Sucker punched.
I felt myself deflate a little. “All right,” I finally said. “Thank you for your time.” I turned, walked back to the door, and stepped out into the summer sun.
I moved to stand under the shade of a tree beside the road. If I smoked, I was pretty sure right about then was when I’d be stuffing the entire pack into my mouth.
I looked down at the paper bag and pulled out the canister with the dented lid. There were secrets on these reels. Secrets that would shed light on the break-ins.
The murder.
The attack on me.
Today’s shooting.
And perhaps even the identity of the poor bastard killed a century ago, and whyDickson’sown life was in danger from these films being in existence.
“Guess that’s that,” I said to myself.
“Mr. Snow?”
I turned around, pushed my sunglasses up, and watched Greta Harris come out the museum doors. She had her purse hanging from an arm and walked with purpose toward the end of the block.
“I’m going on lunch,” she stated, passing me. “Do you like beer?”
SO, THEplus to visiting Astoria was the amazing German beer garden only two blocks away from Kaufman Studios and the museum. It had a huge outdoor seating arrangement, with a speaker system for live music and a massive screen for sporting events. Inside, the light was subdued and it was illuminated mostly by the dozen flat-screens playing different soccer and baseball matches. The exception being one television in the far corner of the drinking hall that seemed to have been left on the soap opera channel by mistake.
Steinway Bierhaus definitely made their money off the film and television crowd. This I’d pieced together by the fact that the bar near the door had specialty drinks with names like Rosebud or 123 Sesame Shot, and that every Monday night was Producer’s Night. I figured that was the same thing as ladies’ night, but you had to be a producer…. Luckily for Greta and I, it was the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday, so we shared the communal tables with no one but our pints and two exceptionally large pretzels.
“There isn’t a lot I can do for you,” Greta said. She took a sip of beer. “Officially through the museum, at least. We have strict policies in place, especially for information. I can’t even guarantee we’d have what you’re looking for, on top of having to wait and paying the research fees.”
I nodded.
“And the guided tours, while they are quite good, they’re ninety minutes and cover the entire Behind the Screen exhibit. Our educators likely won’t know the nitty-gritty.”
“But you do?”
Greta broke her pretzel into a few pieces. “I have an MFA in film studies and worked as a television producer for twenty years. I know some things.”
I smiled. I liked her.
“Hopefully I know what you’re on the hunt to learn.”
“Have you ever heard of, while Dickson was employed for Edison, some attack on his life?”
“Oh no.” Greta frowned and shook her head. “Never.Granted… the past gets a bit hinky around the birth of the Kinetoscope.”
“How so?” I took a long, refreshing drink.
“Scholars to this day debate how much involvement Edison had with the physical construction of the camera and viewer. He patented it, sure, but he and Dickson parted ways in ’95 with a rather strained relationship. Documents have been conveniently lost, changed, opinions have soured personal accounts…. It’s hard to get a concise view of this period in film history.”
“But one thing for certain is that Dicksonwasthe primary inventor,” I said.
“Without a doubt,” she agreed. “Cinema history was made with Dickson.”
“What was the reason for his leaving the company and Black Maria?” I asked around a bite of pretzel. It was still warm, and the spicy mustard dip…. I almost made an orgasmic sound but managed to stifle it.
Greta held up a finger as she made good headway on her beer. “This is a moment I find particularly fascinating. William Edward Gilmore was appointed general manager of the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1894, and by most accounts, was a tough businessman. By then, Dickson had begun moonlighting for the Latham brothers. They owned a Kinetoscope parlor in New York City and were instrumental in pioneering one of the first machines to project footage for an audience. Such parlors wouldn’t need half a dozen Edison machines at start-up, and instead could create a business with a single unit.”
“Cost-effective,” I said.
