Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 129 Why not write an autobiography?

   "Professor Scorsese? I'm your student, taking your classic film and television appreciation class." Ronald accidentally found an acquaintance in Pia's living room.

   "Marty, this is the Ronald I told you, and he's now directing Gerald's daughter in a commercial." Isabella walked over and took Scorsese's arm.

   "So her husband is her teacher." Ronald thought, almost embarrassed again.

  Isabella smiled mischievously, then went to the kitchen and served Scorsese a plate of Italian meatballs for him to eat in the living room.

   Marty was eating and talking to Ronald, "I'm sorry, Ronald, now I'm busy with a new movie, and I don't have time to go to the Emperor's class."

   "I remember your new film was filmed in Los Angeles before, and I heard Mr. Roger Coleman talk about it, maybe I happened to be back in New York at that time."

   "Roger gave me my first chance to direct a feature film. The recommendation letter he wrote to you compares you to me when I was young. After confirming with me, New York University will admit you right away."

  "Mr. Coleman is too good for me", Ronald heard Scorsese say the inside story of the recommendation letter, "Thank you, Mr. Scorsese for your recommendation."

   "No", Scorsese put another meatball in his mouth, "Roger is a very old-fashioned guy, he won't lie in a letter of recommendation."

   "Watch more classic movies. All my filmmaking tricks are learned from old movies." Scorsese finished eating the meatballs, and Isabella brought him another glass of wine.

   "Roberto may be going back to Italy, where his film was banned, so US distributors canceled plans for a US release."

"It's a shame, his talent for comedy is rare," Scorsese said slowly, taking a sip of his drink. "His comedy is like Bucks Keaton, it's not as demanding of language, it's It can have a worldwide influence.”

   "Ronald, my dad is looking for you." Helen waved over there and called Ronald over.

   Greetings to the Scorsese, Ronald walked over and saw Gerald Slater again. This time, he wore a brown coat and light-colored trousers, and at first glance he looked like a successful man with a successful career. The taste of clothing is really good, and I can learn it later.

   "Mr. Slater." Ronald came to say hello.

   "Go play, I'll chat with Ronald." Gerald sent Helen and walked to the balcony with Ronald, and the two chatted about Helen's advertisement.

"I just finished shooting the next day and I'm editing." Ronald poured a soda. "Helen seems to work better with Karen Carpenter, but Carpenter's cover rights may be very good. expensive?"

"Most of Carpenter's songs are covers of old songs. It won't be expensive for us to buy the original cover rights. But I don't want Helen to go the way of a singer. This road is too hard." Gerald said something about his daughter Acting career planning, "I have helped her contact ABC's 'After School Time' series, and she can star in an episode next year."

   "This father has really paved all the way for his daughter, but she may not listen to you when she is older." Ronald thought to himself.

   "Well, I'll edit this version of the commercial based on the footage of Helen playing and singing jazz, and I'll send the finished master to your secretary Stella for a look."

  Gerald nodded, indicating that he was no longer here.

  The size of the party this time was much smaller than last time, mainly Pia, some contacts with Isabella in New York, plus some relatives of Bergman's previous two marriages.

   Ronald watched the high-level gathering of TV stations in New York on one side, and the Italians in the New York literary and art circles talking on the other.

   "Wait a moment, my mother said to thank you in person, the drink you recommended to her made her feel much better." Pia saw Ronald leave and asked him to wait a while before leaving.

   "Ronald, thank you for your gift. I can drink a small cup of the drink you gave me when I'm not feeling well now, and I can sleep well at night."

   After half an hour, Ingrid Bergman greeted the guests, called Ronald into the lounge and thanked him in person.

   "You don't have to, Ms. Bergman. This is a recipe my aunt gave me. It works for you, and I'm glad I did."

   "I don't know how to thank you. Since I had the second operation last year, my body has always been incapacitated." Bergman spoke English in a funny Swedish accent, which was especially loved by the American audience.

   "My aunt Karen is a big fan of yours. I wonder if I can get an autographed photo for her. I think she will be very happy."

"Of course," Ingrid Bergman asked her daughter Isabella to bring a standard photo of herself and sign it, "Dear Karen, thank you for the **** drink, it makes me feel great. "Then handed the photo to Ronald.

   "Mother, the biographer is here again, do you want to see her?" Pia pushed the door in and asked.

   "No, they're just interested in my private life. I don't want to put my private life in front of all the American people. They did it once thirty years ago, and I don't want to do it again."

"But Mom, you have more fans in America, and they all want to read biographies that you personally identify. In addition to love life, they are also very interested in the shooting process of many classic movies. For example, everyone here loves Casablanca. "

   "She's out there. If you don't want to write a biography, you can at least talk to her and hear her views on the US publishing market."

   "I can meet her, but don't mention the biography."

   "Mom, you're always so stubborn about this. Ronald, are you a fan of my mom?"

   "Of course, I watched a lot of old films starring Ms. Bergman in the film and television appreciation class, but the copies of her films shot in Europe are rare, and I haven't seen them yet."

   "Then do you want to see my mother's autobiography?"

   "Pia, you're always so stubborn..." Bergman interrupted Pia's attempt to detour to Ronald, then both mother and daughter laughed, her stubborn genetic tendency was also obvious.

   "Can I ask why Ms. Bergman doesn't want to publish her autobiography?" Ronald didn't quite understand.

  Pia gave Ronald a wink, telling him not to bring up the subject.

   "It's okay, it was a well-known thing 30 years ago, it's no secret that Ronald works in the film industry."

  Berman begins to explain why she doesn't like publishing autobiographies.

It turns out that Pia is the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and her first husband. In 1949, Ingrid Bergman took the initiative to go to Italy to shoot Roberto Rossellini's film, and the two lived together for a long time. love, and gave birth to a son the following year.

   In this way, Bergman divorced her first husband and left the young Pia in America. This was a deviant thing in the 1950s. Some politicians in America, taking advantage of the theme, made Bergman a bad role model for women, and passed a resolution condemning Bergman in the Senate.

  Berman therefore stayed away from Hollywood, and it was not until 1957 that she starred in "True and False" before she appeared on the American screen again.

  Pia went to Italy to live with her mother for several years after her parents divorced, so their mother-daughter relationship, her relationship with her two half-sisters, is still very good.

"So, my mother didn't like her personal affairs being used on the topic. She felt that writing an autobiography gave them another chance, which was not good for the children. She was accused of being the child of an unruly woman. In the eyes of conservatives, it is also a sin.”

"So it is", Ronald understood Ingrid Bergman's concerns, although it was already 30 years ago, Ronald's generation has seen many old Bergman movies on TV , but I don't know anything about this old incident.

  Pia has been winking at Ronald and asking him to say two nice things.

  Ronald put himself in Bergman's shoes and thought about it. This kind of idea is actually a bit wishful thinking. When rumors hit, it is of course a way to ignore them, but there are also drawbacks.

   "Ms. Bergman, but if you don't write an authoritative autobiography to clarify the truth, those rumors, your children can't clarify. They will all say that children tend to cover up for their parents."

   "Yes, mother. If there is an autobiography that you personally identified, we can take it out and tell the public that this is the truth. My mother is not that kind of person. What you say is all rumors."

  Ingrid Bergman paused for a while, then said to Ronald, "You're right, Pia, ask the biographer to come in and talk. I should probably leave an autobiography."

   Ronald took the autographed photo Bergman wrote to his aunt and left the house.

   "Ronald, wait for me." Helen also ran out of the room and into the elevator.

   "Aren't you going with your father?"

   "No, tomorrow is my mother's." Helen pressed the elevator button.

  Gerald stuck his head out, "Helen, I'll take you away, don't bother Ronald."

  Helen pressed the door close button, "I've already told him that you don't need to send it." The elevator door closed before Gerald came over and began to descend.

"Can you take me back to my mother's house on Long Island?" Helen pleaded softly, pulling Ronald's arm in the elevator. "I don't want my father to go to my mother's place and they would fight every time they met. For me, for my brother, And arguing about their new partners."

   Begged by Helen and put his arms around him, Ronald remembered Antonia, Elizabeth Sue, whose parents were also divorced,...Why are there so many divorced families now? Is it a showbiz problem, or America's ridiculously high divorce rate?

   "Stop shaking my arm, I'll take you to Long Island, but you have to show me the way, I'm not familiar with it."

   Sent Helen home and greeted her mother. Helen's mother is a lawyer and an anti-nuclear protester. She doesn't have much affection for people in the film and television industry, but she only verbally thanked her and did not invite Ronald in to sit.

   Waving goodbye to Helen, Ronald found a phone booth and thanked Roger Coleman in Los Angeles.

  I didn’t know that Coleman’s recommendation letter praised me so much. Compared with Scorsese, it seems that I can be admitted, and the recommendation letter is the most important factor.

"Hey, is that Ronald? I was just looking for you, great news, Rock High School's rental fee in New York exceeded 1 million, and you made money. Of course, this also means I made more money. Money, hahaha..."

   Just came back from a business trip, the update is a bit unstable these days, let me adjust it.

   (end of this chapter)