ماستانگ و مرسدس

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Mustang and Mercedes

At six o’clock the next morning, buses took the technicians, extras, and most of the other people who were needed that day, to the Topkapi Palace. There, a hundred Turkish workers were waiting for us, and the crew started to prepare the sound system, the lighting and the cameras.

A row of trailers was parked outside the palace. These were the mobile dressing-rooms and the make-up department. Soon, dozens of policemen were needed to keep the crowd away from the crew. Even at this early hour, many people wanted to watch what was happening. As it was a Tuesday, the palace itself was closed to visitors all day.

The crowd became excited at seven o’clock, when Gail and Brent arrived in a long black limousine. Carla was already on the set, working with the lighting cameraman. I was just leaving one of the make-up trailers when the two stars arrived. Julie Grant had been repairing my make-up.

I wasn’t needed for that day’s shooting, but Carla wanted to see me standing next to Brent. She wanted to check that we looked the same. Carla thought that I was a double called Alan Davies, of course, and I wanted her to go on believing that!

‘Hey, man!’ a voice said and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw that it was the real Brent Foster.

‘Well, I just can’t believe this’ Brent said as he looked at me. ‘I’ve had lots of doubles in my time, but none of them looked as good as you.’ He held out his hand.

I took his hand and shook it. ‘The name’s Davies - Alan Davies,’ I said. ‘It’s a great pleasure to meet you.’

At that moment, Carla came over and looked at the two of us carefully. For a few seconds, I was worried.

‘Wonderful’ she said. ‘Which of you is the double?’

‘I’ll see you later, Alan,’ Brent said, and walked off towards his dressing- room.

The morning passed slowly. Carla was shooting some outdoor scenes of Gail and Brent running through the courts of the Topkapi, being chased by two men in red T-shirts. I wasn’t in any of the scenes. I didn’t think Gail was in any danger that morning. Arabella and Annie were with her when she wasn’t on the set. I was pleased that neither of them recognized me.

I had never really found out what the story of the movie was, so I asked Julie about it.

‘I don’t know either,’ she replied. ‘None of us knows really, not even the actors. That’s Carla’s way of working - she shoots lots of scenes and then puts the story together during editing, back at the studios in L.A.’

‘I see,’ I said, although I really didn’t understand at all. ‘But the actors must know who they are playing. For example - the two men in red T-shirts. What parts are they playing?’

‘They’re the bad guys in the movie,’ Julie replied. ‘Brent is playing a criminal, but he isn’t a real bad guy! The men in T-shirts are playing New York gangsters, I do know that. But I’m not sure why they’re chasing Brent and Gail in this scene.’

‘Well, thanks,’ I said and went and sat down in a cool part of the courtyard. The sun was getting hotter. By midday, it was very hot indeed.

In the late afternoon, I watched the technicians lay the metal rails for the camera to run on. This was near the Imperial Gate, the main entrance to the palace. Gail and Brent were going to run across the courtyard and out through the gate. Then shooting would stop for the day.

Very early the next morning, we would start again. This time it would be Gail and me running out of the Imperial Gate and getting into the Ford Mustang. I was going to be in a movie! I was so excited, I could hardly sleep that night. I needn’t have got so excited.

We arrived at the set at four o’clock the next morning. We had to shoot the scene before there was much traffic on the roads. It took nearly an hour to get the cameras and lights in the right positions. Then Carla asked Gail and me to rehearse our scene. We had to run out of the gate and get into the car.

Who would have thought that a simple thing like getting into a car could he so difficult? Carla made us do it again and again. Then she shot the scene three times. Each time, she changed the position of the cameras.

After that, she did some shots of me closing the car door and starting the engine. I had to do this several times too.

‘OK, Alan,’ Carla said as she put her head in through the car window. ‘That was fine. Now I want you to start the car and drive away. Remember, you are being chased. I want a real fast start! Spin the car wheels! As you start the car, the two guys in red will come running out of the gate and they will reach the car just as you drive off. Then they’ll get into the Mercedes and follow you.’

‘We’ll be behind both cars in these’ Carla pointed to two trucks with cameras on them. ‘Just go down the hill as far as the tramlines, but don’t let the Mercedes catch you,’ she said. ‘It’ll be easy! OK?’

‘I hope so,’ I said with a nervous smile.

When Carla walked away, Gail touched my arm. ‘Don’t worry, Lenny. You’ll be fine,’ she said.

It wasn’t as easy as Carla had said. The first time I tried to do a high-speed start, the car’s engine stopped. The second time, I spun the wheels so much that a cloud of smoke and dust came up from the ground. The cameramen couldn’t see us. The third time I started too quickly, and the guys in red couldn’t reach our car before we drove away.

Carla was very patient. ‘OK, let’s do it once more,’ she said with a smile.

‘Cameras! Action!’

I tried again. This time it was good! The Mustang shot forward as the two men in red shirts came running out of the Imperial Gate. They just reached the Mustang as we drove away, with our wheels spinning and our tyres screaming. Then they jumped into a black Mercedes which was waiting with its engine running.

I looked in the driving-mirror as I drove away from the Topkapi Palace. The Mercedes was just swinging out behind us. Behind the Mercedes were the two trucks with cameras on them.

I felt great. We had done it! I looked at Gail. The windows were open and her hair was blowing in the wind. She looked beautiful!

‘Watch the road, Lenny,’ Gail said. ‘And stop looking at me.’ But she laughed.

We were outside the palace area now and, although it was only half-past five, there was quite a lot of traffic on the road. I had to go slowly behind a crowded minibus, and the Mercedes got much closer to us. Looking quickly in the driving-mirror, I overtook the minibus and I put my foot down.

But the Mercedes continued to get closer. I put my hand on the horn. The loud sound made a group of people who were crossing the road jump out of the way.

The black Mercedes was coming closer and closer, but the camera trucks were now far behind. They couldn’t get any shots from that distance. Something was wrong!

‘This wasn’t meant to happen,’ I shouted to Gail as I swerved to avoid a bus. ‘Carla’s going to make us do this scene again.’

Gail didn’t reply. She was staring in horror at an old man, who was pushing a cart across the road in front of us. I hit the brakes. The tyres screamed! Then I put my foot down on the accelerator again and turned the steering wheel hard. We rushed past the cart, missing it by a few centimetres.

But a moment later, there was a crash as the Mercedes hit it, pushing it off the road. I looked in the mirror and I was pleased to see that the old man was OK, even if his cart wasn’t.

But the Mercedes was getting close to us again, and soon it was only a few metres behind us.

Bang!

The Mercedes hit the back of the Mustang! Fortunately the road in front was clear, and I put my foot down again.

Crack! Crack!

Two gun shots! What was happening? I looked in the mirror again. The passenger in the Mercedes was leaning out of his window with a gun in his hand.

‘This was definitely not meant to happen’ I shouted to Gail. ‘Get down!’

‘Shut up and drive faster,’ she replied from the floor of the car.

I pushed the accelerator to the floor.