Unity (29 page)

‘Why not come clean?' G[erald] said. ‘You were led by your cock.' Sir H. contrived to look wounded. ‘What was it that old nance, Dempster, used to say: “Come to Berlin, where the boys are cheaper than cucumbers”?'

No danger of running into glamorous friends in present day Regensburg: a dull Danube town, its sole raison d'être its own preservation.

Wandered through centre with F. Both preoccupied. G.M. with A.'s disappearance (still no word!). F. with Schleyer's: Might the Right regain power in Germany? Is backlash a genuine prospect? What would become of W. & co if it were?

Pointed out that the Right never lost power. Just exercised it
differently
. $ and DMs rather than jackboots and guns.

eve: British Council tribute to Sir H[allam]. Warm drinks, loyal toasts and forced smiles. Boredom alleviated by G[erald]'s fury at not being guest of honour. Claims Sir H. all reflected glory. Played so many kings that people treat him as one.

100% turn-out of British contingent. Plus trio of Germans (2 Goebbelses & 1 Streicher). At last moment, Japanese contingent cries off sick (diagnosis: diplomatic). Very wise unless she wants to bear blame for Pearl Harbour the way Liesl, Manfred & Dieter do for Dunkirk.

Welcomed by Council chairman. Something deeply unattractive about this brand of Brit. All the cultural superiority of imperialist predecessors but none of the missionary zeal. So, instead of blazing trail through tropics bringing Common Law and King James Bible, they host cocktail parties for Ballet Rambert &
novelists
who don't say Fuck.

Dinner appallingly twee. Menu a quasi-Shakespearean cast list. Eggs Benedick followed by Steak Diana.

Sir H. proved every plaudit justified as he contrived to look touched.

L[uke] to me. ‘Just as long as it's not Titus Andronicus pie.'
139

Smiled blankly. So typical to refer to Sh's most obscure play.

Surprised not wearing academic gown.

G. louder & louder as more & more jealous. Discussing politics with Consul. Exchange gradually silenced room.

(Sequence worthy of detailed record).

G. complaining that modern conflicts lack clear moral lines of 2
^nd
World War. ‘All those Algerias and Koreas and Vietnams are open to dispute, but the War against Germany was a just war. Those of us who served can look back with pride.'

Hosts embarrassed at insensitivity. Liesl chokes on mouthful of Blanche-d carrots.

G.M. furious at self-deception. G.'s war service 2
^nd
-hand: printing his image on other men's courage so that millions who've never heard of Wavell or even Montgomery have heard of him.

G. proceeded to list his battle honours until Sir H., provoked beyond endurance, pointed out that they were won on Hollywood backlots. G. a war hero who bombed Jerry from the top of a crane at 20
^th
Century Fox.

Bull's-eye!

G. retaliated with long speech of self-justification. ‘I was desperate to come home, but Winston himself insisted that I was doing a more useful job among the Yanks. Of course it provoked some antagonism but that was the price I had to pay for serving my country.

Sir H.: ‘Yes. People were so obtuse. I remember one newspaper suggesting that you should only ever be filmed in black and white because Technicolor would reveal the yellow of your skin.'

G. furiously to Sir H.: ‘Have you ever been in uniform?'

Sir H.: ‘Alas no. Although I once played Macbeth in a kilt.'

The British Council ladies coo their delight.

Sir H. warms to his theme. ‘I would have made a pretty feeble soldier. The last act of
Hamlet
was always agony. I'm afraid that my war effort was confined to keeping the home fires burning and then taking the productions overseas.'

G.: ‘Oh yes. How it must have warmed our lads' hearts as they emerged from the jungle to watch you and Dame Hattie hamming your way through
A Midsummer Night's Dream
.'

Sir H. fixed G. with his gaze and inclined his head just a little lower than necessary to address him. ‘Well actually my dear fellow, it was in Singapore that I had the best notice of my entire career, when a young soldier came up to me after a performance and said, “Now I know what I'm fighting for.”'

Sir H. genuinely moved as room burst into applause.

Sight of G.'s face almost enough to reconcile me to Quince Jelly & Vanilla Costard.

Red-letter day.

Dinner at hotel with A. and F[elicity]. L[uke] cried off, citing
pressure
of rewrites. F., after routine disclaimer, admitted relief. Free to discuss the issues without L.'s stifled yawns. Adores him but not blind to his failings, one of which is schoolboy politics. Schleyer case obsessing the whole country but L. barely notices. Film might as well be shot at Pinewood. So insular.

G.M.: ‘No, just English.'

F., on other hand, scouring German papers (though, ironically, dependent on L.'s translation skills). Confused by paradox of
rightwing attacks on Jews in 30s and leftwing attacks on them now.

Put her straight. Present attacks not on Jews but on Zionists. Not obliged to support Zionism because of Nazi atrocities against Jews. That would be moral blackmail. Besides, Jews themselves not blameless. Some Zionists collaborated with Hitler: willing to sacrifice fellows in order to save family and friends.
140

F. said that it was news to her.

G.M. pointed out who owned news media.

Explained that Zionism = racism. Where did first settlers come from? Racist countries like England, America and South Africa. Zionism = fascism. Just as Nazism threat not only to Jews but to all civilised people, so Zionism threat not only to Palestinians. A pernicious doctrine that bred hatred & led to Fortress Israel.

Ahmet nodded approval, taking up theme with passion no
Westerner
could hope to match. ‘Zionism is a branch of US
imperialism
. The Americans refused to take in Jews fleeing from Hitler. So, after the War, to relieve their guilt and under pressure from powerful businessmen, they handed them our country as compensation. The state of Israel is illegal. The UN had no authority to set it up under its own charter. The Israelis went on to seize more land and ignored all UN resolutions that they
withdraw
. Yet we remain willing to welcome them into a free and independent Palestine in which all people – Muslims, Jews and Christians – can live side by side. So, you see, we do not fight the Jews. On the contrary, the struggle for Jewish liberation and Palestinian liberation is the same, even when it is the Jews who are the aggressors.'

Logic irrefutable whether hearing him speak for 1
^st
(F.) or 1000th (G.M.) time.

F. fired with the enthusiasm of the convert. Especially grateful for the distinction between people and state. Never suspected that, in signing up for film, she'd be embarking on a crash course in
international
politics. Despite all demands on her time, has learnt more in 6 weeks than in previous 20 years.

F. left early in readiness for 6 a.m. call. Persuaded A. to stay on. My fears that he'd been bored by F.'s chatter and alienated by her background proved unfounded. Declared himself charmed. Teased that F. more politically mature than G.M. on 1
^st
meeting. Replied that more mature full stop (23 rather than 19). Kissed me (on nose!) & warned me not to be jealous (As if!). Thanked me for nurturing her, convinced she might become real asset. Urged me to find out more about uncle in Bonn.

Are there no depths to which rightwing press won't sink?
Bild
(aka Bilge) has published W[olfram]'s name in list of 12 so-called terrorist sympathisers.

Charge is that, last June, he responded to letter from Gudrun Ensslin's mother requesting money for urgent medical treatment for her daughter & several other prisoners which State refused to fund.

W. sent 3000 marks and pinned letter on Bavaria Studios
notice-board
seeking further contributions.

Pure act of charity. Goes some way towards restoring my respect for him – at all-time low after Saturday. (Unaccountably failed to note incident in journal. Group of Turkish immigrants squatted set. W. called on police to evict them, claiming hands tied/backers breathing down neck/no time to relocate. Truth = shameful betrayal of principles.)

p.m.: scene at Munich carnival (W. placing undue emphasis on Unity pimping boys for Brian Howard – and we know why!). Shooting interrupted by police investigating article. How
convenient
that they should choose moment when journalist visiting set, thereby ensuring maximum humiliation/publicity! Werner ushers her away – too late.

Manfred (Goebbels), playing servant to both masters, offers to assume direction. W. turns him down flat. Scores of extras (masked) mill around tetchily. Frustration. Flare-ups. Tension taking toll.

F[elicity] dissolved in tears. 1
^st
sign of nerves in entire shoot. A record? G.M. and Medhurst to rescue, while L[uke] looks on feebly.

1
^st
thought: Men! Soon disabused. F. & L. have split up (hence L.'s absence last night). Medhurst all cloying sympathy: ‘Sure to sort things out' etc. G.M. more reserved. Regret timing (½way through filming when every oz of emotional energy required for work) but convinced it's for the best. Their priorities very different. L. holding her back.

F. agrees. Will always love him but has outgrown him. Feels like child playing with ancient toy to please parents. Nevertheless, been together 4 years. It hurts like hell.

G.M. (ever the older sister) confirms that there's no worse pain. And then to see director/mentor carted off! No wonder she's shaken.

By time W. returned (no surprise: no charges!), light so altered that p.m.'s shooting abandoned. Group of us went back to Serpent's Nest. F. solicitous for W., who closeted himself with L. (symmetry neater than emotions), so took her up to see Ahmet. Found him reading trashy detective novel! (Devising code?).

F. now fully recovered. Amazed us both by force of anger over Wolfram's arrest. Oozing contempt for police state and fascists
(using word advisedly) who ran it. Declared that, in Auschwitz, Nazi doctors conducted horrific experiments on prisoners, but Schmidt's government more subtle. Deprived them of essential treatment so as to increase suffering. And when great artist – man of extraordinary compassion (Wolfram??!) – attempted to redress injustice, he was pilloried in press and brutalised by latter-day Gestapo.

A. applauded analysis but insisted that Germany could not be viewed in isolation. Merely an American buffer-zone against democracies of East. Real power resided on Washington–Tel Aviv axis.

F. nodding (agreement? politeness?). Declared that, like W., prepared to give money and not just for medical treatment but to build a society where dissidents aren't tortured: where artists are treated with respect.

A. replied that all contributions valuable but more than money required. F. hanging on his every word. G.M. given no chance, since he cited need to talk to her 1 to 1 and showed me door.

Perfectly understood. In a complex argument, 3
^rd
person a
distraction
. Nevertheless it niggled. A. remains faithful to Lela (tells me so repeatedly), and yet G.M. and F. cast as sisters. Supposed to be some resemblance. Would his resolve hold when left alone with younger, fresher me?

6 a.m. Bus to Augsburg (standing in for Munich) to shoot set-piece procession. Nov 1935, transfer of coffins of 8 Nazis killed in Beer Hall Putsch to newly erected Temples of Honour. Appalling kitsch (Hitler not Wolfram): pylons draped blood-red (for purposes of b/w film, magenta) and inscribed with names of fallen ‘heroes'. Whole insidious pomp of 3
^rd
Reich. Diana & Unity's presence ahistorical but appropriate. There in spirit if not in fact.

Set crawling with journalists, invited by Werner. With country in current state of hysteria, any hint of terrorist sympathies could fatally damage prospects. To make matters worse, rumours
circulating
on Left that film a neo-Nazi apologia. W[erner? Wolfram?] deemed it essential to show nothing to hide.

Reaction already under way. Among drama students/SS men surrounding Hitler, 2 official bodyguards. After yesterday's article, Wolfram bombarded with hate mail – accusing him of
masterminding
Schleyer plot, threatening to burn down studios. Ironic given that not due to film there for another week.

Scary. Old Nazis never die, just fester on fringes. Admit my concern not wholly disinterested. Among all the letters sent to W., some bound to be addressed to me (known across globe for
political
stand). Beg Werner to tell me worst, but he alleges I'm not involved. Clearly trying to protect me (or, rather, his investment!). When challenged, he insists that correspondence in hands of police.

A likely story! As if police care what happens to a bunch of radical film-makers – esp after yesterday's visit. G.M. the obvious target. Besides, not even densest neo-Nazi could accuse W. of Leftist sympathies given his latest casting coup: Hannelore Kessel, one of 3
^rd
Reich's greatest stars. Actress chosen by Goebbels to play Josephine in epic
Life of Napoleon
(any resemblance to living dictator entirely intentional). Of course, all traces of Creole
background
expunged. Like J[esus] C[hrist], Emperor Hirohito and anyone else who needed to be drafted into Nazi cause, Josephine carefully Aryanized.