girls I’d seen in Honesty’s mum’s magazines. In the Twenties, ‘It’ meant sex appeal. Girls like Clara Bow and Louise Brooks had ‘It’. And according to Cissie, Rudolf Valentino had ‘It’. (But having seen a picture, I personally prefer my male heartthrobs without eyeliner.)
You could tell that Rose felt totally naked without her spectacles. She grabbed them back. “What’s he talking about?” she asked.
Lenny looked envious. “I think he wants to put you in his movie.”
Rose gave a nervous laugh, realised Lenny was serious and turned as pink as a tulip.
Mr Mantovani acted offended. “Girls would kill for this opportunity, doll. I’m asking you to be my new leading lady.”
“Oh thanks a bunch,” said a girl in film make-up. “What am I now? Chopped liver?”
“You’re a very nice girl, Ingrid,” Mr Mantovani said patronisingly. “But Rosa here is the mysterious beauty I’ve been searching for my whole life.”
It went on like that for ages, with Rose insisting she wasn’t interested, and Mr Mantovani totally refusing to take no for an answer.
Suddenly Rose said, “How much do you pay?”
“Ha!” snorted the former leading lady.
Mr Mantovani looked shifty. “Doll, what is money, compared with the birth of a new art form?”
“Then forget it,” said Rose firmly. “I need to get my family to San Francisco.”
The director frowned. “I can’t give you the money, doll,” he admitted. “But I could definitely get you to California.”
She briskly extended her hand. “It’s a deal.”
I was SO proud of her. Acting and film-making were completely not Rose’s thing, yet she had decided to go with the flow just to help her family.
Mr Mantovani’s style people gave Honesty’s sister a radical makeover. They took away her tiny owl spectacles and cut her long hair into a swingy, mischievous-looking bob. They plucked her bushy eyebrows until she was left with just two startled little crescents. The make-up artist painted Rose’s sharp clever little face with Twenties-style film makeup, which instantly made her look v. mysterious and geisha-like. Finally the dresser buttoned her into a low-waisted Charleston dress with exquisite beading on the hem.
When they finally let Rose see herself in the mirror, she gasped and I felt genuinely moved.
I have seen about a zillion TV makeover shows in my time but I’ve never ever seen such a miraculous transformation. Rose Bloomfield had totally vanished and in her place was Rosa Bloom, a smoulderingly sexy movie star!
Boy, Melanie , I told myself, the Agency certainly moves in mysterious ways! In my scenario it was Honesty who got talent-spotted. Never in a million years did I think it would be geeky little Rose!
Clem got a part too. He played the cute curly kid with the puppy. Honesty could have been in the film if she played her cards right, but she was in full zombie mode, which didn’t exactly make the film people warm to her, and eventually they left her well alone.
Can you believe it only took a week to make Mr Mantovani’s film! Actually, compared with film making in my time, the process seemed really amateurish. Movies were silent then, so the actors just did loads of cheesy miming and face-pulling. To be honest, Rose didn’t have that much to do in Dangerous Pearls (that was the name of Mr Mantovani’s movie), except look scared and pretty while the hero rescued her and her precious pearls from a string of evil villains. I know, I know, it wasn’t much of a plot, but like Mr Mantovani said, the film industry was still in its infancy.
I have to admit to a bad moment when they tied Rose to the train tracks. OK, it wasn’t quite as dangerous as it sounds. Lenny was crouching just out of shot with a pen knife ready to cut her free, in case an express train suddenly came roaring out of the tunnel. But to be on the safe side, I crouched beside the rails too and surrounded Rose with protective angel vibes.
A funny sound made
You could tell that Rose felt totally naked without her spectacles. She grabbed them back. “What’s he talking about?” she asked.
Lenny looked envious. “I think he wants to put you in his movie.”
Rose gave a nervous laugh, realised Lenny was serious and turned as pink as a tulip.
Mr Mantovani acted offended. “Girls would kill for this opportunity, doll. I’m asking you to be my new leading lady.”
“Oh thanks a bunch,” said a girl in film make-up. “What am I now? Chopped liver?”
“You’re a very nice girl, Ingrid,” Mr Mantovani said patronisingly. “But Rosa here is the mysterious beauty I’ve been searching for my whole life.”
It went on like that for ages, with Rose insisting she wasn’t interested, and Mr Mantovani totally refusing to take no for an answer.
Suddenly Rose said, “How much do you pay?”
“Ha!” snorted the former leading lady.
Mr Mantovani looked shifty. “Doll, what is money, compared with the birth of a new art form?”
“Then forget it,” said Rose firmly. “I need to get my family to San Francisco.”
The director frowned. “I can’t give you the money, doll,” he admitted. “But I could definitely get you to California.”
She briskly extended her hand. “It’s a deal.”
I was SO proud of her. Acting and film-making were completely not Rose’s thing, yet she had decided to go with the flow just to help her family.
Mr Mantovani’s style people gave Honesty’s sister a radical makeover. They took away her tiny owl spectacles and cut her long hair into a swingy, mischievous-looking bob. They plucked her bushy eyebrows until she was left with just two startled little crescents. The make-up artist painted Rose’s sharp clever little face with Twenties-style film makeup, which instantly made her look v. mysterious and geisha-like. Finally the dresser buttoned her into a low-waisted Charleston dress with exquisite beading on the hem.
When they finally let Rose see herself in the mirror, she gasped and I felt genuinely moved.
I have seen about a zillion TV makeover shows in my time but I’ve never ever seen such a miraculous transformation. Rose Bloomfield had totally vanished and in her place was Rosa Bloom, a smoulderingly sexy movie star!
Boy, Melanie , I told myself, the Agency certainly moves in mysterious ways! In my scenario it was Honesty who got talent-spotted. Never in a million years did I think it would be geeky little Rose!
Clem got a part too. He played the cute curly kid with the puppy. Honesty could have been in the film if she played her cards right, but she was in full zombie mode, which didn’t exactly make the film people warm to her, and eventually they left her well alone.
Can you believe it only took a week to make Mr Mantovani’s film! Actually, compared with film making in my time, the process seemed really amateurish. Movies were silent then, so the actors just did loads of cheesy miming and face-pulling. To be honest, Rose didn’t have that much to do in Dangerous Pearls (that was the name of Mr Mantovani’s movie), except look scared and pretty while the hero rescued her and her precious pearls from a string of evil villains. I know, I know, it wasn’t much of a plot, but like Mr Mantovani said, the film industry was still in its infancy.
I have to admit to a bad moment when they tied Rose to the train tracks. OK, it wasn’t quite as dangerous as it sounds. Lenny was crouching just out of shot with a pen knife ready to cut her free, in case an express train suddenly came roaring out of the tunnel. But to be on the safe side, I crouched beside the rails too and surrounded Rose with protective angel vibes.
A funny sound made
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