I’d get to see a lot of California. But my parents still objected to the plan, this time on the grounds that they didn’t know the family, and that I might feel out of place…
I was furious. It was as though they begrudged me the opportunity of a lifetime. Priscilla was being incrediblynice and considerate, and the upshot of all the fuss was that, after a personal letter from Mrs Lane, the argument was finally decided in my favour.
I studied hard during May and June. When Priscilla wrote that her companion would be arriving in Amsterdam on 18 July, my preparations for the big trip began in earnest.
On the eighteenth, Father and I went to the station to meet her. Priscilla had sent me a picture, so I picked her out in the crowd almost immediately. Miss Kalwood was a small woman with greying blonde hair who talked a lot and spoke incredibly fast, but she looked quite pleasant and nice.
Father, who had been in America and spoke excellent English, talked to Miss Kalwood, and every once in a while I put in a word or two.
We had agreed that Miss Kalwood would stay at our house for a week before going back, and the week simply flew by. Even before the first day was over she and I had become friends. I was so excited on 25 July that I couldn’t swallow a single bite of breakfast.
Miss Kalwood, on the other hand, was as cool as a cucumber. But then, this wasn’t her first flight. The entire family went to Schiphol Airport to see us off. At last… at long last, my trip to America had begun.
We flew for nearly five days. On the evening of the fifth day, we arrived at a place not far from Hollywood. Priscilla and her sister Rosemary, who is one year older, met us at the airport. I was rather tired from the journey, so we quickly drove to a nearby hotel.
The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast before getting back in the car, which Rosemary herself drove. We reached the Lanes’ house in just over three hours, and I was given a warm welcome. Mrs Lane showed me to an adorable room with a balcony, which was to be mine for the next two months.
It was not difficult to feel at ease in the hospitable Lane home, where there was a constant buzz of activity and fun, where you stumbled over any number of cats with every step you took, where the three famous stars did more to help their mother than an ordinary teenager like me had ever done at home and where there was so much to see. I quickly got used to speaking a foreign language, especially since I had known a bit of English before I came.
Priscilla was free during the first two weeks of my stay and showed me round much of the surrounding area. Almost every day we went to the beach, and little by little I got to know people whose names I’d heard so often. Madge Bellamy was one of Priscilla’s best friends, and she frequently went with us on our sightseeing trips.
People who knew Priscilla would never have guessed that she was so much older than I was. She and I were simply friends. After the first two weeks, Priscilla went back to work at Warner Bros., and they let me go to the studio too, which was sheer bliss. I went with her to her dressing room and stayed there while she was busy with the takes.
She finished early on the first day, so she took me on a tour of the studio. ‘Hey, Anne,’ she suddenly said. ‘I’ve got a great idea. Tomorrow morning, why don’t you go downto one of those casting offices, where all the beautiful girls go, and see if they’ve got anything for you. Just for fun, of course!’
‘Oh, I’d like that,’ I replied, and the next day I really did go to a casting office. It was unbelievably busy, with a long queue of girls waiting outside the door. I joined them and after half an hour found myself on the other side of the door. Though I’d made it inside, it still wasn’t my turn; there were at least twenty-five girls ahead of me. So I waited again, for an hour or two, until my turn came.
A bell rang, and I bravely stepped inside
I was furious. It was as though they begrudged me the opportunity of a lifetime. Priscilla was being incrediblynice and considerate, and the upshot of all the fuss was that, after a personal letter from Mrs Lane, the argument was finally decided in my favour.
I studied hard during May and June. When Priscilla wrote that her companion would be arriving in Amsterdam on 18 July, my preparations for the big trip began in earnest.
On the eighteenth, Father and I went to the station to meet her. Priscilla had sent me a picture, so I picked her out in the crowd almost immediately. Miss Kalwood was a small woman with greying blonde hair who talked a lot and spoke incredibly fast, but she looked quite pleasant and nice.
Father, who had been in America and spoke excellent English, talked to Miss Kalwood, and every once in a while I put in a word or two.
We had agreed that Miss Kalwood would stay at our house for a week before going back, and the week simply flew by. Even before the first day was over she and I had become friends. I was so excited on 25 July that I couldn’t swallow a single bite of breakfast.
Miss Kalwood, on the other hand, was as cool as a cucumber. But then, this wasn’t her first flight. The entire family went to Schiphol Airport to see us off. At last… at long last, my trip to America had begun.
We flew for nearly five days. On the evening of the fifth day, we arrived at a place not far from Hollywood. Priscilla and her sister Rosemary, who is one year older, met us at the airport. I was rather tired from the journey, so we quickly drove to a nearby hotel.
The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast before getting back in the car, which Rosemary herself drove. We reached the Lanes’ house in just over three hours, and I was given a warm welcome. Mrs Lane showed me to an adorable room with a balcony, which was to be mine for the next two months.
It was not difficult to feel at ease in the hospitable Lane home, where there was a constant buzz of activity and fun, where you stumbled over any number of cats with every step you took, where the three famous stars did more to help their mother than an ordinary teenager like me had ever done at home and where there was so much to see. I quickly got used to speaking a foreign language, especially since I had known a bit of English before I came.
Priscilla was free during the first two weeks of my stay and showed me round much of the surrounding area. Almost every day we went to the beach, and little by little I got to know people whose names I’d heard so often. Madge Bellamy was one of Priscilla’s best friends, and she frequently went with us on our sightseeing trips.
People who knew Priscilla would never have guessed that she was so much older than I was. She and I were simply friends. After the first two weeks, Priscilla went back to work at Warner Bros., and they let me go to the studio too, which was sheer bliss. I went with her to her dressing room and stayed there while she was busy with the takes.
She finished early on the first day, so she took me on a tour of the studio. ‘Hey, Anne,’ she suddenly said. ‘I’ve got a great idea. Tomorrow morning, why don’t you go downto one of those casting offices, where all the beautiful girls go, and see if they’ve got anything for you. Just for fun, of course!’
‘Oh, I’d like that,’ I replied, and the next day I really did go to a casting office. It was unbelievably busy, with a long queue of girls waiting outside the door. I joined them and after half an hour found myself on the other side of the door. Though I’d made it inside, it still wasn’t my turn; there were at least twenty-five girls ahead of me. So I waited again, for an hour or two, until my turn came.
A bell rang, and I bravely stepped inside
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