Beverly Hills Dead Read Online Free PDF

grateful for your counsel on every aspect of my career, I will always reserve the right to overrule it. If we can proceed on that basis, I would be very pleased to have you represent me."
    Hyman Greenbaum reached across the table, and Vance Calder took his hand.
    "Check," Hy said to a passing waiter. "Let's take a drive out to Centurion. Did you ride the Whizzer here?"
    "No, I phoned for a taxi."
    "You'll ride home in a studio car," Hy said. "One thing: they're going to offer you a part in a western, an original script by one of the best writers out here, Sidney Brooks. You'll take the part immediately, without reading the script, but that will never happen again."
    "All right."
    "One other thing, Vance: are you, by any chance, a member of the Communist Party, or have you ever been to one of their meetings?"
    "I am not, and I have not."
    "Have you ever signed a petition for aid to the Russians or the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War or war orphans or anything ?"
    "I have not."
    They stood up, and Hy Greenbaum showed him to the door, where his car was waiting. "You're going to have a long and very successful career," he said.

7

    Hyman Greenbaum took a chair across from Rick's desk, while Vance Calder cooled his heels in Rick's reception room.
    "I want to see his test," Hy said immediately.
    "The screening room is tied up right now," Rick said. "I'll run it for you later."
    Hy smiled a little smile. "It was that good, huh?"
    "It was all right."
    "No seven-year contract," Hy said.
    "What do you want, Hy?"
    "A two-picture deal with an option; fifty grand for the first one, a hundred for the second."
    "Not a chance," Rick said.
    "What are you offering?"
    "A five-picture deal, starting at ten grand, adding another ten grand every time we pick up his option. And I'll give him a nice dressing room."
    "Three pictures; twenty-five, fifty and a hundred. And he gets a cottage. And he gets the lead in the Sid Brooks picture."
    "All right," Rick said. "Three pictures; fifteen, twenty-five and fifty. He gets the lead, and he'll share a cottage. That's it, Hy."
    "The kid needs a car," Hy said. "He's riding around on a bicycle with a motor, something called a Whizzer. He'll get killed."
    "I'll loan him one until he gets on his feet."
    "Oh, and he gets script approval."
    "Not for the first three pictures, Hy. We want him to do as well as you do, and I promise you I'll handle him carefully. It's not in our interests for him to appear in a mediocre movie."
    "No more than two pictures a year," Hy said. "Let's not wear him out."
    Rick shook his head. "It's important for him to be seen a lot early in his career. Later, we'll see."
    "You'll pick up his dental bill."
    Rick nodded. "We've got a good man right down the street; he gets all our business."
    "This kid is going to be very big, Rick."
    "I hope so."
    "All right, you've got a deal."
    The two men stood and shook hands. "I'll send you a contract tomorrow morning and a check for five grand," Rick said.
    "Done."
    "Let's get him in here," Rick said, pressing a button on his intercom. "Show Mr. Calder in, please."
    Vance walked into the room, and Rick shook his hand. "Welcome to Centurion, Vance," he said. "I think you're going to do very well here."
    "Thank you, Rick," Vance said.
    "Sit down, I want to tell you about the next few weeks."
    Everybody sat down.
    "We're in preproduction for a new script by Sidney Brooks, called Bitter Creek . It's going to be a tough, gritty western with a lot of fresh faces, yours among them. You're going to play the lead, and you'll have a script when you leave here. We'll start shooting the exteriors in about four or five weeks--sooner if we find an amenable location in a hurry. You'll probably be living in a tent for a month. In the meantime, you have a lot of work to do. I want you to ride as much as you can out on the back lot. You looked good in the test, but I want you perfectly at home in the saddle, and I don't want you saddle sore on location. Our