American Dreams by John Jakes Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John Jakes
merely truthful, for Fritzi to observe that the pictures served primarily an audience of disfranchised immigrants. Pictures depended for success on a universal language of pantomime, and on accessibility. Slum dwellers could often walk to a theater, saving carfare.
In a roped area at the front, children were segregated. Half a dozen noisy boys in patched knickers and cloth caps joked and punched each other. lisa whispered, 'Truants?'
'Or artful dodgers,' Fritzi said. She and lisa responded to a lantern slide requesting ladies to remove their hats. The grand dame in the illustration wore a wide-brimmed number carrying enough fruit and wild fowl to serve a banquet.
The professor left the piano to separate two of the boys rolling in the aisle and pummeling each other. When they were back in their seats, the operator switched off the tin-shaded ceiling lights and a new lantern slide appeared.
Paul's Pictures31
The Latest
T. B. HARMS
SONG HIT!
-- Words and Music By ;
HARRY
POLAND
As Featured By
FLAVIAFARREL
LThe Irish Songbird1
Page 40
'Oh, it's Pauli's friend,' lisa said, meaning the composer.
Two faces filled oval frames on either side of the slide copy. The Irish Songbird was a pouchy-eyed woman who must have been pretty before middle age and sagging flesh caught up with her. The man in the other frame, Harry Poland, had crossed the Atlantic in steerage with Paul in 1891. A Polish immigrant boy, he'd adopted a new name, found his way into the music business, and now wrote popular songs successfully. Harry was a long-jawed young man with a broad smile and lively eyes. The photographer caught him lifting a summer straw hat off his dark curly hair; the pose reminded Fritzi of Paul's snapshot. Paul was light-hearted much of the time, and the composer looked like that, too. Maybe that's why they had become friends, and saw each other in New York whenever they could.
The first song slide appeared, illustrated by a photo of a man in goggles and a young woman in a big hat and dust veil seated in an auto. Song lyrics were superimposed on the machine's long hood. The professor played the catchy tune.
THATAUTO-MO-BIUNG FEELING
IS STEAL-ING O-VER ME
Next slide: stuffed doves hovering above the couple, who were hugging.
The rowdy boys jeered and made farting noises.
it's an ap-peal-ing feeling,
to- man -tic as can be
'Get the hook,' cried one of the boys. The lecturer stepped from the 32
Dreamers
podium and thwacked the offender by flicking his index finger off his thumb, a painful reminder of Rudolf.
lisa sang along in her heavily accented voice. Fritzi found herself singing too. Paul's friend wrote infectious melodies.
When the song slides ended, a clackety noise in the booth said the operator was turning the crank of the projector. A beam of light shot over the audience. The boys clapped and whistled as a young woman with a Page 41
leashed terrier paraded in a sunlit park. The picture was dim, the image scratched and filled with annoying bubble-like eruptions of light. The lecturer announced, 'Mary's Mutt, a comic novelty.'
The three-minute sequence started with Mary accidentally letting go of the leash, then reacting with outrageous mugging as her dog dashed off.
Chasing him, she enlisted a policeman, then a young gent eating a sandwich on a park bench. The crude film was no more than an excuse for the three actors to run around wildly, bumping into trees and each other.
'The Gigolo, a spicy import from Paris.'
This picture involved a dandy with a pointed mustache, an older woman, and a young waitress he attempted to pinch. The set consisted of table, chairs, and a canvas backdrop painted as a restaurant. Halfway through the silly story someone behind the canvas bumped it and made it ripple. The actors went right on. How could anyone be a steady patron of such stuff?
'The latest from the American Luxograph.'
'Oh, here it is,' lisa said, grabbing Fritzi's hand.
'Teddy in Panama.' Paul's first
In a roped area at the front, children were segregated. Half a dozen noisy boys in patched knickers and cloth caps joked and punched each other. lisa whispered, 'Truants?'
'Or artful dodgers,' Fritzi said. She and lisa responded to a lantern slide requesting ladies to remove their hats. The grand dame in the illustration wore a wide-brimmed number carrying enough fruit and wild fowl to serve a banquet.
The professor left the piano to separate two of the boys rolling in the aisle and pummeling each other. When they were back in their seats, the operator switched off the tin-shaded ceiling lights and a new lantern slide appeared.
Paul's Pictures31
The Latest
T. B. HARMS
SONG HIT!
-- Words and Music By ;
HARRY
POLAND
As Featured By
FLAVIAFARREL
LThe Irish Songbird1
Page 40
'Oh, it's Pauli's friend,' lisa said, meaning the composer.
Two faces filled oval frames on either side of the slide copy. The Irish Songbird was a pouchy-eyed woman who must have been pretty before middle age and sagging flesh caught up with her. The man in the other frame, Harry Poland, had crossed the Atlantic in steerage with Paul in 1891. A Polish immigrant boy, he'd adopted a new name, found his way into the music business, and now wrote popular songs successfully. Harry was a long-jawed young man with a broad smile and lively eyes. The photographer caught him lifting a summer straw hat off his dark curly hair; the pose reminded Fritzi of Paul's snapshot. Paul was light-hearted much of the time, and the composer looked like that, too. Maybe that's why they had become friends, and saw each other in New York whenever they could.
The first song slide appeared, illustrated by a photo of a man in goggles and a young woman in a big hat and dust veil seated in an auto. Song lyrics were superimposed on the machine's long hood. The professor played the catchy tune.
THATAUTO-MO-BIUNG FEELING
IS STEAL-ING O-VER ME
Next slide: stuffed doves hovering above the couple, who were hugging.
The rowdy boys jeered and made farting noises.
it's an ap-peal-ing feeling,
to- man -tic as can be
'Get the hook,' cried one of the boys. The lecturer stepped from the 32
Dreamers
podium and thwacked the offender by flicking his index finger off his thumb, a painful reminder of Rudolf.
lisa sang along in her heavily accented voice. Fritzi found herself singing too. Paul's friend wrote infectious melodies.
When the song slides ended, a clackety noise in the booth said the operator was turning the crank of the projector. A beam of light shot over the audience. The boys clapped and whistled as a young woman with a Page 41
leashed terrier paraded in a sunlit park. The picture was dim, the image scratched and filled with annoying bubble-like eruptions of light. The lecturer announced, 'Mary's Mutt, a comic novelty.'
The three-minute sequence started with Mary accidentally letting go of the leash, then reacting with outrageous mugging as her dog dashed off.
Chasing him, she enlisted a policeman, then a young gent eating a sandwich on a park bench. The crude film was no more than an excuse for the three actors to run around wildly, bumping into trees and each other.
'The Gigolo, a spicy import from Paris.'
This picture involved a dandy with a pointed mustache, an older woman, and a young waitress he attempted to pinch. The set consisted of table, chairs, and a canvas backdrop painted as a restaurant. Halfway through the silly story someone behind the canvas bumped it and made it ripple. The actors went right on. How could anyone be a steady patron of such stuff?
'The latest from the American Luxograph.'
'Oh, here it is,' lisa said, grabbing Fritzi's hand.
'Teddy in Panama.' Paul's first
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