Sunday 19 January 2020

The Sunday Story: Cro Meets John, and Sells Out.


In 1967 I was running a small antiques business in London's Chelsea. I dealt in rare early European wood carvings; mostly polychromed religious artifacts (that no doubt had at some time been 'rescued' from abandoned or bombed-out churches). Angels, Cherubs, Saints; all manner of imagery passed through my hands. My only criterion was that it was old, beautiful, and either French Spanish or Italian.

One lunch-time a youngish man came into the shop, gasped, gasped again, and then asked if I would kindly NOT SELL ANYTHING until he returned about an hour or so later.

I agreed to his strange request (I'd never been asked that before), and he returned as promised after about two hours.

The man was an Italianate-American, and he proceeded to buy EVERYTHING I had; it seemed as if my taste was his taste. He explained that he was working temporarily in London, and he didn't want to take money back home. He wanted to buy things... Antiques... My Antiques.

He was renting a small cottage in Chelsea, about two hundred yards from the shop. An exclusive little property in a highly desirable street. We took all his purchases back by taxi, and unloaded them into his kitchen, where, on the table I was slightly perturbed to see a Thompson Machine Gun!

I hadn't yet been paid, so I began to worry. Then a small boy entered the room (he was introduced as Nick) and asked 'Have you been shot yet daddy?'.

I became even more worried. Then the man explained that he was actually over in London making a film. I asked the obvious question, and his reply was 'The Dirty Dozen'.

He paid me in cash, and we half-heartedly arranged to meet-up for a beer in the near future (which never happened; I was too busy), and that was the last I saw of him.

I saw the film 'The Dirty Dozen' a few years later, and discovered my young Italio-American to be John Cassavetes. In my ignorance, I'd not previously heard of him.

I often wonder if he kept the antiques that I sold him, or simply cashed-in back in the US, and made a quick profit. Somehow I imagine that his son Nick still has them. I'd certainly like to think he does.

Cassavetes was a really nice guy. No airs or graces, no big movie star rubbish, just a guy who loved antique wood carvings. As for me, I had no more stock.... nothing to sell, so I quit the antiques business and went to college. I just wish I'd made time to have a few beers with him, but as he later died of cirrhosis; maybe it was good that I didn't.

I don't know the date of the photo above, but that's EXACTLY how I remember him.


26 comments:

  1. There must be something wrong in your story Dirty Dozen was already finished in 1966.

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    1. It's a long time ago, maybe it was 66. I know he was just about to return to the USA.

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    2. The film was released in 1967. Same difference. Funny story. Am now dead curious what he did with those artefacts of yours. Maybe he used them as props in one of the films he himself directed.

      One little correction: Cassavetes' parents were Greek not Italian.

      U

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    3. I'd imagined he was half Italian; I don't know why. Yes, I'd love to know what happened to everything. I hope he didn't just sell them to cash-in.

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  2. Interesting. Many years ago I knew someone who dealt in old and antique clocks. I bumped into him one day and asked how was business. He said happily he no longer had the shop, someone from Holland had come in one lunchtime and bought his entire stock.

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    1. He wasn't called Cassavetes, by any chance?

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    2. It was in the 1980s. I don't know any other details other than that he turned up from The Netherlands, bought the lot and got the next flight back.

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    3. But it had made him very happy.

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  3. Lovely story. It has got me thinking about so many interesting and famous people I have met. The only trouble is so many of them are alive and already very much talked about at present, so best I keep schtum.

    LX

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    1. Living in Fulham and working in Chelsea at that time, the area was filled with 'celebs'. No-one bothered them, they were simply part of the population. It was an interesting time.

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  4. Times have changed as far as 'celebs' are concerned haven't they Cro?
    Sorry about those sleep patterns by the way - I get a bit like that for a while and then it sorts itself out. Have you tried meditation?

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    1. No. I've tried just about everything else, I think I'll simply have to accept that I don't need more than a very small amount of sleep.

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  5. Was he in Rosemary's Baby? One of my favourite films

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    1. I really know nothing more about him. I think he later went into production. He was a nice man; I'm glad I met him.

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  6. One of the things about being in Glasgow a lot is that one is always 'bumping into' 'celebrities' in the street. One person I see visits his mother regularly but I didn't actually click who he was until I said to my companion that his face was familiar and she told me who he was and quite a lot more.

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    1. I suppose it's quite fun meeting celebs. Chelsea at that time was the hub of activity for the trendy famous.

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  7. I rented a cabinet in an antiquarian shop once, selling Chinese antiquaries such as Tang horses, etc. One day an American came in and bought my entire stock too. Greedy bastards.

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    1. Some things are not easy to replace; I'd sourced much of my stock out in Spain.

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  8. I wouldn't have minded bumping into him myself. Handsome chap wasn't he?

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    1. Yes he was very striking looking. Not my type though!

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  9. How very interesting, Cro. A lovely story. A question from one who was born later to one who was "there" - I recently watched a film set in London in 1962 and was struck by how few cars the producers thought there were on the roads. From your memory, was that the case? Was the whole place less crowded than it is now? If so, what a wonderful place it must have been. Keep on keeping on, good work! Best wishes from the other side of the world - James

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    1. I had a dreadful old Anglia Van, and never found any trouble either with traffic or parking. The only difficulty at the time was finding petrol!

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    2. The whole planet was less crowded then James. London did not have congestion charges or bus lanes or white vans delivering.

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  10. What a great story! I can't say I know this actor either but you must have laughed rather heartily when you saw the film. It'd be hard to have forgotten who he was, for you!

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    1. If he was well known at the time, it would only have been in the USA. I wasn't totally ignorant, but my knowledge of such things was limited the the UK.

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