and France. Furthermore, with her was the subject of the film, Kelly Jackson Callahan herself.”

The TV show continued with footage from the interview. It showed Kim speaking in Russian, German and French to the relevant statesmen and diplomat. On camera, she asked President Solov about Kim’s Russian.

He just laughed and said, “It’s perfect! If I could persuade her to come home with me, she could start at Radio Moscow this afternoon!” Through an interpreter, Chancellor Schmidt said the same thing about her German.

Then Kate turned to Kelly and asked her about Kim’s language capability. “She’s just doing it to make me feel badly,” Kelly responded. “Her Russian and German are far better than mine, and she knows darned well that I don’t speak a word of French. It’s all I can do to order a meal in a French restaurant.”

But she went on to say that what they had all seen on the screen was an exact recreation of the events that enabled Kelly to stop the Russian advance. Still on camera, she mentioned that President Solov had been Field Marshal Solov in command of Warsaw Pact forces in the West at that time.

After the first commercial break, Kate came back on camera. “That was the beginning of this story. The next event was the Academy Awards last March. Before the awards were made, the Hollywood buzz had reached deafening levels. And since the network management felt I had done a good job with my interviews at the premiere, they assigned me to do the story expecting — like almost everyone else — that Kelly was going to clean up.

“And it did. As I’m sure you all know now, it won all the major awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Actor, as well as a number of technical awards. Now watch as Kimberly Kramer comes up to receive her award. Have you ever seen a more graceful woman or a more perfect female figure?”

Kim was wearing a white gown along with a diamond necklace and diamond ear studs. The gown was designed in such a way that only a woman with a perfect figure could wear it. She graciously received her award and made her short acceptance remarks.

“Now watch what comes next,” Kate said. “This scene follows the major awards, and the recipients were lined up for photographs. You see Brad and Kim Kramer in the middle of the group. Now the camera pans to the right and they’re out of the picture, then it pans back ... And they’re gone! What happened?”

Again the camera was on a back lighted Kate Cornwall. “Well, I was there that night, and I didn’t know either at the time.” Although her face was obscured by the backlighting, the viewers could “hear” the smile on her face. “This happened. Because of the soundproofing in the theater, we couldn’t hear the noise of a helicopter taking off, but that’s what did happen.

“And then the next morning, I was fortunately able to interview Kim ... in an Orange County hospital. What was she doing there? Well, let’s see...”

The picture cut to Kim wearing a gray cashmere robe. It was pulled back from her left breast and she was nursing an infant. “This is William Bradley Kramer, III,” Kim said softly. “But for rather obvious reasons, we’ve decided to call him Tony,” she added with a warm grin. “And yes, I know it’s an Oscar, but Brad and I think that’s a really yucky name, so he’s going to be Tony. That’s close enough, isn’t it?”