Part 23 (2/2)
They went into his office. Jane looked up at them. ”Your call will be through in about fifteen minutes, Johnny.”
”Good girl,” he said, and walked over to his desk, sat down, and lit a cigarette. If war came he wondered what he would do. He didn't know and yet he did. There was only one answer when your country was at war.
He couldn't sit still. He fidgeted in his chair restlessly. At last he got up. ”I'm going down to Irving's office,” he told them. ”Call me there when you get Joe on the wire.” He walked out.
Doris followed him with her eyes. She said nothing; she could see his restlessness, and something inside her seemed to shrivel and tighten until she could hardly breathe. Her face grew paler.
Jane looked at her sympathetically from a new-born freedom. She got up from her chair and walked over to Doris and took her hand. ”Worried?” she asked.
Doris nodded her head. She fought hard to keep tears from coming to her eyes, but she could feel them trembling just beneath her lids.
”You love him,” Jane said.
Doris's voice was husky. ”I've always loved him,” she whispered, ”from the time I was a kid. I used to dream about him and not know what it meant. Then one day I knew.”
”He loves you too,” Jane said softly. ”But he doesn't know it yet.”
The tears stood clearly in Doris's eyes now. ”I know. But if war comes-and he goes away-he may never find out.”
Jane squeezed her hand. ”Don't you worry, he'll find out.”
Doris smiled through her tears. ”Do you really think so?” she asked.
”Of course he will,” Jane rea.s.sured her. And all the time she was thinking to herself: ”The poor kid, it's as bad as that.”
The phone rang, startling them. Jane picked up the receiver on Johnny's desk.
”I've got that Los Angeles call for you,” the operator's voice told her.
”Just a minute,” Jane replied. She held her hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to Doris. ”Would you mind going down the hall for him, honey?”
Doris was glad to be doing something. She had felt so completely out of things before. She smiled at Jane and nodded. She left the room.
A minute later she was back, following Johnny into the office. He took the phone from Jane's hand.
”h.e.l.lo, Joe?” he said.
He could hear Joe's voice booming on the other end of the wire. ”Yes, Johnny. What do yuh want?”
”The President's putting guns on merchant s.h.i.+ps,” Johnny said tersely. ”It looks like war for sure.”
Joe whistled. ”It's sooner than I expected.” He was silent for a moment. ”What do yuh want me to do?” he asked.
”You got that war picture finished yet?” Johnny asked.
”The last scene got into the can this morning,” Joe answered proudly.
”Then s.h.i.+p it to New York right away. If we get it out now, we'll clean up,” Johnny said.
”I can't do that,” Joe replied. ”It's got to be edited an' the t.i.tle cards have to be made up. That's a couple of weeks' work at the least.”
Johnny thought for a moment. ”We can't wait that long,” he said definitely. ”I'll tell you what we'll do. Get your best editor and two writers to get on the train with you tonight. Take along some reel-winders and reserve two adjoining compartments. You edit the film on the way in and have them write up the cards. Have everything ready when you get to New York. We'll make up the cards here and insert them. Then we can start duping prints and rush 'em out into the theaters.”
”I don't know whether we can make it,” Joe said. ”It's short notice.”
”You'll make it,” Johnny answered confidently. ”I'm notifying all the distributors and salesmen that the picture will be ready next week.”
”Jesus!” Joe exploded, ”you haven't changed a bit. You can't wait for anything!”
”We can't wait,” Johnny retorted.
”What does Peter say?” Joe asked.
”I don't know,” Johnny replied. ”He isn't here yet.”
”All right, all right,” Joe said, ”I'll try to do it.”
”Good,” Johnny said, ”I know you'll do it. Have you got a name for the picture yet?”
”Not yet,” Joe answered. ”We've been working it under the t.i.tle 'War Story.'”
”Okay,” Johnny said. ”It'll have a name when you get here.” He hung up the phone and looked at them. ”Some good may come out of this yet,” he said.
”Johnny,” Doris cried out in a voice filled with anguish, ”Johnny, how could you talk like that? Saying some good will come out of the Germans making war against all those innocent people? How could you?”
He stared at her. He never even noticed the reproach in her voice. He grabbed both her hands and pumped them excitedly. ”That's it, Doris, that's it!” he shouted.
”What?” she asked, more bewildered than ever at his actions.
He didn't answer her question; instead he turned to Jane and spoke rapidly. ”I want you to get this notice out to all distributors and salesmen. Have the advertising department start working up material and getting out stories on it. Put this down.” He paused for a moment while Jane got a pencil and paper ready.
”Magnum Pictures announces the immediate release of its latest and greatest production, The War against the Innocents. It will be ready for immediate showing next week. This picture will expose all the terrors and b.e.s.t.i.a.lities of the Hun that we know so well from our daily papers.”
He stopped for a minute and looked down at Jane. ”Tell you what,” he said, ”send it down to the advertising department. Have them rewrite it and get it out.”
He turned back to Doris. There was a big smile on his face. ”Grab your coat, sweetheart,” he said. ”We don't want to be late in getting to the train!”
5.
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