Indecent Exposure (38 page)
- "But now I appear before you with the acts revealed, with the investigation completed, with restitution made, or in the process of being made, and with my psychological health well on the way toward restoration. I am a man who was sick and is very nearly cured. I am engaged in active, dynamic psychotherapy which is helping me enormously. Because I now understand the roots of my transgressions, it is inconceivable that I could ever repeat them. Thus. I appear before you to ask for mercy, to ask for a second chance. If you feel you cannot grant me that second chance, I will certainly understand. But if you can summon up the mercy to grant me another chance, you will find that
1
will work day and night and do everything humanly possible to justi
fy your faith in me. I will rede
dicate my life to the success of Columbia Pictures."
Tears streamed down the face of Matty Rosenhaus as
Begelman
spoke, and other eyes in the room were moist as well. The only people not visibly moved by Begelman's words were Alan Hirschfield, Herbert Allen, and the lawyers. - With hands trembling slightly,
Begelman
picked up a stack of letters and telegrams from his folder and held them aloft. - "In case any of you
are
concerned about my standing in the Hollywood community as a result of my difficulties—and I well understand how you might have such concerns—
1
want to share with you a number of expressions which I have received in recent weeks." He proceeded to read messages from Pa
ul Newman, Mel Brooks, Sue Menge
rs, George Segal, Barbra Streisand, and many other big names in Hollywood. Although few if any of these people knew what Begelman had done to cause his suspension from the company, they all declared him to be an outstanding executive whom they would be delighted to work with in the future. - Then Begelman shifted in his chair slightly and looked straight at Alan Hirschfield. "Now, Alan, I'd like to talk directly to you. You have been a friend to me, you took a chance with me by hiring me, and you have stood by mc through some very difficult times. I've betrayed you. I've lied to you. I've given you every reason not to trust me. I know that the only way in which you will ever trust me again is if I actively win back your trust, win back your faith, win back your admiration.
I
want you to know that I will work with every breath of my body to accomplish this if you will just give mc a chance. If you find that you can't do it. I'll understand. But if you do, it will be the best decision you ever make in your life. You will have no more loyal servant than me. I beg of you to give it to me." - With that,
Begelman
rose, picked up his folder, and again circled the table shaking hands. Jim Wilmot said: "It took a lot of courage for you to come here today and go through all of this." Matty Rosenhaus. still dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief, escorted
Begelman
from the room. - As R
osenhaus was returning to his se
at.
Hirschfield
said: "That was quite an act, trembling hands and all." - Rosenhaus shouted,
"1
deeply resent that comment! What kind of man
are
you, anyway, to say something like that. For God's sake, the man bares his heart and soul, and you say something like that. It's despicable and unforgivable!" - "I didn't forge the checks, Matty," Hirschfield retorted.
- Everyone in the room not a member of the board of directors, including the lawyers, was asked to leave so that the board could deliberate in private. Each of the seven men expressed himself in turn. Herbert Allen, Irwin Kramer, and James Wilmot repeated the familar arguments in favor of reinstating Begelman: He is not a criminal but an emotionally disturbed man who is nearly cured. He has stolen less than one hundred thousand dollars, not a large amount. He is an extraordinarily valuable asset to the company, and indeed is irreplaceable. Reaction from outside the company to reinstatement is irrelevant: Under the "business-judgment" concept, as outlined by the lawyers, we have the right to reinstate him. Neither the SEC nor anyone else has the right to tell us how to run our business. Even if there's some unfavorable publicity, it will fade quickly.
Matty Rosenhaus was never content simply to register assent in such a situation. He liked to deliver sermons.
"I don't know when I've ever been more moved than I was by David here this morning. This clearly is a reformed man. He's seen the light. Can you imagine the suffering he's been through, and not only privately, but his wife, his family, his loss of face, his loss of standing in the community. It must have been pure hell. Alan, you
have
to be a big enough man to forgive him. If we can forgive, you can forgive. It's in your lap. The man is telling you that you'll have a friend for life, who'll be more loyal to you than anyone. Loyalty is the most important thing there is in life. Alan. Nothing is more important than loyalty. Here you have a person who will be loyal to you for life—to Alan
Hirschfield
. Not only does David deserve another chance, he
needs
another chance. He needs our approval in order to recover. God knows what will happen to him if we don't give it to him. He was i
n such a state. Couldn't you see
the way his hands were shaking? He could hardly speak. We have to trust him. Every famous name in the business wrote him. saying they believe in
him. We have to believe in him
too. It's up to you. Alan. You have to look into your heart, and then open your heart to David." - It was Leo Jaffe's turn.
- "I
unders
tand the pleas you're making. I, too, was touched by
David's talk. I know the people who wrote to him.
The
y all meant what they said. In his heart, David wants to do as well as he can. But there
are
certain things you can forgive a man for doing as a human being, but that have no place in a publicly owned company. We are a public company. We have to think about the public, the shareholders, and our employees. What do we say to the next person who steals? Do we give him a second chance? Do we have a double standard? Executives can steal, but employees at a lower level can't? Beside
s, how do we know we
can trust David? How do we know this isn't a lifelong habit? Six weeks is an awfully short period of time in w
hich to judge how well he is. Maybe we
should wait six months or a year and
then consider taking him back. I
don't want to see David have to suffer any financial loss, or be deprived, or be thrown out on the street. He's made an enormous contribution to the company. No one here is taking anything away from that. Wouldn't we all be better off trying to make a production deal with him, giving him some financial security, and then reconsidering his situation vis-a-vis the company a year or two down the line?" - Finally the floor was
Hirschfield
's. After seven difficult weeks, during which he had decided he had to oppose
Begelman
's return to the company, but had managed to avoid most confrontations with the other board members on the subject, the time for confrontation was at hand. - "First of all," Hirschfield began, "the question of David's qualifications was never an issue. The fact
that
he brought in all these recommendations from people in the industry only affirms a self-evident truth. David is a very able, very qualified man. His value to the corporation has never been an issue and has never been doubted by mc. This has nothing to do with his competence. I also agree th
at it is unlikely that he would
commit the kind of acts in the futur
e that he has in the past. But I
don't think it's cut and dried, and I can't assure anybody that we won't continue to find evidence of other things from his past. I just don't want to be around the day somebody walk
s in and says we found another twenty-five
-thousand-dollar item for David
Begelman
. We
would get sued from here to tomorrow. I just don't want to be a part of it. - "I also think it's highly questionable that we're dealing with temporary aberrational behavior. I'm convinced from Peter's presentation and from talking to other people that we're dealing with a lifelong habit. And you just don't change lifelong habits in six weeks. Whatever deep-seated emotional problems have come to the fore, there is no doubt that he has lived on the financial edge all his life. We have indications that there may have been a problem as far back as the fifties.*
"The issue of the double standard worries me. If
we
bring him back, we're in effect condoning this kind of behavior for other employees. We can't have a double standard.
"As to outside appearances, I think they
're vital in this day and age. I
challenge any person sitting in this room to tell me one, just one, company in the
Fortune
500, or even the
Fortune
1,000, that, faced with this same problem, would take a person like this back." - Herbert Allen spoke up. "Northrup Aviation reinstated Jones, Thomas Jones, last year after their scandal."
- "That was an entirely different kind of issue," Hirschfield said. "It was political and foreign payoffs. Those people didn't steal from the company and put it in their own pockets. However illegal it might have been, they were using the company's money to get business for the company."
- "Well, it doesn't make any difference what the rest of the
Fortune
500 do," Herbert replied. "We can be the exception." - "There should be no exceptions,"
Hirschfield
insisted. "Matty, what would happen in your company, Nabisco, if you caught somebody stealing? How long would Nabisco put up with this kind of behavior? Would they give him a second chance?" - "It would be handled on a case-by-case
basis," Rosenhaus said. - "I
doubt that very much. In my opinion, he'd be bounced out on his nose and prosecuted in all probability. If we bring David back, we're going to stick out like a sore thumb. We're goi
ng to destroy the credibility we
spent four and a half years regaining after being on the bottom of the heap. Our standing in the investment community, the financial community, and the entertainment community would be totally destroyed by taking him back. In addition to which, our ability to do acquisitions, our standing with our banks . . . we're going to look like utter fools. And in my opinion, there's going to be a holocaust in the newspapers. There's going to be a firestorm of - *
The questions
r
aised about
Begelman's employment in the insurance
business were never resolved, and no e
vidence of misconduct by Begelmanan wa
s presented
.
Begelman
later said that if there had
been any misunderstanding when he left the
insurance business—and he did no
t recall any misunderstanding—it
resulted from the abruptness of
his departure to
join MCA
, a move be had wanted to make f
or many years.
- publicity. It's not going to go away in twenty-four hours. It's going to last us a lifetime if we keep him here. And every time he says a word, or does a deal, it's going to be there, sticking out like a sore thumb.
- "I can tell you for sure," Hirschfield continued, "that the minute we take him back we'll have no deal with General Cinema. We'll blow a financing and a relationship that is worth tens of millions of dollars to this company. And I can also tell you for sure that we will not do business again with Time Inc. if David
Begelman
is running our production program. Also, I think you people are underestimating the response of the SEC. This company has to do business in Washington. We have a continuing need to have good relationships with the SEC for getting financings approved, mergers, acquisitions. We're kidding ourselves if we think this isn't going to hurt us. They're on a kick about white-collar crime and aren't about to stand back and watch us reward somebody who has done these things by putting him back in his position. - "There has been a myth created that David Begelman is indispensable. Yes, he's done a brilliant job and has played an important role in the success of the company. But we aren't the company we were four and a half years ago. We're a highly visible, highly successful enterprise, and we aren't depending on the motion-picture division to live or die anymore. TV is doing all right. We have Arista. We have Gottlieb. We have a strong balance sheet. We have credibility in the community. We have the best marketing of any company in the industry. In fact, it's an insult to the people at this company to say that any one person, including myself, is indispensable to the success of this company. Begelman is not irreplaceable, nor is anybody else. Other picture companies have done fine when they lost the heads of their studios.
- "On a personal moral basis, taking him back goes against everything I stand for. I have great sympathy for David. I have great anguish in my heart. This is a man I've lived and died with for four years trying to make this company work. We've shared a lot of agony together and we've shared a lot of success together. I don't want to see him hurt financial
ly in any way. shape, or form. I
don't want to see him prosecuted. I'm happy to consider giving him a production deal if the lawyers say that won't cause us trouble. But we cannot have a forger and embezzler in this company, whatever the extenuating circumstances." - Afte
r a few seconds of silence, Matty Rosenhaus spoke: "Alan, we have committed ourselves to support whatever decision you make as the chief executive officer, and we
are
prepared to honor that
commitment. But I implore you, I beg you, I
ask you as strongly as I possibly can, to reconsider your position and try to find a way to work with David. The decision doesn't have to be made today. We still have to get a report directly from David's doctor, and Peter still has to clear up a few loose ends of the investigation. So I would ask you to think it over for a few days before making a final decision."- "I'm 90 percent sure," Hirschfield said.
"With 10 percent, there's always hope," Rosenhaus replied. - Hirschfield reluctantly agreed. He promised to render a tentative decision by Friday and, depending on what was learned from Begclinan's psychiatrist and the other remaining steps of the investigation, to give a final decision the following week.
- The board meeting was adjourned at three o'clock.
Hirschfield
returned to his office and summoned Joe Fischer, Allen Adler, and Victor Kaufman to brief them on the board's private deliberations. Hirschfield was devastated. He had known that the board meeting would be difficult, but it had been much worse than he had anticipated. Despite David Geffen's warnings about Ray Stark, despite the warnings of Marty Ransohoff ("They're gonna shove him up your ass!"), despite the extraordinary revelation that
Berte
's employment might be made an issue in the Begelman case, Alan had clung to the hope that when the directors actually sat down behind the closed doors of the boardroom—with the full array of Begelman's crimes, lies, and manipulations spread before them—their minds would be open, they would be able to engage in genuine collaborative reasoning, and in the end. they would agree with his conclusion that reinstating Begelman was not only unwise as a practical matter but flatly wrong in every respect. It seemed to
Hirschfield
,
however, that every mind in the boardroom had been made up before the meeting began. David Geffen had been right about Ray Stark all along. He obviously had swayed Herbert and everybody else. The entire event appeared to have been staged so as to put the most pressure on Hirschfield:
Begelman
's tear-jerking
mea culpa:
the rude treatment of Peter Gruenberger: the refusal to accept Alan's decision and the insistence that he reconsider. - Alan had not expected them to raise the "Berte" issue in the boardroom and they had not. They would wait a few days and see whether he changed his mind on
Begelman
. He knew, however, that he could not and would not reconsider. - Begelman
had to go. - At dusk, Hirschfield strolled alone over to the Ziegfeld and was thrilled to see that the lines of people waiting to see
Close Encounters
stretched all the way to Sixth Avenue. The movie had received rave reviews in the New York papers that day and, having been open to the public only since noon, was playing to record crowds at each showing. - Someone had suggested after the board meeting that Hirschfield and
Begelman
meet privately before David returned to Los Angeles. They agreed, and Hirschfield went to the Columbia suite at the Drake for breakfast on Thursday morning. It was the first time that he and David had been alone together for more than two months— since before the revelation of the first embezzlement. Both men were somewhat uncomfortable and guarded. David did not repeat his emotional pica for mercy. Alan did not flatly reject the idea of reinstatement. - "When I went on leave of absence," David said, "you indicated or implied that if this was not another Equity Funding situation, you might have a different view of it than you would have if it were an Equity Funding. Without in any way minimizing the seriousness or importance of my transgressions. I think you can agree that they do not add up to another Equity Funding."
- "Of course not. David, but it's still a very difficult situation for us. We live in an age when corporations are under close scrutiny from all sides and have to be above reproach. This case is a tough call. I have to consider how
1
would be perceived if
I
took you back. I have to consider how I will look to the banks, to the Street, to the public. I know it doesn't matter in Hollywood. I know they love you out there and you're already forgiven. So I'm not concerned about your effectiveness in the community if you came back. That's not an issue. But
I
do have to consider carefully how the company as a whole will look." - "I understand that," David replied, "and I'm sure that whatever decision you reach will take those issues into account, as well it should."
- The meeting ended on a cordial note. "Things will work out," Alan said.
- On his way to JFK in the limousine,
Begelman
felt more hopeful than he had felt in some time. - Hirschfield
had had Joe Fischer searching urgently, before and after the Wednesday board meeting, for the file documenting
Berte
's employment with the Wolf market-research firm. When Alan returned from seeing Begelman Thursday morning, he was relieved to learn that Fischer had finally found the file. There were two letters, both dated February 26, 1976, both signed by Leo Jaffe, and both marked "personal and confidential." The first letter was to
Hirschfield
, who had voluntarily made
Berte
's employment known to Columbia and its lawyers in order to obtain an objective appraisal of whether her job represented a potential conflict. The second letter was to Irwin Kramer, the chairman of the board's subcommittee that periodically examined the outside business interests of employees to determine whether there was any conflict with Columbia's interests and whether anyone was using his position at Columbia for improper personal gain. Both letters had cleared
Berte
of any conflict. - "Our examination, which was made thoroughly in this instance, indicates there is no conflict of interest,"
Jaffe
had written to Kramer. Todd Lang had concurred. - It was Irwin Kramer, of course, who was now asking Peter Gruenberger to reopen the matter. Hirschfield sent Gruenberger copies of Jaffe's letters, hoping they would squelch any effort by the board to make an issue of Berte's employment.
Hirschfield
realized, however, that if the board was determined to inflame the issue, it was capable of doing so, even in the face of the letters. - Herbert Allen called at noon on Friday.
- "What's your decision. Alan? You said you'd have a tentative decision on Begelman by Friday."
- "I haven't made it yet. You'll get a final decision by Tuesday."
- "But you promised you would have a tentative decision by today. You gave your word."
- "I have the right to change my mind about my word."
"That's a very bizarre statement. Alan. You gave your word to the board that you would decide by Friday, pending the final questioning of the doctor." - "This is a ridiculous conversation, about as ridiculous as you people trying to make something corrupt out of
Berte
's employment with Ed Wolf." - "Nobody's above reproach, Alan."
- "Well,
Berte
certainly is, and I certainly am on that issue, and I have letters to prove it." - "I
don't recall that we ever got to the bottom of that." - "You know goddamn well that we got to the bottom of it. I disclosed it to the board, I disclosed it to the lawyers, and everybody agreed that it was clean. She hasn't even worked there for nearly a year."
- "Well, Irwin feels it needs another look. We don't recall that we ever got all the details."
- "Irwin can go fuck himself! This is blackmail! If you think you can bludgeon me into taking David back by raising a phony issue about
Berte
,
you've got another think coming!" - "Oh, Alan, don't be ridiculous. Why
are
you so excited if you've got nothing to hide?" - "I have a right to be excited! You can't convince me to take Begelman back on the merits, so you come up with some phony bullshit about my wife that has nothing to do with Begelman or anything else. It's the lowest kind of tactic!"
- "You're overreacting, Alan. The audit committee has a responsibility to examine any situation where there might be a question."
"There is no question here and y
ou know it, and you've pushed me
as far as you're going to push me." - Hirschfield slammed the receiver into the cradle.
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- As Alan and
Berte
Hirschfield and their children flew west on Saturday afternoon for an annual Thanksgiving reunion with West Coast relatives, Judd Marmor, Begelman's psychiatrist, flew east for a Sunday rendezvous in Manhattan with Irwin Kramer and Peter Gruenberger. - Many people were skeptical about David Begelman's psychotherapy. Wags had labeled it the "six-week Beverly Hills miracle cure," in part because Matty Rosenhaus, with fustian solemnity, had been quick to proclaim David "cured" and his treatment a "miracle." Alan Hirschfield considered it a "joke." Anyone familiar with psychotherapy knew that serious emotional problems generally could not be "cured" in so short a time.
- As much as they yearned to. however, the skeptics could not ignore
Begelman
's therapy. He had, after all, sought out a renowned doctor and had placed emotional illness at the center of his defense. Judd Marmor had his detractors in the Los Angeles psychoanalytic community, as any psychiatrist docs, but since no one had insisted that
Begelman
get a second opinion, Marmor's diagnosis was the only professional opinion that counted. David had waived the doctor-patient privilege of confidentiality and urged that Marmor be questioned directly and independently. Peter Gruenberger had spoken informally with Marmor in his
Wilshire
Boulevard office several days earlier, but the meeting on Sunday morning at Irwin Kramer's apartment on Park Avenue was to be the official interrogation, wherein Marmor presumably would confirm everything that Begelman himself had told the board on Wednesday about his mental problems and treatment. - Judd Marmor. a slight, bald man of sixty-seven, with a deep tan, arrived at the Kramer apartment promp
tly at 10:30, only to find that
he had been preempted temporarily by televised history-in-the-making. The Kramer family and the Columbia contingent were gathered around a television set in the den watching Egyptian President Sadat address the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem. It was a momentous day in the history of Egyptian-Israeli relations, and millions of people in America and abroad were riveted to the live television coverage that morning. Judd Marmor's time was limited, however, so after about half an hour, he and the Columbia group adjourned to the library. In additio
n to Irwin Kramer and Peter Gruenberge
r, the m
eeting was attended by Robert Werbe
l, the Allen & Company lawyer, and Nancy Barton, the Weil, Gotshal lawyer who had discovered the Martin Ritt check. - Marmor was asked to give a precis of David
Begelman
's condition and treatment. - "David's problem fundamentally is a neurotic disorder rather than a flaw of character," the doctor began. "That means that he can function at a high level professionally and personally, but at the same time occasionally display neurotic symptoms. Although the roots of his neurosis go quite deep, the neurosis itself constitutes a subconscious feeling of self-loathing, low self-esteem, a feeling of lack of worth, which makes it difficult for him to accommodate great success and acclaim. This conflict sets off a self-destructive mechanism, which manifests itself in the acts he committed. They in turn represent a need to be caught and punished.
"All of this is different from a psychopath, who has no guilt and, if caught, only regrets being caught. David knew he was doing something wrong. He knew he was guilty then and thereafter. As a result, he now feels enormous guilt and self-condemnation and is willing and anxious to pay any price to make up to the people whom he has hurt." - ' Peter Gruenberge
r began to question Marmor: - "As you may know. David swore to us in September after we found two defalcations that there were no more. We found a third. He swore to us he had blocked that and was sure there were no more beyond the third. A month later we found another forged check, the Martin Ritt check. He says he blocked that. too. Is all of this plausible?"
- "Yes, absolutely. I believe he totally repressed the Ritt episode. It is possible for an event itself to be repressed, but for the guilt over having committed the event to be manifest."
- "How can we be sure that there are no other events?"
- "I told him at the outset that he had to tell me everything, and I believe he has. I've pressed him very hard."
- "How can we be sure that he acted alone?"
- "I believe it to be absolutely true that nobody helped him commit any of these acts. This was a secret neurosis."
- "Is there any possibility that he needed this money because he was gambling?"
- "No."
- "Is it possible that he was blackmailed?" "I don't think so."
- "Then what was the conscious motivation?"
- "He had to maintain a dignified front, and while one ordinarily would think of blackmail or gambling, the simplest explanation—so simple that one tends to reject it—is that this was a man living beyond his means and unable to admit it. But that's neurotic, not realistic, behavior."
- "Could you describe the type of treatment?"
- "It is intensive psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. Th
ere are no drugs or hypnosis. We
meet three times a week and may do so for several years, although we may winnow down after a while to twice a week. I'm getting a high level of sincerity and cooperation from David. The prognosis for correction of the condition is excellent. He has a definite capacity for correctability. I expect the changes to be fundamental and not veneer. I feel confident in saying that he won't do these things again, not just because of what I have done in treating him, but also because the bubble has burst. I think the prospect of recurrence is absolutely minimal, and I think David will try hard to vindicate himself." - "How well will he be able to function with his peers, with subordinates, and with outsiders?"
"I think he has the capacity to adapt and I certainly think that he will maintain dignity and poise. He has no resentment toward the investigation. He understands the necessity for it. In fact, he feels he caused it to happen. He says 'I want to pay any bill to clear my slate.' "
"Do you feel it is necessary to impose any special controls or protections on or around David to guard against a recurrence?" - "If you do that, it would be a good idea to make it a company rule for everybody."
- After about two hours in the Kramer apartment, Judd Marmor left and flew back to Los Angeles.
- Perhaps the most enthusiastic movie review in the history of movies appeared in Sunday's
Los Angeles Times
—an article about
Close Encounters
by science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. - Close Encounters
calls. We feel ourselves being born, truly for the first time. . . .
Close Encounters
is, in all probability, the most important film of our time. . . . For this is a religious film, in all the great good senses, the right senses, of that much-battered word. . . . Spielberg has made a film that can open in New Delhi, Tokyo, Berlin. Moscow, Johannesburg, Paris, London. New York and Rio de Janeiro on the same day to mobs and throngs and crowds that will never stop coming because for the first time someone has treated all of us as if we really did belong to one race.
...
I
dare to predict that in every way, aesthetically or commercially, it will be the most successful film ever produced, released, or seen. It will be the first film in history to gross $1 billion, all by itself. . . . Every priest, minister, rabbi in the world should preach this film, show this film to their congregations. Every Moslem, every Buddhist—Zen or otherwise—in the world can sit down at this moveable feast and leave well fed. That's how big this film is. That's why it will be around the rest of our lives making us want to live more fully, packing us with its hope and energy. . . . - Ray Stark staged the premier of his new film
The Goodbye Girl
in Manhattan that Sunday evening. Among the guests at the party following the movie were Herbert Allen
, the Leo Jaffes,
and Cliff Robertson and Dina Merrill. Robertson had recently completed his own film in London and returne
d to New York. Although Cliff ha
d ignored Columbia Pictures' offer, issued through his lawyer, to brief him privately on the
Begelman
investigation, he and Leo Jaffe. who had known Cliff for many years, found a privat
e spot amidst the hubbub of the
party. - "I'm sorry for whatever grief this matter has
caused Columbia," Cliff said. "I
know you understand that 1 had to do what I did, being faced with a possible tax investigation."
"Of course." Leo replied, "and
I
want you to know that we
have the situation fully under control. We've had the most complete investigation imaginable, and we appreciate your discretion in the matter." - "Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's closed. I was only concerned about the tax issue, and that's been clarified."
- For the third time in seven weeks, Alan
Hirschfield
settled into Bungalow 8 of the Beverly Hills Hotel—this time for a two-week stay that would include the traditional California Thanksgiving reunion of the Hirschfield family. The occasion was spearheaded by
Berte
and her sister, Susan Foge
lson, whose husband, Andrew, was in charge of advertising at Warner Bros. (Earlier he had a similar post at Columbia.) Alan's parents would come from their winter home in Palm Springs. Berte and Susan's brother would come down from Seattle. - As his family began a week of recreation, Alan stepped back into the Begelman fray like a battlefield commander returning to a war after a weekend pass. He found the Columbia studio so preoccupied with the controversy that the conduct of business was being impeded. Staff members spent much of each day speculating among themselves: Will David be reinstated? What did the investigation find? How many checks did he forge? How can he be reinstated if he stole money? Is he in hock to the Mafia? Will he be prosecuted? Will he go to jail? Is he emotionally disturbed?
- One of the few people who had resolved not to be engulfed by the affair was Columbia's newest production vice president. Sherry Lansing, whose first day on the job was Monday. November 21. Lured by (he prospect of increased responsibility. Lansing had moved to Columbia from MGM. She had been urged to take the job by a number of people, including Columbia's production chief Dan Melnick. who had come from MGM several months earlier.
Melnick
had been Lansing's mentor at MGM. and before that at David Susskind's company. Talent Associates. Another friend who had encouraged her to come to Columbia was Allen Adler. the corporation's young senior vice president. Over a drink at the Polo Lounge several weeks earlier, just before the
Begelman
problem arose. Adle
r had told Lansing. "Columbia is the hottest company in town. We've got great people in place at the studio and in New York. Sherry, it's almost Camelot." - "Camelot. indeed." Lansing mused at Columbia on Monday. November 21. The lances and maces were certainly there, and the jealousy and intrigue. But it was obvious that she would have to wait a while for the shining moments and wisps of glory. Trying to ignore the crossfire in the Begelman fight, she concentrated that day on script conferences with director James Bridges and producer Michael Douglas, who were developing a picture tentatively entitled
The China Syndrome. - At five Monday afternoon, Hirschfield drove to Mickey Rudin's office on Wilshire Boulevard. He and Rudin had spoken frequently by phone but had not seen each oth
er since the night of the Brande
is University dinner at the Waldorf in September when Rudin had whispered his confirmation of the Peter
Choate
embezzlement. - Although he had never used Rudin for routine corporate legal work—that was not Rudin's specialty—Hirschfield over the years had sought Rudin's counsel in solving sensitive, ambiguous problems that occasionally confront every corporate chief executive but for which there is no pat legal solution—problems that demand wisdom and judgment, as well as a knowledge of the law.
- Alan brought Mickey up to date: While the Columbia directors ostensibly had promised to support his decision not to reinstate Begelman, they strongly favored reinstatement and were applying enormous pressure to try to force
Hirschfield
to reverse his decision. They even were threatening to "blackmail" him by making an issue out of his wife's previous employment, twisting something which had been entirely legitimate into something corrupt. The inescapable inference was that if Alan did not yield on
Begelman
, the "corrupt" version of
Berte
's employment record might wind up in the newspapers. Once the lie was public, the truth might never catch up, and the
Hirschfield
s might be tainted unjustly for life.
Alan was committed to announce his final decision on
Begelman
to the board the next day. Did he have any options left? Could anything be done to avoid what promised to be an extremely ugly and volatile confrontation?
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