Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 162: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

7192 “Believe me, Mannie Eckstein is one hard bird to ride!” “JT don’t mean ride him,” ‘she says. ** Maybe you’ve heard of what is called the power of suggestion. That’s what I mean. Just keep suggesting the idea to him. Then some time when there’s an opening as a director, why, naturally he’ll think of you.” ‘“That’s a laugh,” I remarked. ‘ You might just as well try to use the power of suggestion on an army mule.” ‘Well, anyway,” says the little woman in a most determined manner, ‘‘ I want to have you try it. So the first thing to do is to ask Mr. Eckstein to make you a director.” “QO. K.,” I says. “ ll ask Mr. Eckstein to make me a director—while I wait” So maybe a week goes by, during which I get plenty more help and encouragement from my faithful spouse, but I don’t get no good chance to put this director idea up to Mr. Mannie Eckstein, eager as I was to do it, of course—just as eager as was the Christian martyrs to enter the arena. You see, Mr. Mannie Eckstein considers himself a personage of no little importance, and no doubt he is right about it, the Eck- stein Studios being one of the largest movie plants here in the East, and housing not only the O-Kay Comedies company, but XLNT Pictures as well, the last named turning out a very nice line of heart throb stuff and being, really, Mannie’s chief iron in the movie fire—both brands being the property of Mr. Eckstein, you understand. Anyway, besides being prouder than Luci- fer of Mr. Mannie Eckstein, and therefore always looking for every little chance to show his authority, Mr. Eckstein also pos- sesses the temper of a neurotical mountain lion and is likewise the proud owner of a line of language which, when Mr. Eckstein is sufficiently aroused, would raise blisters on a sheet of asbestos, no fooling! Further- more, Mr. Eckstein will never see two hun- dred again—pounds, that’s to say—and turns himself out in the style to which only movie magnates and our most successful bootleggers is accustomed. Which thumb nail sketch of Mr. Eckstein, as you might call it, will probably do for the present, though I might add that Mr. Eckstein is one of the oldest old-timers we ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, got in the business, coming into it when— if I must say it once more—the industry was still In its infancy, the cloak and suit trade’s loss, so J’ve heard, being the cinema art’s gain, as you might say. Mr. Eckstein’s original movie venture was O-Kay Comedies, and the scene of his early struggles was Hollywood. Some years later Mr. Eckstein shifted the scene of his activi- ties to New York, at the time when he ab- sorbed the XLNT Pictures brand—the story of which absorption, it was rumored at the time, was not entirely creditable to Mr. Eckstein. However, in the movie busi- ness you got to fight fire with fire, the same as anywhere else, and I got an idea that, as regards Mr. Eckstein’s business methods, which it would probably be a compliment to call them merely shady, why, Mr. Eck- stein had little or nothing on his brother magnates. And with it all, why, Mannie isn’t such a bad scout at that—though you’d never guess it from the above description. But, anyway, as I say, it’s maybe a week or so before I get my eagerly awaited oppor- tunity to put this director thing up to Mr. Eckstein. Then one day all by luck and chance I catch Mr. Eckstein all alone in his private and confidential office at the Eck- stein studio, and so I take myself by the hand and start the little ball rolling. Be- cause the little woman, who is backing me every inch of the way—I hope to tell you she ist—is by this time beginning to show signs of decided impatience. So I says to Mannie: “Mr. Eckstein, listen. What would you think of me as a director?” Well, I saw too late that Mr. Eckstein was even more nervous and irritable than usual that morning, if you could believe it possible. “You!” he yells, whirling swiftly in his swivel chair so as to face the source of the disturbance, namely myself. ‘‘ Youea di- rector! Where should you get such an idea as that in your head? What should I think of you? I should think if you wasn’t a better director than the directors I already got, then you wouldn’t be worth the space which you would occupy in Hades!” Well, that was encouraging, or the oppo- site, according to the way you looked at it. Eomichbooks (S@)