he: A Novel(63)

The way he sees it, he is working for Lois, and he is working for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and he is working to pay Ben Shipman’s legal fees. So if he is already working for these three entities, he will not work for Hal Roach, or certainly not at a lower level than Baby LeRoy, and not on a picture he dislikes. It does not matter that Sons of the Desert is drawing crowds and acclaim. It does not matter that even Babe sees the artistic potential in features. He has exploded his existence, and no single aspect will resume its proper situation.

He does not want to work for Hal Roach, but if he does not work, he cannot pay alimony.

He does not want to pay alimony, but Lois will not take him back.

He does not want to be with Ruth, but he has to be with someone.

The solution to his problems is to return to Lois.

But Lois will not have him back.

And he does not want to pay alimony.

And, and, and.

He writes another letter to Lois.

Hal Roach is staring at Henry Ginsberg. Henry Ginsberg makes Hal Roach uneasy because Hal Roach believes that Henry Ginsberg is not above firing even him. Also, Henry Ginsberg appears incapable of being the bearer of good tidings. Either Henry Ginsberg is a jinx or Henry Ginsberg just likes bad news.

He says he’s sick, says Henry Ginsberg.

He’s not sick, says Hal Roach. If he is, it’s from alcohol poisoning.

– He’s in breach of his contract.

– I know what he’s in breach of.

Hal Roach has MGM on his back over Babes in Toyland. MGM has committed a lot of money to the picture, and Hal Roach’s reputation now rests on delivering it. But Hal Roach also loves Babes in Toyland. It has become Hal Roach’s pet project, and a symbol of all that has been achieved by his studio. Money will be spent on the picture, and the Audience will see every dollar up on the screen. But Hal Roach cannot start a picture on which one of its two principal stars is refusing to work. This man, of whom Hal Roach is fond and whom Hal Roach admires, for all their occasional differences, is jeopardizing Hal Roach’s studio.

And although Hal Roach will never admit it, there is a sense of hurt on his part. Hal Roach has kept faith with this man. Hal Roach has supported him, and tried to guide him. This is not what Hal Roach expects in return.

What do you want me to do? asks Henry Ginsberg.

– I want you to stop paying the son of a bitch.

So now he has gone from a situation in which he is not being paid enough to one in which he is not being paid at all.

Babe comes to speak with him. Babe has no quarrel with Hal Roach, and no difficulty with Babes in Toyland, but Babe will side with his partner in any disagreement with the studio because that is how Babe is. Yet now he has begun to make noises about quitting the country to work in Europe, about breaking up the partnership. Babe can’t believe that this is even being suggested. Babe has come for reassurance, and receives some, although not as much as Babe might like.

Hal will never let it happen, he tells Babe. We’re worth too much to him. It’s just a means of forcing Hal to make a better offer.

Did Ben approve this? Babe asks.

– Ben doesn’t sign off on everything I do. Ben can’t even secure me a decent alimony settlement. When Ben manages that, then I’ll talk to him about Hal.

– But would you do it? Would you really leave?

– I only know that I can’t continue this way.

Babe feels that he should meet again with Hal Roach, in Hal Roach’s office, over a drink.

I don’t need to meet with Hal, he says. I can find out what Hal has to say by reading the papers.

Hal Roach has taken to wrangling with him through Louella Parsons’s gossip column in the Los Angeles Examiner. Louella Parsons contracts tuberculosis in 1925, and is told she has six months to live, but this turns out to be untrue, which is now a source of great regret to many people in Hollywood. Louella Parsons is friendly with Hal Roach, and Hal Roach is feeding her details of his star’s personal problems in order to force him back to work.

He does not appreciate this negotiating tactic. He believes that it makes him look bad, and not just to the Audience: he does not wish Lois to think this is only about alimony payments. In addition, the more public the dispute becomes, the less likely it is that Lois will be willing to review the status of their relationship in private.

Hal, says Babe, is threatening to take us off the picture.

This, too, he has read in Louella Parsons’s gossip column. Hal Roach has floated the possibility of Wallace Beery replacing Babe, and Raymond Hatton replacing him. Wallace Beery is contracted to MGM, and is reputedly the world’s highest paid actor. Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton were once a comedy duo, but Wallace Beery now plays hard men and Raymond Hatton plays whatever Raymond Hatton is told to play. If Wallace Beery was ever funny, Wallace Beery has long since given up on being so, maybe around the time Wallace Beery raped his first wife, Gloria Swanson, on their wedding night, or so the story goes. True or not, nobody likes Wallace Beery except the Audience.

The Audience loves Wallace Beery.

Hal won’t replace us, he tells Babe. It’s all for show.

But Babe isn’t so sure. Babe has never seen Hal Roach so enraged. Henry Ginsberg has taken to asking Babe for his thoughts on potential partners if the team has to be broken up. Babe does not want a new partner, but Babe wants to work, and there is only so much golf a man can play. If Babe spends any more time at the Lakeside Golf Club, people will start rubbing his head for luck. And while Lillian DeBorba has exited, and Viola Morse has returned, Babe still requires the creative outlet provided by the studio, as well as the checks that come with it.