Burroughs: The Movie Page #3

because of its unique and...

you know, obviously great qualities.

And so they're in-in,

you know, "geniusville."

On 115th Street, in the apartment

we shared with Joan and Jack...

do you remember when

we played out routines at that time?

Do you remember the characters?

Uh, well, I remember some of them.

You-You played

the well-groomed Hungarian.

Yes, my dear.

I was the well-groomed Hungarian...

and I am still here with you now...

and I have been wanting to know...

do you by any chance

have some shade of recollection...

of the, uh, personage that you

yourself identified in those days?

Um, I think

I was playing sort of a, um...

an Edith Sitwell part.

Mmm, quite right, yes.

I got in drag...

and I looked like

some sinister old lesbian.

I do believe you-you also affected

the title of a baroness?

Uh, definitely, yes.

And-And do you remember the liaison

that we had...

to bring the foolish, rich, young...

ruddy-cheeked American

to my art gallery?

Oh, of course, yes.

You know, Americans, they are

so full with money, it is a duty.

Yes, it is for the very choice

American you brought.

So relieve them of a little bit, huh?

- He had a straw hat.

Do you remember this?

- Yes, yes.

What was that magic name

30 years ago?

- He was an American

named Kerouac.

- Yes.

He was a nice boy, very nice boy.

He was a writer,

a very good writer.

- A good writer.

- Very good writer, very American.

Later he became quite well known,

I'm given to understand.

- Very famous.

- Very famous.

He wrote some book called

On the Route I think.

- En Route. En Route.

- En Route.

Well, I remember the line from Howl...

"I've seen the best minds

of my generation...

starved, hysterical, naked" -

You can't even quote it right.

- "Looking for an angry fix." Okay.

- Oh, that, you got that.

Uh, Burroughs fell in love

with me and I -

and we slept together

and I saw his very soft center...

where he felt isolated

and alone in the world...

and really needed a human,

humane, uh, gift in return.

A feeling, you know, of affection.

And since I did love him and did have

that respect and affection...

I think he responded.

So I kind of felt privileged

that I had -

"J'ai seul la clef

de cette parade sauvage."

I alone had the key

to this savage parade...

which was the key

of, uh, tenderness.

Willy -

I've known Willy a long f***ing time...

about 40 years.

I was just thinking

of, uh, Willy in the old days...

when Willy was

a more robust figure...

and used to speak

with a thunder in his chest...

as he chased skirts

around Saint Louis.

- Yes, yes.

That was - That was many years ago.

Like when we were

in the military school,

they called me "The Terror."

- Yes, I remember.

Yes, I used to be quite a -

quite a woman chaser.

- You were.

- Willy the lover. I'm telling you, man.

That was the line

that always got 'em.

He tore open his shirt,

screaming...

"There's a thunder in my breast!"

- They all fell flat on their backs.

- That got 'em. That got 'em.

Every time, every time.

Yeah, Willy was pretty funny.

Willy -

Actually, Willy's a very warm guy...

- once you get through to Willy.

You've surely heard him sing

his sentimental songs...

like "Adis, Muchachos."

Adis, muchachas

Compaeros

His morals are probably Boy Scout

morals, true blue, you know?

Yeah.

And the last thing

he wants anyone to know is that.

Tell me, Willy,

what have you been up to lately?

Oh, well, I've been giving readings

in punk rock clubs.

Twenty-one readings.

- That's the proper side of your life.

- Yes.

Now tell me about the other side.

There isn't very much

other side, Lucien.

Now, Willy, I know

you're doing disreputable things.

- No.

Just going to my methadone clinic

can hardly be called disreputable.

No, that's highly constructive,

I must say.

Sort of a buxom Irish maid,

as I remember,

said that she had heard...

that opium gives people

pleasant, beautiful dreams.

And since I was much plagued

by nightmares as a child...

in fact it was, uh,

one of the real influences

in my childhood...

the fear of nightmares.

And, uh, so she said that opium -

When she said

that opium gave you sweet dreams...

I thought, "Well, that's for me.

I'm gonna get some of that."

The boy looked up...

into the sailor's dead,

cold, undersea eyes.

The sailor leaned forward...

and put a finger

on the boy's inner arm.

He spoke in a dead, junkie whisper.

"With veins like that, kid,

I'd have myself a time."

Phil White, uh...

- the character sailor

in The Naked Lunch -

- Right.

uh, and myself...

got him started, in

a manner of speaking, on morphine.

Well, there was a knock on the door...

and I opened it and there stood Bob...

with this very

sedate looking gentleman...

who turned out to be Bill Burroughs.

He was wearing

a snap-brim fedora hat...

gray gloves...

one of which

he was carrying in his hand...

and he was sort of standing there...

looking down his nose

as only Bill can...

you know, just sort of peering

into the room...

taking everything in,

you know, the site.

As soon as I could,

I called Bob in the other room...

and I said, "Hey, man,

what is this dude out here?"

I said, "Man, you brought heat here.

You'd better get him out."

He says, "Oh, he's fine.

He's good people.

Just don't worry about it.

He's a nice guy."

Where'd you get money from

when you were scoring?

Uh, well, stealing.

They were bringing in stuff

from stolen cars and -

Fritz, the old, uh,

elevator man, said...

"Tell Mr. Huncke all right...

bring the stuff

that you steal from cars...

but do not leave the car

in front of the place."

Huncke got -

stole a script - prescription pad...

from an old doctor in Brooklyn...

and Bill wrote up some phony scripts

signed by the doctor...

which he cashed

right around Columbia.

I got busted. Bill got busted.

And then I think his family sent

up money to get him out...

or his father came,

or maybe his brother came.

We were all very upset

and very desolate...

because this was the first ring of iron

I'd heard around the -

in our small circle there.

He's probably the only guy I know...

who was really just full-out junkie...

who managed to come back to -

you know, and, uh, kick it and so on.

Very rare.

I started out to be a doctor.

Studied for almost a year in Vienna.

That-That was one -

That would be one

of my alternative professions...

if I hadn't have been a writer.

The other career that I missed out on

was espionage.

I was almost accepted

by, um, Colonel Bill Donovan...

and then I ran into somebody

that really hates me...

or hated me at that time...

my housemaster at Harvard,

a guy named Baxter...

and he put the skids to me.

So, I might've been -

might've been head of the CIA.

Let me explain

how we make an arrest.

Nova criminals are not

three-dimensional organisms...

but they need three-dimensional

human agents to operate.

Now a single controller can operate...

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