The Bear: California Dreamin'

John Kerr

Description

Two partners stand back-to-back and take on the government, the mob and a duplicitous woman out for revenge. Bullets fly and the streets run red with blood as city fathers redline Mexican neighborhoods and plot to bring a ballclub to the City of Angels.
HUAC returns to Hollywood to take names and make headlines for the committee. Successful producer, Michael McGuire is in their cross-hairs. Declared uncooperative, McGuire’s successful career is now in dire jeopardy.
Los Angeles city fathers dream of bringing a professional ballclub to the city and lay plans for one of the greatest real estate bamboozles since the annexation of San Fernando Valley. Mexican neighborhoods are destroyed and families are uprooted, all in the name of progress.
Allied Aircraft owner, James Hagen is on the run from a Senate subcommittee investigating financial improprieties during the War. Hoping to stay one step ahead of a government subpoena, Hagen beats all on Allied’s missile program to save him and the company from destruction.
Big bands are out and musician, Cosmo Turner can’t get a steady gig to save his life. Turner takes a job managing a Mexican radio station where pay to play is the name of the game as rock-n-roll sweeps the nation by storm.
Della Rio is a woman with a dark past who seeks revenge against the men responsible for her brother’s death. Rio puts a plan into play that will ruin the mob’s drug running operation and destroy the men she hates.
The Bear: California Dreamin’ weaves a sweeping tapestry that brings these characters and their stories to an action-packed conclusion of the epic series.

Sujets

• Historical
• Chavez Ravine
• Organized crime
• Fiction
• Las Vegas
• Hollywood

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 05 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781663238993
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Bear: California Dreamin’
 
 
 
 
John Kerr
 
 
 
 
 

 
THE BEAR: CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
 
 
Copyright © 2022 John Kerr.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 
 
 
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6632-3900-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-3901-3 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-3899-3 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022907965
 
 
 
iUniverse rev. date: 05/03/2022
Contents
1 Better Dead Than Red
2 The World is a Ghetto
3 A Gig
4 Courier from Hong Kong
5 Needles
6 Hooray For Hollywood
7 All the News That’s Fit to Print
8 Par for the Course
9 Chavez Ravine
10 The Session
11 Home
12 A Revelation
13 The Square
14 The Deposition
15 The Card Game
16 The Taft Building
17 Rock Bottom
18 South of the Border
19 Border Radio
20 The Funeral
21 The Eviction
22 Top of the Charts
23 Fire
24 The Interrogation
25 The Decision
26 The Reporter
27 A Plan
28 Ace of Hearts
29 The Way of the World
30 School Days
31 The Run
32 The Mission
33 Me Familia
34 Cosmo’s Blues
35 Dinner with Sergio
36 New Year’s Eve
37 Death of an Eagle
38 La Dolce Vita
39 The Drop
40 Ed Sullivan
41 The Rehearsal
42 The Itch
43 Arrivederci Roma
44 The Haight
45 The Recital
46 The Hunt
47 San Francisco
48 A New Arrangement
49 Coming to an Understanding
50 A Year Later
51 The Last Goodbye
52 The Departure
This book would not have been possible without the constant l ove and support of my wife, Laurel. This one’s for you, Ba balu.
1
Better Dead Than Red
“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” demanded Senator Nixon. The senator was one of four HUAC committee members questioning witnesses in an office in Los Angeles City Hall.
HUAC was back in town. The Hollywood Ten had gone to prison. Congress was controlled by the Democrats who, like their Republican counterparts, wanted to make headlines ridding Hollywood of the Red Menace . It was an election year and nothing got a candidate more ink than bringing down a silver screen icon.
Michael McGuire and his attorney, Leo Stone, sat at a table facing the panel of inquisitors. McGuire was the latest Hollywood producer called up to testify before the panel. Michael was middle-aged, and with his graying temples and thousand-dollar navy-blue Bond St. suit, he looked more like a successful businessman than a movie producer. Michael sat up in his chair and placed his hand over the microphone while conferring with his attorney.
“No,” Michael replied.
Nixon appeared perplexed. “No what, Mr. McGuire?”
“No, I’m not a member of the Communist Party, nor have I have ever been a member.”
“But you did hire writers who were communists?” Nixon replied.
“Are you asking or telling me, Senator?”
There was a chuckle from the gallery. Nixon frowned; his five o’clock shadow was already showing at 10 a.m. “Did you knowingly employ writers who were communists?”
“No.”
The questioner cupped his mic and conferred with the other members on the committee, all of which were surprised when Michael McGuire had readily agreed to testify. Nixon thought it would be a slam dunk; ask a few questions and get the producer to give the committee some names. McGuire wouldn’t be the first to rollover. Edward Dmytryk had, and so had Kazan. McGuire would make it three.
The senator didn’t appreciate Michael’s glib manner. He stared down from the long table he was seated at and frowned at McGuire.
“You employed Dorothy Parker, a known sympathizer and supporter of liberal causes. You also hired Waldo Salt to write the script for Decision at Midn ight. ”
“Mr. Salt did indeed write the script for Decision at Midnight , a courtroom drama revolving around the guilt or innocence of a husband accused of murdering his wife’s assailant.”
“Then you admit that you knowingly hired a communist?”
“No, Senator. I did not know of Mr. Salt’s political affiliations.”
“What about Larry Parks?”
“What about him, Senator?”
“Larry Parks admitted before this committee that he was a member of the Communist Party.”
Michael waited. There was no further statement coming from the senator. He leaned toward the mic and said, “Yes?”
Joe McCarthy had endured enough. He dabbed his brow with a handkerchief and grabbed his mic. “That’s two known communists you hired, Mr. McGuire.”
“I hired them for their particular skills, Senator, not their political affiliations.”
McCarthy glared at Michael. “You mean to sit here and tell this committee that you had no idea either of these men were members of the Communist Party?”
Michael never flinched. He met Joe McCarthy’s gaze and replied, “That is correct, Senator. As a proud Irish-American and veteran of a World War, I swear I had no knowledge of either man’s membership to any political organization.”
“Frankly, I find that hard to believe,” remarked McCarthy.
Michael leaned toward the mic. “Believe what you like, Senator. I have testified under oath that I did not knowingly hire any communists on my films. I am not interested in a man’s politics. I am only interested in their ability to perform their designated job. Did Walter O’Malley ask Carl Erskine what political party he voted for before he hired him? He’s only interested in man’s ability to strike out the other players. It’s the same with me. I am only interested in a writer’s ability to tell a story, hopefully a good one.”
Michael McGuire was fifty-four. He had been a producer for nearly twenty-five years. That was a lifetime in Hollywood. Before making movies, Michael had been a bootlegger. Along with Jimmy Grazzi and Walter McGrath, the trio ran a successful operation that had included the swank El Capitan club on PCH. McGrath and Grazzi died in the Point Magu Massacre in ’27. Jimmy Grazzi had actually escaped, got a face job in Tijuana, and reemerged as James Hagen, the owner of Allied Aircraft in San Diego the following year.
Michael turned and looked over his shoulder. His wife, Laurel, was seated in the first row of the gallery, along with their seven-year-old son, Nicholas. He smiled at them. Nicholas waved at his father. Laurel immediately grabbed the boy’s hand and adjusted him in his seat. She knew the committee would frown upon any familiarity during the hearing, even from a child. Michael turned back and faced the panel.
John Rankin, an avowed segregationist and committee member, glared at Michael. He was a slender man with a shallow face and pale complexion.
“The committee isn’t interested in Walter O’Malley or ballplayers. The committee is interested in writers and actors who are communists. You’re telling this committee that you never knew those writers to be communists?”
“That is correct, Mr. Rankin.”
“What about Destiny on the Danube ?” Nixon interjected. He picked up his notes and read, “‘The Legion of Decency found the film objectional for its gratuitous violence, vulgar language, and suggestive situations.’ The Armed Forces refused to show the film to their servicemen. Patrick Callen wrote that script. Surely, you must have known if this writer had red leanings.”
“Has Mr. Callen been named as a member of the Communist Party?”
“We will ask the questions, Mr. McGuire,” Rankin barked. “The committee has not been able to locate Mr. Callen. When we do, he will be brought in for questioning. Now answer the good senator’s question, did you know that Patrick Callen was a communist?”
Michael knew Callen didn’t exist. “I did not,” he replied.
A page leaned down and whispered something to Senator McCarthy. Joe frowned. He jotted something down on a piece of paper and handed it to the page. Rankin leaned close to Nixon and whispered something. The page handed Nixon the note. He then glanced at McCarthy’s message— “McGuire wrote the script.” Nixon gave a nod and then scowled at the producer.
“It has been brought to my attention that you are the author of that script.”
“I am.”
“Why did you use a false name?” snapped Rankin.
“Writers have a long history of employing pseudonyms. The name is not false. Patrick is the name of my great uncle, and Callen is my grandmother’s maiden name. It was my way of honoring them.”
The room hummed with reporters and spectators. McCarthy hammered his gavel for order. The committee conferred for a long mome