Thursday 12 November 2020

Hazel Court



            On Wednesday morning I continued editing "Sparadrap” by Serge Gainsbourg on Christian's Translations, positioning the chords to where they are supposed to be in the text. 
            I worked on typing more of my notes on The Marrow Thieves and turning them into questions for the author Cherie Dimaline.
            I had crackers and five year old cheddar for lunch.
            In the afternoon I popped out into another warm day to pick up a six-pack of Creemore at the liquor store. There were a bunch of middle aged Eastern European men in the streetcar shelter drinking booze out of plastic cups. Two middle aged women were passing by and I think I recognized the one with the cane from the food bank. She said something unfriendly in their language as she passed and one of them said something back, to which she responded, “Fuck you! Alcoholic kurwa!” Across the street in front of the variety store a few doors up from my place there was another man drinking by himself. She said the same thing, “Alcoholic kurwa!” to him as well. “Kurwa”, “kurva" or "curva" means "bitch" or "whore" in several Eastern European languages. They made my day. 
            I continued typing, researching and forming my notes on The Marrow Thieves into questions. I have eight pages so far. There are so many logical holes in this story! 
            I made four burgers from the ground beef I bought recently and had one on whole grain bread topped with ketchup, mustard, relish and scotch bonnet sauce. I had it with a beer while watching Interpol calling. 
            In this story a famous fashion designer named Bernarde is also a friend of Duval of Interpol. As Bernarde’s designs were almost stolen the year before he asks Duval to help him protect his new line. Duval recommends that he hire a private guard and he suggests his friend, the beautiful private investigator Carol Leduc. Bernarde makes Carol one of his models. She is beautiful but realistically, at the age of 34 she probably wouldn’t be a Paris model. Meanwhile in a rooming house a photographer named Harry turns on the gas and lies down in front of his oven. Shortly after this a fellow tenant named Monique Foyard is walking by and smells gas. She goes into Harry’s apartment, turns off the gas, breaks the window and goes for a doctor. When she is gone Harry gets up and makes a phone call, saying, “She's taken the bait." Later when he and Monique are talking and she tells him that she is a seamstress at Bernarde’s he flatters her that she could be a model and offers to take pictures of her. He says he has access to a studio in an old mill and she just needs to bring a nice frock. She says she doesn't have any nice dresses but he suggests she can borrow one from Bernarde's. The next day Monique sneaks one of the older dresses into the garbage. Carol finds it there but leaves it so she can follow the person later. That night she follows Monique to the mill. While Carol is outside Harry's partner Mamie asks her if she's lost and she pretends to ask for directions. Harry and Mamie convince Monique to bring more of Bernarde's clothes for them to photograph for her modelling portfolio. Mamie happens to be a newspaper reporter and she comes to interview Bernarde but while she is there she sees Carol and realizes she’s a snoop. That night when Carol comes to the mill Harry forces her in at gunpoint and locks her in the attic. Monique brings the clothes and models them. After the shoot one of the dresses has a spot on it. Mamie goes up to the attic to clean it and Carol sneaks a note for Duval into the seam. The next day Carol is missing from work and Duval finds the note. Bernarde says he told Monique what Carol was doing there. Monique confronts Harry. Duval arrives and Harry locks himself into the attic with Carol. Duval climbs up the side of the mill on a convenient rope and just as Harry is about to climb down on another rope Duval swings over. He fights Harry on the balcony before he falls into the river. Carol calls Duval Tarzan. 
            Carol was played by Hazel Court, who became known as a horror queen for movies such as "Devil Girl from Mars", "The Curse of Frankenstein”, "The Raven", “Premature Burial", "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Man Who Could Cheat Death". She also starred in the Twilight Zone episode "The Fear". She was also a painter and sculptor. 










          

            Monique was played by Caroline Leigh, who did mostly supporting roles in British television and film. She was married to Burt Kwouk who played Cato in the Pink Panther films. His character used to attack Clouseau at the oddest moments to keep the inspector’s fighting skills honed.


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