The imaginative, young Danny Strode had drawn a prophetic picture of the Strodes: Mommy, Uncle Tim, Grandma and Grandpa, all with bloody knives sticking into them, as they stood next to a black object labeled "THORN...you will receive a check for five thousand dollars!Mommer: Vat efer vill you do mit all dose money, Trina?Marcus: (cynically and trying to hide his disappointment that he has been cheated) Get married on it.He observes her from afar, worships her and develops a crush on her, viewing her as an untouchable dream-girl ideal (she is a WASP-ish, angelic beauty in his fantasies):I first saw her at Palantine Campaign headquarters at 63rd and Broadway.The film""s major male protagonist - a malevolent, iron-willed, enigmatic, rude and imperious (but genius) Russian ballet impersario played by Anton Walbrook, was partly based upon the real-life, highly-demanding artistic director Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), who became famous for founding an influential ballet company, Ballets Russes, that was based in Paris.