FLASHBACKS (autobiography by Art Hansl)

Even the poster is typical 60's pop art -- so bad it's almost good. This James Bond rip-off had it's hairy moments. In one, playing the secret agent, I had to run through a crowded railway station in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, to leap aboard the famous Orient Express with a pair of uniformed cops behind me blowing whistles and waving pistols.

The shot was set up before dawn when the high-ceilinged, semi-Gothic  station was deserted, the cameras perched on ledges adorned with gargoyles.  When the crowd started gathering to board trains,no one bothered to look up. "Where," I wondered aloud to the director," are the extras?"

"Right here," he smiled. "I do not use extras; I want to see real emotion as you fight your way through the crowd."

Jesus! "But in America they'd mob me, try to help the cops!!"

"This is Yugoslavia. These people are sheep." He made  a wide gesture toward his camera crew and gave me a shove.
I charged through the crowd bumping into indignant people, the cops in hot pursuit, and almost made it. Then some giant loomed up in front of me and I bounced off him and went down. Someone punched me in the gut; someone else sat on me head. I got a kick or two in the ribs. All this before the cops hauled the crowd off me. I got a chipped tooth and a bruised cheekbone and the same cops had to hold me back from the director. He backed away, hands up. "Don't worry, Arturo. Nothing a little make-up can't cover!"

     FLASHBACKS is available thru Barnes&Noble and Amazon. Soon to be on Kindle, Sony, I-PAD, Kobo. Check arthansl.com for books.