To Kill the Duke (30 page)

“Hi Dick,” she said.

“Hi back,” Powell replied as she sat down next to him.

“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable across from me?” he asked her.

“I don’t like sitting with my face toward the door,” she answered.

“Why not?”

“Because then I see everyone who walks in,” she said with a light laugh. “The great thing about being a success in this town is not having to look at who walks in… but rather it’s being a successful star and being able to be yourself.”

Dick Powell nodded in agreement, but thought that with her looks, she was going to attract attention wherever she sat.

“I also don’t like being recognized in public, but if I am, I handle it professionally,” she added.

Dick Powell looked her over.
She’s better looking than the last time I saw her. Howard will be very happy,
he mused.

“I don’t just come here for the raspberry lime rickeys, you know. It’s one of those places in which I can walk freely. I have all these favorite places around town where I can find solitude, just so I can be Susan Hayward the shopper,” she told Dick.

“I don’t have that problem anymore. Comes when you retire from the screen. Although my old-time fan base and the people who know I am in the business still stumble upon me. I know exactly what you’re saying. Good for you,” Powell said. “So, just what is a raspberry lime rickey?” he asked.

“The most refreshing drink in the world,” she said as she got up, walked to the counter and ordered two raspberry lime rickeys.

I thought a double martini was,
Powell said to himself as he watched her walk to the counter.
She has a great walk,
Powell thought, as he tried to watch the druggist make the drinks.

She brought the glasses over and handed one to Dick. She motioned for him to drink and he thanked her. She watched him take a sip.

“This is the tastiest beverage I have ever had!” Dick announced. “What’s in it? How do they make it?”

“I told you… and no booze in it, but then again… if you add some vodka, it makes a great cocktail,” Hayward told him.

Dick Powell couldn’t believe his taste buds as he finished the rest of his raspberry lime rickey in one gulp.

“Wow!” Susan exclaimed. “I’ll get you another.”

Dick Powell’s taste buds were in beverage heaven. He enthusiastically awaited his second raspberry lime rickey. But this time he wanted to enjoy it and slowly sipped it while Susan told him all about what was in one.

“It was love at first sip,” Hayward said with a chuckle as she told Dick Powell that even though she knew the ingredients for making the drink, the drugstore they were in still made the best ones. “And, I have hired professional bartenders to mix some up for me,” she added.

The druggist only told Susan what was in the drink: raspberries, sugar, water, grated zest, crushed ice, club soda and lime juice. He wouldn’t divulge how much of each item and how it was mixed.

“One of those old family secrets,” guessed Dick Powell.

“Right. I told the druggist that ‘old family secrets’ should only be about betrayal, rape, murder, incest and stealing amongst family,” she said with a laugh. “But he wouldn’t budge.”

“Did you try the universal language?” Dick asked her.

Susan Hayward shrugged her shoulders. “Sex?” she asked.

“Money,” he said quietly.

“And that would be Howard… money,” she replied.

“And that would be Howard. He would also be about the sex part,” Dick agreed.

“Okay, write it into my contract,” Susan said.

“Write what into your contract?” Dick asked her.

“That Howard Hughes will get me the recipe for raspberry lime rickeys from the family that controls it,” she said.

“Anything else?” Dick asked sarcastically.

“I’m serious, Dick. I want the part of Bortia. I love working with Duke. I can’t wait to hear him say the line ‘greetings my mother,’” Hayward said in her best John Wayne imitation.

“Hey that’s pretty good,” Dick said. “But the Duke informed me that he is working with a voice coach and acquiring an accent to pull off the part.”

“Duke Wayne doesn’t need a voice coach or an accent. Let him be the Duke! After all, this is an old-fashioned western, isn’t it?” said Susan.

Powell nodded.
Is everybody in on that?
he thought.

“Howard can get me the recipe. He wants to sleep with me. I think I’m one of the only actresses in Hollywood who is turned off by him,” Hayward said.

“There’s a lot who have slept with him and there’s a lot who haven’t slept with him. Why doesn’t he do it for you?” Dick asked.

“I like macho. Hughes, to me, is way too feminine,” Hayward said.

“I have heard Howard called a lot of things — feminine is a new one,” Dick said.

“I’ll explain it to you when we start filming. I love the part. I like the location. I like the co-stars. I like the money. I want to work with you. All I ask in addition to my regular perks, is that Howard buys me the raspberry lime rickey recipe,” Hayward said.

“Why not? It will be nice having this stuff on the set to drink,” Powell said as he shook Susan Hayward’s hand.

“She wants what!” Hughes screamed into the phone when Dick Powell had phoned Howard to tell him the good news.

“She wants you to use your influence to buy the recipe for raspberry lime rickeys from the drug store down the street from your studio,” Powell said.

“She’s got the tits, but she doesn’t have a brain,” Hughes said. “What about Jane Russell?”

“She’s making a movie with Raoul Walsh. She’s a good choice Howard,” Powell lied.

“What about Mamie Van Doren?” Hughes asked.

“Haven’t you screwed her enough?” Powell asked his boss.

“That’s true. She should be in a real western with how bow legged I have made her,” Hughes said with a laugh.

“Her hair would be a problem,” Powell said.

“What, you never heard of a wig? How about I get it dyed?” Hughes said.

“Can you imagine Mamie and Duke in this film? I know you think big breasts put all sorts of asses in the seats, but Mamie isn’t right for this role. Besides, I think she is making a western with John Agar and Richard Boone anyway. So her bowlegs will come in handy after all,” Powell said.

“Why not Marylyn Monroe?” Hughes asked.

I think he’s going mad
Powell thought as the image of Marylyn Monroe as a Tartar princess alongside Duke Wayne made him shiver. That, along with the fact that the Duke was a perfectionist and Monroe was the polar opposite would lead to nothing but tension on the set, not to mention drive himself as mad as surely Howard Hughes was sounding with the names he was bantering about.

“She’s perfect, but has way too many commitments,” Powell said.

“I got it, Dick. I got it. I have been throwing out names of the top American actresses with big tits. And, you’re right about many things when it comes to playing a princess way back in the days of Genghis Khan. The names we have been talking about aren’t
foreign
enough looking,” Hughes announced.

“Throw me a name, boss,” Powell said.

“Sophia Loren would be perfect,” Hughes said.

“No question about that. There’s just one problem,” Powell said.

“What’s that?” Howard Hughes asked.

“Who’s Sophia Loren? I don’t remember seeing her name in your book on female actresses?”

“The new Gina Lollobrigida. Don’t you watch foreign films? Don’t you get to Europe?” a bewildered Howard Hughes asked Dick Powell.

I would go to Europe a lot, if I had your money and time to enjoy it
Dick thought. “No boss. I’m too busy running the studio for you.”

“Good answer. But this Loren has it all. She’s going to be a big star. I ought to sign her up myself. She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. But those Italians are tough to negotiate with. I’ll send some information on her to you. What about Gina?”

“She would be perfect. I like your idea of having a more foreign-looking woman. But Gina Lollobrigida is making
Trapeze
for Carol Reed. Lancaster and Curtis are in it, too,” Powell said.

“I bet she looks great in tights,” Hughes said with a sigh.

“Some people say Burt and Tony look better. Why don’t you go and watch it being filmed?” Powell asked… Powell hoped.

“I don’t have the time. I have to go to Washington and have my ass kissed,” Hughes said.

“Again? You sound depressed about that,” Dick said sarcastically.

“I would rather do a lot of things than going to see politicians, who do nothing but kiss my ass for donations and then don’t do what I ask them to
when
I ask them to. Don’t ever go into politics when you’re done with Hollywood, Dick,” Hughes warned his employee.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I know some of the guys my age are thinking about it when their careers stall. It’s better to play a politician on screen than to be one in real life.”

“Hey, that’s good. Can I use that? Now let’s talk about Hayward as Bortia,” Hughes said.

“Why are you so against Susan?” Powell asked his boss.

“She won’t sleep with me. I have heard rumors around town that she thinks I’m a sissy,” Hughes answered quietly. “But I have to trust you. After all, you delivered John Wayne as Genghis Khan and everyone else thought it should have been Marlon Brando.”

“Looks like I get my gal,” Powell said under his breath as he discussed Hayward’s demands.
Got to find out more about this ‘sissy’ stuff,
he thought as he listened to Howard. Dick spoke for a long time to Howard about why Susan Hayward was the perfect Bortia to John Wayne’s Genghis. When Howard asked Dick about the cost of obtaining the raspberry lime rickey recipe… Howard laughed and told Dick to write a check and make it happen.

Not only did Howard Hughes get the recipe for the raspberry lime rickey that Susan Hayward craved, Hughes also bought the entire drug store. That was one attempt at trying to seduce Susan. Another foray was having a dinner tray set up in front of her house with a pitcher of raspberry lime rickeys placed on it, along with the recipe and a signed contract to hire her to play Bortia.

Neither worked. Hayward wouldn’t sleep with Hughes, thus Hughes once again went elsewhere for his sex.

Powell was happy to have his leading lady and raspberry lime rickeys to boot.

The thought of downing one of those raspberry lime rickeys was making Dick Powell smack his lips together as he pulled into the parking lot of the greasy spoon to cure his hangover.

He knew he wasn’t going to get a raspberry lime rickey… not until Susan Hayward showed up on set with the recipe. He ordered his hangover cure… a breakfast of piping hot black coffee, pulpy, freshly squeezed orange juice, four pieces of toast with butter and grape jam on them, three sunny-side up eggs and six pieces of bacon. As his food and beverages were being brought out to him he thought about a few things.

No more crazy drinking
was the first thought, which made him think of Susan Hayward… not because she had played a lot of drunks in her career, but because of what she said to Dick Powell when she phoned him about signing the contract. Susan Hayward had told Dick Powell that no one will remember us after we die. It’s what we do now, in the present that is important.