Beverly Hills Dead

14

At breakfast the following morning, Glenna said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t mess with me this early in the morning,” she said. “How much do I get paid?”

“Five hundred a week.”

“How much does Leo Goldman get paid?”

“None of your business. Glenna, I wasn’t kidding when I said that Leo can fire you, if you don’t do a good job.”

“I know you weren’t; you’re a hard man, mister.”

“Oh, and I guess so that the kids won’t die, you’d better bring Rosie along. And I won’t take her pay out of yours.”

“That’s mighty white of you.”

“I know it is; I wouldn’t do that for a producer who wasn’t my wife.”

Rick arrived at his office to find Leo Goldman, a large, bearlike, bullet-headed man in his late twenties, waiting for him. He had joined Centurion after slugging his boss at Metro. Eddie had thought his action was “admirable.” “Morning, Leo,” Rick said. “I’m glad you’re here; we’ve got things to talk about.”

“We sure have,” Leo said, following him into his office and taking a chair.

“Something on your mind?”

“I hear you went up to Jackson Hole this weekend to work on the picture.”

Rick immediately realized that he should have invited Leo, but it had never crossed his mind. “I’m sorry, Leo. I didn’t intend to leave you out of anything important. It was a weekend off, that’s all. We took the wives, but we did get a look at the locations Manny had picked out.”

“Manny decides on locations?”

“Manny finds them; the director decides.”

“Look, if you don’t want me on this picture, just say so. In fact, if you don’t want me at the studio, say so, and I’ll tear up my contract.”

“Listen to me, Leo,” Rick said. “If I didn’t want you on the picture or at the studio, you wouldn’t be here. Anyway, you were still cleaning up your last production over the weekend, weren’t you?”

“I could have shook loose.”

“Leo, I promise you that no decision was made over the weekend that is in any way going to impact on your job.”

“You’d better not ever do that.”

“Leo, I’ve apologized, and I’m not going to do it again, but don’t ever tell me I’d better not do something. I suggest you get a grip on yourself and start addressing what we’re going to do with this script.”

Leo took a deep breath and let it out. “All right, I had my say. Let’s go to work.”

“Good. Manny is still up there dealing with getting some war-surplus barracks put together. Call my father, Jack Barron, at Barron Flying Service, at Clover Field, and he’ll get you flown up there.”

“When do you want me to leave?”

“As soon as you can get a list of equipment and crew that will have to be trucked and bussed up there, and get them rolling. You’ll be there two or three days before they arrive, and Manny will work out some office space and transportation for you.” He gave Leo Manny’s phone number at the local saloon. “He’ll have some phone lines in for us in a few days. Also, set up a meeting here to finalize casting.”

“I hear we’ve already got a leading man.”

“That’s right. His name is Vance Calder, and he’s going to be very good. He has a three-picture deal with us.”

“I saw him out on the back lot doing stuff on horses. The guys out there are impressed; one of them told me Calder could win money at the rodeo.”

“He’d better not, or our insurance is blown. I’ll make sure he understands.”

“I’d like a trailer to work in, so I won’t be tied to a desk.”

“Good idea; get me one, too. Have you met my wife?”

“No, but of course, I’ve seen her pictures.”

“She’s coming up to Wyoming for the shoot, and I’ve hired her as an associate producer at five hundred a week; get that in the budget.”

“You told me I’d be single-card credited as associate producer.”

“You’ve been promoted. Now you’re executive in charge of production.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that, as long as the title describes what I do.”

“Leo, don’t push your luck. I’m still producer and director, and, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m head of all production for the studio, so you work for me.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll share the best-picture Oscar with you.”

Leo laughed out loud. “From your lips to God’s ear.”

“Carve out some stuff for Glenna to be in charge of; costumes would be good. A couple of other things: she’s smart, and she’s a good organizer. I’ve told her that if she does a lousy job you can fire her, so don’t take any crap from her. Also, don’t ride her because she’s my wife.”

“You give me a thin line to walk.”

“I want you to treat all the people who report to you decently, and that includes Glenna. You’ve been here for one picture, so by now you should know that’s studio policy.”

“Sure, I do; don’t worry. I’ll get along with Glenna, but what happens if she comes to you, complaining about me?”

“I’ll send her right back to you.”

“How about our star? Is he going to be a handful?”

“Vance is too smart for that. Go out to the back lot and introduce yourself. Get to know him and help him in any way you can. If he works out he’s going to make a lot of money for the studio over the next few years, maybe even longer.”

“I’ll do that. By the way, for what it’s worth, I hear the locations are good.”

“We’ve got sixteen thousand acres to choose from. The owners of the place, Mac and Ellie Cooper, are sweet people, and you treat them with kid gloves. Between you and me, Eddie Harris bought the place from them this weekend, but they’ll still be living in the ranch house.”

“Where will I be living?”

“Work that out to your satisfaction with Manny; there won’t be room in the main house.” There would be room, Rick knew, but he didn’t want to live with Leo.

“Speaking of casting, what are we doing for extras?”

“When you get up there go into town and take a look at the locals, especially the men, the guys who hang out in the saloon. They’re a salty-looking bunch, and, sober, they’d look great on camera. Don’t mess with the ranch hands; they’ve got four thousand head of cattle to deal with. If you need anybody from L.A., call casting, and they’ll scare them up for you.”

“Okay, anything else?”

Rick stood up and held out his hand. “This will be the first time we’ve worked together, Leo; let’s do it right.”

Leo grinned, shook his hand and left.

Watching him go, Rick hoped he had been firm enough with him. Leo reminded him of a touchy bull he had seen at the ranch, all muscle and no finesse.