Rebuilding the fourth wall
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The movie is not mine (Obviously ^^). I only borrow the characters from the MGM and the real life persons and events belong to themselves.
Author notes:
* This is what happens when my muse strike me in the middle of the night, so I've got no excuses for playing with the fourth wall. I just wanted to try to mix what happened IRL to Wally Floody when he was an advisor for the movie and the characters of the movie… XD my brain is twisted. OF COURSE, I mean no disrespect to the real people, or to what really happened, this is more of a… catharsis for me. And besides, it gave me an excuse to read some absolutely lovely books again :D
*contain spoilers
* Please forgive me for any mistakes I'm not a native English speaker.
* look at the end for more notes.
Summary: Nineteen years later, Danny makes a decision and is afraid of the consequences.
Danny had finally sent all the invitations to his fellow krigies, and as the last envelope disappeared in the letterbox, he felt a strange combination of anticipation and relief. He had done it, and could not go back.
These last months of work had been restless, and he had done the best he could, but only his friends' point of view and acceptance on what he had helped to create could truly settle him. And he was going to get his answer in a few days.
He went home and served himself a glass of brandy to help him relax. Maybe, if he had seen the final cut of that movie, he would have been less worried… maybe he would have been much more. As he dozed off on his couch, he tried not to think about what had happened in the past year, but to concentrate on the soothing presence of his wife.
On a morning of September, 1962, just after an ex-POW reunion where he had seen a lot of his old friends, Danny had received an odd phone call. The man at the other end of the line was an Hollywood director, asking him if he would accept becoming a technical advisor for a movie. A movie based on a book published ten years ago by Sedgewick. The autobiographical account of how their "great escape" had taken place.
Danny had asked for a few days to think about the proposal, and the director had accepted. He had then spent the rest of his day trying to call Willie, his voicemail being the only answer he ever got. He hadn't been here at the reunion… maybe he had moved out, maybe he had just changed his phone number… Danny drank a lot that night, while listening to his wife's advises. The next day, he called back the director, and said he accepted his proposal. He met the crew in charge of the movie a few days later, and it was scheduled for him to fly to the filming location in Germany the next month.
Danny would have lied if he had said he wasn't nervous to go to Germany again. He and his wife flew to Berlin, and then traveled by car to the village where they would sleep during their work on the film. On their way, the director explained to Danny the details of his work. He also explained why some parts of the story had to be a little changed and how a single character in the film could portray several real men.
He then spent three months in Germany, working as a technical advisor on the replicas of the tunnel and the camp. The staff was friendly and the actors were all very nice, relaxed people. He even shared war experiences with one of them who had been a prisoner of war in Germany, and talked a lot to the actor who portrayed his character, who had been a miner and happened to be claustrophobic too. Sadly, with actors causing problems, re-writing of the scenario that had to be modified several time and filming time running short, Danny never had the chance to read the final script, and, his work finished, he had to go back to his home. The movie was programmed to be released in June, 1963, and Danny was a guest of honor of the world premiere. He insisted that part of the profit from the premiere benefitted a veterans' association, and decided –even though he was afraid regarding the result- to invite as much of his fellow ex-inmates of Stalag Luft III as he could.
The evening of the premiere finally came, and, feeling confined in his tight white suit he watched the cinema fill up, spotting some of his friends as they entered. He exchanged a few words with them, trying not to show his nervousness, before they all seated down. As the room gradually darkened and the music began playing, Danny sent a prayer to Roger and whoever else was up-there, hoping that his friends would appreciate the movie and accept his contribution in it, but most of all wishing that the lithe silhouette with a mop of blonde hair that had just entered silently had been Willie.
Author's notes: I hope you liked this fic It's a little bit different from what I usually do but… inspiration can be a b**ch ^^
OF COURSE, I mean no disrespect to the real people, or to what really happened, this is more of a… catharsis for me. And besides, it gave me an excuse to read some absolutely lovely books again :D