Barb Kaighan
ph: D Andrews	ph: A Deutsch	ph: L Hougan

UNFORGETTABLE In Every Way

The excitement was building as my flight touched down at LAX on Saturday 12/9. I knew I had only 40 minutes to get off the plane and figure out how to get to terminal 7 from terminal 3 to meet Lisa as she departed from her plane. This was no easy feat in LAX. I made it. I was holding a large bright lime green piece of paper with "GREENWOOD" printed in bold letters.

Many people exited the gate, finally a smile came from a cute blond, as she walked toward me. Lisa and I laughed as we started walking as fast as we could through the crowd. We made our way to terminal 5 where Ann's plane was due to arrive. Luckily her flight was a few minutes late and we made it. I was able to recognize Ann from her photo with Pam on the web site.

After we picked up or rental car we traveled to Westwood and the Century Wilshire Hotel. It was an older building but full of history. We could only imagine "who" may have stayed there. We then found the theater where the Premiere would be held. We parked, paying a quarter for 8 minutes at a time. We laughed at the cost as we dug through our change. All were famished and had a small salad at the California Pizza Kitchen across form the "Westwood Village" theater. Later that evening we found the lovely French restaurant where we met Pam, her family and friends. We only got lost once getting there.

The next day, we met for the continental breakfast in the terrace area of the hotel. We traveled to the address Pam had for the screening, so we could find it again later (that was the smartest thing we did). Oh my gosh! Was all we could say after realizing it was really coming true. Feeling full of energy and excitement we ventured to Rodeo Drive where the rich and the famous hung out. Since it was Sunday, we did not recognize anyone but we met some nice English folk who took our photos as we took theirs in turn. We had a lot of laughs and purchased a couple souvenirs. Then back to the hotel to get ready.

We made the same trip back to the New Line Cinema screening room. There, Emi and Marion were waiting. We were ushered into the studio - a very rich dark blue from the walls to the luxury seats. We had to take photos, as none of us were ready to believe it was real - photos would be our evidence. A bit later four other people arrived and sat behind us. Being extremely nervous, I got up and walked toward them and said, "Hi, I'm Barb from St. Louis." A very pretty young lady laughed and said, "Hi, I'm Lisa from Los Angeles." We all laughed and the gentleman sitting next to her, introduced himself as Glen, from Beacon Productions. Glen then said, you must be the people Bruce scheduled this showing for! We all nodded and said yes. He added an apology for his company saying that he was sorry that the Premiere was moved but that it was getting such good reviews and Oscar talk that it was changed for those purposes. He also said Bruce was very upset due to our arrival and change, that "Bruce threw his weight around" and got this viewing scheduled. With that assertion we all just replied "Ohhhhhhhh!" Glen then introduced the two people next to him as his parents who had come in from out of town for the premiere too.

A few minutes later another gentleman arrived and sat behind Glen. I introduced myself again and I answered with "Hi, I'm David." The light was not bright in the studio, but after hearing his voice, I knew that I had seen David before, but I had to figure out where.

THIRTEEN DAYS began. We were all quiet and anxious. We wanted to applaud when his name showed up on the screen but we just murmured instead. I got so engrossed in the film that I had to remind myself where I was and who was due to arrive afterward. Just the thought made me nervous. The film was fantastic, and watching Bruce play JFK was remarkable. He delivered his character with the body language, voice cadence, and emotions, so characteristic of Kennedy, that I felt at times it was actually JFK, himself. (Well, more on the movie later.) p> The credits of the film started to roll. We all started to whisper to one another. Lisa took a quick exit, but returned within seconds. She was very pale and seemed nervous. But I soon realized why. Following her into the studio was Bruce and Susan Greenwood! I just started to laugh, wondering what had taken place behind the closed doors.

Bruce met Glen and his family, then looked toward us and I pointed to Pam and said, "That's Pam." He then greeted us all personally and took us out to a lobby room where he had pizza and water bottles ready. We were all circled around him as he started to speak. He seemed as excited as we were. After a few minutes he said to have some pizza and pointed to the counter. Everyone but me obeyed his command. I just stood there. He turned to me and I said, "Mr. Greenwood, I have always held JFK as my idol, and to have you play him is phenomenal." He responded in all seriousness "How'd I do?" I replied, "Sir, you were terrific!" and added similar comments as I mentioned above. He said "thank you" and grinned.

I introduced myself to Susan Greenwood. She has the ability to make one feel that you have known her all your life. I expressed our thanks for their generosity and how unbelievable it was. We laughed and talked about the whole venture. I tried to explain who everyone was, and she was surprised that we had not known each other prior to this occurrence. I told her how it was Pam's personal attention to us, that this group was organized. During our conversation I realized who "David" was. He was an actor, who was in "The Color of Courage." She said that Bruce was excited and flattered that we would come all this way to see the film. I replied that we were the ones who were excited.

I asked Bruce to let us know the next time he narrated a book. He looked perplexed and I said "Judas Judge." He then said "oh yeah, it took me two days to do it." We spoke a bit about other books and his favorite was "Close Range" by Annie Proulx. He also mentioned that we ought to read the book he was in the middle of reading, "When Rivers Change Direction," by Mike Spragg.

He was funny, courteous, charming, engaging and........ I could go on for paragraphs. I asked if we could get a couple of "shots" while reaching for my camera. He said "sure." Flashes were going off all over. But when it came time for me to get in a photo with him, no one wanted to mess with my new camera. David Andrews came to the rescue. As he handed the camera back to me, I asked "would you mind getting in a shot with Bruce, after all you were in The Color of Courage." He replied, "You remembered that," and went toward Bruce saying, "she remembered I was in The Color of Courage." Bruce said "great," and I got the photo.

The funniest part of the afternoon was when I whispered to Bruce about Ann cutting him up on the cake. He laughed and looked at Ann saying "I heard you cut me up!" She stopped as she was frozen, first denying it, then realizing he was talking about the cake and she started to laugh, saying, "I had to." Then she said, "How did you know about that?" He just said, "I have my ways."

We did not want it to end but we felt so very fortunate to, see the film, meet him, get his autograph, and a good-bye hug. We also received a Press Release Kit of the film with 13 wonderful photos and slides. That is why I call it "Unforgettable."

Barb

Bruce's Private Screening

Thirteen Days

Thirteen Days Premiere