Ladies and GentlemenCobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
General
Ladies and Gentlemen
Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
Fiction; Short stories, American
So, through three weeks of that Hollywood autumn, they waited, each
of them, for the call to work; and while their funds shrank, they met
regularly for meals and they took strolls together and she gave to
him most of her evenings. He spun his droning reminiscences of dusty
years and deplored the changes worked by a devastating modernism, and
she postured and posed and, bit by bit, built up and rounded out her
amended characterization--a self-adopted daughter of the Lamars and
Claytons--and constantly did her level best to look and act and be the
part.
This went on until the end of the third week, at which point Destiny,
operating through the agency of Mr. Andrew Gillespie, took a hand in
their commingled affairs.
Gillespie, coming in off the lot to the head offices, was pleasantly
excited over his new notion. He revealed it with no preamble:
"Say, you two, I've got an idea for livening up that big fight scene a
little bit."
The executive head gave a grunt which terminated in a groan. He craved
to swear; but not even Mr. M. Lobel, of Lobel's Superfilms, Inc., dared
swear now. Employees whose salaries ranged above a certain figure might
be groaned at but could not, with impunity, be sworn at. The ethics
forbade it; also such indulgence might result in the loss of a desired
director or a popular star. And Gillespie appertained to the polar list
of the high salaried. So Mr. Lobel merely groaned.
"What's the matter?" asked Gillespie sharply.
"Nothing, nothing at all, only I am thinking," rejoined Mr. Lobel, with
sorrowful resignation. "I am thinking that only two days ago right here
in this very room you promised me that positively without a question
you would keep down the expensives from now on on this here dam'
costume production which already it has run up into money something
frightful."
"Who said I was going to spend any more money?"
"An idea you just mentioned, Gillespie," stated Mr. Lobel, "and with
you I got to say it that ideas are usually always expensive."
"This thing won't cost anything--it won't cost a cent over a couple of
hundred for salary, costumes, props and all, if it costs that much. And
it'll put a little note of newness, a kind of different touch into that
battle scene; that's what I'm counting on."
"Oh, well, Gillespie, in that case--" The grief was lifting from Mr.
Lobel. He turned to his second in command. "Wasn't I only just now
saying to you, Milton, that Gillespie is the one always for novelties?"
The director chose to disregard the compliment.
"Do you recall that handsome-looking old scout that I brought back with
me here last month from the Southern trip?"
"Like a skinny Santa Claus, huh? Sure, I seen him," said Mr. Lobel,
"and wondered what you was maybe going to do with him."
"Me, too," said Mr. Liebermann, affectionately known among lesser
members of the staff as "Oh-yes-yes Milton." "The one with the w'ite
w'iskez, you mean. Also I wondered about him."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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