Posted by tina on May 02, 2007 at 10:03:03:
Hi, everyone! This is for you, Sam. My way of saying 'thaks'. Enjoy!
“Herr Strauser’s Snuffed Starlets”
(The story of Anna Schmidt and Colette DuPree)
By Tina
Paris in the springtime is delightful. You can almost hear the sighs of a million Parisians as the first spring blooms open along the streets of the city. Spring is the time when you see Parisians unabashedly embracing. Over there is a young couple kissing by a picturesque lake and there a young man slides his hand under his girlfriend’s skirt. French is the romance language and Paris seems to throb with the heartbeat of lovers.
Colette DuPree had no time for such nonsense. She liked young men well enough but she considered herself first and foremost an actress. Colette’s mother had named her after the author of “Gigi” but Colette had no time for the silly romantic games of young lovers. She was too busy trying to become a famous actress. The fact that Colette had no inhibitions had helped her land several parts. And of course she had supplemented her income by working in the dancehall theaters on the left bank that specialized in risqué entertainment. Those establishments were after the tourist trade. German visitors were now heartily welcomed in Paris. As long as they brought plenty of Deutsche Marks to spend they were greeted with broad smiles and open arms. The reunification of East and West Germany had been a great boon to the X-rated shows of Paris. Wealthy East Germans, long denied any type of carnal pleasure, flocked to Paris to take in the uninhibited shows.
That is how Colette caught the eye of Wilhelm Strauser. He was German and wealthy. But Wilhelm Strauser was not exactly a tourist. He had come to Paris in search of an actress. He had seen Colette at the Follies Risqué and immediately knew she is the young woman he wants for his movie. Wilhelm Strauser is making a special type of movie and he desires a particular kind of actress to be his star.
There is no problem getting acquainted with Colette. He explains at length that he is making a low budget film. The film is about a serial killer. The heroine has several close encounters with the killer before she finally succeeds in killing the killer. Wilhelm Strauser gives Colette five hundred Franks and asks her to read the script.
“Read the script and tomorrow we will discuss your contract,” Wilhelm says to the impressionable woman and then continues by saying, “that is of course if you are interested.”
“Oh, masseur,” Colette responds with a laugh, “ I am sure I will be interested.”
* * * *
Of course Colette DuPree is right. The girl is more than simply interested. She finds the script highly erotic. There is something about the description of the killer stalking his victims that arouses Colette. The scenes where she is the intended victim are extremely titillating. In one scene the killer sneaks up behind her as she sits on a couch. He quietly wraps a silk necktie around her slender throat. Colette even uses a silk scarf on herself as she rereads the scene. She gasps for air as she imagines what it is like to be slowly strangled.
Then she practices breaking free and running for her life. Colette intends to give the performance of her life.
* * * *
“I guess it is...ah...acceptable,’ Colette says coyly to Wilhelm Strauser as they sip cognac.
The sidewalk cafe is sparsely populated because there is the threat of a spring shower. A light breeze plays with the hem of Colette’s skirt but she makes no effort to keep her lovely thighs covered. One poor man nearly runs into a lamp pole as his attention strays from the sidewalk to Colette’s legs.
Wilhelm sighs at this cool response.
“Merely acceptable, liebchen?” he inquires, “perhaps a bonus would help convince you.”
He scribbles on a note pad, tears off the small scrap of paper and pushes it across to Colette. She barely manages to stifle a gasp as she sees the figure he has written. The aspiring actress tries to act casually as she picks up the tiny sheet with the very large number and all the zeroes. Her heart is racing.
“I must remain calm, “ she thinks to herself as she takes a quick sip from the snifter in front of her.
Then she extends her hand with utter confidence.
“I think we have a deal, masseur.”
* * * *
“Here is a cashier’s check, darling,” Wilhelm says at the airport, “This is just an advance of course.”
“But the banks are all closed on the weekend. What shall I do for money?”
“Oh, silly girl, you will be totally taken care of by my men in Buenos Aires. Just cash the check at your convenience next week.”
She had leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. To her surprise Wilhelm had ever so gently pinched her ass.
“OH,” she had exclaimed.
“Off you go, liebchen,” Wilhelm said quickly as he pushed the girl toward the gate, “they are boarding your flight now.”
“Till I see you again,” Wilhelm had said and he smiled as he looked forward to that event.
They put her on a plane but not just any plane. Colette is to fly first class on the Concorde. Her head is swimming even before she is served her first glass of Champaign on board.
* * * *
She sits on the couch. Her legs are crossed. The black leather mini-skirt is riding high on her thighs. She is wearing sheer black pantyhose. Her white blouse is unbuttoned to reveal her cleavage. Colette is supposed to be watching a horror movie. She pretends to gaze intently at the imaginary television that occupies a spot just to the right of the camera. As the action on the pretend screen heightens she is to act more and more afraid. Just at the moment when she is about to scream at the imagines she is watching the serial strangler will drop the necktie down around her throat.
Colette’s heart is pounding. Out of the corner her eye she can see the director giving hand signals as she slowly shifts her body on the couch. Initially she is wringing her hands in her lap. Then she uncrosses her legs and she is bringing her hands up to her mouth when the image of the killer emerges from the shadows behind her. Before her hands make it to her face he drops the silky tie over her head and snaps it tight.
“Aaaaaccckkkk.....gacckkkk” Colette croaks in earnest.
Even though she is expecting to be strangled the ferocity of the attack is a surprise. The director has instructed her to tug at the tie. Colette brings her hands up to her neck and pulls hard at the silky ligature. The strangling has proceeded for about twenty seconds before Colette realizes she can not breathe. She coughs and tries to inhale but her breath catches at the point that the tie pinches her neck.
The bright tie is looped around her throat and the strangler has drawn the ends away to tighten the deadly circle. Colette’s squawks grow more strained with each passing second. Of course the poor woman is no longer acting. She slouches down on the soft cushions of the couch as she desperately struggles to pull free of the strangler.
He has drawn the necktie snug around her soft flesh. Her airway is totally closed off. The dying actress reaches a hand out toward the director. Her fingers tremble as her bulging eyes desperately plead for his assistance.
“Help me, he’s really strangling me,” Colette screams, “Why don’t you stop him?”
Her prayer is locked inside her head as the man continues to hold the tie tight around her throat.
Colette’s lips are wide open as she tries vainly to draw in air. Periodically she is able to force a tiny opening and gasp in a small sip of air. But after two minutes of asphyxiation her lungs are burning. She can see the director gesturing and still wonders why the brutal strangulation continues. The scene is only supposed to last a few seconds. The thought never strikes the struggling actress that she is staring in a snuff movie.
Her performance is breathtaking. Colette kicks her feet up and down on the carpeted floor as the strangler continues to pull the silk necktie ever snugger around her throat. She begins to hear odd noises inside her head. Colette doesn’t realize they are her own, final gasps. The effort to breathe is now reduced to strangled coughs.
“Dizzy, can’t feel my hands,” Colette thinks as she reaches back weakly toward the strangler.
Her hands take hold of the killer’s wrists but she can no longer feel her fingers. She tugs at his arms with all her might trying to break the deadly hold. He has been throttling her almost four minutes. The adrenaline that initially fuels her fight for life is almost spent. Her right foot continues to drum against the couch but her left foot is already turned out at the ankle. Her knees are spread wide exposing her panties under the sheer crotch of her dark nylons. The hem of her skirt has been pushed steadily upward as she kicks and squirms during the garroting.
For a half-minute her nails rake weakly at the killer’s forearms. He wears a heavy work shirt and so all Colette succeeds in doing is to break three nails. The nail of her middle finger is completely ripped loose as she claws furiously at her attacker. The man is oblivious to Colette’s feeble defenses. He concentrates on pulling the silk tie harder and harder. His lips are drawn back and his teeth are clinched as he puts all his strength into strangling the pretty young actress.
The tie is being slowly swallowed into the furrow created by the tremendous pressure the strangler exerts on the loop of silk. The cameraman zooms in on the dying girl’s eyes. Her eyeballs appear to be pushed completely out of the poor woman’s sockets. Tiny red lines of burst veins are beginning to appear in the whites of Colette’s bulging eyes. It appears as though the girl has been on a heavy drinking spree as more and more hemorrhaging occurs.
Five minutes into the strangulation Colette’s fingers go back under her chin. The pretty French girl paws weakly at the bright band of silk that has by now almost disappeared into her throat. Then Colette’s right hand falls into her lap. The camera zooms in on the fingers as they twitch. Then just as quickly the camera pans back to focus on the left hand lightly touching the tie. Her fingers trace the edge of the tie from under her chin, around to the side of her throat and then the hand drops onto the couch beside her.
The strangler manages to get his hands well separated from the poor girl’s neck. Several inches of the tie are visible coming from behind Colette’s head. The man’s hands shake slightly as the fatigue of his task takes its toll. He has held the tie tight for almost six minutes. Although his strength is about spent by the grueling strangulation, his victim only has a few more seconds to live.
Colette stares bug eyed at the camera as the strangler finishes his horrid task. The lovely French girl sits on the couch with the necktie tight around her throat. As the pain and pressure peak Colette slides blessedly into the dark abyss.
As the camera focuses on her face, the bulging eyes roll upward in her skull. The pupils disappeared almost completely as the dead girl’s eyes finish the rotation of death. The camera pulls back to show the contorted face, the dark band of silk, the strangler’s hands and the instant of death. Then the camera zooms in on various parts of the horrible tableau. First a tight shot of the strangled girl’s tongue as it hangs fat and slimy from her gaping lips. Then the camera moves up to the bulging eyes. They appear ready to pop from Colette’s strangled face.
The strangler still holds the ligature in place and the camera moves in first on his right hand and then to his left. A loop of tie is secured in each palm to extend out to the deadly band around poor Colette’s tortured neck. Her head has fallen onto the back of the couch and the dark tie is clearly visible. Then the strangler releases one end of the silk and draw the deadly ligature from around Colette’s neck. She slowly slumps over onto the couch.
The cameraman pans downward. The cushion is stained with Colette’s pee. Her bladder has burst at the end. This is the final indignity of Colette’s brief career as an actress. The strangled young woman has soiled herself just before she expires.
The cameraman does a final close-up scan of Colette’s still form.
“And cut” the director calls out, “Marvelous work everyone.”
The director walks over to the couch and bends over the body.
“Especially you, my dear,” the man says as he pats Colette’s cheek.
* * * *
“So you are a friend of Colette’s, yeah?” Wilhelm Strauser inquires.
The woman sitting across from him is tall and slender. She might have been a runway model but Strauser knew by her own confession that she is an exotic dancer and sometime actress. She introduces herself as Anna Schmidt and further states that Colette DuPree is her close friend.
“Zat is correct, mien Herr” the woman says with a heavy Eastern European accent. Despite the occasional use of German the man knew Anna was neither a German nor an Austrian.
Wilhelm is pleased that this gorgeous woman has looked him up.
“What can I do for you, darling,” the man inquires as he pours them more Asti.
‘Danke,” Anna said as she accepts the glass, “I know Colette is doing a film for you. I am short on acting parts right now and vas hoping perhaps you could use me.”
Oddly the woman is nervously fingering her hair as she speaks. Wilhelm quickly surmises that the young woman must be desperate for some work. He eyes her figure again and decides the thin look may be caused by lack of funds rather than a conscious effort to diet.
“Yes, Colette is on site now,” Wilhelm admits, “I would have to call my colleague to confirm a spot for you.”
A bright smile appears on Anna’s lips.
“Oh, thank you,” the girl says as she jumps up and gives Wilhelm Strauser a big hug.
“Slow down, liebchen,” the man cautions with a laugh, “I’m not promising anything.
Of course, Wilhelm has already decided to add Anna to the cast of his film. He just wants to contact the crew to make sure everything will be ready for her arrival. He just needs to alert his director that another actress will be performing in their little snuff film.
* * * *
Anna is overwhelmed at the hefty advance Heir Strauser gives her. She has never seen a check with so many zeroes. He assures her the crew in Buenos Aires will take care of her upon her arrival.
Anna is equally flabbergasted at the limousine that arrives to take her to the airport. She and Heir Strauser sit in the back and sip champagne. Anna thinks at first that she should resist his advances but then she thinks about the fat check in her purse. Beside Anna has read about many big starlets who use sex to get to the top. She decides to relax as the old man runs his hands over her soft body.
Fortunately the drive to the airport is short so he does little more than grope her before the luxury automobile slows to a stop in front of the Air Brazil entrance. The chauffeur takes care of her travel bag with a skycap, Heir Strauser blows her a kiss and calls out brightly, “Aufeitersein, Anna”.
It is all quite remarkable. Anna hardly feels the floor as she walks to the gate for her flight to Brazil.
* * * *
As promised a man meets her in Buenos Aires. He drives her to a remote villa in the hill country overlooking the city. The countryside is magnificent and Anna’s only disappointment is that her friend Colette is not at the villa to greet her. The film’s director informs her that her friend has gone off on a short holiday with one of the other actresses.
“Don't worry, darling,” the film director reassures her, “your friend Colette is being well taken care of...just as you will be.”
“This is all quite marvelous,” Anna states enthusiastically, “I vill try my best to perform well for you.”
The man pats Anna’s hand, nods and smiles. He just hopes she performs even half as good as her friend, Colette.
“I know you will do just fine,” the man says as he kisses her hand.
* * * *
They begin rehearsals the next day. Anna has never done a full-length movie before but the crew and he other cast members are very helpful. She is truly excited to be a part of this wonderful production. The subject matter strikes as a bit odd but then this is a motion picture and she is an actress.
“You walk slowly over to the couch,” the director says as he guides Anna through her first scene, “when you reach this spot crane your neck to look over the back of the couch and that is when you see the strangled body of your friend.”
They walk through the sequence a half dozen times when the director asks her to try it. The scene calls for Anna’s character to find her friend Colette’s character on the couch. She reacts with horror as she realizes her friend has been brutally strangled with a man’s tie. That is when the killer attacks her character. The scene is a two-take effort and Anna has already rehearsed in the trailer with the actor who is playing the part of the strangler. At the start of the second scene, as Anna is backing away from the couch in a state of shock the murderer loops the silk tie around her throat.
The scenes are all quite simple and the director has been very enthusiastic about her work so far. Anna performs the first scene several times. At the end the director claps and cries out “Marvelous!” and told everyone to break for lunch.
Anna accompanies the killer back to his trailer. Instead of going over the scene again they make love. The man is gentle and Anna has a marvelous orgasm as he fucks her. Afterwards he drives her to a quaint cafe where they eat fruit and cheese and have a glass of excellent wine.
* * * *
“Anna, we’ve decided to do the two scenes in one take,” the director explains that afternoon when shooting is about to begin, “do you think you can handle that?”
“Oh, of course, mein herr,” Anna replies after she thinks this through in her head.
Actually she decides this will be easier since there will not be all the fussing about making a smooth transition from the end of one scene to the start of the next. Anna remembers one poor girl reduced to tears when she has trouble turning her body in just the right position to suite an over zealous director. Anna finally screams at the man that it is only a fucking commercial and to give the girl a break. Anna is of course fired and has struggled to find film work since. Anna is too naive to realize the man has black balled her. So Anna decides melding the two scenes will suite her just fine.
* * * *
“And....ACTION!”
Everything goes smoothly. Anna walks toward the couch. With each hesitant step she tries to get her features to express growing fear. At the spot marked on the floor she stops and lifts her chin as she peers over the back of the couch.
“That’s good, now open your mouth to scream,” the director whispers as Anna takes a step backward.
Anna is counting time in her head and does not expect the tie go around her throat. She is surprised when she feels the loop of silk at her neck. Anna is angry because the actor has been too quick. Anna’s body relaxes in anticipation of the dreaded “CUT”. She sees that the director has an odd smile on his face. Anna has been holding her breath since she opened her mouth to scream. That is the way she has been trained to avoid making any unwanted noise when acting out a silent scream. Now, as she tries to ask the director what is happening, she realizes the silk tie is too tight. Anna can’t catch her breath. Her last lung full of air is fast running out and the scarf is so tight she fails to inhale again.
Anna wants to ask the actor what the fuck he thinks he is doing but the question remains trapped in her head. The strangler has the colorful tie pulled tightly around Anna’s slender neck. She can see his hands out to either side of her neck, a bright splash of color wrapped around his fists and his hands shaking slightly with the effort to garrote her.
Her eyes returned to the director as her fingers begin to claw at the bright ligature. To her horror she sees him nodding and gesturing. To her horror she realizes he is coaching the man on how to strangle her. He is continuing to direct the scene.
“Oh, God, a snuff movie,” Anna realizes in sheer panic, “he’s strangling me for real.”
This revelation comes much too late for the doomed actress but it does produce an adrenaline rush. With the burst of energy Anna claws more fiercely at the silky ligature and at the same time tries to kick at her attacker. Her body turns this way and that as she attempts to grab at the murderer. But he seems to anticipate every one of Anna’s moves as he keeps the neck tie around her tortured throat. Finally he pushes her forward, leans his weight against her back and forces her to bend over the back of the couch. Her face is waving in the air, just a few feet from the camera as the strangler yanks the ends of the silk tie harder.
“Got to have air,” Anna thinks as she continues to tug vainly at the soft silk.
Her feet are alternately bending up and stomping down as the strangulation progresses. Then her right hand floats away from her throat. She is looking directly at the man sitting next to the camera and her hand goes out to him as she attempts to beg him for mercy. He watches impassively as the girl is strangled. There will be no mercy for Anna this afternoon.
Her arms wave around in a random pattern as the asphyxiation envelops her brain. Her face looks up at the camera one last time. Her eyes bulge horribly as though they are two overfilled balloons. Her cheeks are colored deep purple. The almost strangled actress’s tongue hangs grotesquely out of the right side of her mouth. Her blue tinged lips hang open with her teeth standing out bright white in contrast.
Quite suddenly she is finished. The strangler ties off the ends of the ligature and lets Anna’s body droop down over the back of the couch. Her hair touches the cushions as do her dangling hands. Her palms are turned upward. Her face lies against the back cushion and is turned slightly to her left. One eye stares out from the tangle of brunette curls. The cameraman zoomed in on the pretty necktie and then pans down to the partially hidden face. Then he focuses on the right hand where one finger twitches and then is still.
“CUT,” the director yells, “Heir Strauser is really going to like this one.”
The men clap each other on the back and laugh loudly.
* * * *
Heir Strauser sits in the darkness of his private cinema and watches the images flicker across the large screen. As he knew from the start he is most happy to see Colette and Anna once again.