Dietrich seduced me over the phone... how Orson laughed!

‘Hello, could I speak to Orson Welles?’

Mr Welles gesticulated frantically from the other end of the suite in the Rome Hilton. ‘Is that Dorian?’ I nearly dropped the phone. ‘Yes, it is.’

‘Orson has told me all about you. He says you are a welleducated young Englishman.’

‘Thank you,’ I blurted out. It was Marlene Dietrich.

‘You have a nice voice,’ she teased me. ‘I will call again tomorrow. When she did she confided in me a little story I never repeated to Mr Welles. She told me he never fancied blonde women, and was more taken by the Latin look. ‘For Touch Of

Evil he put me in a dark wig. It changed everything... I could see lust in his eyes.’ She laughed her breathy laugh. ‘It’s been fun talking to you.’ I laughed and the phone went dead.

‘She’s seduced you!’ Mr Welles roared with laughter. ‘You’re blushing, little Dorian! ‘