A 1970’s Noir Thriller
The 1960’s were a historic era of cultural and political upheaval worldwide, and Los Angeles along with San Francisco were at the west coast epicenters. The 1970s amped the Vibe; from the grit of L.A, and glitz of Hollywood, to the sunny beach-lined communities north and south of the Los Angeles International Airport.
There was a thriving evolution of new ways to live, to expand one’s mind, and new ways to do business. And one of the rising big businesses was within the Drug Culture.
The times were ripe for anyone to grab the reins and take hold of whatever they could. All ideas, trends, and concepts if not new, were brought forward from the past to be celebrated. With these near daily new enterprises and concepts came great ideas implemented for the good and some for the bad.
William Trent, a young private investigator, maintains his office and living space above the garages of an adjacent apartment building in the “Ghost Town” area of Venice, California. The rickety, but sturdy stairs to Will’s office were open for anyone who needed his services.
Will was experienced in both deductive reasoning and altered states of consciousness. He had taken nearly every drug, hallucinogen, and psychotropic known, and used those experience’s benefits to become successful enough to hold down his own one man investigation business.
There was much to be said for certain stoners’ abilities to use their clouded stoned appearance to actually gain detailed insight on those who momentarily let their guard down due to thinking that they were dealing with just another stoned Hippie.
Tonight’s 1974 Episode: “At The Movies”
It was late June, 1974, and William Trent was taking a breather after a very intense case – solved, but intense. So he decided to take in a movie, just some fun diversion before deciding which case to choose next as he was now in demand in a city that was vast and sprawling and connected like a spiderweb – of crime.
He heard good things about “Chinatown”, a new movie with Jack Nicholson as a ‘30’s private dick on a case, and Faye Dunaway as the femme fatale. Naturally the subject matter intrigued him, but also because of the supposed true life manipulations through criminal and murderous actions over water rights between L.A. and the Owens Valley.
As a teenager with no money Will frequented The Paradise, a deco style theater on a street corner on the outskirts of the L.A. International Airport. It was an easy cheap date or double date as one paid and let the others in a side door. Will had taken advantage using that technique many times growing up in the area – tonight Will paid full price.
Will took no psychedelics prior, just smoked a joint on the way, he really didn’t want to solve the mystery, just enjoy it and watch it unfold; letting someone else do the heavy psychological lifting.
He bought a Coke at the concession stand, dumped the ice in the restroom and took his seat.
The theater was about a third full with a wide variety of people. Will instinctively “read” the room nearly everywhere he went, it had long become a natural part of who he was. This involved not just noting the people, but getting any out of the ordinary vibes. It wasn’t the range of emotions suppressed that mattered but the intent of the vibe. Angry, sad, happy, glad, those were extremely common vibes; tonight all seemed “normal”.
Sitting on the aisle left or right of center and at the very back was Will’s favorite seat at the movies for three reasons; there was no one behind him, quick exit if needed, and the view was all encompassing,
As the curtains parted and the lights dimmed he pulled out a flask of rum, poured it in with the Coke, sat back, and shared a drink with J.J. Gittes, Nicholson’s private eye character on the screen.
The cinematography, acting, dialogue, soundtrack music, and direction were superb, as was the screenplay. Will was impressed and also wiser of the depth of corruption that money could buy, and the consequences of those who couldn’t be bought. This was not news to him, but when shown through the magic of the big screen, dots connect quickly, and soon one realizes that this is just one representation of what takes place daily, in towns, cities, villages, and countries where people with money and influence can mold the future to their liking.
A couple of times during the movie there was a minor disturbance of raised voices that where quieted by a group “sshhhh!”
Will liked to stay for the credits, sometimes he even personally knew some of the names on the screen as past clients or acquaintances, but mostly it was to appreciate others hard work, others who go unknown or unrecognized but who contributed to the movie as much as anyone else. So he sat until the last credits rolled and the last movie-goers left.
After the movie, and heading for the back parking lot, Will was met with an unusually chilly night air accompanied with faint sea-salted fog. Before he got in his car he patted himself down for keys, wallet, and flask. He realized that in all of the movie’s excitement he must have left the flask behind.
As he returned to the theater and rounded the building to the front entrance he saw that there wasn’t an usher at the open door. Common-sense coupled with a weird vibe told Will that something was up. He crouched low and moved to the nearest edge of the door and slowly, slyly peeked around the corner – Paradise was being robbed!
An armed thief was demanding all of the night’s cash from the Manager and the Usher. This was the last showing and was an easy grab and run for the thief, but then Will saw another thief come from the manager’s office. Will pulled back. This wasn’t just about cash, they’d be gone by now, they wanted something else. He quickly thought; what would be worth stealing more than cash from a theater? Just then his question was answered as yet a third thief came down from the projectionist’s booth with two canisters of reels of movie film – Chinatown!
Once a movie left theaters they were replaced with newer releases; that meant it could take years before seeing it again – until it came to TV – edited and with commercials. Will was aware of this and would go see fave films at least twice before leaving the big screen forever.
So, the black market for reels of certain movies, especially ones that can be enjoyed repeatedly could bring decent money, enough to rob and get on a plane to deliver and cash in.
Will hung back, crept along the building to the parking lot and got in his car, it was the one closest to the exit to the street – he slouched down and waited. There were still several cars in the lot, one was the thieves.
On cue, three men, two carrying a film reel container-case each, came from the front to the back. They pulled out of the lot and headed down the boulevard toward the airport, but not to the passenger flights of LAX but under the runway and in the direction of the south side of the air freight forwarding area. Will followed as if a distant shadow mimicking every move but staying unseen.
It was about then that Will realized that he wasn’t on a case, he didn’t need to catch these guys or foil their plan – not over a couple reels of film and some petty cash, and certainly not worth risking his life. But just as he was slowing to stop and turn back he saw the thieves’ car slow down and park – out of surveillance conditioning Will did also.
Will now watched out of curiosity as another car approached from the other direction and slowed down to the thieves’ car. Will slouched down once again, but could see a transfer of the film for a package. As the recipient’s of the film cannisters drove past Will, he saw that it was Narc car – they tried so hard to blend in and look unassuming that they stood out and looked ridiculous in their effort.
Will gave in to his curiosity, hung a U turn, and followed the film.
As he followed, he projected a scenario whereby the men, Narcs, or off-the-clock Narcs were either collectors, dealers, or both, of black market movies, essentially a very low end crime, more like a high risk hobby.
Whoever paid for the film had projection facilities and probably at their house – or was yet another connection before arriving at its final destination. Will knew through his Hollywood connections that the interest in film was high, even higher in foreign countries; equaling too many suspects.
Will lost interest and decided to retrieve his flask back at the movies – the cops were probably on the scene by now. But as he pulled up there were no cop car lights, and no cops, they must’ve questioned the Manager and Usher already and processed the scene, and unusually quick.
Will parked as before, and approached the front of the building as before – the front door was ajar. He peeked through the crack in the door and saw two armed men pistol whipping the Manager and the Usher for information. That pushed Will’s action button and he quickly ran around to the side entrance worked the door open like he had done so many times before and made his way up the aisle stopping only long enough to grab his flask, then to hide behind the red velvet curtains separating the lobby and the concession stand from the theater.
He draped part of the curtain around him to appear like a dress and with his back turned and bent over just a bit with both arms around himself began to grab and grope himself giving the tried and true illusion and convincing appearance of two theater stragglers, a man and a woman making out.
Will started making amorous noises and smooching groans as he backed slowly into the lobby. Will could see the mirror image of the two men in the chromed concession stand trim.
As the man closest to Will grumbled something and made a move toward him Will quickly let loose his arms, whipped around into a crouch and used the momentum for a full extended leg sweep taking down the man with the gun.
Will jumped up in a quick Bruce Lee stance then picked up the loose gun and pointed it toward the other Man to join his buddy still on the lobby floor keeping the gun trained on them.
The Manager called the police. The Usher went to the restroom.
Will slowly moved the gun pointing at one, then the other and seethed, speaking through his teeth – Clint Eastwood style: “I can literally get away with murder right now, but I won’t, just tell me why you’re here, what you wanted – and you only get one chance ‘cuz scum like you need to be disposed of anyway.”
One Man: “We just needed to get the film, for a buyer, but those two said that they were already robbed of it.”
Will: “So beatin’ a kid was gonna change that?”
Will tempers his anger with another question: “Who were you to deliver?”
The two robbers look at each other, one speaks: “No name, just a place, the south end of the airport, by the air freight . . .
Will stops him: “Got it.”
The sound of sirens signaled Will that help was on the way and it was time for him to leave, he didn’t want to get caught up in this mess, too many questions. He locked the two men in the bathroom with no windows and gave the gun to the Manager, and left them both to tell their tale, of which surely the highlight was Will’s dual role “acting” and Martial Arts that won him accolades from the Manager and the Usher, as well as a few amused cops.
On his drive home he lt up another joint, and pondered the evening’s weirdness. With the distraction of the after movie “entertainment” Will wanted to see Chinatown again, to do that he’d obviously have to go to another theater.
His thoughts of the black market for films turned to the businessman’s well-known quote, “there’s a market for just about anything”.
Those words gave Will the goosebumps – that happens when he has nailed a concept or is
very close to the truth, or of a reveal.
He quickly pulled to the curb to focus on his thoughts. He had rightly assumed the Narc’s involvement was just another part of their usual level of criminality. But what if this wasn’t about film, but about narcotics? What if this was a robbery of narcotics between rival dealers?
The Manager! He was the front, and the Narc’s got there first.
Again, this was just a theory, and again Will had to shake off the fact that he was not on a case, and to leave well enough alone, and that he just wanted to have a nice evening out at the movies. So he continued home and got a good night’s rest.
The next day after his morning bowl of Marijuana accompanied with hot coffee he decided to go to the local record store, “The Vinyl and Tape Explosion” and it really was, the owner was either an eclectic interior designer, or the orderly king of chaos – the place looked like it blew up.
Will purchased the Chinatown soundtrack album, brought it home, and took it for a musical spin back to ‘30s Los Angeles. And while listening to this rich atmospheric music he went through his requests for cases.
Out of three there was one that seemed to be interesting so he phoned the potential client, and arranged a meeting at his office. The meeting went well, Will took the case, and agreed to begin in earnest the next morning after making preparations. His preparations included going to see Chinatown again, this time in one of the theaters in Westwood Village, just below UCLA.
His new case involved some psychedelic interaction with a group of people he peripherally knew; members of a local Venice improv group whose leader had disappeared. Before calling in the police, the client, the manager and owner of the club “Laffyerassoff”, like many others chose to seek out Will’s expertise in solving cases and avoid any negative publicity.
Will did his research on the missing person, and by early evening he was ready to go see Chinatown again.
As he drove to Westwood his mind wandered back to all of the strangeness of last night. Some bad guys got caught, but others got away. He did what he could, it was over.
He parked in the lot behind the theater and walked to the front entrance, and while standing in line to buy his ticket he looked into the lobby, the manager was directing a couple of ushers and as he turned Will recognized him – he was the Manager from last night.
Will turned to the side to avoid detection, bought his ticket, and patted himself down as if he forgot something and headed back to his car. Once inside he cleared his head by stokin’ a bowl and taking a long slow full hit. As he held the inhale he deduced that his theory was right, that the Manager was a front and that somehow, someway, narcotics, probably coke and the movie Chinatown are connected.
Then Will exhaled in total satisfaction as a grin crossed his face. It wasn’t coke, it was heroin CHINA white! The pure raw form of Heroin. The theaters showing Chinatown were all drops and fronts for a sly and very under the radar operation as a “floating crap game” of drug deals – last night Will stumbled into one gone wrong.
This was big, pure China White packed in just two film reel canisters full, once cut, could bring in an incredible return on the investment – and Chinatown was playing citywide at select L.A. theaters – that’s a lot of Heroin.
Will looked at his ticket for the movie that was starting in just a few minutes, and uttered half pissed and half enjoying his own schadenfreude: “Damn.”
Will started up his car and headed straight for his local police department; he had a connection there that, after all of the years of giving him inside tips that solved or helped solve cases, had been promoted and was always ready to listen to anything Will had to say.
.
Just like in the movie Chinatown, the truth behind the headlines is rarely publicly known. The papers made no mention of the movie Chinatown or its key connection that, through a “reliable anonymous source”, led to simultaneous raids on theaters amounting to the largest Heroin bust in L.A..
A couple of days later, after locating the “missing comedian”, who was moonlighting and making deals at a rival crosstown improv company, Will finally was going to see Chinatown again.
He borrowed a projector from a studio friend, and acquired an actual “silver” screen that unrolled for home viewing and two rolls of film off the black market – Chinatown.
The popcorn was ready.
The movie started, the quality looked real good.
Will sighed and smiled.
Then the phone rang.
.
Copyright 2018 00individual TLL
Written spontaneously over a few hours during December 4 – 6 2018 with only The Stoned Private Eye, the ‘70s, At The Movies, and a Noir Vibe as inspiration.
THE STONED PRIVATE EYE 