The Picture Show Annual (1931)

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74 Picture Show Annual were both rather shocked and a little disgusted by the free and easiness of everyone at the studio, from the prop boys to the stars themselves, and sex and sex appeal was discussed until it seemed to Myra to be the only topic of conversation. It seemed that sex appeal was the first consideration for any player. Acting came last ; anyone could be made to act by a competent director. The irregularity of the hours worried them at first. They had been used to getting up at eight o'clock, working at their offices from nine-thirty until six, and going to bed by eleven, except on special nights. They now found themselves often beginning work at eleven p.m., working until two or three a.m., and going to bed fagged out with a call that meant rising at seven. They missed, too, the previously invariable Saturday afternoon and Sunday holiday. However, they grew accustomed to the studio very quickly, and by the time they were working in their third film, in small parts, but quite distinct from the crowd work in the first, they felt as if they had been incubated by an arc lamp. It was during this time that Myra began to get a little worried about Jack. He cut one or two lessons ; bor- rowed money from her ; took her out and saw her home less ; became moody and irritable ; grew much more finnicky about his off-screen clothes, and compared brunettes most unfavourably with blondes. Myra un- easily diagnosed it as a woman, and feared it was Carita. Carita lolled in the deep leather easy chair and glanced across the desk at Myams. They were discussing their next picture, a triangle drama of a married couple s tem- porary separation because a boy loses his head over the young wife. " Yes," she said. " The script's all right with me. Dialogue's not exactly brilliant, but Don'll put in some of his special silent touches to help the weak spots, won't you, Don ? And then the cast. Who's the husband ? " " Richard Neville." " Uha. And the boy ? " " We-ell, we hadn't quite decided. We've got a few suggestions ; here they are." He handed her a sheet of paper. Carita ran through them rapidly, then handed the paper back with a shake of her head. " N.G.," she remarked. " Sellor's too old and looks it; Beardley's too sophisticated ; Rundell's too darned refined ; Carwick's too blustery; Lang's too pretty. But I know the very boy for the part." " Another expensive stage actor ? " " No. He's in your studio under contract at a tenner a week—Rayner Smith." Myams smiled. " Him ? You're joking, Carita. He'll be doing small parts for months, probably for ever. He couldn't do a part like this, could he, Blakeley ? * The director shifted in his chair and did not reply for a moment. " There you are," said Carita triumphantly. " He agrees with me." " He doesn't," said Myams. " He's been thinking, and he agrees with me. Don't you, Blakeley ? " " Well," said the di rector, " I can't say I have Carita's unbounded faith in young Rayner Smith, but personally I think he'd shape as well as anyone else. It's all in the direction, you know, and he's used to working with us now, and knows what I want." Carita clapped her long-nailed hands with a delicate delight. I knew it," she cried. " Bless you, Don ! " She blew a kiss at him, then turned to Myams. " That's all fixed then ? " she continued. The little man nodded. It's fixed. I'll see him to-morrow morning." Carita rose. There's nothing else you want me for, is there ? It's getting late already. Bye-bye ! " She paused at the door and sent one of her famous smiles to accompany the waft of perfume assailing the men's nostrils, and then the door banged behind her. Blakeley turned to Myams at once. " Look here," he said. " I figured it out that in having this Rayner Smith to play the part you'll be saving at least eight or ten quid a week. Now why not tack it on to the assistant director's screw and give me a decent one for once Then I'll have a chance at last to turn out a darn good picture." Myams chuckled. " So that was your little game, eh ? " he said. Blakeley grinned back at him. " Father, I cannot tell a lie," he replied. " It was. But he'll do it all right. He's crashed violently for Carita." " And how about her ? " " Well, you ought to know her by this time. He's handsome and young, but she'll soon get tired of patron- ising him." They laughed together. " Oh—Jack-ee ! " Carita's voice brought Jack to her side at full speed. " You want me, Miss Crayford ? Carita nodded and her eyes shone into his. " Oh, I've some wonderful news for you, Jack. Come into my dressing-room." She slipped her arm through his, and Jack, tingling at her condescension, walked along with her in a daze, conscious of eyes following them. Never before had his goddess dropped her star-to-small-part-protege attitude so completely. They entered the two-roomed suite and Carita, pulling off her hat, tossed it on to the sofa. Jack looked round him at the luxuriously appointed little room, and wondered how long it would be before a company would think him worth blue silk hangings and ivory walls. Carita ran her fingers through her sleek golden waves in a way that she knew was particularly bewitching. Then, pulling her silk coat round her, she sank on to the sofa and smiled at Jack. " Sit down," she said, and he sat himself down on a chair opposite and watched her while she chatted in- consequently for five minutes or more. At last Jack could stand it no longer. " But, Miss Crayford, surely you did not bring me here just to talk like this." Carita smiled. " No. This is what I brought you here to tell you. You are to be my leading man in my next picture. I especially asked for you.