There is Nothing like a Dame A novel by Bronwen Welsh Copyright© 2017, 2018 & 2019 Bronwen Welsh A sequel to 'The Might-Have-Been Girl' and 'All the World's a Stage'

Chapter 54   'In fair Verona'

'Two families, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona where we lay our scene...'
Prologue, Romeo and Juliet.

I met up with Dame Emily and also Leon in the Business Class lounge at Heathrow Airport. Call me a 'dumb blonde' if you like, but being so steeped in 'Romeo and Juliet', and knowing that we were flying there to shoot on location, I originally had it in my mind that Verona was composed solely of medieval or older buildings. The truth of course is that while there is still an 'old town', it is surrounded by a modern city, and has the Verona-Villafranca International Airport about ten kilometres to the south, where we would be landing.

The flight took about two hours, which passed very quickly while consuming a light lunch and chatting with Dame Emily who sat beside me. We caught up on what we had both be doing. She asked if I had taken her advice and brought along some books to read and I assured her that I had, including my English/Italian primer and dictionary.

“I hope to communicate in basic Italian at least, provided they don't talk too quickly,” I said.

“A word to the wise, watch out for Italian men, they all fancy themselves as great seducers,” she said with a smile

I was already wondering just how I would find shooting a film in Italy, let alone fending off unwanted advances, but had been persuaded that I was following in the footsteps of many famous actors, including Dame Emily herself, in transferring my talents to the silver screen.

After we landed and passed through Customs, we were met by the 'paparazzi' who insisted on taking a picture of the three of us, and then questioned us in a mixture of Italian and broken English. I was interested to watch how Leon and Dame Emily handled them. The photographer, who was quite a young man, seemed to spend a lot of time staring at me, and I wondered if he'd never seen a young woman before, or was it my blonde hair that fascinated him?

When we got into a taxi and started the trip from the airport to the city, Leon couldn't help saying jokingly: “That young photographer seemed besotted with you, Harriet.”

I found myself blushing and Dame Emily said a trifle sharply: “Now Leon, don't tease the girl.”

I laughed to ease any tension developing and said: “Maybe he's just not used to seeing blondes?”

It's true about Italians, they do drive rather fast and we were outside our hotel in no time. The five star Due Torri Hotel was situated in the heart of the old town in a bend of the Adige River, and as it turned out, only five minutes walk from 'Juliet's house'. The hotel entrance faced west onto a small square, the Piazza Sant' Anastasia, and on its north side was the Basilica of the same name, the largest church in Verona. 'Juliet' already felt at home! My room was beautiful, the food was good and I confess I loved my time there so much that I was sorry when we completed our location shooting!

We were given a day's rest after arriving, and Leon showed me around Verona which he had visited several times and knew quite well. We visited the Roman amphitheatre which is still in use for large-scale concerts. Leon told me that no amplification was needed since the acoustics were so good. Later we visited the Castelvecchio which was built in the Middle Ages and we climbed the Torre dei Lamberti, an eighty-four-metre tower which gave us panoramic views over the city.

The Tomba de Giulietta, in a museum within the 13th-century convent of San Francesco al Corso, with its frescoes from the Middle Ages and Roman sculpture, was a 'must' of course. The tomb itself is a plain red marble sarcophagus located in the crypt. What with that and 'Juliet's House' which was originally occupied by the Dal Cappello family from the thirteenth century (Romeo has a house too, but it is privately owned and not open to the public) one can't help feeling that Verona would like you to believe that these were real people!

All the places we visited were within walking distance of each other, and we stopped for lunch midway through our tour. I was glad of Leon's company. I don't wish to sound insulting of young Italian men, but there is no doubt that a proportion of them think they are 'God's gift to women' and without Leon's presence as my 'father', or maybe 'sugar-daddy', it really didn't matter which they took him for, I have a feeling that some might have made a nuisance of themselves, and it wouldn't have been a wise move to walk around on my own.

Finally, we returned to the hotel for a rest and dinner. As we walked into the lobby a familiar voice said.

“Hello Harriet, you're looking more beautiful than ever.” It was Richard Jenkins of course.

“Richard! You finally decided to show up,” I responded.

“Better late than never; everyone wants a piece of me nowadays,” he replied.

I raised an eyebrow. “Everyone?”

He laughed. “Well, you know how it is.” There was the faintest emphasis on the 'you'. Richard and I had history of course, but I didn't want anyone else to know that.

“So tell me, how do I look?” he continued.

“As handsome as ever,” I responded, knowing that's what he wanted me to say.

“Not more handsome?”

I laughed. “How can one improve on perfection?”

Leon cleared his throat. “Alright you two, save it for tomorrow in front of the camera.”

We both laughed. Richard is a real charmer; I already had my man and he knew it, but he just loved to flirt and it would take an unusual woman not to enjoy his banter.

All four of us sat down to dinner together and of course we 'talked shop' as a group of people in the same occupation always do.

“I'm really glad you're shooting this film, Harriet,” said Richard. “This should get you the recognition you deserve. Just think how many millions of people will see you on the screen, far more than can possibly attend a theatre performance.”

We all enjoyed each other's company, but soon it was time to get an early night as we had to get up with the lark for the first day of shooting.

My bedside alarm began its insistent buzzing at six o'clock the next morning. I had a quick shower, dressed, applied minimum makeup and went down to an early breakfast. Cecil the film's director was there and Richard, Leon and Dame Emily soon appeared. Most of the cast and crew were staying in a four-star hotel nearby and we would meet them at the location, which was only about five minutes walk away, so we all went there together after breakfast.

We were starting the shoot with Act One, Scene Five, the ball in the Capulet's house. The location was a large hall in a house built by a nobleman in the Middle Ages. I was so glad we were on location – nothing as beautiful could have been built as a set. Some small rooms off the hall were used as dressing rooms where we would don our costumes and have our hair styled and makeup applied. For this scene, I wore a very elaborate costume since although Juliet was only coming up to her fourteenth birthday, her parents wanted her to meet Count Paris who they had selected as a suitable husband. In later scenes, my dress was much more subdued. By nine o'clock we were ready to begin shooting.

For anyone who has not been involved or present at a professional film shoot, the following might be of interest.

A number of extras were ready in the room, and musicians skilled in playing medieval instruments were seated in the gallery at the far end of the hall. They had recorded some tracks for the film. On this occasion, they were only pretending to play since the recorded tracks would be used when the film was edited. Cecil arranged everyone for the first scene. A choreographer was present and had devised a 'round dance', known as a 'carol' or 'carola', popular in the Middle Ages, which we had been taught back in England. Juliet was one of the maidens in the dance so that Romeo could say to a serving man as he catches sight of her:

'What lady is that, which doth
enrich the hand
Of yonder knight?'

The camera was relocated several times to shoot the scene from a number of angles. This involved about a ten-minute break between shots.

Then Cecil set up the sequence in which Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time. This involves shooting from two angles. For the first, we were positioned so that the camera was behind my right shoulder and facing Richard. Cecil checked the scene through the camera viewfinder to satisfy himself that we were in the right position. Next the lighting was slightly adjusted, Cecil checked again and a camera assistant took a tape measure and held it close to Richard's face beside his eye, while another assistant stretched it out to the camera, not to the front of the lens but a mark on the side casing which indicated the film gate, but more of this later. The distance was checked and the lens focus carefully adjusted by the 'first assistant camera'. Any photographer will tell you that when shooting a face it is critical that the eye or eyes be in focus because that is where the viewer automatically looks.

Now all was ready; Cecil said “Roll camera” and the camera operator announced 'Camera rolling' and the 'second assistant camera', whose job it is to load film into the camera, stood in front of Richard holding the clapper board with the scene and take number on it. He announced the act, scene and take number, smartly swung the hinged part of the clapperboard down to cause the 'clap' and stepped smartly out of the way.

Cecil called “Action” and Richard started the shot by gazing deep into my eyes as he said:

'If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.'

During this speech, he reached for my hand and still gazing into my eyes lifted it to his lips. I couldn't help it, that moment always causes me a thrill.

Juliet now replies, but there are five short speeches by both of us, and rather than move the camera back and forth, wasting ten minutes every time, we went on to Romeo's second speech, with the tape measure used again, 'just to be sure' and the clapperboard again. Any mistakes could be very costly in terms of time and wages. I fed him my lines which would be cut out in editing and he responded with his.

When all five of Richard's speeches were complete, the camera was repositioned behind Richard's shoulder facing me, and I performed my five speeches, starting with:

'Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.'

Finally, the camera was set up to the side so that we were facing each other in profile, and this time we went through the scene without stopping. This would allow the film editor more flexibility in cutting the film together.

The whole sequence which on screen or stage takes about thirty seconds took us nearly two hours to record. The same thing happens for all the scenes, so it's not surprising that films take so long to shoot, and that's only the first part of the production process, there are the film editing, sound dubbing and all the other things that go into making a finished film.

After standing still for all that length of time, we were both glad to sit down with a cup of coffee. Dame Emily, who was playing the Nurse, came up to us and said:

“Well done, my dears. That was magical.” It had actually felt like hard work, but she was right. When I saw it on the screen, the dancers in the background were out of focus and their lighting dimmed and sound reduced, so it appeared that Romeo and Juliet were in a world of their own. They had lit me so that the light shining on my blonde hair made it look like a halo around my head. Anyone who can remember back to the time they first met the love of their life knows that they concentrated on each other to the exclusion of everything else around them. Cecil had captured this perfectly.

The ball scene wasn't finished by the end of the day, so after returning to the hotel for dinner and another early night, the next day we did more shots. The whole sequence took four days to shoot.

One advantage of modern cameras is that a video signal can be taken off the film camera and the recording checked instead of having film 'rushes' prepared overnight for viewing. This is quicker and cheaper, especially in places where film processing is not available locally.

I was very interested in the mechanics of film-making and chatted to all the crew when they were not busy. A lot of time shooting a film consists of standing around waiting for things to happen so I think they enjoyed the distraction. One day I saw the cameraman standing with nothing to do and walked up to him.

“Hello, I'm Harriet,” I said as if he didn't know. “We haven't been introduced, may I ask your name?”

“I'm Billy, but the crew calls me 'Bitzer',” he replied.

“As in D.W. Griffith's favourite cameraman,” I said.

His eyes widened. “Not many actors know that.”

“I've grown to love silent movies, and 'Intolerance' is one of the best,” I replied.

After that, we were firm friends. One day he showed me the camera he was using, patting it affectionately.

“This is the Panaflex Gold II 35mm camera, she's a beauty. The only thing better would be a 65mm camera but they aren't used too much any more because of the cost. A lot of productions are starting to use video, but to my way of thinking there's nothing like the 'look' you get with film.”

There was no film in the camera so he took off the side cover to show me the interior, pointing out the 'gate' where the film passes through and is momentarily held motionless for the exposure. This happens twenty-four times a second.

“There's a mark on the side of the camera showing the position of the gate so that we can accurately focus from the subject to the film. You need that for critical focus. It's the clapper-loaders job to make sure the gate is perfectly clean. I was on a production once where a whole day's shooting was ruined by a hair in the gate. You can imagine the extra cost of reshooting. The clapper-loader was gone the next day and I took over his job. You can imagine I was very careful to check the gate after every shot!”

“This is fascinating,” I said.

“Well, you need to know things like this. Some actors are also directing films now, and you might be one of them someday.”

“Well if I do and you are still working, I will definitely ask for you to be my cameraman,” I replied. I was even more convinced of that when I finally saw the completed film and the wonderful images Billy recorded.

Reggie flew over for the weekend and it was wonderful to see him. My room had a double bed and it was a bit lonely sleeping in it on my own. It was lovely to have a warm body to snuggle up to. We had the weekend free and this time I was able to be the tour guide around Verona. We have always been deeply in love, but I think the effect of Verona was to heighten the sense of romance in our relationship.

The location scouts had found an area of countryside outside Verona which must have been little changed since the Middle Ages. In Act Two Scene Three, Romeo travels early in the morning to the cell of Friar Lawrence to beg his help by marrying him to Juliet before her family can marry her to Paris. Both the friar and the nurse encourage this hasty marriage as a way of making peace between their families. There was an old monastery in the countryside which was used as the location. Richard, Leon and Cecil, together with the crew, had to travel there before daybreak in order to film as dawn broke.

Friar Laurence: 'The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,'

The crew was lucky as the dawn almost exactly matched Shakespeare's description.

The scene was filmed in one of the smaller rooms of the monastery which served as Friar Lawrence's cell.

I was able to travel to the location at noon for the scene in which Juliet marries Romeo.

Friar Laurence: 'Come, come with me, and we will make short work;
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till holy church incorporate two in one.

In the play, at this point, all three leave the stage, but the scriptwriters had added a short scene for the film, where Richard and I, hand in hand follow the friar through the door of his cell into the monastery's chapel. There we see the wedding taking place in silence, condensed to a few shots dissolving into each other and accompanied by music. I must say that the effect was very beautiful.

The location filming continued. Chatting to 'Bitzer' (we were now firm friends), he told me that in a couple of days the scene where the young Capulets and Montagues fight and Tybalt stabs Mercutio, would be filmed in the Piazza Sant'anastasia, just outside my hotel. I could see it was a suitable location. The basilica was at the north side of the piazza and an associated church building on the west side. A few signs could be removed, the parking area covered with dirt and viewed from the south-east corner; instantly we were back in the Middle Ages. The street on the south side of the piazza had to be closed for a few hours, but the city administration was willing to do all this for an appropriate fee.

Richard was involved but I wasn't so I could watch the whole shoot take place with great interest. Because Richard was also staying in the Due Torri hotel, his bedroom could be used as his dressing room. My knowledge of Italian was now good enough that I picked up one of the staff members telling another one that a young woman had made a hasty exit from the room before the makeup artists and hairdresser arrived. Nothing much happens in a hotel that the staff doesn't know about and obviously, Richard was still enjoying the single life.

A few days later, while I was waiting for a shot to be set up, Max came to talk to me.

“Harriet, I understand you have the day after tomorrow off, so I'm wondering if you can do me a favour? Have you ever heard of 'The Juliet Club'?”

I confessed that I hadn't so he went on: “It might surprise you to know that every year, many thousands of letters arrive here addressed to 'Juliet, Verona'. They are mainly from women and are all about their romantic experiences and problems, seeking advice. Initially it was a man, the guardian of Juliet's tomb, who decided to reply to the letters left there, but the numbers became too much for him, and now a group of women called 'Juliet's secretaries' have taken over the task and reply to each one with a return address It would be great publicity for the film if you were to visit them in costume as Juliet. I think you speak a little Italian now?”

I nodded, and he continued: “We can get the local press and maybe the television cameras there to record the event and that will guarantee an audience when the film is released.”

I could hardly refuse since I knew how much films cost to make, and any positive publicity is of great value; besides, it would be very interesting to meet these devoted ladies.

Two days later dressed in my flowing white gown and made up as Juliet, I was driven by hire car to the club's address in a narrow street only about five minutes walk from my hotel. To my surprise, I noticed that many of the addresses, including the one I was visiting, had a small second-floor balcony. The lady in charge met me at the door and told me that television cameras and photographers were already in the room where the club meets, but the members thought this was just for a 'human interest' story. She asked me to wait while she entered the room and spoke to them.

As I understood her, and remember my Italian was not perfect, she said:

“Ladies, we have a special guest visiting us today. May I introduce Miss Juliet Capulet?”

I then walked through the door into the room and the look on the ladies' faces was priceless!

“Good afternoon ladies, I thought it was time I came to visit my secretaries and compliment you on all your hard work,” I said. I had asked one of the hotel staff to assist me in making sure my grammar was correct.

After a few moments silence, everyone started talking at once, and the lady supervisor had to call for quiet and explain that I was really “Miss Harriet Stow, the famous Shakespearean actress who is starring in a new film version of 'Romeo and Juliet'.”

I was invited to sit down and view some of the letters which they receive, every one of which is replied to and then kept in a special archive. Some of them were really touching and close to bringing tears to my eyes. What a wonderful service these ladies provide with their thoughtful replies. Naturally, I was asked to pose with a quill as though I was writing a letter, and then there was a group photo with all the ladies surrounding me.

I was told that visitors can view some of the letters, and a representative of the club conducts two-hour tours of sites relating to the play.

The television commentator asked me for an interview, and after apologising for my basic Italian, I did my best to answer his questions. The item was shown on the evening's television news and there was a report in the next day's paper, so the visit was a great success, and I must say I really enjoyed it. Max was thrilled with the results of my visit.

Eventually, the shoot in Verona came to an end, and to celebrate, Max hired an entire restaurant for an evening farewell dinner. The food was great, the wine flowed, and as so often seems to happen, the 'talent' was called upon to perform with a recitation. I had half anticipated this, and when I was called upon, said that I could think of nothing more appropriate than Robert Browning's 'Home Thoughts from Abroad', written while he was in Italy and homesick for England. That's the famous one that begins:

'Oh to be in England now that April's there...'

At the conclusion it was greeted with wild applause; well a number of bottles of wine had been consumed by that stage, but not by me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Rechabite, but I prefer not to wake up with a splitting headache.

The following morning we packed our bags and said our farewells to the hotel staff. We would be meeting up again with the film's cast and crew in Pinewood Studios after a week's break. As Dame Emily, Leon, Richard and I were driven through the narrow streets of the old town I couldn't help thinking that Verona is truly 'the city of love', and I made up my mind to return one day.

To be continued

Author's note. Shakespeare wrote two plays set in Verona, which he never visited, but relied upon information from those of his acquaintances who had been there. I too have never been to Verona, but in these modern times relied upon Google and Google Earth for my information. I would love to hear from anyone who has visited Verona, especially if they spot any glaring errors in my description.