The Last Don - Mario Puzo [162]
“I’m particularly interested that we have Athena Aquitane do our next picture,” Bobby Bantz said.
Aha, Deere thought. Now that Bantz controlled LoddStone, he hoped to get Athena into bed. Deere thought that as head of production he had a shot, too.
“I’ll tell Claudia to work on a project for her right away,” Deere said.
“Great,” Bantz said. “Now remember I always knew what Eli really wanted to do but couldn’t because he was too soft. We are going to get rid of Dora and Kevin’s production companies. They always lose money and besides I don’t want them on the lot.”
“You have to be careful on that one,” Deere said. “They own a lot of stock in the company.”
Bantz grinned. “Yeah, but Eli left me in control for five years. So you’re going to be the fall guy. You will refuse to green-light their projects. I figure that after a year or two, they’ll leave in disgust and blame you. That was Eli’s technique. I always took the rap for him.”
“I think you’ll have a hard time moving them off the lot,” Deere said. “It’s their second home, they grew up on it.”
“I’ll try,” Bantz said. “Another thing. The night before he died, Eli agreed to give Ernest Vail gross with some money up front on all the pictures we made from his shitty novel. Eli made that promise because Molly Flanders and Claudia nagged him on his deathbed, which was really a lousy thing to do. I’ve notified Molly in writing that I’m not bound legally or morally to keep that promise.”
Deere pondered the problem. “He’ll never kill himself but he could die a natural death in the next five years. We should ensure ourselves against that.”
“No,” Bantz said. “Eli and I consulted our lawyers and they say Molly’s argument would lose in the courts. I’ll negotiate some money but not gross. That’s sucking our blood.”
“So, has Molly answered?” Deere asked.
“Yeah, the usual bullshit lawyer letter,” Bantz said. “I told her to go fuck herself.”
Bantz picked up the phone and called his psychoanalyst. His wife had insisted for years that he go into therapy to become more likable.
Bantz said into the phone, “I just wanted to confirm our appointment for four P.M. Yes, we’ll talk about your script next week.” He hung up the phone and gave Deere a sly smile.
Deere knew that Bantz had a rendezvous with Falene Fant at the Studio’s Beverly Hotel Bungalow. So Bobby’s therapist served as his beard because the Studio had taken an option on the therapist’s original screenplay about a serial murder psychiatrist. The joke was that Deere had read the script and thought it would make a nice low-budget movie, although Bantz thought it was shit. Deere would make the movie and Bantz would believe Deere was just doing him a favor.
Then Bantz and Deere chatted about why spending time with Falene made them so happy. They both agreed that it was childish for important men like themselves. They also agreed that sex with Falene was so pleasurable because she was so much fun, and because she made no claims on them. Of course there were implied claims, but she was talented and when the right time came she would be given her chance.
Bantz said, “The thing that worries me is that if she becomes some sort of half-assed star our fun may be over.”
“Yeah,” Deere said. “That’s the way Talent reacts. But what the hell, then she’ll make us a lot of money.”
The two of them went over the production and release schedules. Messalina would be finished in two months and would be the Locomotive for the Christmas season. A Vail sequel was in the can and would be released in the next two weeks. These two LoddStone pictures combined might gross a billion dollars worldwide, including video. Bantz would see a twenty-million-dollar bonus, Deere probably five million. Bobby would be hailed as a genius in his first year as successor to Marrion. He would be acknowledged as a true Number One exec.
Deere said thoughtfully, “It’s a shame we have to pay Cross fifteen percent of the adjusted gross on Messalina. Why don’t