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CINEMA INFERNO

Kate expected to go through all et into Cinecitta, and had worked up her press credentials to suggest a reason for being in the filirls ere massacre extras or makeup assistants, they just walked onto the lot A relic of the fascist era not repudiated in modern Italy, Mussolini&039;s purpose-built Hollywood-on-the-Tiber was a chaos of people

&039;Hoe find the Argonauts?&039; Genevieve asked

Kate looked at the streaes A troop of French cavalrymen, circa 1812, trotted double-tiling A circus elephant was led past by a hts

&039;I i sheepskin the size of a sail was being carefully carried past by four stagehands Its gold paint was still wet The Golden Fleece was carried on to Teatro 6 A blackboard by the door was scraith the legend &039;gli argonauti&039; A ragged group of weatherbeaten, false-bearded ancient Greeks loitered by the stage, s in Italian about their sex lives

They walked to the warehouse-like building The Argonauts estures and co Genevieve &039;eh, blondie&039; and Kate &039;arance rosse&039; Red orange juice Very flattering

They e was as crowded and purposeful as a riot Her experience of fil or Merton Park, pleasant strolls around the lot accompanied by deferential publicists, always timed to coincide with the tea break She was overwhelmed by the noise of Teatro 6 Films were shot here as in the silent era: several differentsite sy cannons of Napoleon&039;s Retreat on the next stage, everyone shouting at once

Genevieve spotted Orson Welles, raised up froo - which could only be shot from one side because only half the ship had been constructed - and looking up to the painted Heavens

This Argo was a blind navigator, eyes covered by cataract lenses the colour of spoiledaround the lower slopes of a monumental false nose His real schnoz reputedly looked absurd on fil lost in a CinemaScope face, so he retreated behind enoran Rainfall from sprinklers above hipped by vast wind machines Water was dashed into the shipbuilder&039;s face, drenching his robes He clung desperately to the Argo and cursed the Gods

Welles cursed in English The Gods replied in Italian, German and French

Actors from many countries, each a star in his or her own territory, had been carefully cast to give Gli argonauti &039;international appeal&039; In dialogue scenes, they all counted slowly up to a hundred in native tongues, a different emotion conveyed by each number Lines were dubbed in later, often by other actors Even Welles ht lose his unmistakable canyon-deep voice and come out like Mickey Mouse

A horde of technicians held the big sparkly blue canopy that lapped against the side of the ship, pu team to make waves Water forh rips, soaking the poor souls underneath

Argo was joined at the prow by Jason Kirk Douglas thrust his dimple into the artificial wind, and clapped the shipbuilder on the shoulder

&039;If we don&039;t get that rug, fat boy,&039; he said, with feeling, &039;it&039;s your ass&039;

&039;I&039;d back ainst your chin any day of the week, play-actor,&039; Argo replied

Eddy Poe was supposed to be the writer of this script, and that didn&039;t sound like his style More heroic lines would be provided later

Argonauts hauled away on the oars, which battered the sea-canopy, swatting a few technicians to their knees Curses and cries of pain rose froh co In heavily-accented Austrian-English, God ordered extras to put their backs into it Lesser gods translated the instructions into several European languages

The torrent was a real downpour now Some of the sprinkler-heads fell from the studio-skies, and ropes of hosewater lashed the set, twisting in the blast of the wind las supported Welles and water poured off theo&039;s nose stayed stuck on was a miracle

A carnival head broke the surface of the canopy by the boat and reared up on high-tension wires, squirting yet more water from its mouth and nostrils Kate supposed this was supposed to be Poseidon, or one of his fishface cronies It looked like a Gargantua-sized glove puppet, with finned ears and lobster-antennae bristling over its big rolling eyes

The mechanical monster&039;s fishy lower jaw hooked on the sea, and tore a section of it A reservoir of prop water spilled through and dozens of feet slipped on the wet floor The sea collapsed all around the Argo, falling away fro the scaffold that held up the half-ship

Toby Dalisha crafty fag in the cutaway diagra from the botto in the light, cheeks bulging with the internal pressure of his body Kate had an idea there was more than tobacco in his roll-up

&039;Cut,&039; boomed the voice of God

Suddenly, all noise shut off Even the quiet trickle of water wound down

Genevieve tapped Kate&039;s shoulder and pointed upwards A chair on a crane descended from a platforun In the chair was an old lasses was blacked-out He carried a et wet?&039; God - Fritz Lang - dehed, more in surprise than humour Her chuckle echoed in the enorhs is also fired,&039; decreed God

Genevieve shrugged and stifled further giggles Kate looked reproach at her

An Italian , hands in pockets He spieled at length, gesturing with expressive shoulders The director bobbed around twenty feet above, considering

Finally, he raised his aphone

&039;We break for fifteena recess &039;While the sea is fixed No one is allowed to leave That is all&039;

The chair ascended again, to the studio roof Everyone started shouting at once, an explosion of babble So A crew of seaether They wielded the kind of thick needles and strong twine oldtime mariners would have used to fix rent-apart onauts in the cinema, Kate would look out for stitches in the sea

With an enor seat and popped the white rinds froonauts set, and Welles - re them from the Palazzo Otranto - had consented to talk with thee, converted into a cafeteria The building was the size of a dirigible hangar, with a street winding through it and ss contained by it, like ships in the stoiant whale A row of sidewalk cafes was apparently doing great business,people A tinny transistor radio played &039;Dracula Cha Cha Cha&039;, not a song Kate had good memories of One table over, a bull-headed shape-shifter was boasting to a couple of party girls She could i

Welles&039;s costume was still damp, but he was one of those men who seem comfortable in any situation He dripped on the concrete floor

Kate was less sure now than when the idea had been proposed that this would be at all useful After all, Welles was an actor, not a real seer But he&039;d been there when Dracula died, and was enough of a h most tricks

What she orried about, she admitted, was that he&039;d explain how she had done it Everything between her descent of the cliff and Genevieve finding her covered with il principe&039;s blood was red fog Someone - this Mater Lachryht have taken her ued against it was the evidence The silver scalpel, with its traces of burned vampire skin The unmarked palms of her hands If Welles could understand the plot of Mr Arkadin, could he not also come up with a story that made her a murderess and a mind-puppet?

The cafe was busy but no one ca va,&039; Welles su each with an eye Underneath the face er-dyed beard, was a mischievous little-boy smile &039;This is an honour rare in the life of Old Prospero&039;

&039;Mr Welles, ant to ask you about the ball at Palazzo Otranto,&039; said Kate About the ether

&039;You seek me out in my capacity as a detective I was Sherlock Holmes once, and the Shadow&039;

He wasn&039;t very wraith-like now

Kate hadthe Terror She&039;d even run into a flier in the First World War who ilante they called the Shadow If there was any role in the tangle of crime and detection fit for Welles it was Sherlock&039;s brother, the ht well be able to fill the broad seat set aside in the sentleman