It’s Saturday, and we have a special guest at the bar. Bestselling author, Bradley Lewis is joining David, myself and, um, Skippy as we share a few beverages and attempt to deal with Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘mini/maxi.’ Use ‘mini’ (the smallest of something) or ‘maxi’ (the largest) or both in your post. Have fun!”
I think we can have fun, including Skippy. Actually, Skippy is Brad’s namesake. Brad (Lewis) likes Skippy and has complicated my efforts to cast him in a negative light by encouraging me to feature him behind the bar, thereby helping him grow a fanbase.
If we were having a beer, you’d be happy to meet our special guest.
“I’m sorry sir, but you can’t sit in that stool. COVID regulations.”
“Skippy, Brad is our guest. He’s part of our group, so he can sit here. Correct?”
“I don’t understand, Dan.”
“I’m sorry, Brad, I think he’s confused about the names.”
“Dan, Skippy is just confused in general.”
“True, David. Let’s see if I can straighten this out. Skippy, this is Brad Lewis, he’s our guest today.”
“Brad Lewis the author?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, I’m like a fan of yours. It’s great to meet you. It’s funny, we have the same name.”
“I thought your name was Skippy.”
“No, Mr. Lewis, that’s just what they call me. You know, because they’re old and stuff.”
“Old, hmmmm, OK. I guess I’ll call you Skippy, too.”
“OK, now that the introductions and insults are complete, Skippy, how about you get us some drinks?”
“No problem. You guys want your usual?”
“David and I do. What would you like Brad?”
“I’d like a single malt Scotch and a beer back. Do you have Guinness?”
“Scotch or beer?”
“Guinness, for the beer. I think I see a bottle of Macallan twenty-five, you can pour that for the scotch.”
“Any particular kind of glass, Mr. Lewis?”
“A clean one would be nice.”
“I’ll be back with all of these in a bit.”
“He really is all you promised, Dan.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, Brad. Anyway, I invited you here to celebrate your new book. We can drink a toast to it, at some point, but maybe you could give David a quick synopsis.”
“Well, it’s a critique and discussion of four classic fifties comedies; a coffee table book complete with photos.”
“That sounds like a fun read, just what I have been looking for. Did you already buy a copy, Dan?”
“I did, David and no, you can’t borrow it.”
“OK, Corona for Dan, a John Howell’s special for David, and a glass of scotch and a Guinness for Brad. I have to say, Dan, your buddies have way better taste in alcohol than you do.”
“Thanks Skippy. Off you go.”
“Nicely done, Dan. Brad, here’s to the success of…, um, I don’t think I caught the title.”
“Well, Nobody’s Perfect.”
“Granted, but what’s the title of your book?”
“Geeze, it’s like I invited Abbot and Costello for drinks. David, ‘Well, Nobody’s Perfect’ is the title of Brad’s new book.”
“Oh. Sorry. What are the four movies?”
“It’s OK, David. I couldn’t resist the play on words there. The movies are, ‘Some Like it Hot,’ ‘Mister Roberts,’ ‘Guys and Dolls,’ and ‘How to Marry a Millionaire.’ “
“Those are great movies. Dan, are you old enough to remember seeing any of those?”
“Not when they were first released, I mean I wasn’t released until the mid-fifties, but I’ve seen them all, more than once. Brad, what made you pick those four?”
“I chose the four for this book, Dan, because they had a pronounced effect on me, one that resonates to this day whenever I see them again or revisit some old clips. Granted, as a child, I saw two of these in the theater, and my bar for enjoyment was set pretty low then. Yet, each time I saw the movies years later, I found something new that intrigued me; a complicated dance, a striking set, a missed joke line, or perhaps a song.”
“Like Brad, I saw some of these in the theater. I can tell you, Dan, you missed something if you’ve only seen them on TV.”
“I’m sorry, David, the only movies I saw in the theater in the fifties were shown during the Saturday morning kids double-feature, you know, ‘The Blob,’ ‘Godzilla,’ stuff like that.”
“David’s right, Dan. Going to the movies was the hot ticket in the fifties. We lived only a half a block from the Rockwellian theater. It wasn’t a lavish spectacle, like the maxi-plexes of today, more like a mini-plex, but it was perfect for a child on a drizzly Saturday morning. I rarely missed a Saturday double feature that included a cartoon or newsreel of some kind; comfortably tucked away inside the plush maroon velour seat.”
“Those certainly were the glory days. Wow, these drinks went down fast. Skippy, can we get another round?”
“Sure, David. You guys want some food?”
“Maybe when the drinks get here. One thing at a time, Skippy.”
“No problem.”
“Brad, when I ordered the book, the blurb said that the fifties are the decade that changed the movies. What do you mean by that?”
“The fifties began the final hurrah of the studio system, Dan, and a break with censorship. Additionally, the use of the wide Cinemascope screen and the increased use of Technicolor was a departure from prior decades.”
“David, you may not know this, but Brad did some acting.”
“Really? Anything I might recognize?”
“Probably not. I spent many years on soaps, As the Stomach, I mean World Turns, Guiding Light, Love of Life and pitching products in commercials. I did one carpet series for two years. I was fired and replaced by Bryan Cranston.”
“Bryan Cranston? From Breaking Bad? Oh, here are the drinks. Did you know him?”
“Uh, no, not at the time, Skippy. Why are there cherries in my scotch?”
“Ok, sorry, those go in David’s bourbon. I’ll get a napkin.”
“Um, Skippy.”
“Yes David?”
“New cherries, please.”
“OK.”
“So, Brad, is the book mainly a review of these movies?”
“It’s a little more than that, David. I hope to present some of the things I was talking about earlier about movies in the fifties, including a collection of the difficulties unbeknownst to the moviegoing audiences of that period, as well as a few personal encounters with the production people and actors.”
“It sounds wonderful. Now, Brad, I just googled your Amazon Author Page. You’ve written biographies, medical thrillers, historical fiction, personal history, what made you decide to write this book?”
“I was thinking about things that are personal to me, things that conjure up fond memories of my youth and subsequent life – things that stayed with me; things that had a profound influence on my thinking. While I truly enjoy both historical bios and strongly-researched medical fiction, I asked myself what would I enjoy looking at and reading; not a heavy read; Bradley light…So I felt that the movies were the ticket, no pun intended, and chose four of my favorite fifties movies. I even spoke of the connection the movie ‘house’, the seats, the candies, etc., including fifties history in the prologue. I will do this again, next time with four comedians from the fifties.”
“OK, David. Here are your cherries. Mr. Lewis, you can keep those. Did you guys want some food?”
“Let’s get a large pizza. Brad, since you’re the guest of honor, what would you like on it?”
“I’d like mushrooms, garlic, and pepperoni, if that’s ok with you guys.”
“That’s fine. Cheers Brad, and good luck with the book.”
Notes:
As you might expect with a post like this, more planning was required than Linda might like. I did my best to write in SoC style, and I only edited for typos.
Brad (Lewis) follows No Facilities on the blog’s Facebook page. If you want to direct a comment to him, that might be the better place. Otherwise, I’ll do my best to shuttle comments back and forth.
I bought the book on Amazon, US. You can also visit Brad’s author page, listed above.
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