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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29209-8.txt b/29209-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0dddb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/29209-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,768 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Reel Life Films, by Samuel Kimball Merwin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Reel Life Films + +Author: Samuel Kimball Merwin + +Release Date: June 23, 2009 [EBook #29209] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REEL LIFE FILMS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _At least a contributing factor to the current cycle of science + fiction movies being made in Hollywood is the touchiness of + minorities having their nationals being portrayed as villains. + Cinema-makers are now trying to avoid further boycotts by using + space aliens for villains. But suppose some of our Extraterrestrial + neighbors are also a bit touchy?_ + + + reel + life + films + + _by ... Jacques Jean Ferrat_ + + + Pity the poor purveyor of mere entertainment in today's world. + He can't afford to offend a soul, yet must have a villain. + + +Twenty-five years ago Cyril Bezdek and E. Carter Dorwin would have met +in a private railway car belonging to one of them. They might even have +met in a private train. At any rate they would have met in absolute +privacy. But it being the present, they had to be content with a series +of adjoining rooms taking up less than one half of a car on the +Super-Sachem, fastest coast-to-coast train in the country. + +Their meeting in private was very important. Upon its results hinged the +future of Gigantic Studios, one of Hollywood's big three production +companies. + +Dorwin was the powerful plenipotentiary of the Consolidated Trust +Company of Manhattan and backer of Gigantic's multimillion-dollar +productions. He was on his way West to make sure that the interests of +his bank were being adequately served by the studio. + +Bezdek was Gigantic's supreme production boss. Former office boy, +writer, prop man, assistant-director, director, producer, and story +editor, he was the works--unless Dorwin decided otherwise during this +meeting and pulled the props out from under him. He had thought Dorwin's +trip sufficiently important to fly to Kansas City and get aboard the +Super-Sachem to be with the banker during the remainder of his trip. + +They had dined in the privacy of Dorwin's suite--Bezdek as befitted his +tortured duodenum on yogurt and Melba toast--Dorwin on caviar, consommé, +a thick steak with full trimmings, and a golden baked Alaska accompanied +by Armagnac. + +"How do you manage to keep thin?" Bezdek asked him, honestly envious. +"Polo, tennis? Golf would never do it." + +"I haven't exercised in ten years," said the banker, biting off the end +of a Havana Perfecto. He studied the little movie-maker over the flame +of his lighter. Outside, the flat expanse of Kansas rushed past through +the night at close to a hundred miles an hour. + +"Some people are lucky," said Bezdek, adjusting the broad knot of his +hand-painted Windsor tie. He was remarshaling his thoughts and ideas. It +was very important that he and Dorwin be in perfect accord before they +reached Hollywood. + +The banker, who was new to the movie-making branch of his business, +spoke first. "I presume," he said finally, "that you're aware of the +current feeling in our New York office?" + +The movie magnate gestured carelessly with a Saxony gun-club sleeve, +revealing a platinum wristwatch strap. "We hear rumors now and again," +he said. "It's about our science fiction films." Bezdek avoided making +it a question. He was far too shrewd for that. + +The banker, finding himself thus at a disadvantage, said amicably, "It's +not that the fantasy series isn't making money, understand." He paused, +looking faintly distressed. "It's just that, frankly, we feel they're +getting too far away from reality. Trips to Mars and Venus--strange +creatures.... It's not real--it's not dignified. Frankly, we question +whether an institution like ours can afford to be connected with +anything so--so ephemeral. After all ..." + +He paused as sounds of a scuffle in the corridor penetrated the room and +something or somebody was banged hard against the door. Bezdek, +frowning, jumped up nervously and went to the door, opened it, looked +out. + +"What's going on out there?" he inquired tartly. "_Ty!_" + +"Sorry, Mr. Bezdek," said Ty Falter, the mogul's private secretary, +bodyguard and constant companion. He was leaning against the far wall of +the corridor, mopping a cut lower lip with a bloody handkerchief. He was +a tall, deceptively sleepy-looking young man who virtually never slept. + +At the end of the corridor two lesser aides were half-dragging a tall +figure between them. Bezdek frowned as he caught a glimpse of a nodding +head in half profile--a near-perfect profile which showed no sign of a +bruise. + +"How did that creep get in here?" he snapped. "That's the same character +who tried to nail me at the K.C. airport." + +"Yes, sir," said Ty Falter apologetically. He glanced at his skinned +knuckles. "It was like hitting a brick," he said. He shook his head, +added, "Sorry, Mr. Bezdek. I don't know how he got in here." + +"Your job is to keep crackpots like that away from me," said the mogul. +He turned and went back inside the compartment. Dorwin was still sitting +as before. + +"Eavesdroppers?" the banker inquired with unruffled poise. + +"Not likely," said Bezdek, dropping into his seat. "Probably a +movie-crazy kid trying to chisel a screen test." + + * * * * * + +The incident had brought back his heartburn. He wanted to take a couple +of his pills but not in front of Dorwin. The banker might think he was +cracking up. These damned New Yorkers had no idea of the pressure under +which he labored. He sipped a glass of flat soda water. + +"Where were we?" Dorwin said quietly. Somehow to Bezdek he gave the +impression of remorseless rationality. "Oh, yes, these fantasy +movies--we're a little worried about them." + +"I thought you might be," said Bezdek, leaning forward and using the +full magnetism of his personality. Now that the issue was out in the +open his discomfort was eased. "Actually we don't think of our +interplanetary cycle as fantasy, Dorwin. We think of them as forecasts +of the future, as prophecy." + +"They're still a far cry from reality, or even the usual escapism," said +the banker. "Confidentially, I happen to _know_ that it will be +years--perhaps decades--before we make any live contact with the other +planets. Our national interests demand that we prevent atomic power from +superseding older methods before investments have realized on their +holdings to the fullest extent. And it is upon development of atomic +power that space-flight hinges at present." + +"Certainly I understand that--sound business," said Bezdek with his +one-sided smile. "I hope they wait for many years." + +Dorwin looked faintly astonished. "From these pictures of yours I must +confess I had derived a totally different impression of your theories," +he said slowly, flicking two inches of pale grey ash into the silver +tray at his elbow. + +"Listen to me," said the movie-maker, again leaning toward his +vis-à-vis. "We're making these pictures now because when the first man +or men come back from other planets our science fiction cycle is +finished. It will cease to be _escape_. We will then be faced with the +reality of what they really find--and that's bound to be a great deal +different from the sort of thing we're feeding them now." + +"It's a point I hadn't considered," said the banker, reaching for the +brandy. He nodded to himself as he poured it, then looked up at Bezdek +and asked, "But why this--space opera is the colloquial term, I believe? +Why not stick closer to real life?" + +Bezdek sat back and the slanting smile creased his features again. +"Minorities," he said. "That's why. Crackpot minorities object loudly at +being portrayed in films they don't like. We don't want to tread on +anybody's toes--there's trouble enough in the world as it is. People +want villains. But unless we make our villains--even minor +villains--people from nowhere we get boycotted somewhere by somebody. +And that costs us money." + +"Yes, of course," said the banker, "but I fail to see--" + +"It's simple." Bezdek was in full cry now and interrupted openly. +"People like conflict in their movies. If it's a Western they want their +heroes to fight Indians or Mexicans or rustlers. The Indians and +Mexicans object to being the villains and they've got big sympathetic +followings. Okay, so we use rustlers or renegade white men and we still +make Westerns--but not many. No plot variety." + +He sipped more soda water. "It's the same with everything else. Unless +we're in a war with a legitimate enemy to hate we can't use villains. +It's almost enough to make a man wish--" + +"Not with the H-bomb, Bezdek," said Dorwin frigidly. + +"Of course not--I was only speaking figuratively," said the movie-maker +hastily. "I'm as much against war as anyone. But that's what makes these +interplanetary movies great stuff. We can run in all the villains we +want--make them just as bad as we want. Audiences really like to have +someone they can hate." + +"I see," said Dorwin. He permitted himself to look faintly pleased. +"After all, a Martian can hardly protest what we do with him. I see your +point now." + +"You've got it," said Bezdek, beaming now. He leaned forward and added, +"Furthermore, we've got four new pictures in the works for the space +cycle that are really going to--" + +He broke off, interrupted by a knock at the door. He stared at the +banker, seeking someone to share his annoyance, found Dorwin staring out +the window, frowning. + +"The train seems to have stopped," said the banker. + +Bezdek turned to the window. It was true. The night was clouded and +dark but he could make out a single tree in faint silhouette and it was +not moving. The knock on the stateroom door came again. + +"I'd better see who it is," said Bezdek, rising. "Maybe something is +wrong." + +He opened the door quickly--all but fell back into his seat. The tall +young man with the too-perfect features--the man who had tried in vain +to speak to him at the Kansas City airport, who had been forcibly +evicted earlier from the car--stood there! + +The young man smiled and it was much too cold to be ingratiating if that +was its intent. He said, looking down on both men, "I think you will +wish to talk to me now." + +The sheer effrontery of it rendered Cyril Bezdek speechless for the +first time in years. Looking past the intruder through the angle of the +open door he could see Ty Falter sitting on the corridor floor, leaning +against the wall. His eyes were closed, his head canted at an odd angle. + +It was Dorwin who first found words. "Who are you?" he inquired. "What +do you want?" + +"I am from Mars," said the stranger. "I have come here to enter a +protest against the manner in which Mr. Bezdek's motion pictures are +portraying my people." + +The movie-maker's mouth dropped open. He closed it quickly, glanced +across at the banker, saw equal bewilderment on that usually poker-face. +On impulse, Bezdek reached for the buzzer that would summon aid and +pressed it firmly several times. + +"No one will answer," said the intruder in a voice remarkable not for +its accent but for its lack of any. "We have been forced to--to +immobilize this train in order to see you. It has been very difficult to +reach you, Mr. Bezdek, I am sure through no fault of your own. But the +people of my planet feel very strongly about this matter and I must get +some satisfaction for them." + +"So help me," said the mogul, his thin face purple with anger, "if this +is a gag I'll see you jailed for it! And before you're jailed you're +going to have a very unpleas--" + +"No, Mr. Bezdek--Mr. Dorwin--this is not a joke. We of Mars are proud of +our culture, our civilization. We do not like being portrayed as evil +and ridiculous creatures. We're not like those filthy Venerians. We +Martians have a great self-respect." + +"_Ostrich feathers!_" Bezdek roared at the dead-panned intruder. "You +may not be aware of it but there are severe penalties for holding up a +train on this--in this country. You can't go around slugging people +either. Look at Ty out there." + +"Your servant will be all right," said the intruder, "as will the others +aboard this train. I can release them whenever you agree that my mission +is to be taken seriously." + +"All right," said Bezdek, whose mind was nothing if not acrobatic. +"Suppose you are from Mars. Tell me why your people object to our +movies. Surely they aren't seeing them on Mars?" + +"No. But your Earthmen will reach our planet soon and your opinion of us +will be shaped in some degree by these movies they have seen. And since +the relationships of the near-future are of vital import to us now we +must not be represented as other than we are. Such misconceptions could +breed interplanetary war." He shuddered. + +"I think you're crazy!" said Bezdek. He turned to the banker, who was +again staring out the window. + +"There's something out there--look," said Dorwin. + +"That is our ship," the intruder told them blandly. "That is why we +stopped the train here. It is the only flat area sufficiently unsettled +for our landing and departure without detection. We must return at once +or lose perihelion." + +"Let me see," said Bezdek. He peered through the window. There _was_ +something out there--something black and vague and shaped like an +immense turtle with jagged projections. He tried to tell himself he was +seeing things, failed. + +"Amazing!" said E. Carter Dorwin. "It's utterly amazing!" + +"Incredible is the word for it," Bezdek said wearily. He faced the +intruder, said bluntly, "Very well, you say you're from Mars. And I say +to your face that you aren't!" + +"You seem remarkably sure, Mr. Bezdek." + +"And why not?" The movie-maker was in his element now, delivering the +clincher in an argument. "Our scientists have proved conclusively that +Earthmen cannot exist on Mars without space-suits. You say you're a +Martian. Yet you look like one of us. So if you can live on Mars, how +can you live in our atmosphere without a space-suit of some sort? +There's one for you to answer!" He chortled. + +"But I _am_ wearing protection--a protective suit arranged to give the +impression that I am an Earthman." A flicker of something akin to +distaste passed over his singularly immobile face. + +"I'd like to see what you _do_ look like," said Dorwin, suddenly +entering into the eerie conversation. + +Something like a sigh escaped the intruder. Then he said, "Very well. It +is important that you believe me, so--" His hands went to the top of his +scalp and deliberately he peeled the life-like mask slowly from the +hidden features of his thoroughly Martian face! + +It was a very odd face--not at all human. It reminded Bezdek a little of +an immutably sad Bassett Hound he kept in his Hollywood kennel. It made +Dorwin think of his mother-in-law. It was not a frightening face and the +single eye in the center of the forehead held them with its mournful +regard, held them, held them ... + +When they were thoroughly under its hypnotic spell the Martian began to +speak softly ... + + * * * * * + +Ty Falter was slow in waking up. But when he realized that he was lying +there in the corridor he came to with a start. If Bezdek ever found out +about this he'd be cooked as far as Hollywood went! + +He got to his feet, his unsteadiness helped not at all by the fact that +the train chose that moment to start with a jerk. He grabbed at the wall +as a meteor flashed through the dark of the Kansas night outside the +window. + +Funny, he thought, the damned thing was going _up_, not _down_. But he +forgot about the meteor as he heard the voices coming from the stateroom +he was being paid to guard. He reeled over to the partly opened door and +listened. + +Bezdek was talking volubly, enthusiastically as he did when he spoke of +the actual making of a picture. "... so we'll only have to reshoot a few +sequences, Dorwin. The cost will be nothing compared to the returns. +Think of it! Our space-pilot hero crashes on _Venus_. He has to fight +horrible slimy swamp creatures--we can make them look like crocodiles +with six or eight legs--to reach the mountaintop where the girl is +hiding ..." + +He paused and Dorwin said gravely, "I'm glad, since these space operas +seem to be necessary, that you have decided to locate them on a _real_ +planet like Venus rather than a _fictitious_ one like Mars. If minority +pressure groups force us to use fantasy then it is as well to stay as +credible as possible." + +"Right, Dorwin! Right on the nose!" cried Bezdek. "And we can make real +villains out of these Venerians, real bang-up nasty heavies!" + +The banker's voice came through the door again. He said doubtfully, "But +how can we be sure about the Venerians ..." + +"Because I can feel it _here_!" cried the movie-maker. The thump that +accompanied his final word told Ty that his boss had smote himself +dramatically over the heart as he delivered the climactic line. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ May 1954. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and + typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Reel Life Films, by Samuel Kimball Merwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REEL LIFE FILMS *** + +***** This file should be named 29209-8.txt or 29209-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/0/29209/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Reel Life Films + +Author: Samuel Kimball Merwin + +Release Date: June 23, 2009 [EBook #29209] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REEL LIFE FILMS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="bk1"><p><i><small>At least a contributing factor to the current cycle of science fiction +movies being made in Hollywood is the touchiness of minorities having +their nationals being portrayed as villains. Cinema-makers are now trying +to avoid further boycotts by using space aliens for villains. But +suppose some of our Extraterrestrial neighbors are also a bit touchy?</small></i></p></div> + +<div class="bk2"><h1><b>reel<br /> +life<br /> +films</b></h1> + +<h2><small><i>by ... Jacques Jean Ferrat</i></small></h2> + +<p class="pr1"><big><b>Pity the poor purveyor of mere entertainment in today's world. +He can't afford to offend a soul, yet must have a villain.</b></big></p></div> + +<p class="cap"><span class="smcap">Twenty-five</span> years ago Cyril +Bezdek and E. Carter Dorwin +would have met in a private railway +car belonging to one of them. +They might even have met in a +private train. At any rate they +would have met in absolute privacy. +But it being the present, +they had to be content with a +series of adjoining rooms taking +up less than one half of a car on +the Super-Sachem, fastest coast-to-coast +train in the country.</p> + +<p>Their meeting in private was +very important. Upon its results +hinged the future of Gigantic +Studios, one of Hollywood's big +three production companies.</p> + +<p>Dorwin was the powerful +plenipotentiary of the Consolidated +Trust Company of Manhattan +and backer of Gigantic's +multimillion-dollar productions. +He was on his way West to make +sure that the interests of his bank +were being adequately served by +the studio.</p> + +<p>Bezdek was Gigantic's supreme +production boss. Former office +boy, writer, prop man, assistant-director, +director, producer, and +story editor, he was the works—unless +Dorwin decided otherwise +during this meeting and pulled the +props out from under him. He +had thought Dorwin's trip sufficiently +important to fly to Kansas +City and get aboard the Super-Sachem +to be with the banker +during the remainder of his trip.</p> + +<p>They had dined in the privacy +of Dorwin's suite—Bezdek as befitted +his tortured duodenum on +yogurt and Melba toast—Dorwin +on caviar, consommé, a thick +steak with full trimmings, and a +golden baked Alaska accompanied +by Armagnac.</p> + +<p>"How do you manage to keep +thin?" Bezdek asked him, honestly +envious. "Polo, tennis? Golf +would never do it."</p> + +<p>"I haven't exercised in ten +years," said the banker, biting off +the end of a Havana Perfecto. He +studied the little movie-maker +over the flame of his lighter. Outside, +the flat expanse of Kansas +rushed past through the night at +close to a hundred miles an hour.</p> + +<p>"Some people are lucky," said +Bezdek, adjusting the broad knot +of his hand-painted Windsor tie. +He was remarshaling his thoughts +and ideas. It was very important +that he and Dorwin be in perfect +accord before they reached Hollywood.</p> + +<p>The banker, who was new to +the movie-making branch of his +business, spoke first. "I presume," +he said finally, "that you're aware +of the current feeling in our New +York office?"</p> + +<p>The movie magnate gestured +carelessly with a Saxony gun-club +sleeve, revealing a platinum +wristwatch strap. "We hear rumors +now and again," he said. +"It's about our science fiction +films." Bezdek avoided making it +a question. He was far too shrewd +for that.</p> + +<p>The banker, finding himself +thus at a disadvantage, said amicably, +"It's not that the fantasy +series isn't making money, understand." +He paused, looking faintly +distressed. "It's just that, frankly, +we feel they're getting too far +away from reality. Trips to Mars +and Venus—strange creatures.... +It's not real—it's not dignified. +Frankly, we question whether an +institution like ours can afford to +be connected with anything so—so +ephemeral. After all ..."</p> + +<p>He paused as sounds of a +scuffle in the corridor penetrated +the room and something or somebody +was banged hard against the +door. Bezdek, frowning, jumped +up nervously and went to the +door, opened it, looked out.</p> + +<p>"What's going on out there?" +he inquired tartly. "<i>Ty!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Sorry, Mr. Bezdek," said Ty +Falter, the mogul's private secretary, +bodyguard and constant +companion. He was leaning +against the far wall of the corridor, +mopping a cut lower lip +with a bloody handkerchief. He +was a tall, deceptively sleepy-looking +young man who virtually +never slept.</p> + +<p>At the end of the corridor two +lesser aides were half-dragging a +tall figure between them. Bezdek +frowned as he caught a glimpse of +a nodding head in half profile—a +near-perfect profile which showed +no sign of a bruise.</p> + +<p>"How did that creep get in +here?" he snapped. "That's the +same character who tried to nail +me at the K.C. airport."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Ty Falter +apologetically. He glanced at his +skinned knuckles. "It was like +hitting a brick," he said. He shook +his head, added, "Sorry, Mr. +Bezdek. I don't know how he +got in here."</p> + +<p>"Your job is to keep crackpots +like that away from me," said the +mogul. He turned and went back +inside the compartment. Dorwin +was still sitting as before.</p> + +<p>"Eavesdroppers?" the banker +inquired with unruffled poise.</p> + +<p>"Not likely," said Bezdek, +dropping into his seat. "Probably +a movie-crazy kid trying to chisel +a screen test."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The incident had brought back +his heartburn. He wanted to take +a couple of his pills but not in +front of Dorwin. The banker +might think he was cracking up. +These damned New Yorkers had +no idea of the pressure under +which he labored. He sipped a +glass of flat soda water.</p> + +<p>"Where were we?" Dorwin said +quietly. Somehow to Bezdek he +gave the impression of remorseless +rationality. "Oh, yes, these +fantasy movies—we're a little +worried about them."</p> + +<p>"I thought you might be," said +Bezdek, leaning forward and +using the full magnetism of his +personality. Now that the issue +was out in the open his discomfort +was eased. "Actually we don't +think of our interplanetary cycle +as fantasy, Dorwin. We think of +them as forecasts of the future, +as prophecy."</p> + +<p>"They're still a far cry from +reality, or even the usual escapism," +said the banker. "Confidentially, +I happen to <i>know</i> that +it will be years—perhaps decades—before +we make any live contact +with the other planets. Our national +interests demand that we +prevent atomic power from superseding +older methods before investments +have realized on their +holdings to the fullest extent. And +it is upon development of atomic +power that space-flight hinges at +present."</p> + +<p>"Certainly I understand that—sound +business," said Bezdek with +his one-sided smile. "I hope they +wait for many years."</p> + +<p>Dorwin looked faintly astonished. +"From these pictures of +yours I must confess I had derived +a totally different impression of +your theories," he said slowly, +flicking two inches of pale grey +ash into the silver tray at his +elbow.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me," said the movie-maker, +again leaning toward his +vis-à-vis. "We're making these +pictures now because when the +first man or men come back from +other planets our science fiction +cycle is finished. It will cease to +be <i>escape</i>. We will then be faced +with the reality of what they really +find—and that's bound to be a +great deal different from the sort +of thing we're feeding them now."</p> + +<p>"It's a point I hadn't considered," +said the banker, reaching +for the brandy. He nodded to +himself as he poured it, then +looked up at Bezdek and asked, +"But why this—space opera is the +colloquial term, I believe? Why +not stick closer to real life?"</p> + +<p>Bezdek sat back and the slanting +smile creased his features +again. "Minorities," he said. +"That's why. Crackpot minorities +object loudly at being portrayed +in films they don't like. We don't +want to tread on anybody's toes—there's +trouble enough in the +world as it is. People want villains. +But unless we make our +villains—even minor villains—people +from nowhere we get boycotted +somewhere by somebody. +And that costs us money."</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course," said the +banker, "but I fail to see—"</p> + +<p>"It's simple." Bezdek was in +full cry now and interrupted +openly. "People like conflict in +their movies. If it's a Western +they want their heroes to fight +Indians or Mexicans or rustlers. +The Indians and Mexicans object +to being the villains and they've +got big sympathetic followings. +Okay, so we use rustlers or renegade +white men and we still make +Westerns—but not many. No plot +variety."</p> + +<p>He sipped more soda water. +"It's the same with everything else. +Unless we're in a war with a +legitimate enemy to hate we can't +use villains. It's almost enough to +make a man wish—"</p> + +<p>"Not with the H-bomb, Bezdek," +said Dorwin frigidly.</p> + +<p>"Of course not—I was only +speaking figuratively," said the +movie-maker hastily. "I'm as +much against war as anyone. But +that's what makes these interplanetary +movies great stuff. We +can run in all the villains we want—make +them just as bad as we +want. Audiences really like to +have someone they can hate."</p> + +<p>"I see," said Dorwin. He permitted +himself to look faintly +pleased. "After all, a Martian can +hardly protest what we do with +him. I see your point now."</p> + +<p>"You've got it," said Bezdek, +beaming now. He leaned forward +and added, "Furthermore, we've +got four new pictures in the works +for the space cycle that are really +going to—"</p> + +<p>He broke off, interrupted by a +knock at the door. He stared at +the banker, seeking someone to +share his annoyance, found Dorwin +staring out the window, +frowning.</p> + +<p>"The train seems to have +stopped," said the banker.</p> + +<p>Bezdek turned to the window. +It was true. The night was +clouded and dark but he could +make out a single tree in faint +silhouette and it was not moving. +The knock on the stateroom door +came again.</p> + +<p>"I'd better see who it is," said +Bezdek, rising. "Maybe something +is wrong."</p> + +<p>He opened the door quickly—all +but fell back into his seat. The +tall young man with the too-perfect +features—the man who +had tried in vain to speak to him +at the Kansas City airport, who +had been forcibly evicted earlier +from the car—stood there!</p> + +<p>The young man smiled and it +was much too cold to be ingratiating +if that was its intent. He said, +looking down on both men, "I +think you will wish to talk to me +now."</p> + +<p>The sheer effrontery of it +rendered Cyril Bezdek speechless +for the first time in years. Looking +past the intruder through the +angle of the open door he could +see Ty Falter sitting on the corridor +floor, leaning against the +wall. His eyes were closed, his +head canted at an odd angle.</p> + +<p>It was Dorwin who first found +words. "Who are you?" he inquired. +"What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"I am from Mars," said the +stranger. "I have come here to +enter a protest against the manner +in which Mr. Bezdek's motion +pictures are portraying my +people."</p> + +<p>The movie-maker's mouth +dropped open. He closed it +quickly, glanced across at the +banker, saw equal bewilderment +on that usually poker-face. On +impulse, Bezdek reached for the +buzzer that would summon aid +and pressed it firmly several +times.</p> + +<p>"No one will answer," said the +intruder in a voice remarkable +not for its accent but for its lack +of any. "We have been forced to—to +immobilize this train in order +to see you. It has been very difficult +to reach you, Mr. Bezdek, +I am sure through no fault of +your own. But the people of my +planet feel very strongly about +this matter and I must get some +satisfaction for them."</p> + +<p>"So help me," said the mogul, +his thin face purple with anger, +"if this is a gag I'll see you jailed +for it! And before you're jailed +you're going to have a very unpleas—"</p> + +<p>"No, Mr. Bezdek—Mr. Dorwin—this +is not a joke. We of Mars +are proud of our culture, our +civilization. We do not like being +portrayed as evil and ridiculous +creatures. We're not like those +filthy Venerians. We Martians +have a great self-respect."</p> + +<p>"<i>Ostrich feathers!</i>" Bezdek +roared at the dead-panned intruder. +"You may not be aware +of it but there are severe penalties +for holding up a train on this—in +this country. You can't go +around slugging people either. +Look at Ty out there."</p> + +<p>"Your servant will be all right," +said the intruder, "as will the +others aboard this train. I can +release them whenever you agree +that my mission is to be taken +seriously."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Bezdek, whose +mind was nothing if not acrobatic. +"Suppose you are from Mars. +Tell me why your people object +to our movies. Surely they aren't +seeing them on Mars?"</p> + +<p>"No. But your Earthmen will +reach our planet soon and your +opinion of us will be shaped in +some degree by these movies they +have seen. And since the relationships +of the near-future are +of vital import to us now we must +not be represented as other than +we are. Such misconceptions +could breed interplanetary war." +He shuddered.</p> + +<p>"I think you're crazy!" said +Bezdek. He turned to the banker, +who was again staring out the +window.</p> + +<p>"There's something out there—look," +said Dorwin.</p> + +<p>"That is our ship," the intruder +told them blandly. "That is why +we stopped the train here. It is +the only flat area sufficiently unsettled +for our landing and departure +without detection. We +must return at once or lose +perihelion."</p> + +<p>"Let me see," said Bezdek. He +peered through the window. There +<i>was</i> something out there—something +black and vague and shaped +like an immense turtle with jagged +projections. He tried to tell himself +he was seeing things, failed.</p> + +<p>"Amazing!" said E. Carter Dorwin. +"It's utterly amazing!"</p> + +<p>"Incredible is the word for it," +Bezdek said wearily. He faced +the intruder, said bluntly, "Very +well, you say you're from Mars. +And I say to your face that you +aren't!"</p> + +<p>"You seem remarkably sure, +Mr. Bezdek."</p> + +<p>"And why not?" The movie-maker +was in his element now, +delivering the clincher in an argument. +"Our scientists have proved +conclusively that Earthmen cannot +exist on Mars without space-suits. +You say you're a Martian. +Yet you look like one of us. So +if you can live on Mars, how can +you live in our atmosphere without +a space-suit of some sort? +There's one for you to answer!" +He chortled.</p> + +<p>"But I <i>am</i> wearing protection—a +protective suit arranged to +give the impression that I am an +Earthman." A flicker of something +akin to distaste passed over +his singularly immobile face.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see what you <i>do</i> +look like," said Dorwin, suddenly +entering into the eerie conversation.</p> + +<p>Something like a sigh escaped +the intruder. Then he said, "Very +well. It is important that you believe +me, so—" His hands went +to the top of his scalp and deliberately +he peeled the life-like +mask slowly from the hidden +features of his thoroughly Martian +face!</p> + +<p>It was a very odd face—not at +all human. It reminded Bezdek +a little of an immutably sad Bassett Hound +he kept in his Hollywood +kennel. It made Dorwin +think of his mother-in-law. It +was not a frightening face and +the single eye in the center of +the forehead held them with its +mournful regard, held them, held +them ...</p> + +<p>When they were thoroughly +under its hypnotic spell the Martian +began to speak softly ...</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Ty Falter was slow in waking +up. But when he realized that he +was lying there in the corridor he +came to with a start. If Bezdek +ever found out about this he'd be +cooked as far as Hollywood went!</p> + +<p>He got to his feet, his unsteadiness +helped not at all by the fact +that the train chose that moment +to start with a jerk. He grabbed +at the wall as a meteor flashed +through the dark of the Kansas +night outside the window.</p> + +<p>Funny, he thought, the damned +thing was going <i>up</i>, not <i>down</i>. +But he forgot about the meteor +as he heard the voices coming +from the stateroom he was being +paid to guard. He reeled over to +the partly opened door and +listened.</p> + +<p>Bezdek was talking volubly, +enthusiastically as he did when he +spoke of the actual making of a +picture. "... so we'll only have +to reshoot a few sequences, Dorwin. +The cost will be nothing compared +to the returns. Think of it! +Our space-pilot hero crashes on +<i>Venus</i>. He has to fight horrible +slimy swamp creatures—we can +make them look like crocodiles +with six or eight legs—to reach +the mountaintop where the girl is +hiding ..."</p> + +<p>He paused and Dorwin said +gravely, "I'm glad, since these +space operas seem to be necessary, +that you have decided to locate +them on a <i>real</i> planet like Venus +rather than a <i>fictitious</i> one like +Mars. If minority pressure groups +force us to use fantasy then it is +as well to stay as credible as possible."</p> + +<p>"Right, Dorwin! Right on the +nose!" cried Bezdek. "And we +can make real villains out of these +Venerians, real bang-up nasty +heavies!"</p> + +<p>The banker's voice came +through the door again. He said +doubtfully, "But how can we be +sure about the Venerians ..."</p> + +<p>"Because I can feel it <i>here</i>!" +cried the movie-maker. The +thump that accompanied his final +word told Ty that his boss had +smote himself dramatically over +the heart as he delivered the +climactic line.</p> + +<div class="trn"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> +This etext was produced from <i>Fantastic Universe</i> May 1954. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. +copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and +typographical errors have been corrected without note.</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Reel Life Films, by Samuel Kimball Merwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REEL LIFE FILMS *** + +***** This file should be named 29209-h.htm or 29209-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/0/29209/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Reel Life Films + +Author: Samuel Kimball Merwin + +Release Date: June 23, 2009 [EBook #29209] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REEL LIFE FILMS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _At least a contributing factor to the current cycle of science + fiction movies being made in Hollywood is the touchiness of + minorities having their nationals being portrayed as villains. + Cinema-makers are now trying to avoid further boycotts by using + space aliens for villains. But suppose some of our Extraterrestrial + neighbors are also a bit touchy?_ + + + reel + life + films + + _by ... Jacques Jean Ferrat_ + + + Pity the poor purveyor of mere entertainment in today's world. + He can't afford to offend a soul, yet must have a villain. + + +Twenty-five years ago Cyril Bezdek and E. Carter Dorwin would have met +in a private railway car belonging to one of them. They might even have +met in a private train. At any rate they would have met in absolute +privacy. But it being the present, they had to be content with a series +of adjoining rooms taking up less than one half of a car on the +Super-Sachem, fastest coast-to-coast train in the country. + +Their meeting in private was very important. Upon its results hinged the +future of Gigantic Studios, one of Hollywood's big three production +companies. + +Dorwin was the powerful plenipotentiary of the Consolidated Trust +Company of Manhattan and backer of Gigantic's multimillion-dollar +productions. He was on his way West to make sure that the interests of +his bank were being adequately served by the studio. + +Bezdek was Gigantic's supreme production boss. Former office boy, +writer, prop man, assistant-director, director, producer, and story +editor, he was the works--unless Dorwin decided otherwise during this +meeting and pulled the props out from under him. He had thought Dorwin's +trip sufficiently important to fly to Kansas City and get aboard the +Super-Sachem to be with the banker during the remainder of his trip. + +They had dined in the privacy of Dorwin's suite--Bezdek as befitted his +tortured duodenum on yogurt and Melba toast--Dorwin on caviar, consomme, +a thick steak with full trimmings, and a golden baked Alaska accompanied +by Armagnac. + +"How do you manage to keep thin?" Bezdek asked him, honestly envious. +"Polo, tennis? Golf would never do it." + +"I haven't exercised in ten years," said the banker, biting off the end +of a Havana Perfecto. He studied the little movie-maker over the flame +of his lighter. Outside, the flat expanse of Kansas rushed past through +the night at close to a hundred miles an hour. + +"Some people are lucky," said Bezdek, adjusting the broad knot of his +hand-painted Windsor tie. He was remarshaling his thoughts and ideas. It +was very important that he and Dorwin be in perfect accord before they +reached Hollywood. + +The banker, who was new to the movie-making branch of his business, +spoke first. "I presume," he said finally, "that you're aware of the +current feeling in our New York office?" + +The movie magnate gestured carelessly with a Saxony gun-club sleeve, +revealing a platinum wristwatch strap. "We hear rumors now and again," +he said. "It's about our science fiction films." Bezdek avoided making +it a question. He was far too shrewd for that. + +The banker, finding himself thus at a disadvantage, said amicably, "It's +not that the fantasy series isn't making money, understand." He paused, +looking faintly distressed. "It's just that, frankly, we feel they're +getting too far away from reality. Trips to Mars and Venus--strange +creatures.... It's not real--it's not dignified. Frankly, we question +whether an institution like ours can afford to be connected with +anything so--so ephemeral. After all ..." + +He paused as sounds of a scuffle in the corridor penetrated the room and +something or somebody was banged hard against the door. Bezdek, +frowning, jumped up nervously and went to the door, opened it, looked +out. + +"What's going on out there?" he inquired tartly. "_Ty!_" + +"Sorry, Mr. Bezdek," said Ty Falter, the mogul's private secretary, +bodyguard and constant companion. He was leaning against the far wall of +the corridor, mopping a cut lower lip with a bloody handkerchief. He was +a tall, deceptively sleepy-looking young man who virtually never slept. + +At the end of the corridor two lesser aides were half-dragging a tall +figure between them. Bezdek frowned as he caught a glimpse of a nodding +head in half profile--a near-perfect profile which showed no sign of a +bruise. + +"How did that creep get in here?" he snapped. "That's the same character +who tried to nail me at the K.C. airport." + +"Yes, sir," said Ty Falter apologetically. He glanced at his skinned +knuckles. "It was like hitting a brick," he said. He shook his head, +added, "Sorry, Mr. Bezdek. I don't know how he got in here." + +"Your job is to keep crackpots like that away from me," said the mogul. +He turned and went back inside the compartment. Dorwin was still sitting +as before. + +"Eavesdroppers?" the banker inquired with unruffled poise. + +"Not likely," said Bezdek, dropping into his seat. "Probably a +movie-crazy kid trying to chisel a screen test." + + * * * * * + +The incident had brought back his heartburn. He wanted to take a couple +of his pills but not in front of Dorwin. The banker might think he was +cracking up. These damned New Yorkers had no idea of the pressure under +which he labored. He sipped a glass of flat soda water. + +"Where were we?" Dorwin said quietly. Somehow to Bezdek he gave the +impression of remorseless rationality. "Oh, yes, these fantasy +movies--we're a little worried about them." + +"I thought you might be," said Bezdek, leaning forward and using the +full magnetism of his personality. Now that the issue was out in the +open his discomfort was eased. "Actually we don't think of our +interplanetary cycle as fantasy, Dorwin. We think of them as forecasts +of the future, as prophecy." + +"They're still a far cry from reality, or even the usual escapism," said +the banker. "Confidentially, I happen to _know_ that it will be +years--perhaps decades--before we make any live contact with the other +planets. Our national interests demand that we prevent atomic power from +superseding older methods before investments have realized on their +holdings to the fullest extent. And it is upon development of atomic +power that space-flight hinges at present." + +"Certainly I understand that--sound business," said Bezdek with his +one-sided smile. "I hope they wait for many years." + +Dorwin looked faintly astonished. "From these pictures of yours I must +confess I had derived a totally different impression of your theories," +he said slowly, flicking two inches of pale grey ash into the silver +tray at his elbow. + +"Listen to me," said the movie-maker, again leaning toward his +vis-a-vis. "We're making these pictures now because when the first man +or men come back from other planets our science fiction cycle is +finished. It will cease to be _escape_. We will then be faced with the +reality of what they really find--and that's bound to be a great deal +different from the sort of thing we're feeding them now." + +"It's a point I hadn't considered," said the banker, reaching for the +brandy. He nodded to himself as he poured it, then looked up at Bezdek +and asked, "But why this--space opera is the colloquial term, I believe? +Why not stick closer to real life?" + +Bezdek sat back and the slanting smile creased his features again. +"Minorities," he said. "That's why. Crackpot minorities object loudly at +being portrayed in films they don't like. We don't want to tread on +anybody's toes--there's trouble enough in the world as it is. People +want villains. But unless we make our villains--even minor +villains--people from nowhere we get boycotted somewhere by somebody. +And that costs us money." + +"Yes, of course," said the banker, "but I fail to see--" + +"It's simple." Bezdek was in full cry now and interrupted openly. +"People like conflict in their movies. If it's a Western they want their +heroes to fight Indians or Mexicans or rustlers. The Indians and +Mexicans object to being the villains and they've got big sympathetic +followings. Okay, so we use rustlers or renegade white men and we still +make Westerns--but not many. No plot variety." + +He sipped more soda water. "It's the same with everything else. Unless +we're in a war with a legitimate enemy to hate we can't use villains. +It's almost enough to make a man wish--" + +"Not with the H-bomb, Bezdek," said Dorwin frigidly. + +"Of course not--I was only speaking figuratively," said the movie-maker +hastily. "I'm as much against war as anyone. But that's what makes these +interplanetary movies great stuff. We can run in all the villains we +want--make them just as bad as we want. Audiences really like to have +someone they can hate." + +"I see," said Dorwin. He permitted himself to look faintly pleased. +"After all, a Martian can hardly protest what we do with him. I see your +point now." + +"You've got it," said Bezdek, beaming now. He leaned forward and added, +"Furthermore, we've got four new pictures in the works for the space +cycle that are really going to--" + +He broke off, interrupted by a knock at the door. He stared at the +banker, seeking someone to share his annoyance, found Dorwin staring out +the window, frowning. + +"The train seems to have stopped," said the banker. + +Bezdek turned to the window. It was true. The night was clouded and +dark but he could make out a single tree in faint silhouette and it was +not moving. The knock on the stateroom door came again. + +"I'd better see who it is," said Bezdek, rising. "Maybe something is +wrong." + +He opened the door quickly--all but fell back into his seat. The tall +young man with the too-perfect features--the man who had tried in vain +to speak to him at the Kansas City airport, who had been forcibly +evicted earlier from the car--stood there! + +The young man smiled and it was much too cold to be ingratiating if that +was its intent. He said, looking down on both men, "I think you will +wish to talk to me now." + +The sheer effrontery of it rendered Cyril Bezdek speechless for the +first time in years. Looking past the intruder through the angle of the +open door he could see Ty Falter sitting on the corridor floor, leaning +against the wall. His eyes were closed, his head canted at an odd angle. + +It was Dorwin who first found words. "Who are you?" he inquired. "What +do you want?" + +"I am from Mars," said the stranger. "I have come here to enter a +protest against the manner in which Mr. Bezdek's motion pictures are +portraying my people." + +The movie-maker's mouth dropped open. He closed it quickly, glanced +across at the banker, saw equal bewilderment on that usually poker-face. +On impulse, Bezdek reached for the buzzer that would summon aid and +pressed it firmly several times. + +"No one will answer," said the intruder in a voice remarkable not for +its accent but for its lack of any. "We have been forced to--to +immobilize this train in order to see you. It has been very difficult to +reach you, Mr. Bezdek, I am sure through no fault of your own. But the +people of my planet feel very strongly about this matter and I must get +some satisfaction for them." + +"So help me," said the mogul, his thin face purple with anger, "if this +is a gag I'll see you jailed for it! And before you're jailed you're +going to have a very unpleas--" + +"No, Mr. Bezdek--Mr. Dorwin--this is not a joke. We of Mars are proud of +our culture, our civilization. We do not like being portrayed as evil +and ridiculous creatures. We're not like those filthy Venerians. We +Martians have a great self-respect." + +"_Ostrich feathers!_" Bezdek roared at the dead-panned intruder. "You +may not be aware of it but there are severe penalties for holding up a +train on this--in this country. You can't go around slugging people +either. Look at Ty out there." + +"Your servant will be all right," said the intruder, "as will the others +aboard this train. I can release them whenever you agree that my mission +is to be taken seriously." + +"All right," said Bezdek, whose mind was nothing if not acrobatic. +"Suppose you are from Mars. Tell me why your people object to our +movies. Surely they aren't seeing them on Mars?" + +"No. But your Earthmen will reach our planet soon and your opinion of us +will be shaped in some degree by these movies they have seen. And since +the relationships of the near-future are of vital import to us now we +must not be represented as other than we are. Such misconceptions could +breed interplanetary war." He shuddered. + +"I think you're crazy!" said Bezdek. He turned to the banker, who was +again staring out the window. + +"There's something out there--look," said Dorwin. + +"That is our ship," the intruder told them blandly. "That is why we +stopped the train here. It is the only flat area sufficiently unsettled +for our landing and departure without detection. We must return at once +or lose perihelion." + +"Let me see," said Bezdek. He peered through the window. There _was_ +something out there--something black and vague and shaped like an +immense turtle with jagged projections. He tried to tell himself he was +seeing things, failed. + +"Amazing!" said E. Carter Dorwin. "It's utterly amazing!" + +"Incredible is the word for it," Bezdek said wearily. He faced the +intruder, said bluntly, "Very well, you say you're from Mars. And I say +to your face that you aren't!" + +"You seem remarkably sure, Mr. Bezdek." + +"And why not?" The movie-maker was in his element now, delivering the +clincher in an argument. "Our scientists have proved conclusively that +Earthmen cannot exist on Mars without space-suits. You say you're a +Martian. Yet you look like one of us. So if you can live on Mars, how +can you live in our atmosphere without a space-suit of some sort? +There's one for you to answer!" He chortled. + +"But I _am_ wearing protection--a protective suit arranged to give the +impression that I am an Earthman." A flicker of something akin to +distaste passed over his singularly immobile face. + +"I'd like to see what you _do_ look like," said Dorwin, suddenly +entering into the eerie conversation. + +Something like a sigh escaped the intruder. Then he said, "Very well. It +is important that you believe me, so--" His hands went to the top of his +scalp and deliberately he peeled the life-like mask slowly from the +hidden features of his thoroughly Martian face! + +It was a very odd face--not at all human. It reminded Bezdek a little of +an immutably sad Bassett Hound he kept in his Hollywood kennel. It made +Dorwin think of his mother-in-law. It was not a frightening face and the +single eye in the center of the forehead held them with its mournful +regard, held them, held them ... + +When they were thoroughly under its hypnotic spell the Martian began to +speak softly ... + + * * * * * + +Ty Falter was slow in waking up. But when he realized that he was lying +there in the corridor he came to with a start. If Bezdek ever found out +about this he'd be cooked as far as Hollywood went! + +He got to his feet, his unsteadiness helped not at all by the fact that +the train chose that moment to start with a jerk. He grabbed at the wall +as a meteor flashed through the dark of the Kansas night outside the +window. + +Funny, he thought, the damned thing was going _up_, not _down_. But he +forgot about the meteor as he heard the voices coming from the stateroom +he was being paid to guard. He reeled over to the partly opened door and +listened. + +Bezdek was talking volubly, enthusiastically as he did when he spoke of +the actual making of a picture. "... so we'll only have to reshoot a few +sequences, Dorwin. The cost will be nothing compared to the returns. +Think of it! Our space-pilot hero crashes on _Venus_. He has to fight +horrible slimy swamp creatures--we can make them look like crocodiles +with six or eight legs--to reach the mountaintop where the girl is +hiding ..." + +He paused and Dorwin said gravely, "I'm glad, since these space operas +seem to be necessary, that you have decided to locate them on a _real_ +planet like Venus rather than a _fictitious_ one like Mars. If minority +pressure groups force us to use fantasy then it is as well to stay as +credible as possible." + +"Right, Dorwin! Right on the nose!" cried Bezdek. "And we can make real +villains out of these Venerians, real bang-up nasty heavies!" + +The banker's voice came through the door again. He said doubtfully, "But +how can we be sure about the Venerians ..." + +"Because I can feel it _here_!" cried the movie-maker. The thump that +accompanied his final word told Ty that his boss had smote himself +dramatically over the heart as he delivered the climactic line. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ May 1954. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and + typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Reel Life Films, by Samuel Kimball Merwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REEL LIFE FILMS *** + +***** This file should be named 29209.txt or 29209.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/0/29209/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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