Spy in a Little Black Dress - By Maxine Kenneth Page 0,48
convinced Emiliano that she would be perfectly safe without him as her bodyguard. She wanted a night out on her own, a chance to experience the event as just another starstruck moviegoer in the crowd of avid fans. And they were more avid than any Jackie had ever seen before. Every time a new limousine pulled up to disgorge its passengers, the fans greeted them with a roar that crescendoed to a frenzy before subsiding, but only until the arrival of the next limo.
Circulating through the crowd were actors dressed as Count Dracula, his main victim, Eva Seward, or his nemesis, Professor Van Helsing. And among the excited onlookers stood Jackie, swaying back and forth with the throng of fans as they attempted to catch a glimpse of Hollywood stars Desi Arnaz and Cesar Romero, who had both flown down to Havana just to attend the premiere. Playing the dutiful journalist, Jackie was checking out the scene outside the Teatro de Cinema before entering the theatre herself. She was wearing a simple black sleeveless dress designed for her by Mini Rhea, the Georgetown dressmaker who had become her own personal Dalai Lama of style.
From this vantage point in the crowd, she spotted Frank Sinatra and Sam Giancana, who both appeared with gum-chewing blond showgirls on their arms. They walked in to shouts of “Frank! Frank!” and “This way! This way!” as press photographers in the crowd attempted to capture this historic moment in Cuban cultural history for posterity.
As Jackie watched the parade of celebrities stroll down the red carpet, she became aware of a man standing near her. Unlike the other members of the mob, he didn’t call out to any of the passing celebrities, didn’t even seem to acknowledge them or rubberneck to stare at them. Instead, he seemed, at least to Jackie, to be biding his time.
And now here came Fulgencio Batista himself, as effulgent as a peacock in his full military regalia, and accompanied by an equally full phalanx of bodyguards. He waved to the crowd as he quickly entered the theatre. There was applause for the less than popular El Presidente, as who in the crowd would be foolhardy enough to boo him and risk getting beaten up by the secret police?
Once again, Jackie was aware of the man near her, whose interest seemed to have perked up somewhat with the appearance of Batista. His eyes followed El Presidente as the leader and his retinue walked down the red carpet and into the theatre. Jackie also noticed that the man, who was dressed in coveralls and carrying a metal toolbox, seemed to have come straight from his job to be a part of the crowd outside the Teatro de Cinema.
More applause came from the crowd, and Jackie looked to see who was coming down the red carpet next. After a few more celebrities unknown to Jackie strutted into the theatre, in snuck Papa, the only movie guest not to be found in appropriate evening attire. With his sneakers, wrinkled cotton chinos, Windbreaker, and long-billed baseball cap, he looked like he was dressed to step onto the deck of his fishing boat, the Pilar.
But the loudest applause was reserved for Carlos Villarías, the movie’s Count Dracula, and Lupita Tovar, who, according to the program Jackie held in her hand, played Eva Seward. Both of them greeted their fans with exaggerated courtesy, as though they hadn’t received this kind of attention in a long, long time, which was probably the case. Jackie had read that Lupita Tovar’s husband, Paul Kohner, was the producer at Universal who’d thought up the idea of filming a Spanish-language version of Dracula as a vehicle for his sexy young wife. Despite the passage of years, she was still an incredibly beautiful woman.
Jackie looked around but was surprised to find that the man in the overalls was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to have vanished entirely. But by now, the last celebrity had entered the theatre, so, dismissing the man from her mind, Jackie detached herself from the crowd, walked down the red carpet herself (and knew enough Spanish to understand the fans who asked, “Who is she?”), showed her ticket to the usher at the entrance, and was waved through into the theatre.
Which turned out to be as elaborate an affair on the inside as it was on the outside. The Moorish castle theme of the theatre’s exterior was continued here with a large Diego Rivera-type mural that wrapped around three walls