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The Los Angeles Times once said
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that never in the history of Hollywood
has such glamour and talent
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00:01:36,221 --> 00:01:38,180
sat under one tree.
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00:02:17,804 --> 00:02:21,723
Dr Kissinger is here
and there's no accident.
5
00:02:23,309 --> 00:02:26,270
There is more oil on Bob Evans.
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00:02:27,397 --> 00:02:32,693
Take him home. Take him home!
Just get him the hell out of here!
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00:02:32,819 --> 00:02:36,488
These past ten years as chief
of production at Paramount Pictures
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00:02:36,614 --> 00:02:40,117
I've been lucky or fortunate enough
to be closely involved
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00:02:40,243 --> 00:02:44,580
with such unique pictures as
Rosemary's Baby,
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00:02:44,706 --> 00:02:48,083
True Grit, Love Story,
The Godfather.
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00:02:54,507 --> 00:02:57,009
How did you get discovered
for the movies?
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00:02:57,135 --> 00:02:59,803
I got discovered by jumping
into a swimming pool.
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00:02:59,929 --> 00:03:04,641
But I was an actor for many years
as a kid before that.
14
00:03:04,767 --> 00:03:09,313
I was at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool.
I was a businessman at the time.
15
00:03:09,439 --> 00:03:13,442
- What was your business?
- I was a partner in Evan Picone.
16
00:03:13,568 --> 00:03:16,153
We made women's pants.
I was in women's pants.
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00:03:16,279 --> 00:03:20,574
We actually started the fad
of women wearing slacks.
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00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:22,576
I'll never forget it...
19
00:03:22,702 --> 00:03:25,495
It was the fall of 1956.
20
00:03:25,622 --> 00:03:29,249
I flew out to Los Angeles
to set up Evan Picone boutiques.
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00:03:29,375 --> 00:03:31,543
One afternoon,
I decided to play hooky,
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00:03:31,669 --> 00:03:35,756
sit by the pool and get some sun
at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
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00:03:35,882 --> 00:03:38,884
Suddenly, a woman approached me.
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00:03:39,010 --> 00:03:41,762
"Excuse me, young man,
are you an actor?"
25
00:03:41,888 --> 00:03:45,265
Yeah, I was, a long time ago.
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00:03:45,391 --> 00:03:48,018
It was Norma Shearer,
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00:03:48,144 --> 00:03:51,939
at the time one of the few remaining
icons of Hollywood aristocracy.
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00:03:52,065 --> 00:03:54,316
A petite blond
in a striped, short robe.
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00:03:55,401 --> 00:03:57,736
"Pardon me for being curious,
young man,
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00:03:57,862 --> 00:03:59,988
"but why are you always
on the phone?"
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00:04:00,114 --> 00:04:02,699
"Gotta pay my bills."
"You're not a bookmaker?"
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00:04:02,825 --> 00:04:04,910
"No, I'm not a bookmaker."
33
00:04:05,036 --> 00:04:08,080
Then she changed
the entire course of my life.
34
00:04:08,206 --> 00:04:12,376
"Would you like to play my deceased
husband, Irving Thalberg, in a film?"
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00:04:12,502 --> 00:04:15,045
I looked at her.
Looked at her again.
36
00:04:15,171 --> 00:04:17,256
I didn't know
what she was talking about.
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00:04:17,382 --> 00:04:20,509
"They're making a film at Universal,
Man of a Thousand Faces.
38
00:04:20,635 --> 00:04:23,345
"My friend Jimmy Cagney
is playing Lon Chaney.
39
00:04:23,471 --> 00:04:27,182
"Irving discovered him and made him
the biggest star in silent film.
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00:04:27,308 --> 00:04:31,478
"He was only 20 at the time, Mr Evans.
Too young to sign the checks.
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00:04:31,604 --> 00:04:34,314
"But not too young to run a studio."
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00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,735
I'm thinking to myself,
"Wow, this can't be happening to me."
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00:04:39,821 --> 00:04:42,322
"Miss Shearer, it would be an honour.
Why not?
44
00:04:42,448 --> 00:04:45,575
"Cagney's the one guy
I've always wanted to meet."
45
00:04:47,912 --> 00:04:52,374
Two hours later,
I'm on a sound stage at Universal.
46
00:04:52,500 --> 00:04:56,211
Here I am, like out of a dream.
I'm testing opposite Jimmy Cagney.
47
00:04:56,337 --> 00:04:58,672
Mind if I come in a minute?
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00:04:59,716 --> 00:05:03,468
I don't look dressed for the barricades,
but I've come from a revolution.
49
00:05:03,594 --> 00:05:07,306
The premiere of The Jazz Singer.
Lon, you should've seen that audience.
50
00:05:07,432 --> 00:05:09,975
When Jolson's voice
came from the screen,
51
00:05:10,101 --> 00:05:13,729
I could hear the bells tolling
for silent pictures.
52
00:05:13,855 --> 00:05:15,814
You haven't heard a word I said.
53
00:05:17,275 --> 00:05:19,651
I'm sorry, Irving.
What were you saying?
54
00:05:19,777 --> 00:05:23,822
Nothing much. I was just trying
to tell you about a modern miracle.
55
00:05:23,948 --> 00:05:26,658
Pictures that not only move,
Lon, but they speak.
56
00:05:26,784 --> 00:05:28,869
Yeah, sure. Talking pictures.
57
00:05:28,995 --> 00:05:32,080
It's the horse and automobile again.
No use fighting it.
58
00:05:32,206 --> 00:05:35,917
When it was over, Cagney gave me
a quick look. "You did good, kid."
59
00:05:36,044 --> 00:05:40,005
48 hours later, I made
every newspaper around the country.
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00:05:40,131 --> 00:05:44,259
"New York businessman dives into pool
and comes out movie star."
61
00:05:44,385 --> 00:05:46,386
Was I lucky?
62
00:05:46,512 --> 00:05:49,681
I think so.
If I had stayed just an actor,
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00:05:49,807 --> 00:05:52,392
Norma never would've given me
a second look.
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00:05:52,518 --> 00:05:55,062
What caught her eye
was a young go-getter,
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00:05:55,188 --> 00:05:57,731
sure about himself, persuasive.
66
00:05:57,857 --> 00:06:02,194
A subliminal reminder of the man
who was once her mentor and husband.
67
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,530
It's the old story, though.
Luck doesn't happen by mistake.
68
00:06:05,656 --> 00:06:08,950
Rather, luck is when opportunity
meets preparation.
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00:06:13,873 --> 00:06:17,417
As soon as the picture wrapped,
I flew back to the Big Apple.
70
00:06:17,543 --> 00:06:19,544
Evan Picone was on fire,
71
00:06:19,670 --> 00:06:23,882
the showroom packed with them leggy
ladies prancing in Patrician pants.
72
00:06:24,008 --> 00:06:26,301
It was turn-on plus.
73
00:06:26,427 --> 00:06:29,596
My brother Charles had built
the top fashion company of its time.
74
00:06:29,722 --> 00:06:31,932
I was lucky to be part of it,
75
00:06:32,058 --> 00:06:35,185
never having a second thought
about returning to La La Land.
76
00:06:35,311 --> 00:06:38,146
Why should I? In New York,
I was suddenly a celebrity.
77
00:06:38,272 --> 00:06:42,901
From debutante to starlet to model,
there I was on their most-wanted list.
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00:06:43,027 --> 00:06:46,655
Was I enjoying it?
You bet your ass I was.
79
00:06:47,698 --> 00:06:51,410
One night, my brother and I took
a few femme fatales to El Morocco.
80
00:06:51,536 --> 00:06:55,455
I didn't feel like conversation,
so I hit the dance floor.
81
00:06:55,581 --> 00:06:59,709
Well, that night someone had eyes
for me and it wasn't her.
82
00:06:59,836 --> 00:07:04,047
It was Darryl Zanuck,
head honcho of 20th Century Fox.
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00:07:04,173 --> 00:07:07,884
He had no idea who I was.
But just looking at me, he thought,
84
00:07:08,010 --> 00:07:11,680
"That kid's right to play the matador
opposite Ava Gardner."
85
00:07:11,806 --> 00:07:15,600
After years and years of knocking
on doors, being turned down,
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00:07:15,726 --> 00:07:20,564
here I am, discovered to star
in two pictures within six months.
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00:07:20,690 --> 00:07:22,774
That's what you call incident
88
00:07:22,900 --> 00:07:25,861
and that's what's also known
as sense of discovery.
89
00:07:25,987 --> 00:07:28,947
Thank God, I was the one discovered.
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00:07:42,753 --> 00:07:46,590
I was sent down to Mexico
to study to be a bullfighter.
91
00:07:47,633 --> 00:07:51,595
Mind you, I have never once
seen a bull in my life.
92
00:07:53,055 --> 00:07:57,058
I worked my ass off for three months,
wearing a rubber girdle each day
93
00:07:57,185 --> 00:07:59,895
so I'd lose weight
around my midsection.
94
00:08:00,021 --> 00:08:02,147
There was one big problem.
95
00:08:02,273 --> 00:08:05,650
No one wanted me in the picture.
96
00:08:05,776 --> 00:08:09,404
Hemingway was furious
they'd pick a guy out of a nightclub
97
00:08:09,530 --> 00:08:12,741
to play Pedro Romero,
who in the true-life story was him.
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00:08:12,867 --> 00:08:15,702
A telegram goes out to Darryl Zanuck.
99
00:08:15,828 --> 00:08:19,122
It reads, "With Robert Evans
playing Pedro Romero,
100
00:08:19,248 --> 00:08:21,958
"The Sun Also Rises
will be a disaster.
101
00:08:22,084 --> 00:08:25,045
"Signed, Ernest Hemingway,
Tyrone Power
102
00:08:25,171 --> 00:08:27,797
"Ava Gardner, Eddie Albert."
103
00:08:27,924 --> 00:08:31,635
The only one who refused to sign it
was Errol Flynn. He just laughed.
104
00:08:31,761 --> 00:08:35,639
I know I'm gonna get fired.
But that gave me the resolve.
105
00:08:35,765 --> 00:08:38,016
I said, "Fuck 'em."
106
00:08:38,142 --> 00:08:40,435
When I knew that telegram went out,
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00:08:40,561 --> 00:08:43,730
I became Pedro Romero in one week.
108
00:08:46,943 --> 00:08:50,820
Zanuck arrives in Morelia, Mexico,
and I'm summoned to the bullring
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00:08:50,947 --> 00:08:53,365
to do my quites and veronicas
in front of him.
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00:08:53,491 --> 00:08:57,702
I walk into the bullring,
take off my hat,
111
00:08:57,828 --> 00:09:00,205
throw it to him. "For you."
112
00:09:00,331 --> 00:09:03,166
And then I start going through
my various things.
113
00:09:03,292 --> 00:09:06,253
I look an idiot.
I know I'm gonna get fired.
114
00:09:11,926 --> 00:09:14,886
Suddenly, Zanuck stands up,
all five foot three of him,
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00:09:15,012 --> 00:09:16,972
picks up a bullhorn.
116
00:09:17,098 --> 00:09:19,599
"The kid stays in the picture.
117
00:09:19,725 --> 00:09:22,310
"And anybody who doesn't like it
can quit."
118
00:09:22,436 --> 00:09:25,939
Puts the bullhorn down
and walks out.
119
00:09:33,364 --> 00:09:37,659
Also it was then that I realised
that's what Evans wants to be.
120
00:09:37,785 --> 00:09:40,870
Not some actor shitting in his pants,
waiting to get a role,
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00:09:40,997 --> 00:09:44,583
but the guy who can say,
"The kid stays in the picture."
122
00:09:44,709 --> 00:09:47,919
Bob Evans
is a 28-year-old New Yorker
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00:09:48,045 --> 00:09:50,463
in the enviable position of pursuing
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00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:53,133
two successful careers on two coasts.
125
00:09:53,259 --> 00:09:54,301
Here in the East,
126
00:09:54,427 --> 00:09:56,636
Bob Evans devotes his time and energy
127
00:09:56,762 --> 00:10:00,181
to being a vice president
of the Evan Picone sportswear firm.
128
00:10:00,308 --> 00:10:01,558
On the West Coast,
129
00:10:01,684 --> 00:10:05,228
Bob Evans devotes his time and energy
to being a movie star.
130
00:10:05,354 --> 00:10:08,315
At last reports,
he's doing pretty well at both.
131
00:10:08,441 --> 00:10:11,776
- Evening, Bob. How are you?
- Good evening, Ed. Very fine.
132
00:10:11,902 --> 00:10:15,238
Now you're getting established
and recognised as a movie star,
133
00:10:15,364 --> 00:10:18,241
how much longer can you hold out
as a bachelor?
134
00:10:18,367 --> 00:10:22,746
Introduce me to the right girl
and I'll end my bachelorhood right here.
135
00:10:23,789 --> 00:10:27,626
With all the hullabaloo and excitement
about the new Valentino,
136
00:10:27,752 --> 00:10:29,961
I wasn't getting the parts I wanted.
137
00:10:30,087 --> 00:10:32,756
There were half a dozen parts
offered to me.
138
00:10:32,882 --> 00:10:35,634
I was looking for bigger things.
139
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,386
One day, my agent calls,
George Chasen.
140
00:10:38,512 --> 00:10:41,806
"Bob, I'm calling with good news.
141
00:10:41,932 --> 00:10:45,644
"Fox is remaking Kiss ofDeath.
We've got you up for the Widmark part.
142
00:10:45,770 --> 00:10:47,729
"It made him a star overnight."
143
00:10:48,606 --> 00:10:50,440
Finally, I got my first title role.
144
00:10:50,566 --> 00:10:51,816
Wow!
145
00:10:51,942 --> 00:10:53,818
He's a kooky killer,
146
00:10:53,944 --> 00:10:56,655
the most diabolical horror
that ever roamed the earth.
147
00:10:56,781 --> 00:10:59,699
The Fiend Who Walked the West.
148
00:10:59,825 --> 00:11:03,119
He'll cut out your heart or break your neck
149
00:11:03,245 --> 00:11:05,455
and laugh while he's doing it.
150
00:11:05,581 --> 00:11:08,124
My acting career was over and out.
151
00:11:09,043 --> 00:11:11,920
It was my last appearance
on the silver screen.
152
00:11:17,551 --> 00:11:20,512
At decade's end,
I was sure of one thing.
153
00:11:21,764 --> 00:11:24,933
I was a half-assed actor
and I knew it.
154
00:11:25,059 --> 00:11:28,937
I knew I'd never become
the next Paul Newman,
155
00:11:29,063 --> 00:11:31,773
maybe the next Troy Donahue.
156
00:11:31,899 --> 00:11:34,776
But you know who I really wanted
to become?
157
00:11:34,902 --> 00:11:37,404
The next Darryl Zanuck.
158
00:11:38,072 --> 00:11:40,907
That was my goal for the '60s.
159
00:11:41,033 --> 00:11:43,702
And I went for it all the way.
160
00:11:43,828 --> 00:11:46,162
Sounds easy, doesn't it?
161
00:11:46,288 --> 00:11:48,331
It ain't.
162
00:11:48,457 --> 00:11:52,502
Next to winning the Olympics,
there's no more difficult a thing
163
00:11:52,628 --> 00:11:56,297
than a pretty boy actor
transforming himself into producer,
164
00:11:56,424 --> 00:11:58,425
especially in those days.
165
00:11:58,551 --> 00:12:02,387
I realised that I had to own something
that nobody else could get.
166
00:12:03,305 --> 00:12:07,767
I met a guy named George Weiser
whoworkedfor Publishers Weekly.
167
00:12:07,893 --> 00:12:10,895
He moonlighted for me
for about 150 bucks a week.
168
00:12:11,021 --> 00:12:15,024
He says to me, "I just finished a book.
It's called The Detective."
169
00:12:15,151 --> 00:12:17,235
This is one hot book.
170
00:12:17,361 --> 00:12:20,905
I read it, put 5000 dollars down on it
as an option
171
00:12:21,031 --> 00:12:23,032
and go see David Brown,
172
00:12:23,159 --> 00:12:26,244
a pal from 20th Century Fox
who's a top producer there.
173
00:12:26,370 --> 00:12:29,247
I say, "David, I think I have
the next big book."
174
00:12:29,373 --> 00:12:32,584
He reads it,
and in 48 hours he says,
175
00:12:32,710 --> 00:12:36,296
"Bob, we're in business."
"David, not so quick."
176
00:12:36,422 --> 00:12:39,382
"I wanna know what kind
of business we're in.
177
00:12:39,508 --> 00:12:43,178
"Now, these are my conditions.
I want a full spread of offices.
178
00:12:43,304 --> 00:12:45,722
"I want a three-picture deal."
179
00:12:45,848 --> 00:12:50,393
To make a very long story short,
I get everything I ask for.
180
00:12:51,437 --> 00:12:54,481
They would've bought me
out for half a million.
181
00:12:54,607 --> 00:12:58,485
But I wanted my foot in the door
and I got it in the door, but good.
182
00:12:58,611 --> 00:13:00,695
I learned a lot from that.
183
00:13:00,821 --> 00:13:03,573
When you own the property,
you're king.
184
00:13:03,699 --> 00:13:06,284
Without it, you're a peon.
185
00:13:09,789 --> 00:13:14,209
If the euphemism "you live
by the press and die by the press"
186
00:13:14,335 --> 00:13:16,795
ever fit anyone, it fit me.
187
00:13:16,921 --> 00:13:20,632
Who'd have thought a journalist would
change the entire course of my life
188
00:13:20,758 --> 00:13:22,717
and also my career?
189
00:13:22,843 --> 00:13:26,179
On reflection, I don't know whether
I should love him or hate him.
190
00:13:26,305 --> 00:13:29,682
Peter Bart, West Coast correspondent
for The New York Times
191
00:13:29,809 --> 00:13:33,394
wanted to write a story about me
in the Arts and Leisure section.
192
00:13:33,521 --> 00:13:37,398
"Is this a joke, Peter? Come on."
He said, "This is not a joke.
193
00:13:37,525 --> 00:13:41,194
"What's interesting about you
and why you're worth writing about
194
00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,322
"is you're beating these big shots
at their own game.
195
00:13:44,448 --> 00:13:48,409
"You could become the guy you played,
the next Thalberg."
196
00:13:48,536 --> 00:13:52,872
That's just what I want the audience
to see, Mr Chaney.
197
00:13:52,998 --> 00:13:56,918
The soul of a man
that God made different.
198
00:13:57,044 --> 00:14:00,797
If I was really smart, I should have
retired after Peter's article.
199
00:14:00,923 --> 00:14:04,759
Instead, Greg Bautzer,
the power broker of the town, calls.
200
00:14:04,885 --> 00:14:08,513
"Pack. You're going to New York."
"I can't, Greg, I got plans."
201
00:14:08,639 --> 00:14:12,183
"Break them. Charlie Bluhdorn bought
Paramount and wants to meet you.
202
00:14:12,309 --> 00:14:15,395
"He read the article about you
in Sunday's New York Times.
203
00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:19,357
"He's a doer, Bob. Not a talker.
Now pack your bags."
204
00:14:19,483 --> 00:14:21,860
And pack 'em I did.
205
00:14:34,081 --> 00:14:38,668
Within five minutes of meeting Charlie
Bluhdorn, I know this is no kibitzer.
206
00:14:38,794 --> 00:14:42,422
Before I finished trying to answer
one question, he was asking me more.
207
00:14:42,548 --> 00:14:45,049
With him was a guy
named Marty Davis.
208
00:14:45,175 --> 00:14:48,303
He was responsible for
the conglomerate Gulf and Western
209
00:14:48,429 --> 00:14:50,930
buying this ageing mountain
they call Paramount.
210
00:14:51,056 --> 00:14:55,393
There were eight major studios
at the time.
211
00:14:55,519 --> 00:14:58,396
Paramount? It was ninth.
212
00:14:58,522 --> 00:15:03,276
Bluhdorn bought this giant at bargain
prices, the only way he knew how.
213
00:15:03,402 --> 00:15:05,153
Everybody thought he was nuts
214
00:15:05,279 --> 00:15:07,864
to get involved in a business
he knew nothing about,
215
00:15:07,990 --> 00:15:10,742
much less one
as crazy as show business.
216
00:15:10,868 --> 00:15:14,370
"But, guys, I got a deal at 20th."
"Get out of it.
217
00:15:14,496 --> 00:15:18,374
"You'll be running Paramount
in three months. Is that right, Marty?"
218
00:15:18,500 --> 00:15:20,668
Davis gives me a look.
219
00:15:20,794 --> 00:15:24,255
"If you're gonna run Paramount,
you better be tougher than you seem."
220
00:15:24,381 --> 00:15:28,259
Did I get the message? You bet.
Then Bluhdorn blasted my other ear.
221
00:15:28,385 --> 00:15:32,931
"Go by the seat of your pants.
Make pictures people wanna see.
222
00:15:33,057 --> 00:15:37,185
"I wanna see tears, laughs. I want pretty
girls in the pictures, beautiful girls.
223
00:15:37,311 --> 00:15:39,812
"Pictures people in Kansas City
want to see.
224
00:15:39,939 --> 00:15:43,608
"That's all, Evans.
What else do we have to go over?"
225
00:15:43,734 --> 00:15:47,528
Being the head of production
of a studio such as Paramount,
226
00:15:47,655 --> 00:15:51,532
and I'm sure you're aware of it,
involves a tremendous responsibility.
227
00:15:51,659 --> 00:15:55,119
You are dealing
with millions of dollars.
228
00:15:55,245 --> 00:15:57,330
They had great names for me.
229
00:15:57,456 --> 00:16:00,291
"Bluhdorn's Folly"
by The New York Times,
230
00:16:00,417 --> 00:16:03,670
"Bluhdorn's Blow Job" by Hollywood
Close-Up. Good feeling, huh?
231
00:16:04,713 --> 00:16:07,548
There was, to put it mildly,
232
00:16:07,675 --> 00:16:10,927
a great deal of scepticism
from people in the industry.
233
00:16:11,053 --> 00:16:14,138
Where does an ex-actor,
and a bad one at that,
234
00:16:14,264 --> 00:16:16,349
come off running a studio?
235
00:16:16,475 --> 00:16:20,520
From the day I arrived, the rumour mill
had me packing my bags.
236
00:16:20,646 --> 00:16:24,023
Time magazine ran a story
saying my firing was imminent.
237
00:16:24,149 --> 00:16:26,776
Friends, columnists, agents
all let me know
238
00:16:26,902 --> 00:16:28,987
I wouldn't be there for Christmas.
239
00:16:29,113 --> 00:16:32,740
Then it happened.
Front page of Variety.
240
00:16:32,866 --> 00:16:35,243
"Evans tenure over by end of month."
241
00:16:35,369 --> 00:16:39,205
I called Charles Bluhdorn, chairman
of the board of Gulf and Western,
242
00:16:39,331 --> 00:16:44,127
who had bought Paramount and put me
in there. He was in Spain at the time.
243
00:16:44,253 --> 00:16:48,131
I got him out of a board of directors
meeting in Madrid and said,
244
00:16:48,257 --> 00:16:51,718
"Charles, there's a story in Variety
that I'm gonna get fired.
245
00:16:51,844 --> 00:16:54,512
"If it's true, tell me."
246
00:16:54,638 --> 00:16:57,306
- I'll pick up my laundry.
- I'm ready to go.
247
00:16:57,433 --> 00:17:02,979
He says, "When you're getting fired,
I'll let you know. Stop reading gossip.
248
00:17:03,105 --> 00:17:06,065
"As long as I own Paramount,
you'll be where you are.
249
00:17:06,191 --> 00:17:09,110
"Relax and do your job."
And he hung the phone up.
250
00:17:09,236 --> 00:17:12,405
My first move was to hire Peter Bart
as my right-hand man.
251
00:17:12,531 --> 00:17:17,243
He's not Hollywood. He doesn't read
synopses, he reads the entire text.
252
00:17:17,369 --> 00:17:21,664
He can read six books over a weekend.
I'm hard-pressed to finish one in six.
253
00:17:21,790 --> 00:17:25,501
But more important, it was his article
that got me into this fucking mess.
254
00:17:26,545 --> 00:17:29,589
The two of us caucused
in Palm Springs for a full week,
255
00:17:29,715 --> 00:17:32,675
trying to strategize
how an actor and a journalist
256
00:17:32,801 --> 00:17:35,511
could turn a white elephant
into a contender.
257
00:17:35,637 --> 00:17:38,806
Patience was not a quality
either Bluhdorn or Davis had
258
00:17:38,932 --> 00:17:41,476
and the clock was already ticking.
259
00:17:41,602 --> 00:17:45,229
With the little experience we had,
we knew one thing:
260
00:17:45,355 --> 00:17:47,440
the property is the star.
261
00:17:47,566 --> 00:17:51,527
"Let's go back to basics, Peter.
You can have stars up the ass,
262
00:17:51,653 --> 00:17:54,947
"but if it's not on the page,
it's not on the screen.
263
00:17:55,074 --> 00:17:58,242
"It's no mistake Paramount's been
in ninth place for five years.
264
00:17:58,368 --> 00:18:01,579
"It's time to pick up new dice.
Now let's try and do it."
265
00:18:09,713 --> 00:18:13,216
Between Peter and myself,
we went through dozens of scripts,
266
00:18:13,342 --> 00:18:15,968
maybe hundreds.
Nothing clicked.
267
00:18:16,095 --> 00:18:19,722
It all felt tired.
There was nothing fresh about it.
268
00:18:19,848 --> 00:18:22,100
We were looking for the unexpected,
269
00:18:22,226 --> 00:18:26,312
something that sounded new
and what we were gonna be about.
270
00:18:28,524 --> 00:18:32,276
Then one day, Bill Castle, the veteran
producer, walked into my office
271
00:18:32,402 --> 00:18:36,906
with a manuscript he had optioned
tucked under his arm.
272
00:18:37,032 --> 00:18:40,743
Itwas Rosemary's Baby.
And I loved it.
273
00:18:40,869 --> 00:18:44,539
There was one problem.
Castle insisted on directing it.
274
00:18:44,665 --> 00:18:50,002
I only had one director in mind for it.
I saw brilliance in his little films.
275
00:18:50,129 --> 00:18:53,548
It was the little Polack himself,
Roman Polanski.
276
00:18:53,674 --> 00:18:58,719
The biggest Polack and one
of the biggest men I've ever met.
277
00:18:58,846 --> 00:19:02,723
The films I saw were Knife in the Water,
Repulsion, Cul-de-sac,
278
00:19:02,850 --> 00:19:04,976
all off-beat thrillers.
279
00:19:05,102 --> 00:19:09,730
Roman was a big cinema star
over in Europe as well as director
280
00:19:09,857 --> 00:19:14,402
and he'd just finished his first
Hollywood film. Get this title.
281
00:19:14,528 --> 00:19:16,696
The Fearless Vampire Killers
282
00:19:16,822 --> 00:19:20,324
or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth
Are in My Neck.
283
00:19:21,285 --> 00:19:25,454
Though no one wanted him in America,
he didn't care. He was a star in Europe.
284
00:19:25,581 --> 00:19:29,750
Where do I get him? How do I get to him?
He's an avid skier.
285
00:19:29,877 --> 00:19:32,211
I lured him all the way to America,
286
00:19:32,337 --> 00:19:35,256
thinking he was gonna direct
Downhill Racer.
287
00:19:35,382 --> 00:19:39,343
Polanski walks in.
This is some character!
288
00:19:39,469 --> 00:19:43,222
Within five minutes,
this Polack's acting out crazy stories.
289
00:19:43,348 --> 00:19:47,101
They're somewhere between
Shakespeare and theatre of the absurd.
290
00:19:47,227 --> 00:19:49,478
Maybe that's why we clicked so well.
291
00:19:49,605 --> 00:19:53,107
We both come out of the same school
of drama, the drama of life.
292
00:19:53,233 --> 00:19:55,276
I don't wanna bullshit him.
293
00:19:55,402 --> 00:19:58,279
"Roman, will you read this?"
294
00:19:58,405 --> 00:20:01,782
I shoved the galleys of Rosemary's
Babyacross the desk at him.
295
00:20:03,035 --> 00:20:05,119
"Is this about skiing?"
296
00:20:05,245 --> 00:20:08,873
"Read it, Polack. If you don't like it,
your next ski trip is on me,
297
00:20:08,999 --> 00:20:11,542
"anywhere you wanna go in the world."
298
00:20:11,668 --> 00:20:16,088
A gamble? Sure.
It paid off. Roman loved it.
299
00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:20,343
But then the fights began.
You know, fighting's healthy.
300
00:20:20,469 --> 00:20:24,263
If everyone has too much reverence
for each other or for the material,
301
00:20:24,389 --> 00:20:26,724
check it out and think about it.
302
00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:30,061
Invariably, it turns out underwhelming.
303
00:20:30,187 --> 00:20:34,440
By the end of the first week's shooting,
Roman was a week behind schedule.
304
00:20:34,566 --> 00:20:38,986
Everyone from Bluhdorn to Bill Castle
wanted me to throw him off the picture.
305
00:20:41,114 --> 00:20:43,741
Roman's dailies were weird.
306
00:20:43,867 --> 00:20:46,410
They touched off
an ominous sense of fright,
307
00:20:46,536 --> 00:20:49,038
one I'd never seen in film before.
308
00:20:50,666 --> 00:20:53,793
At the same time, Bill Castle
was pressing the right buttons
309
00:20:53,919 --> 00:20:58,464
getting the New York brass unnerved
on my Polish discovery.
310
00:20:58,590 --> 00:21:03,177
We're ten days into shooting and
Roman was five days behind schedule.
311
00:21:03,303 --> 00:21:07,890
"Fire the Polack" were the words
from New York. Fire him? Fuck you.
312
00:21:08,016 --> 00:21:10,935
He goes, I go.
313
00:21:11,061 --> 00:21:14,689
For a moment, I thought I'd have to pay
my own plane fare back.
314
00:21:14,815 --> 00:21:19,360
I grabbed Roman aside.
"Listen to me carefully, Roman.
315
00:21:19,486 --> 00:21:23,322
"My ass ain't on the line.
My ass is out the door and so are you.
316
00:21:23,448 --> 00:21:26,951
"Now pick up the fucking pace
or we'll both end up in Warsaw."
317
00:21:27,077 --> 00:21:30,997
Bluhdorn and company weren't
the only ones screaming about Roman.
318
00:21:31,123 --> 00:21:34,083
Another power entered the scene.
319
00:21:34,209 --> 00:21:37,420
My secretary comes in
with an urgent message.
320
00:21:37,546 --> 00:21:40,673
"Frank Sinatra's on the horn.
He must speak with you."
321
00:21:40,799 --> 00:21:43,634
I picked the phone up.
322
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,847
"I'm pulling Mia from your picture
if she ain't finished by November 14th.
323
00:21:47,973 --> 00:21:51,225
"She's starting in my picture
on the 17th. Got it straight?"
324
00:21:51,351 --> 00:21:55,271
His picture was The Detective,
which launched my producing career.
325
00:21:55,397 --> 00:21:57,440
Now it was about to sink it.
326
00:21:57,566 --> 00:22:02,278
"Frank, you don't understand.
We won't finish till mid-February."
327
00:22:02,404 --> 00:22:05,865
"Then she's quitting.
Don't fuck around with me.
328
00:22:05,991 --> 00:22:09,744
"We go back too far. She's my old lady,
she'll do as I tell her."
329
00:22:09,870 --> 00:22:11,912
He hangs the phone up.
330
00:22:12,039 --> 00:22:15,624
Well, Frank didn't bark, he bit.
331
00:22:15,751 --> 00:22:19,795
Bit Mia pretty good.
"You stay in Rosemary's Baby,
332
00:22:19,921 --> 00:22:23,591
"you go back to Mia Farrow.
Forget the name Sinatra!"
333
00:22:23,717 --> 00:22:27,553
Suddenly this little girl
hysterically runs into my office.
334
00:22:27,679 --> 00:22:31,932
"I love him, Bob. I love him so.
I don't wanna lose Frank.
335
00:22:32,059 --> 00:22:34,685
"I'm gonna have to leave the movie."
336
00:22:34,811 --> 00:22:38,731
"Mia, if you walk out in the middle
of this film, you'll never work again."
337
00:22:38,857 --> 00:22:41,901
"I don't care, I don't care.
I just love Frank."
338
00:22:42,027 --> 00:22:45,321
If ever my experience with dames
came in handy,
339
00:22:45,447 --> 00:22:49,450
I mean actress dames,
this was the moment.
340
00:22:49,576 --> 00:22:53,496
I knew what makes the head
of an actress tick
341
00:22:53,622 --> 00:22:55,998
and I finally found its purpose.
342
00:22:56,124 --> 00:22:58,876
"Come with me, Mia.
I wanna show you something."
343
00:22:59,002 --> 00:23:01,087
We walked into the screening room
344
00:23:01,213 --> 00:23:04,673
and I showed her a full hour
of Rosemary's Babycuttogether.
345
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:09,553
Dr Hill? Dr Hill, there's a plot.
I know that sounds crazy.
346
00:23:09,679 --> 00:23:12,807
You're probably thinking,
"This poor girl has flipped."
347
00:23:12,933 --> 00:23:15,351
But I haven't flipped, Dr Hill.
348
00:23:15,477 --> 00:23:18,270
I swear by all the saints, I haven't.
349
00:23:18,397 --> 00:23:21,482
"Mia, you're brilliant.
350
00:23:21,608 --> 00:23:23,859
"I never thought you had it in you.
351
00:23:23,985 --> 00:23:27,613
"It'll shock them all.
I want you to know something.
352
00:23:27,739 --> 00:23:30,366
"You're a shoo-in to win
the Academy Award."
353
00:23:30,492 --> 00:23:34,370
Suddenly her tears are gone.
Her face lights up.
354
00:23:34,496 --> 00:23:36,956
"Do you really think so?"
355
00:23:37,082 --> 00:23:40,418
"I'm not prone to exaggerate.
You're a shoo-in.
356
00:23:40,544 --> 00:23:42,586
"I mean a shoo-in, kid."
357
00:23:42,712 --> 00:23:45,881
"Sinatra who?"
Suddenly, a smile.
358
00:23:46,007 --> 00:23:51,137
She didn't walk off the film, but Frank
served her divorce papers on the set,
359
00:23:51,263 --> 00:23:53,889
delivered by Mickey Rudin,
his attorney.
360
00:23:54,015 --> 00:23:58,144
It's strange. Women recover real quick.
It may have taken her a full week.
361
00:23:58,270 --> 00:24:01,480
The only thing she wanted
was that Rosemary's Baby
362
00:24:01,606 --> 00:24:03,816
would out-gross The Detective.
363
00:24:03,942 --> 00:24:06,152
You want to know about actresses?
364
00:24:06,278 --> 00:24:10,739
Mia's one satisfaction was that the
pictures would open on the same day.
365
00:24:10,866 --> 00:24:12,950
And I arranged that.
366
00:24:13,076 --> 00:24:16,328
The Detective opened
to a real good box office.
367
00:24:16,455 --> 00:24:19,999
But Rosemary's Baby
was the smash hit of the summer.
368
00:24:20,125 --> 00:24:22,418
Overnight, Mia was a full-fledged star.
369
00:24:22,544 --> 00:24:25,504
She had one request I couldn't fill.
370
00:24:25,630 --> 00:24:29,467
Take a double-page ad out in the
Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter.
371
00:24:29,593 --> 00:24:33,471
On one side, she wanted the theatre
grosses of Rosemary's Baby.
372
00:24:33,597 --> 00:24:37,057
On the other, the theatre grosses
of The Detective.
373
00:24:38,602 --> 00:24:42,897
Hell hath no fury
like a woman scorned.
374
00:24:58,288 --> 00:25:02,041
A decade before, Norma Shearer
took me for a short walk.
375
00:25:03,335 --> 00:25:07,713
Within ten minutes of the Beverly Hills
Hotel, we entered a hidden oasis.
376
00:25:07,839 --> 00:25:10,799
It was a world away from Beverly Hills.
377
00:25:12,969 --> 00:25:15,971
It was protected by 100-foot tall
eucalyptus trees.
378
00:25:17,432 --> 00:25:21,060
Greta Garbo used to hide away there
whenever she came into town.
379
00:25:22,437 --> 00:25:25,105
I'd never forgotten the day
I was there.
380
00:25:25,232 --> 00:25:28,275
God, it must have been
a hundred times I thought,
381
00:25:28,401 --> 00:25:32,112
"One day, I could own that house.
God, I'd love to live there."
382
00:25:34,741 --> 00:25:36,992
The grounds, the trees, the acreage,
383
00:25:37,118 --> 00:25:40,162
the towering eucalyptus,
thousands of roses.
384
00:25:40,288 --> 00:25:43,916
Everything is quiet and secret
behind walls.
385
00:25:48,672 --> 00:25:51,215
Was it for sale? No.
386
00:25:51,341 --> 00:25:54,802
But in LA, there's nothing that isn't.
387
00:25:54,928 --> 00:25:57,888
For 290,000 buckaroos,
388
00:25:58,014 --> 00:26:00,891
the place of my dreams
was now mine.
389
00:27:06,166 --> 00:27:10,210
In the mid-to-late '60s, movie
attendance was spiralling south.
390
00:27:10,337 --> 00:27:13,922
Outside Paramount,
a cultural revolution was taking place.
391
00:27:15,133 --> 00:27:18,844
The brass at the studios didn't know
who to cater their movies to.
392
00:27:18,970 --> 00:27:23,557
The old guard, who we thought wanted
to see stars in lavish productions,
393
00:27:23,683 --> 00:27:27,061
or the youth,
who no one seemed to understand.
394
00:27:27,187 --> 00:27:31,357
In the same year alone,
Paramount released Medium Cool,
395
00:27:31,483 --> 00:27:34,902
a film catering
to the so-called youth market.
396
00:27:35,028 --> 00:27:38,614
And Paint Your Wagon,
a film that catered to no one.
397
00:27:45,747 --> 00:27:49,583
We were losing money every year
on big, extravagant productions.
398
00:27:49,709 --> 00:27:54,254
The board was getting nervous.
We needed a picture to unite audiences.
399
00:27:54,381 --> 00:27:57,591
Like all good films,
it needed to start with a script.
400
00:27:59,135 --> 00:28:03,389
Well, we found it. Or should I say
Miss MacGraw found it.
401
00:28:03,515 --> 00:28:07,601
A simple little film about a boy
and a girl falling in love.
402
00:28:08,687 --> 00:28:10,938
It was Love Story.
403
00:28:11,064 --> 00:28:14,775
I set up a lunch date
with its mentor and star,
404
00:28:14,901 --> 00:28:17,361
Miss MacGraw.
405
00:28:17,487 --> 00:28:22,074
By the time dessert was served,
I'd have made the phone book with her.
406
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,494
Do you think she got to me?
I can tell you this.
407
00:28:25,620 --> 00:28:28,288
I sure in hell didn't get to her.
408
00:28:28,415 --> 00:28:31,750
She kept on digging into me.
Oh, and she was loving it.
409
00:28:31,876 --> 00:28:36,296
She keeps on interjecting all during
the lunch how much in love she was.
410
00:28:36,423 --> 00:28:39,341
Then she gives me her last zinger.
411
00:28:39,467 --> 00:28:41,927
"Peter and I are getting married
in the fall.
412
00:28:42,053 --> 00:28:46,056
"We plan to spend October in Venice.
Ever been there?" Nope.
413
00:28:46,182 --> 00:28:50,269
"Then wait. Only go there
when you're madly in love."
414
00:28:50,395 --> 00:28:53,147
That was it for me.
I grabbed her arm.
415
00:28:53,273 --> 00:28:56,900
"Never plan, kid.
Planning's for the poor.
416
00:28:57,026 --> 00:29:01,071
"If anything goes wrong between you
and Blondie between now and then,
417
00:29:01,197 --> 00:29:04,199
"take my number.
I'm seven digits away."
418
00:29:05,243 --> 00:29:08,078
Hate to admit it, but she never called.
419
00:29:09,956 --> 00:29:12,040
In the spring of 1969,
420
00:29:12,167 --> 00:29:15,419
holding Love Story
sure as hell wasn't holding aces.
421
00:29:15,545 --> 00:29:18,505
I couldn't even find
a fucking director to do it.
422
00:29:18,631 --> 00:29:22,050
My batting average was a thousand.
Everyone turned it down.
423
00:29:23,094 --> 00:29:26,597
Suddenly, a minor miracle.
I get a director, Arthur Hiller.
424
00:29:26,723 --> 00:29:30,350
He's willing to direct my angel
with a very dirty face.
425
00:29:30,477 --> 00:29:34,480
Well, when you get a first bite,
there's no way you're gonna let it go.
426
00:29:35,815 --> 00:29:37,900
It was a Wednesday night.
427
00:29:38,026 --> 00:29:40,903
Suddenly, Miss Snotnose
remembers my seven digits.
428
00:29:41,029 --> 00:29:45,657
This was one angry broad.
I say angry with a capital "A".
429
00:29:45,784 --> 00:29:47,868
"The audacity you have, Mr Evans,
430
00:29:47,994 --> 00:29:51,288
"to sign a director I've never heard of
without consulting me.
431
00:29:51,414 --> 00:29:54,541
"It's my property.
I'm doing the picture for slave wages.
432
00:29:54,667 --> 00:29:59,421
"I'm living up to my option agreement.
Have you forgotten the word courtesy?"
433
00:29:59,547 --> 00:30:02,466
I thought I was hyperventilating.
434
00:30:02,592 --> 00:30:06,887
"Ali, listen to me. Why don't you
come out to LA tomorrow?
435
00:30:07,013 --> 00:30:09,097
"Take a look at Hiller's film.
436
00:30:09,224 --> 00:30:12,559
"If you don't like it,
we'll get someone else. Trust me.
437
00:30:12,685 --> 00:30:14,895
"I think you'll enjoy it."
438
00:30:21,736 --> 00:30:26,365
The next night I pick up Snotnose
MacGraw in the Beverly Hills Hotel.
439
00:30:26,491 --> 00:30:30,869
Did it bug me? You bet,
needing this starlet's nod of approval.
440
00:30:30,995 --> 00:30:33,413
I hoped she wouldn't like Hiller
441
00:30:33,540 --> 00:30:36,208
so I could tell her
she was a one-way ticket east,
442
00:30:36,334 --> 00:30:39,002
that her flick's over and out.
Cancelled.
443
00:30:39,128 --> 00:30:41,463
At least I'd get my nuts off.
444
00:30:42,674 --> 00:30:45,092
I'm saying to myself,
445
00:30:45,218 --> 00:30:48,470
"Miss Charming
ain't gonna get to me tonight."
446
00:30:50,306 --> 00:30:53,684
I walked her through my front doors,
out and around my pool
447
00:30:53,810 --> 00:30:56,186
towards my projection room.
448
00:30:56,312 --> 00:30:59,189
What I was thinking
didn't work the way I thought.
449
00:30:59,315 --> 00:31:03,068
She looks up to me with her crooked
tooth and all and says,
450
00:31:03,194 --> 00:31:06,572
"I feel like I'm walking through
my own private park in Paris."
451
00:31:06,698 --> 00:31:09,867
Prepared for her bullshit,
it hardly made a ripple.
452
00:31:09,993 --> 00:31:13,537
Arthur Hiller's audition was ready to roll.
It never did.
453
00:31:13,663 --> 00:31:15,956
The screen never came down.
454
00:31:16,082 --> 00:31:19,251
Yeah, but Miss Flower Child Snotnose
455
00:31:19,377 --> 00:31:21,920
soon got wet, very wet,
456
00:31:22,046 --> 00:31:25,257
jumping into the egg-shaped pool
totally clothed,
457
00:31:25,383 --> 00:31:27,801
from her shoes to her headband.
458
00:31:27,927 --> 00:31:31,930
Me? I'm laughing on the inside,
but thinking, "For a bohemian,
459
00:31:32,056 --> 00:31:35,601
"she sure as hell became comfortable
very quickly."
460
00:31:35,727 --> 00:31:40,606
Behind the so-called Beverly Hills gates,
with 2000 rose bushes
461
00:31:40,732 --> 00:31:43,692
surrounded by gardenias, daisies,
you name it.
462
00:31:43,818 --> 00:31:48,196
She called herself a flower child.
And now the flowers were hers.
463
00:31:52,285 --> 00:31:57,122
October 24th 1969, a Friday morning.
464
00:31:57,248 --> 00:32:00,792
Miss Snotnose is on her way
to becoming Mrs Evans.
465
00:32:00,919 --> 00:32:03,670
Both of us climb
into our Mercedes two-seater
466
00:32:03,796 --> 00:32:06,590
and head for the town hall
in Riverside.
467
00:32:10,887 --> 00:32:15,098
Afterward, we uncorked one magnum
of Dom after the other.
468
00:32:15,224 --> 00:32:18,226
Where? On the courthouse lawn.
469
00:32:18,353 --> 00:32:20,604
And did we get loaded!
470
00:32:22,941 --> 00:32:26,485
We had a long two-day honeymoon
in Palm Springs.
471
00:32:26,611 --> 00:32:29,154
I held Ali tight in my arms.
472
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,200
"I love you, Evans. I love you.
Forever, Evans. Forever."
473
00:32:34,577 --> 00:32:37,245
I whispered back, "Forever, darling.
474
00:32:38,373 --> 00:32:40,707
"And promise me, never leave me."
475
00:32:40,833 --> 00:32:43,168
"I promise you, baby, I won't."
476
00:32:43,294 --> 00:32:45,587
"Not even for two weeks."
477
00:32:45,713 --> 00:32:47,798
"Not for one, kid."
478
00:32:47,924 --> 00:32:49,841
"I'm a hot lady, Evans."
479
00:32:49,968 --> 00:32:52,094
I hugged her, I kissed her.
480
00:32:52,220 --> 00:32:55,681
"Never change, baby.
Never change."
481
00:32:55,807 --> 00:32:59,434
"And never let anything get between us,
Evans. Promise?"
482
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:01,353
"Promise."
483
00:33:25,753 --> 00:33:27,921
I forgot my key.
484
00:33:29,716 --> 00:33:32,634
Jenny, I'm sorry.
485
00:33:33,636 --> 00:33:35,721
Don't.
486
00:33:35,847 --> 00:33:38,473
Love means never having
to say you're sorry.
487
00:33:46,524 --> 00:33:50,068
"Cut!" says Hiller.
"That's it. We've got it."
488
00:33:50,194 --> 00:33:53,780
"You did a good job, Ali.
You had me in tears."
489
00:33:53,906 --> 00:33:57,576
She runs over to me,
smothers me with kisses.
490
00:33:57,702 --> 00:34:01,705
"Evans, did you really like it?
The tears, they were for you."
491
00:34:01,831 --> 00:34:03,957
My eyes start to swell.
492
00:34:04,083 --> 00:34:07,502
I actually start crying.
Crying about happiness
493
00:34:07,628 --> 00:34:10,756
and feeling that I'm the luckiest guy
in the whole world.
494
00:34:10,882 --> 00:34:15,010
Camelot was ours.
Well, at least I thought it was.
495
00:34:18,014 --> 00:34:20,307
"Evans, there's a big problem.
496
00:34:20,433 --> 00:34:23,518
"The board of directors,
they want me out of Paramount.
497
00:34:23,644 --> 00:34:27,522
"They can't afford it any more.
It's turning a cash flow into cash drought.
498
00:34:27,648 --> 00:34:31,276
"They've had it. They want me out too,
out of show business.
499
00:34:31,402 --> 00:34:34,613
"Get back to what I do best.
Making money, not movies."
500
00:34:34,739 --> 00:34:39,576
Charlie was not prone to making
practical jokes and this was no joke.
501
00:34:39,702 --> 00:34:42,621
"Fuck 'em, Charlie.
Stall them if you can.
502
00:34:42,747 --> 00:34:45,832
"You can buy another quarter.
I know you can.
503
00:34:45,958 --> 00:34:48,919
"Give us one more shot at the table.
You can do it."
504
00:34:49,045 --> 00:34:53,548
"The board's already decided.
They've called an emergency meeting."
505
00:34:53,674 --> 00:34:56,802
"The studio will be closed
by the end of next week."
506
00:34:56,928 --> 00:35:01,765
This couldn't be happening to me.
And we were just on a roll.
507
00:35:01,891 --> 00:35:03,892
Then it hit me.
508
00:35:04,018 --> 00:35:08,438
"Give me a half hour with the board.
Just one half hour, that's all I need."
509
00:35:08,564 --> 00:35:13,360
"Evans, the one person they don't
wanna see is you. Are you crazy?"
510
00:35:13,486 --> 00:35:15,737
"Yeah, but crazy good, Charlie.
511
00:35:15,863 --> 00:35:18,949
"I've got one ace in my hand,
Love Story,
512
00:35:19,075 --> 00:35:21,910
"and I'm gonna build a hand around it."
513
00:35:22,036 --> 00:35:26,331
"All right, Evans. You got a half hour.
That's all, just a half hour.
514
00:35:26,457 --> 00:35:29,292
"Be in New York next Monday
at the board meeting.
515
00:35:29,418 --> 00:35:32,254
"Buy a one-way ticket
and don't be late."
516
00:35:32,380 --> 00:35:35,340
Peter Bart asked Mike Nichols
for an afternoon of his time
517
00:35:35,466 --> 00:35:40,011
to film a presentation reel to deliver
to the board of Gulf and Western.
518
00:35:41,639 --> 00:35:45,142
Mike directed me in, I'm sure,
the best performance of my life.
519
00:35:46,102 --> 00:35:50,272
Where were you, Mike, when I needed
you ten years ago when I was an actor?
520
00:35:52,692 --> 00:35:55,777
That Sunday at 6pm
I caught the red-eye into New York.
521
00:35:55,903 --> 00:35:59,322
No luggage,
but a can of film under my arm.
522
00:35:59,448 --> 00:36:02,159
This was our one and only chance.
523
00:36:02,285 --> 00:36:05,537
If the film didn't play,
the board would shut down the studio,
524
00:36:05,663 --> 00:36:07,873
effective immediately.
525
00:36:08,416 --> 00:36:11,293
As I walked into
the Gulf and Western building,
526
00:36:11,419 --> 00:36:14,337
Bluhdorn handed me
my walking papers.
527
00:36:14,463 --> 00:36:17,048
"Well, Evans, at least we tried."
528
00:36:17,175 --> 00:36:19,259
I pushed him away.
529
00:36:19,385 --> 00:36:22,387
"Hold these for another 20 minutes,
will you, Charlie?"
530
00:36:24,599 --> 00:36:28,560
I walked into the boardroom,
a 100-1 shot.
531
00:36:28,686 --> 00:36:32,856
Before me sat 16
of America's finest non-smilers.
532
00:36:32,982 --> 00:36:36,276
"Gentlemen, I apologise
for not being better dressed,
533
00:36:36,402 --> 00:36:39,112
"but when you've got
a one-way ticket and no hotel,
534
00:36:39,238 --> 00:36:41,823
"it ain't easy to keep up
with the style of the room."
535
00:36:41,949 --> 00:36:46,620
No laugh. Not a crack.
Not even the white of a tooth in sight.
536
00:36:48,748 --> 00:36:50,874
Quickly, I stepped out of the room
537
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,543
and handed the projectionist
Paramount's future.
538
00:36:55,838 --> 00:36:58,965
Good afternoon.
My name is Robert Evans
539
00:36:59,091 --> 00:37:02,886
and I'm senior vice president
of Paramount Pictures.
540
00:37:03,012 --> 00:37:06,556
By the way, this is not my office.
541
00:37:06,682 --> 00:37:09,434
We tried to shoot this scene
in my office.
542
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:13,939
We brought the cameras up,
but my office is too small to get them in.
543
00:37:14,065 --> 00:37:17,734
I came down to the studio to borrow
a set from The Young Lawyers
544
00:37:17,860 --> 00:37:19,861
and that's where we are now.
545
00:37:19,987 --> 00:37:24,241
As a matter of fact, I don't even
have offices at the studio any more.
546
00:37:24,367 --> 00:37:27,452
Last year, we packed up our gear,
547
00:37:27,578 --> 00:37:30,872
cut down our staff
tightened our belts
548
00:37:30,998 --> 00:37:35,252
and moved into little offices in Beverly
Hills. They're good enough for us.
549
00:37:35,378 --> 00:37:39,631
These past few years
have been rough for Hollywood.
550
00:37:39,757 --> 00:37:42,342
We've made a lot of mistakes.
551
00:37:42,468 --> 00:37:46,471
Some people have learned from them
and some people haven't. We have.
552
00:37:46,597 --> 00:37:49,724
Money we spend is not going to be
through extravagances.
553
00:37:49,850 --> 00:37:52,060
It's gonna be on the screen.
554
00:37:52,186 --> 00:37:55,981
And speaking of the screen,
that's the reason we're here today.
555
00:37:56,107 --> 00:38:00,443
I'd like to show you
some of our product for 1971.
556
00:38:03,197 --> 00:38:06,408
Right now,
we're approaching Christmas.
557
00:38:06,534 --> 00:38:11,204
And Paramount's Christmas gift
to the world is Love Story.
558
00:38:11,330 --> 00:38:14,332
I think Love Storyis gonna start
a new trend in movies.
559
00:38:14,458 --> 00:38:18,211
A trend towards the romantic,
towards love,
560
00:38:18,337 --> 00:38:20,547
towards people.
561
00:38:20,673 --> 00:38:24,092
Towards telling a story
about how it feels
562
00:38:24,218 --> 00:38:26,136
rather than where it's at.
563
00:38:26,262 --> 00:38:29,431
I think Love Storyis going
to bring the people
564
00:38:29,557 --> 00:38:32,517
back into the theatre in droves.
565
00:38:35,730 --> 00:38:39,232
I could go on for an hour
and tell you about 20 or 30 projects
566
00:38:39,358 --> 00:38:43,403
in various stages of development
and bore you with it, so I won't.
567
00:38:43,529 --> 00:38:46,823
But I wanna bring up one project.
And that's The Godfather.
568
00:38:46,949 --> 00:38:49,034
I bring it up for several reasons.
569
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,953
One, that it's starting production
next month.
570
00:38:52,079 --> 00:38:55,540
Two, that it's gonna be
our next Christmas' picture.
571
00:38:55,666 --> 00:38:58,960
And three, to bring up the similarity
572
00:38:59,086 --> 00:39:01,546
between The Godfather
and Love Story,
573
00:39:01,672 --> 00:39:05,091
which are the two biggest books
of the last decade.
574
00:39:05,217 --> 00:39:07,302
Paramount owns them both.
575
00:39:07,428 --> 00:39:10,347
But Paramount has more
than just owning them both.
576
00:39:10,473 --> 00:39:12,974
We didn't sit back in our plush chairs
577
00:39:13,100 --> 00:39:16,186
and write a cheque
for a million dollars for the books,
578
00:39:16,312 --> 00:39:20,565
which happens so often in our industry.
We developed both of these books.
579
00:39:20,691 --> 00:39:24,694
If it weren't for Paramount, Love Story
would never have been written,
580
00:39:24,820 --> 00:39:27,572
The Godfatherwould never
have been written.
581
00:39:27,698 --> 00:39:30,867
We were in there in the beginning,
spurring the writers on,
582
00:39:30,993 --> 00:39:34,871
working with them to make these books
the bestsellers they are
583
00:39:34,997 --> 00:39:37,665
and the great movies
they're going to be.
584
00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:43,630
We at Paramount don't look
at ourselves as passive backers of film.
585
00:39:43,756 --> 00:39:46,925
We look at ourselves
as a creative force unto ourself.
586
00:39:47,051 --> 00:39:49,427
And that is why Paramount
587
00:39:49,553 --> 00:39:52,514
is going to be paramount
in the industry in the '70s.
588
00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:53,681
I promise you that.
589
00:39:56,143 --> 00:39:59,020
Ten minutes later, Bluhdorn walked in.
590
00:39:59,146 --> 00:40:01,856
"Well, I'm fired, huh?
591
00:40:01,982 --> 00:40:05,360
"You're a bigger fraud than I thought.
592
00:40:05,486 --> 00:40:09,989
"You're some showman, Evans.
You pulled the wool over their eyes."
593
00:40:10,116 --> 00:40:13,243
No kiss on the lips,
but a Bluhdorn hug.
594
00:40:13,369 --> 00:40:17,789
That's more than an engagement ring.
It was the gold band itself.
595
00:40:17,915 --> 00:40:20,083
Then, in typical Bluhdorn fashion,
596
00:40:20,209 --> 00:40:24,462
"Go back to work. We need pictures.
And you need plenty of mazel."
597
00:40:35,224 --> 00:40:37,559
On December 16th 1970,
598
00:40:37,685 --> 00:40:41,604
Love Storyhad its world premiere
at Loew's State Theatre in New York.
599
00:40:42,940 --> 00:40:45,066
The lights went down.
600
00:40:45,192 --> 00:40:48,486
Francis Lai's haunting piano strings
started up.
601
00:40:48,612 --> 00:40:51,990
Ryan O'Neal, alone and bereft
in a snowy Central Park,
602
00:40:52,116 --> 00:40:54,200
said in a voice-over,
603
00:40:54,326 --> 00:40:57,829
"What can you say
about a 25-year-old girl who died?"
604
00:40:57,955 --> 00:41:02,041
Love Storydidn't open.
It exploded.
605
00:41:02,168 --> 00:41:06,254
All over the world, boys and girls walked
out of the theatre in love for the night.
606
00:41:06,380 --> 00:41:11,217
Why did it do such business? A guy
would take a different girl every night.
607
00:41:11,343 --> 00:41:15,680
There were more pregnancies over
Love Storythan any film ever made.
608
00:41:15,806 --> 00:41:19,350
People went back to see it three,
four, five, six times.
609
00:41:19,477 --> 00:41:22,645
It was an aphrodisiac.
610
00:41:22,771 --> 00:41:27,692
It even got raves from the critics.
This, I couldn't believe.
611
00:41:27,818 --> 00:41:31,988
Time said it started a new Hollywood
and Ali ended up on its cover.
612
00:41:38,579 --> 00:41:41,581
Me? I felt like Casanova.
613
00:41:41,707 --> 00:41:44,751
The most extraordinary lady
in the world on my arm
614
00:41:44,877 --> 00:41:47,754
and in her belly
a little Evans-to-be.
615
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,215
Hey, Ali. What's new?
616
00:41:54,136 --> 00:41:56,179
You can say that on television now.
617
00:41:56,305 --> 00:41:59,307
OK. Well, I'm gonna have a baby.
618
00:41:59,433 --> 00:42:02,685
Isn't that great?
619
00:42:02,811 --> 00:42:05,813
That's beautiful. Are you excited?
620
00:42:05,940 --> 00:42:08,149
Sure. It's fabulous.
621
00:42:08,275 --> 00:42:11,152
We're expecting to talk about
your expecting today.
622
00:42:11,278 --> 00:42:14,739
I'd have to say no two people
in the entire world
623
00:42:14,865 --> 00:42:17,909
were happier than Ali and myself.
624
00:42:18,035 --> 00:42:21,871
We had to pinch ourselves each day
to believe all this was happening to us.
625
00:42:21,997 --> 00:42:24,832
We had our Joshua,
we had ourselves.
626
00:42:24,959 --> 00:42:29,921
Ali and Jackie Kennedy were the two
most admired women in America.
627
00:42:30,047 --> 00:42:33,049
And me
I'm sure the luckiest motherfucker.
628
00:42:43,602 --> 00:42:48,231
For the first time since I became
studio head, I had some job security.
629
00:42:48,357 --> 00:42:51,234
Now it's garbage.
630
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,696
We had put together a string of hits,
including Rosemary's Baby,
631
00:42:54,822 --> 00:43:00,034
Harold and Maude, The Odd Couple,
True Grit and Love Story.
632
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:04,205
In 1970,
we finally reached the mountaintop.
633
00:43:04,331 --> 00:43:06,958
That air smelled mighty good up there.
634
00:43:07,084 --> 00:43:10,336
Of all the major studios,
Paramount was now in first place.
635
00:43:10,462 --> 00:43:14,132
It's hard to believe that four years
earlier we were in ninth.
636
00:43:14,258 --> 00:43:20,013
It was the beginning of the Golden Era
of the new Hollywood.
637
00:43:20,139 --> 00:43:23,725
Over the next four years, we would
collect 144 Oscar nominations,
638
00:43:23,851 --> 00:43:26,519
stay number one
and go through a streak of hits
639
00:43:26,645 --> 00:43:29,814
that to this day is unprecedented.
640
00:43:36,363 --> 00:43:41,409
If I had to pick our crowning jewel,
I'd say it was a 30-page treatment
641
00:43:41,535 --> 00:43:45,330
to a novel called Mafia,
written by Mario Puzo.
642
00:43:45,456 --> 00:43:49,709
Turning treatment into novel, he asked
if he could change it to Godfather.
643
00:43:49,835 --> 00:43:52,920
"Sure, why not?" I never thought
he would finish it anyway.
644
00:43:54,298 --> 00:43:58,009
Well, he finished it. It became
the biggest book of the decade.
645
00:43:58,135 --> 00:44:02,764
And there I was, holding the Hope
diamond. Euphoria? Wrong.
646
00:44:02,890 --> 00:44:07,352
Paramount didn't wanna make the film.
"Sicilian mobster films don't play."
647
00:44:07,478 --> 00:44:10,146
That's what these distribution guys
had to say.
648
00:44:10,272 --> 00:44:13,483
And when you bat zero,
don't make another sucker bet.
649
00:44:13,609 --> 00:44:16,861
I called up Peter Bart
at the studio late that night.
650
00:44:16,987 --> 00:44:21,366
"What the fuck do we do?"
Peter shook his head, laughed.
651
00:44:21,492 --> 00:44:23,951
"Evans, we got a problem."
652
00:44:24,078 --> 00:44:27,789
"No, we don't.
We've gotta find a solution, Peter."
653
00:44:27,915 --> 00:44:31,167
It must have been after two
in the morning and we found it.
654
00:44:31,293 --> 00:44:34,837
Every one of the films
shared a thing in common.
655
00:44:35,673 --> 00:44:38,341
They were written, directed
and produced
656
00:44:38,467 --> 00:44:42,720
and usually starred Jews,
not Sicilians.
657
00:44:42,846 --> 00:44:46,099
"There's a thin line, Peter,
between a Jew and a Sicilian.
658
00:44:46,225 --> 00:44:50,228
"We're gonna make a picture
that's gonna be Sicilian to the core.
659
00:44:50,354 --> 00:44:54,774
"You're gonna smell the spaghetti."
There was one problem.
660
00:44:54,900 --> 00:44:58,236
It's hard to believe,
but in 1969
661
00:44:58,362 --> 00:45:01,406
there wasn't a single Italian-American
director,
662
00:45:01,532 --> 00:45:03,741
that's with any credibility.
663
00:45:03,867 --> 00:45:06,744
Bart looks at me and he says,
"What about Coppola?"
664
00:45:06,870 --> 00:45:09,747
"Are you nuts?
One thing for sure is he is."
665
00:45:09,873 --> 00:45:13,835
Bart snaps right back at me,
"Brilliant, though."
666
00:45:13,961 --> 00:45:17,171
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's your esoteric
bullshit coming out.
667
00:45:17,297 --> 00:45:20,466
"Face it, Bart.
This genius has made three pictures.
668
00:45:20,592 --> 00:45:25,138
"You're a Big Boy Now,
an artsy-fartsy picture, did no business.
669
00:45:25,264 --> 00:45:28,057
"Finian's Rainbow,
a top Broadway musical.
670
00:45:28,183 --> 00:45:30,268
"He made it into a disaster.
671
00:45:30,394 --> 00:45:34,021
"Now he's got The Rain People out,
which everyone's rained on.
672
00:45:34,148 --> 00:45:36,733
"There's gotta be someone else.
Come on."
673
00:45:36,859 --> 00:45:39,485
There wasn't.
But there was another problem.
674
00:45:39,611 --> 00:45:42,029
Coppola didn't wanna do it.
675
00:45:42,156 --> 00:45:44,615
This guy couldn't get a cartoon made,
676
00:45:44,742 --> 00:45:47,201
yet didn't want to make
The Godfather.
677
00:45:47,327 --> 00:45:50,246
Gotta give the guy credit.
His convictions were strong.
678
00:45:50,372 --> 00:45:52,582
He didn't want to immortalise
the families
679
00:45:52,708 --> 00:45:54,792
that blackened his Italian heritage.
680
00:45:54,918 --> 00:46:00,089
After three long days of discussion
with this guy, Peter's on the horn.
681
00:46:00,215 --> 00:46:03,176
"Coppola will make the picture
on one condition.
682
00:46:03,302 --> 00:46:06,262
"That it's not a film
about organised gangsters."
683
00:46:06,388 --> 00:46:10,224
"It's not about organised gangsters?
It ain't a musical, Peter.
684
00:46:10,350 --> 00:46:12,435
"I told you the guy's nuts."
685
00:46:12,561 --> 00:46:16,439
"He has an idea. He wants to make it
as a family chronicle,
686
00:46:16,565 --> 00:46:19,066
"a metaphor for capitalism in America."
687
00:46:19,193 --> 00:46:23,488
"Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
He is nuts. Now get him out of here."
688
00:46:23,614 --> 00:46:26,616
"Bob, I will if you want me to,
but take ten steps first.
689
00:46:26,742 --> 00:46:28,993
"Let's not forget, he's Italian."
690
00:46:29,119 --> 00:46:31,996
I had less than 48 hours
to make the decision.
691
00:46:32,122 --> 00:46:35,333
Sell it or shake hands with the devil.
692
00:46:35,459 --> 00:46:38,836
Coppola was announced
as The Godfather's maestro.
693
00:46:41,173 --> 00:46:43,758
The shooting should take
several months.
694
00:46:43,884 --> 00:46:49,347
The picture's scheduled for release
sometime around Christmas, 1971.
695
00:46:49,473 --> 00:46:54,018
So if you see some old cars dashing
around or about New York
696
00:46:54,144 --> 00:46:57,438
or see a gentleman taking
another gentleman somewhere
697
00:46:57,564 --> 00:47:01,609
at the point of a loaded gun,
don't raise a hue and cry.
698
00:47:01,735 --> 00:47:03,986
It's only the filming of The Godfather.
699
00:47:04,112 --> 00:47:07,114
But New Yorkers don't raise
a hue and cry
700
00:47:07,241 --> 00:47:09,575
about that sort of thing anyway,
do they?
701
00:47:09,701 --> 00:47:12,787
This is Gene Huebert,
Fifth Avenue and 31 st Street.
702
00:47:14,206 --> 00:47:17,875
It was the unveiling
of Francis' cut of The Godfather.
703
00:47:18,001 --> 00:47:22,380
In the theatre sat Francis with his
assistants, editors and ass-kissers.
704
00:47:22,506 --> 00:47:25,341
Plus the rest of his production
team were all there.
705
00:47:25,467 --> 00:47:27,552
The film was to open in four months,
706
00:47:27,678 --> 00:47:30,638
Paramount's Christmas gift
to the world.
707
00:47:30,764 --> 00:47:33,850
The lights went down,
the picture started.
708
00:47:33,976 --> 00:47:39,063
Two hours and six minutes later,
the room began to fill with light.
709
00:47:39,189 --> 00:47:41,941
"Francis, I want to speak with you.
Alone."
710
00:47:42,067 --> 00:47:44,068
I was on fire.
711
00:47:44,194 --> 00:47:47,780
The prince himself took
a half hour to get to my office.
712
00:47:50,617 --> 00:47:52,702
"Thanks for showing, Francis.
713
00:47:52,828 --> 00:47:56,080
"All my boys were telling me
how great the picture is.
714
00:47:56,206 --> 00:48:00,167
"They tell me not to touch a frame.
The picture stinks, Francis.
715
00:48:00,294 --> 00:48:04,505
"You shot a great film. Where is it?
In your kitchen with your spaghetti?
716
00:48:04,631 --> 00:48:06,674
"It sure ain't on the screen.
717
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:10,511
"Where's the family, the heart,
the feeling? Left in the kitchen too?"
718
00:48:10,637 --> 00:48:13,681
Did Coppola glare. Schmuck.
719
00:48:13,807 --> 00:48:17,351
"Name me a studio head that tells
a director to make a picture longer.
720
00:48:17,477 --> 00:48:20,688
"Only a nut like me would.
But you're gonna do it.
721
00:48:20,814 --> 00:48:24,942
"You shot a saga, pal,
but you turned in a trailer.
722
00:48:25,068 --> 00:48:27,945
"Now go back
and give me a movie."
723
00:48:29,114 --> 00:48:31,824
The next morning,
I told the New York honchos
724
00:48:31,950 --> 00:48:34,744
that the picture could not
be ready for Christmas.
725
00:48:34,870 --> 00:48:37,705
I didn't need a phone
to hear their screams.
726
00:48:37,831 --> 00:48:40,833
Coppola?
Of course he agreed with them.
727
00:48:40,959 --> 00:48:43,544
"You've got it for Christmas.
Evans is crazy.
728
00:48:43,670 --> 00:48:48,841
"He wants to change everything.
He wants me to make it longer."
729
00:48:48,967 --> 00:48:52,929
Then I get my orders and unalterable.
730
00:48:53,055 --> 00:48:57,683
"Evans, the picture is to be ready
for Christmas and that is it."
731
00:48:57,809 --> 00:48:59,894
Fine. I quit.
732
00:49:00,020 --> 00:49:03,189
A year before, they would've
booted me out on my ass.
733
00:49:03,315 --> 00:49:05,650
Yeah, but Love Story
saved Paramount.
734
00:49:05,776 --> 00:49:08,402
And I was their fair-haired boy.
735
00:49:08,528 --> 00:49:10,613
When you've only got one shot,
736
00:49:10,739 --> 00:49:13,574
either you pull down
that beautiful brass ring
737
00:49:13,700 --> 00:49:16,160
or you get them brass knuckles
in the balls.
738
00:49:16,286 --> 00:49:18,996
You've got no second time around.
739
00:49:19,122 --> 00:49:22,124
To Francis
and the entire company's chagrin,
740
00:49:22,250 --> 00:49:25,461
Bluhdorn backed me
and backed me all the way.
741
00:49:26,129 --> 00:49:28,172
Once again,
the eastern seaboard is reminded
742
00:49:28,298 --> 00:49:31,634
that winter is never over
until Jack Frost gets a hotfoot
743
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,388
that will send him scurrying
on his way. The winter-weary...
744
00:49:35,514 --> 00:49:38,474
It was the morning
of The Godfatherpremiere.
745
00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:42,186
New York was suffering through
the worst March blizzard of the decade.
746
00:49:42,312 --> 00:49:45,606
I was at the Carlyle Hotel
making last-minute preparations
747
00:49:45,732 --> 00:49:48,609
when Ali came in from the cold.
748
00:49:48,735 --> 00:49:51,529
Against her wishes,
I'd packed her off to Texas
749
00:49:51,655 --> 00:49:53,990
to star with Steve McQueen
in The Getaway.
750
00:49:54,116 --> 00:49:57,868
Two months had passed and I hadn't
once visited her on location.
751
00:49:59,204 --> 00:50:01,330
Quickly, we embraced.
752
00:50:01,456 --> 00:50:05,543
Instead of kissing her, I whispered,
"Wait here. I'm expecting a call."
753
00:50:06,962 --> 00:50:10,047
Weeks ago, I had invited
Henry Kissinger to the premiere.
754
00:50:10,173 --> 00:50:12,258
My timing couldn't have been worse.
755
00:50:12,384 --> 00:50:16,137
The North Vietnamese offensive
had just begun and he begged off.
756
00:50:16,263 --> 00:50:20,266
"Hello, this is Robert Evans.
May I please speak to Dr Kissinger?"
757
00:50:20,392 --> 00:50:23,394
"Dr Kissinger's with the President.
He'll call you back."
758
00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:26,814
"Have him call me as soon as possible,
please. It's urgent."
759
00:50:26,940 --> 00:50:29,942
Quicker than a junior agent
at the William Morris Agency,
760
00:50:30,068 --> 00:50:32,153
within ten minutes he's on the phone.
761
00:50:32,279 --> 00:50:35,531
"Bob, what's the urgency?"
"The Godfather."
762
00:50:35,657 --> 00:50:38,784
"What?"
"Tonight's the premiere.
763
00:50:38,910 --> 00:50:41,912
"Win or lose, it would be worth it
if I could walk in with you."
764
00:50:42,039 --> 00:50:46,250
"I have a breakfast I can't get out of.
I'm leaving the country tomorrow."
765
00:50:46,376 --> 00:50:50,171
"Henry, you didn't hear me.
I said I need you tonight."
766
00:50:50,297 --> 00:50:54,717
Only later did I learn he was leaving
on a secret mission to Moscow.
767
00:50:54,843 --> 00:50:57,386
The breakfast was
with the Joint Chiefs of Staff
768
00:50:57,512 --> 00:51:00,347
to resolve the mining
of Haiphong Harbour.
769
00:51:00,474 --> 00:51:04,185
I hung up, quickly called Bluhdorn.
"Charlie, Kissinger's coming."
770
00:51:04,311 --> 00:51:07,855
"Kissinger? Kissinger?
Evans, I love you. I love you!"
771
00:51:07,981 --> 00:51:11,609
That was Charlie Bluhdorn.
Not easy. But not bad, either.
772
00:51:25,665 --> 00:51:28,292
The doors opened.
Enough flashbulbs went off
773
00:51:28,418 --> 00:51:31,253
to light up the entire state
of New Jersey.
774
00:51:31,379 --> 00:51:34,215
On one arm, Ali MacGraw,
the ravishing Mrs Evans.
775
00:51:34,341 --> 00:51:37,635
On the other, the most charismatic
statesman in the world.
776
00:51:37,761 --> 00:51:40,387
Is this really happening to me?
777
00:52:05,831 --> 00:52:08,499
It was a blast.
778
00:52:08,625 --> 00:52:12,169
I played master of ceremonies,
introducing anyone and everyone.
779
00:52:12,295 --> 00:52:14,463
The screaming, the fights,
the threats
780
00:52:14,589 --> 00:52:17,883
that never let up since day one
of filming were worth it.
781
00:52:18,009 --> 00:52:21,387
Even Coppola, whom I had hired
over Paramount's objections
782
00:52:21,513 --> 00:52:25,766
and then personally fired four
different times, came over to hug me,
783
00:52:25,892 --> 00:52:29,270
closing the book
on two years of terrible battles.
784
00:52:31,815 --> 00:52:35,401
Ali?
Well, she never looked more radiant.
785
00:52:35,527 --> 00:52:38,445
For the rest of the night,
we danced as one.
786
00:52:38,572 --> 00:52:43,200
Holding her tightly in my arms,
I felt the luckiest man in the world.
787
00:52:43,326 --> 00:52:46,328
Could be the highest moment
of my life.
788
00:52:46,454 --> 00:52:48,497
Was I dreaming it?
789
00:52:49,624 --> 00:52:53,627
Any man who thinks he can read
the mind of a woman
790
00:52:53,753 --> 00:52:56,088
is a man who knows nothing.
791
00:52:58,425 --> 00:53:03,637
A month later, I was in Paris working
on the translation of The Godfather
792
00:53:03,763 --> 00:53:07,641
into French, Italian,
German and Spanish.
793
00:53:08,810 --> 00:53:13,230
I called Ali on the set of The Getaway,
but there was no answer in her room.
794
00:53:13,356 --> 00:53:16,192
Jumping up in a cold sweat
from a bad dream,
795
00:53:16,318 --> 00:53:19,403
I called El Paso again. No Ali.
796
00:53:19,529 --> 00:53:22,156
Nah, I said to myself, it couldn't be.
797
00:53:23,950 --> 00:53:26,952
Later that afternoon, I connected.
798
00:53:27,078 --> 00:53:30,039
"Where the hell have you been,
baby?"
799
00:53:30,165 --> 00:53:33,876
"I fell asleep in my dressing room."
800
00:53:34,002 --> 00:53:36,337
"You're lying, Ali.
801
00:53:37,923 --> 00:53:40,382
"You're with McQueen, aren't you?"
802
00:53:41,218 --> 00:53:42,760
"That's right."
803
00:53:42,886 --> 00:53:44,970
"Expect me in El Paso tomorrow."
804
00:53:45,096 --> 00:53:49,808
"It's too late, Evans. You missed
the plane a long time ago."
805
00:53:50,977 --> 00:53:53,604
I flew out that night to Texas.
806
00:53:53,730 --> 00:53:57,566
Joshua and his nanny
were at the airport to greet me,
807
00:53:57,692 --> 00:53:59,860
but no Ali.
808
00:53:59,986 --> 00:54:04,156
I checked into a hotel
20 miles out of town.
809
00:54:04,282 --> 00:54:08,035
Holding back my tears, I played
with my son for the next hours.
810
00:54:08,161 --> 00:54:11,288
Ali arrived at nine that evening.
The last thing she wanted
811
00:54:11,414 --> 00:54:15,292
was to spend the night with me.
But she did.
812
00:54:15,418 --> 00:54:18,587
The next evening, she didn't return
to my border hideout.
813
00:54:18,713 --> 00:54:23,300
I sped into town, ran up the stairs
to Ali's hotel and banged on the door.
814
00:54:23,426 --> 00:54:26,804
"I need time to think, Evans.
Please, let me finish the picture
815
00:54:26,930 --> 00:54:29,056
"and get home, for Josh's sake."
816
00:54:30,433 --> 00:54:32,977
On the plane back to LA,
I checked my watch.
817
00:54:33,103 --> 00:54:35,980
How could I have been
so fucking dumb?
818
00:54:36,106 --> 00:54:39,692
It's an hour and 40 minute flight.
I never once took it
819
00:54:39,818 --> 00:54:43,237
until infidelity got me off my ass.
820
00:54:48,702 --> 00:54:52,871
Ali and McQueen had been having
an affair for months.
821
00:54:52,998 --> 00:54:55,541
Was it her fault?
822
00:54:55,667 --> 00:54:57,626
It was mine.
823
00:54:57,752 --> 00:55:02,006
I ignored her one promise,
never to leave her.
824
00:55:02,132 --> 00:55:05,217
Instead, I buried myself
into The Godfather.
825
00:55:07,262 --> 00:55:09,638
Ali filed for divorce.
826
00:55:09,764 --> 00:55:12,975
A few months later,
she and McQueen got hitched.
827
00:55:13,101 --> 00:55:15,477
Joshua would live with them.
828
00:55:15,603 --> 00:55:19,231
He would only know me now
as a weekend father.
829
00:55:20,358 --> 00:55:22,860
Did it haunt me?
830
00:55:22,986 --> 00:55:27,614
Let's just say when a woman leaves you,
it ain't easy. It never is.
831
00:55:27,741 --> 00:55:31,744
But when that woman leaves you
for the biggest movie star in the world,
832
00:55:31,870 --> 00:55:35,873
well, let's just say
it makes you feel small.
833
00:55:40,837 --> 00:55:45,215
Finally, I turned all my attention
back to my other great love,
834
00:55:45,342 --> 00:55:47,843
the mountain.
835
00:55:47,969 --> 00:55:51,138
Maybe it was my mood,
but the more I thought about it,
836
00:55:51,264 --> 00:55:53,807
the angrier I became.
837
00:55:53,933 --> 00:55:58,437
For the last years, I had worked
night and day for Paramount.
838
00:55:58,563 --> 00:56:02,024
Bluhdorn's golden boy now
wanted some gold of his own.
839
00:56:02,150 --> 00:56:05,903
While I was living rich,
everyone around me was getting rich.
840
00:56:06,029 --> 00:56:09,907
He's right. Give them an inch
and they step all over you.
841
00:56:10,033 --> 00:56:14,036
My contract's up, but I'd been
throwing sevens too long.
842
00:56:14,162 --> 00:56:16,955
And here I am,
still behind the eight ball.
843
00:56:17,082 --> 00:56:21,293
I called on my consigliere
and closest friend Sidney Korshak,
844
00:56:21,419 --> 00:56:23,962
one of the most feared lawyers
in the country.
845
00:56:24,089 --> 00:56:29,176
"I'll take care of it and quick,"
said Korshak. "You're gonna get gross.
846
00:56:29,302 --> 00:56:32,304
"I don't care if it's just one per cent
on every film."
847
00:56:32,430 --> 00:56:36,558
Korshak may have been known
as the myth, but not to Charlie.
848
00:56:36,684 --> 00:56:39,937
His proposal was turned down
flatter than Twiggy's chest.
849
00:56:40,063 --> 00:56:42,856
Bluhdorn wasn't smart.
He was brilliant.
850
00:56:42,982 --> 00:56:47,319
He knew my weak link, ego,
and he sure pressed it,
851
00:56:47,445 --> 00:56:50,614
knowing it far overshadowed
my greed.
852
00:56:50,740 --> 00:56:55,536
"Sidney, I want everybody to get rich,
but don't rape me. Don't rape me."
853
00:56:55,662 --> 00:56:59,331
The real love of Charlie's life was
not family or sex or even business.
854
00:56:59,457 --> 00:57:01,333
It was negotiating.
855
00:57:01,459 --> 00:57:04,670
He would negotiate for anything,
from an airline to a potato.
856
00:57:04,796 --> 00:57:08,924
"I want Bob to make history. I'm gonna
let him make a picture of his own
857
00:57:09,050 --> 00:57:11,844
"under his own banner
and still run Paramount.
858
00:57:11,970 --> 00:57:14,930
"The last person to have that
was Darryl Zanuck 30 years ago.
859
00:57:15,056 --> 00:57:19,017
"I want him to get rich.
I'm so proud of him, Sidney."
860
00:57:19,144 --> 00:57:21,270
Proud.
861
00:57:21,396 --> 00:57:24,064
I would stay on at Paramount
as head of the studio
862
00:57:24,190 --> 00:57:28,527
and would produce a picture a year
for five years. But no raise.
863
00:57:42,459 --> 00:57:44,501
- You produced Chinatown.
- Right.
864
00:57:44,627 --> 00:57:48,172
When we talk about that movie,
we call it Polanski's Chinatown.
865
00:57:48,298 --> 00:57:52,468
That's a credit from a Director's Guild
point of view, which is very unfair.
866
00:57:52,594 --> 00:57:56,096
It is Roman Polanski's Chinatown.
It's also Bob Towne's Chinatown.
867
00:57:56,222 --> 00:57:59,099
But more so, and I don't say this
from an egotistical way,
868
00:57:59,225 --> 00:58:00,726
it's Bob Evans' Chinatown.
869
00:58:00,852 --> 00:58:02,561
I was on the picture for five years
870
00:58:02,687 --> 00:58:05,105
and Roman was on it for nine months.
871
00:58:05,231 --> 00:58:07,649
But it says
"Roman Polanski's Chinatown. "
872
00:58:09,360 --> 00:58:12,029
My first independent production
had its origins
873
00:58:12,155 --> 00:58:14,740
over a steak dinner with Bob Towne.
874
00:58:14,866 --> 00:58:17,826
Towne unravelled an original story
he was writing.
875
00:58:17,952 --> 00:58:20,787
"It's about how Los Angeles
became a boomtown.
876
00:58:20,914 --> 00:58:24,291
"Incest and water.
It's set in the '30s.
877
00:58:24,417 --> 00:58:28,837
"Second-rate shamus gets eighty-sixed
by a mysterious socialite.
878
00:58:28,963 --> 00:58:30,964
"I'm writing it for Nicholson."
879
00:58:31,090 --> 00:58:35,761
I had met Nicholson a few years back
and we'd become great pals.
880
00:58:35,887 --> 00:58:39,139
"Sounds perfect for Irish.
What's it called?"
881
00:58:39,265 --> 00:58:41,183
"Chinatown."
882
00:58:41,309 --> 00:58:43,018
"Chinatown?
883
00:58:43,144 --> 00:58:45,896
"You mean it takes place
in Chinatown?"
884
00:58:46,022 --> 00:58:50,192
"No, no, no.
Chinatown is a state of mind."
885
00:58:50,318 --> 00:58:51,944
"Oh, I got it."
886
00:58:54,030 --> 00:58:57,324
I had no idea what the fuck
he was talking about.
887
00:58:58,868 --> 00:59:02,871
Six months later, Towne delivered
his first draft of the script.
888
00:59:02,997 --> 00:59:06,458
Just like the title,
it was pure Chinese.
889
00:59:07,835 --> 00:59:10,754
Was I alone in my confusion?
890
00:59:10,880 --> 00:59:15,342
Nobody, I mean nobody,
understood it.
891
00:59:17,262 --> 00:59:21,974
One day, I was summoned
to a meeting with Charles Bluhdorn.
892
00:59:22,100 --> 00:59:26,687
"Evans, don't make this
your first picture.
893
00:59:26,813 --> 00:59:30,023
"No one at the studio
understands a word of it.
894
00:59:30,149 --> 00:59:33,193
"The only place it'll play
is in your projection room."
895
00:59:34,237 --> 00:59:38,031
I'm thinking, thinking, thinking.
896
00:59:38,157 --> 00:59:42,202
I had Nicholson locked and even
though I didn't understand the script,
897
00:59:42,328 --> 00:59:45,122
I knew Towne was a brilliant writer.
898
00:59:45,248 --> 00:59:50,294
"Sorry, Charlie. Chinatown
is my next picture. I'm gonna make it."
899
00:59:57,677 --> 01:00:01,763
Tonight we are honouring
for best motion picture drama
900
01:00:01,889 --> 01:00:05,183
Chinatown,
The Conversation,
901
01:00:05,310 --> 01:00:09,313
Earthquake,
The Godfather: Part II,
902
01:00:09,439 --> 01:00:14,192
A Woman Under the Influence.
And the winner is...
903
01:00:14,319 --> 01:00:16,153
The winner is...
904
01:00:17,196 --> 01:00:19,156
...Chinatown.
905
01:00:22,327 --> 01:00:24,494
Robert Evans of Paramount Pictures
906
01:00:24,621 --> 01:00:27,831
will accept the Golden Globe Award
forChinatown.
907
01:00:29,250 --> 01:00:33,629
Chinatown. It wins every award
you could ever think of.
908
01:00:33,755 --> 01:00:35,422
To this day,
909
01:00:35,548 --> 01:00:39,343
it's considered the quintessential
private-eye film of its time.
910
01:00:39,469 --> 01:00:44,514
It's a hell of a way to meet
Catherine Deneuve. It certainly is.
911
01:00:44,641 --> 01:00:48,894
This is the second award,
and I'm only a small part of it,
912
01:00:49,020 --> 01:00:51,480
that I've won in my life.
913
01:00:52,398 --> 01:00:55,359
The first was for the Most Promising
Newcomer of the Year.
914
01:00:55,485 --> 01:01:00,197
It was the Photoplay Award, 1957.
And were they wrong.
915
01:01:01,407 --> 01:01:04,117
The attention the picture got
caused an uproar
916
01:01:04,243 --> 01:01:07,287
with every creative bit of talent
in the studio.
917
01:01:07,413 --> 01:01:09,373
"How can Evans run the studio,
918
01:01:09,499 --> 01:01:12,125
"be involved with our pictures
and make his own?"
919
01:01:12,251 --> 01:01:14,211
They were all fucking jealous.
920
01:01:14,337 --> 01:01:17,089
If the picture had flopped,
it wouldn't have made a difference.
921
01:01:17,215 --> 01:01:20,926
Confrontation time.
I was given two choices.
922
01:01:21,052 --> 01:01:24,805
Continue running the studio,
with a much increased deal by the way,
923
01:01:24,931 --> 01:01:28,016
or go out with my own banner
and make films.
924
01:01:28,142 --> 01:01:33,730
It was a tough choice, but I was
just tired of working 18 hours a day
925
01:01:33,856 --> 01:01:38,819
eight days a week
to make everyone else rich but myself.
926
01:01:38,945 --> 01:01:42,614
With that in mind, I said,
"Goodbye, studio.
927
01:01:42,740 --> 01:01:46,868
"Hello, producer."
And went out on my own.
928
01:02:50,475 --> 01:02:54,936
Though I was in my forties,
the entire drug era had passed me by.
929
01:02:55,062 --> 01:02:57,856
It wasn't my scene.
I rarely ever drank.
930
01:02:59,192 --> 01:03:02,486
For two years, I had been suffering
from a severe pain,
931
01:03:02,612 --> 01:03:04,863
the result of a sciatic nerve problem.
932
01:03:04,989 --> 01:03:07,908
Lying beside me one night
was a Hollywood princess.
933
01:03:08,034 --> 01:03:11,745
"Is it me?" she asked.
"The pain can't be that bad."
934
01:03:11,871 --> 01:03:14,831
Wearing only a necklace,
she handed it to me.
935
01:03:14,957 --> 01:03:17,250
Unscrewing the top, she whispered,
936
01:03:17,376 --> 01:03:20,337
"Take a sniff, a sniff of life."
937
01:03:22,548 --> 01:03:26,968
It was my first experience
into the world of white.
938
01:03:28,346 --> 01:03:31,097
The seducer had been seduced.
939
01:03:47,281 --> 01:03:50,116
I was working 18 hours a day,
seven days a week,
940
01:03:50,243 --> 01:03:52,035
with no plans to slow down.
941
01:03:52,161 --> 01:03:56,289
With six pictures in development
and two in production, I felt invincible.
942
01:03:57,708 --> 01:04:02,254
The first flick was Marathon Man
and it went straight through the roof.
943
01:04:02,380 --> 01:04:05,757
- I salute you. To your health.
- Hear, hear!
944
01:04:07,343 --> 01:04:10,428
I followed it up with Black Sunday,
945
01:04:10,555 --> 01:04:13,807
then Urban Cowboy.
Popeye was on its way.
946
01:04:13,933 --> 01:04:16,560
At the age of 50,
I was on my way
947
01:04:16,686 --> 01:04:20,772
to becoming the youngest recipient
of the Thalberg Award.
948
01:04:20,898 --> 01:04:24,317
Goodbye '70s, hello '80s.
Here I come.
949
01:04:24,443 --> 01:04:27,445
It's fair to say that you live
a lot of people's dream.
950
01:04:27,572 --> 01:04:31,157
Seen in magazines,
dating models and movie stars.
951
01:04:31,284 --> 01:04:34,160
Is it as good as it looks?
952
01:04:34,287 --> 01:04:37,664
I most probably lead
as much of a lonely life
953
01:04:37,790 --> 01:04:41,042
as any man you know.
I have no free time for myself.
954
01:04:41,168 --> 01:04:43,420
I have no way of knowing myself
as a person.
955
01:04:43,546 --> 01:04:46,548
I don't like myself as a person.
956
01:04:46,674 --> 01:04:49,885
Bob, I keep seeing pictures of you
with gorgeous women.
957
01:04:50,011 --> 01:04:52,178
Are they important in your life,
women?
958
01:04:52,305 --> 01:04:55,849
- Yes, women are very important.
- How? How important?
959
01:04:55,975 --> 01:05:00,937
I haven't had the opportunity
of taking advantage of life at all.
960
01:05:01,063 --> 01:05:03,857
You say you see pictures of me
with beautiful women.
961
01:05:03,983 --> 01:05:06,776
I don't go out
with many different women.
962
01:05:06,903 --> 01:05:09,821
My life is not to be envied.
I envy many other people.
963
01:05:09,947 --> 01:05:12,991
I can go a week
without going out with anybody.
964
01:05:13,117 --> 01:05:15,660
- Don't you get terrible headaches?
- No, no.
965
01:05:15,786 --> 01:05:18,371
Are you an obsessive record keeper?
966
01:05:18,497 --> 01:05:21,166
It's said you had albums of pictures
and things.
967
01:05:21,292 --> 01:05:26,504
I'm not as... I wish I was
more obsessive about that.
968
01:05:26,631 --> 01:05:28,423
Is that Jack Nicholson?
969
01:05:28,549 --> 01:05:30,926
If he knew that was being shown,
he'd kill me.
970
01:05:31,052 --> 01:05:33,845
It was taken in the privacy of a room.
971
01:05:33,971 --> 01:05:36,723
I have to inject here a moment
because Bobby Evans...
972
01:05:36,849 --> 01:05:39,976
- We dated and had a great time.
- I also dated him.
973
01:05:40,102 --> 01:05:43,271
Is there anybody on the panel
who didn't date him?
974
01:05:43,397 --> 01:05:47,275
- He was very busy in the '50s.
- And he was terrific, wasn't he?
975
01:05:48,736 --> 01:05:51,154
On May 2nd 1980,
976
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:54,407
I got a call from an associate of mine
in New York.
977
01:05:54,533 --> 01:05:57,744
A woman we knew was offering
to sell us pharmaceutical cocaine
978
01:05:57,870 --> 01:05:59,704
at bargain prices.
979
01:05:59,830 --> 01:06:01,998
Pharmaceutical cocaine was mythical,
980
01:06:02,124 --> 01:06:05,251
manufactured by only one company
in America, Merck.
981
01:06:05,378 --> 01:06:07,879
So mythical was its allure
982
01:06:08,005 --> 01:06:12,175
that it became the DEA's most effective
bait to entrap schmuck buyers.
983
01:06:13,552 --> 01:06:16,763
24 hours later,
my associate was on the horn.
984
01:06:16,889 --> 01:06:19,766
"What do I tell her?
She's called twice."
985
01:06:19,892 --> 01:06:22,852
Me being the gambler,
and maybe the fool, said,
986
01:06:22,979 --> 01:06:25,271
"Hell, let's buy it."
987
01:06:25,398 --> 01:06:28,274
The deal was to go down on Friday.
988
01:06:28,401 --> 01:06:31,236
I waited by the phone all day.
989
01:06:31,362 --> 01:06:33,238
No call.
990
01:06:34,407 --> 01:06:37,450
At 7:45 that evening,
I was going out the door
991
01:06:37,576 --> 01:06:41,329
when my houseman hailed me.
It was my associate.
992
01:06:41,455 --> 01:06:45,792
"Bob, Mike and I have been arrested.
We've been set up by the DEA."
993
01:06:45,918 --> 01:06:48,044
"Arrested?
What are you talking about?"
994
01:06:48,170 --> 01:06:51,464
"Nothing's gonna go wrong.
It'll all be taken care of.
995
01:06:51,590 --> 01:06:55,677
"You have nothing to worry about.
Your name was not mentioned."
996
01:07:01,392 --> 01:07:04,477
It was the biggest mistake of my life.
997
01:07:04,603 --> 01:07:07,689
How could I have been
so fucking dumb?
998
01:07:15,865 --> 01:07:18,533
Was Bluhdorn angry?
999
01:07:18,659 --> 01:07:20,827
Foaming at the mouth.
1000
01:07:22,371 --> 01:07:24,664
"I'll never forgive you, Evans."
1001
01:07:26,876 --> 01:07:28,835
He never did.
1002
01:07:28,961 --> 01:07:32,505
Gone now was the sacred embrace
of Bluhdorn,
1003
01:07:32,631 --> 01:07:35,175
never to return again.
1004
01:07:36,719 --> 01:07:39,637
Paramount, the company I saved
from the graveyard,
1005
01:07:39,764 --> 01:07:43,558
gave a terse statement to the press
concerning my new infamy.
1006
01:07:43,684 --> 01:07:48,229
"Evans is not an employee of
Paramount and has not been for years.
1007
01:07:48,355 --> 01:07:52,317
"He is an independent contractor,
producing pictures for us."
1008
01:07:52,443 --> 01:07:54,611
May 2nd 1980.
1009
01:07:54,737 --> 01:07:57,280
What a difference a day makes.
1010
01:07:59,909 --> 01:08:03,078
Judge Brodericks' dictate
1011
01:08:03,204 --> 01:08:06,623
was to produce
a 30-second anti-drug spot.
1012
01:08:06,749 --> 01:08:09,334
Well, I did a little more than that.
1013
01:08:09,460 --> 01:08:12,087
I produced a series of week-long
specials for NBC
1014
01:08:12,213 --> 01:08:16,049
entitled Get High on Yourself.
It was a happening.
1015
01:08:16,175 --> 01:08:18,635
All my friends showed
1016
01:08:18,761 --> 01:08:21,763
and it became known as
"The Woodstock of the '80s."
1017
01:08:47,832 --> 01:08:51,709
I've never been as high on myself
as I am now.
1018
01:08:51,836 --> 01:08:54,796
It must have been
a month and a half ago.
1019
01:08:54,922 --> 01:08:58,842
I had 100 people here, my kid was
here and I ran the commercials.
1020
01:08:58,968 --> 01:09:01,511
When it was over,
he came to me and said,
1021
01:09:01,637 --> 01:09:04,556
"I'm so proud of you."
First time he's ever said it.
1022
01:09:04,682 --> 01:09:09,352
"I'm so proud of you, Daddy.
Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"
1023
01:09:09,478 --> 01:09:12,856
And if I get nothing more out of it,
nothing,
1024
01:09:12,982 --> 01:09:17,193
I've been really paid my remuneration
for whatever I've done.
1025
01:09:17,319 --> 01:09:22,824
Bob, aside from Get High on Yourself,
what are your future projects?
1026
01:09:22,950 --> 01:09:28,037
I have The Cotton Club, which I'm
starting in June. A project I love.
1027
01:09:28,164 --> 01:09:31,666
Ain't as important as
Get High on Yourself, though.
1028
01:09:48,142 --> 01:09:52,020
Paramount had no interest
in my next picture, The Cotton Club.
1029
01:09:52,146 --> 01:09:54,731
So in May of '82
I flew to the Cannes Film Festival
1030
01:09:54,857 --> 01:09:57,650
to secure independent financing.
1031
01:09:57,776 --> 01:10:00,570
Sylvester Stallone,
at the time the biggest star in the world,
1032
01:10:00,696 --> 01:10:02,447
had agreed to play the lead.
1033
01:10:02,573 --> 01:10:04,866
And I was there to announce it.
1034
01:10:04,992 --> 01:10:07,118
I was supposed to meet 400 distributors
1035
01:10:07,244 --> 01:10:10,330
on a Monday morning at 9am at breakfast.
1036
01:10:10,456 --> 01:10:13,541
I get a call at two o'clock that morning.
1037
01:10:13,667 --> 01:10:16,419
"Hello, Bob. This is Sly."
1038
01:10:16,545 --> 01:10:18,755
And I said, "Yeah, Sly?"
1039
01:10:18,881 --> 01:10:22,926
He said, "You know, Bob,
I don't think I wanna do the picture."
1040
01:10:23,052 --> 01:10:26,429
So I said, "I don't understand.
I mean, we have a contract."
1041
01:10:26,555 --> 01:10:30,266
"You don't understand, Bob.
I don't like the script."
1042
01:10:30,392 --> 01:10:33,895
I said, "Well, you worked on it.
What is it, Sly?"
1043
01:10:34,021 --> 01:10:37,232
He said, "I'm not getting paid
enough money for it."
1044
01:10:37,358 --> 01:10:40,735
To make a very long story
and very long conversation,
1045
01:10:40,861 --> 01:10:44,489
rather bitter, short,
he backed away.
1046
01:10:44,615 --> 01:10:49,369
Now, here I have 400
of the top buyers in the world
1047
01:10:49,495 --> 01:10:52,330
and I have no star
and I have half a script.
1048
01:10:53,540 --> 01:10:57,293
I said, "Ladies and gentlemen,
I'm going to show you a poster.
1049
01:10:57,419 --> 01:11:02,090
"But I want to tell you that the film
will not be any better than the poster.
1050
01:11:02,216 --> 01:11:06,386
"So if you don't like the poster,
please don't buy the film."
1051
01:11:06,512 --> 01:11:09,806
And I unravelled a poster
1052
01:11:09,932 --> 01:11:13,101
which I had worked on for eight months
with two artists.
1053
01:11:13,227 --> 01:11:16,437
And I said, "This is the poster."
1054
01:11:16,563 --> 01:11:20,233
I passed it around
and they all looked at it.
1055
01:11:20,359 --> 01:11:25,405
And it says the whole story.
"Its violence startled the world"
1056
01:11:25,531 --> 01:11:29,659
No, "Its violence startled the nation
and its music startled the world."
1057
01:11:30,911 --> 01:11:34,789
And they all looked at the poster
and I said, "That's the picture."
1058
01:11:34,915 --> 01:11:39,961
So one fellow from Switzerland says,
"Who's gonna star in the film?"
1059
01:11:40,087 --> 01:11:43,715
I said, "Mr Schmidt,
I won't let you have the picture."
1060
01:12:19,501 --> 01:12:23,755
On August 28th 1983,
principal photography commenced.
1061
01:12:25,132 --> 01:12:29,969
Francis offered to direct the film.
How could I refuse?
1062
01:12:30,095 --> 01:12:33,765
Francis directing it, Mario writing it,
me producing it.
1063
01:12:33,891 --> 01:12:36,768
What a shot of touching magic.
1064
01:12:36,894 --> 01:12:40,063
Hey, we didn't do too bad
on The Godfather, did we?
1065
01:12:42,441 --> 01:12:44,400
Was I wrong!
1066
01:12:44,526 --> 01:12:46,736
The production was a disaster.
1067
01:12:46,862 --> 01:12:49,489
Over-budget, over-schedule.
And me?
1068
01:12:49,615 --> 01:12:52,241
I was barred from the set
by the prince himself.
1069
01:12:52,368 --> 01:12:55,453
It was the hottest movie drama
in Los Angeles today
1070
01:12:55,579 --> 01:12:58,289
in a downtown federal courtroom.
1071
01:12:58,415 --> 01:13:00,541
The legal battle was over
who would control
1072
01:13:00,667 --> 01:13:04,003
production of the film Cotton Club.
1073
01:13:04,129 --> 01:13:09,300
The Cotton Club has been a subject
of intense interest and gossip.
1074
01:13:09,426 --> 01:13:12,887
The Cotton Club,
a multi-million dollar production
1075
01:13:13,013 --> 01:13:16,724
of Robert Evans and Francis Ford
Coppola has become the subject of...
1076
01:13:16,850 --> 01:13:20,436
You say Evans would second-guess you
if he was back in command?
1077
01:13:20,562 --> 01:13:24,482
That's his middle name.
That's what he does, all these years.
1078
01:13:24,608 --> 01:13:26,734
Will the picture be a success?
1079
01:13:26,860 --> 01:13:30,196
Francis' work on it is brilliant.
I hope we'll be working together.
1080
01:13:30,322 --> 01:13:33,408
We've fought before many times,
only it wasn't in court.
1081
01:13:33,534 --> 01:13:36,285
I hope we have the same luck
we had on The Godfather.
1082
01:13:36,412 --> 01:13:38,913
Despite a lengthy court battle,
1083
01:13:39,039 --> 01:13:42,041
the film is expected to open
in theatres in December.
1084
01:13:43,585 --> 01:13:46,337
The Cotton Club
opened later that month.
1085
01:13:46,463 --> 01:13:48,881
While some of the critics
praised the film,
1086
01:13:49,007 --> 01:13:51,134
others just didn't get it.
1087
01:13:51,260 --> 01:13:53,594
Neither did the audiences.
1088
01:13:53,720 --> 01:13:56,305
The picture quickly faded away,
1089
01:13:57,599 --> 01:14:01,144
thus ending the first half of the '80s.
1090
01:14:01,270 --> 01:14:03,479
The good half.
1091
01:14:03,605 --> 01:14:06,858
I had no idea what lay ahead.
1092
01:14:10,112 --> 01:14:12,613
Two days ago,
a badly decomposed body
1093
01:14:12,739 --> 01:14:15,366
was found in this riverbed
in Copco Canyon, Gorman,
1094
01:14:15,492 --> 01:14:17,994
in northern Los Angeles County.
1095
01:14:18,120 --> 01:14:22,373
An autopsy indicated the victim died
of a single gunshot wound.
1096
01:14:22,499 --> 01:14:26,502
A beekeeper made a grisly discovery.
1097
01:14:26,628 --> 01:14:30,423
I crossed through a dry wash,
went around a bush
1098
01:14:30,549 --> 01:14:35,178
and there was a hand sticking up
and a body laying there.
1099
01:14:35,304 --> 01:14:38,181
The body found in the Gorman area
this past Friday
1100
01:14:38,307 --> 01:14:42,143
has positively been identified
as Mr Roy Radin.
1101
01:14:52,029 --> 01:14:55,781
It was midnight when the phone rang.
A bit pissed, I picked up the phone.
1102
01:14:55,908 --> 01:14:59,243
"Yeah?" It was my attorney,
Robert Shapiro.
1103
01:14:59,369 --> 01:15:01,537
"Roy Radin is dead."
1104
01:15:01,663 --> 01:15:04,916
I lay there in shock, totally stunned.
1105
01:15:07,628 --> 01:15:09,712
I met Roy Radin a few months earlier
1106
01:15:09,838 --> 01:15:12,965
through a mutual acquaintance
named Laney Jacobs.
1107
01:15:13,091 --> 01:15:16,093
Radin and I met and discussed
forming a production company.
1108
01:15:16,220 --> 01:15:19,847
The Cotton Club might have been
one of the films under the banner.
1109
01:15:19,973 --> 01:15:23,726
We shook hands,
but nothing ever really came of it.
1110
01:15:23,852 --> 01:15:25,937
"What does that have to do with me?"
1111
01:15:26,063 --> 01:15:28,940
"Nothing and everything."
1112
01:15:29,066 --> 01:15:33,569
Shapiro told me the police would be
calling and they'd want to talk to me.
1113
01:15:33,695 --> 01:15:38,658
I told them everything
I had remembered about Roy Radin.
1114
01:15:38,784 --> 01:15:42,119
Laney Jacobs introduced
Evans to Roy Radin.
1115
01:15:42,246 --> 01:15:46,207
For the next six years, the name Robert
Evans was making headlines again.
1116
01:15:46,333 --> 01:15:51,837
No, I wasn't buying Warner Bros.
This time I was buying infamy.
1117
01:15:51,964 --> 01:15:54,674
The Cotton Club murder case...
1118
01:15:59,429 --> 01:16:02,515
Doors closed on me quietly.
1119
01:16:02,641 --> 01:16:04,809
Calls made were not returned.
1120
01:16:04,935 --> 01:16:09,522
Though I was still ensconced
in the primo offices of Paramount,
1121
01:16:09,648 --> 01:16:12,191
I may as well have been a shadow.
1122
01:16:18,740 --> 01:16:21,075
Finally, in the spring of '89,
1123
01:16:21,201 --> 01:16:25,079
after six long years of innuendos
on my character,
1124
01:16:25,205 --> 01:16:27,456
the Roy Radin case went to trial.
1125
01:16:30,419 --> 01:16:33,713
Laney Jacobs, the woman
who introduced me to Radin,
1126
01:16:33,839 --> 01:16:35,798
was tried for his murder.
1127
01:16:36,842 --> 01:16:39,677
The prosecutor outlined a case
of money and drugs.
1128
01:16:39,803 --> 01:16:44,348
The evidence is going to show that
this woman here, Laney Greenberger,
1129
01:16:44,474 --> 01:16:47,476
had two problems with a man
by the name of Roy Radin.
1130
01:16:47,603 --> 01:16:52,189
He told the jury that Laney
had asked Radin for a finder's fee
1131
01:16:52,316 --> 01:16:54,525
for introducing him to myself.
1132
01:16:54,651 --> 01:16:58,487
When Radin refused to pay it,
Laney became irate.
1133
01:16:58,614 --> 01:17:01,991
Two weeks before his murder, Laney,
a part-time coke dealer,
1134
01:17:02,117 --> 01:17:05,328
suspected Radin of stealing
a large amount of cocaine from her.
1135
01:17:07,289 --> 01:17:10,708
At this point,
Laney decided to kill him.
1136
01:17:10,834 --> 01:17:14,962
After getting into her chauffeur-driven
limousine with her,
1137
01:17:15,088 --> 01:17:17,715
Mr Radin was never seen alive again.
1138
01:17:19,468 --> 01:17:23,929
Jacobs and her accomplices were
convicted for the murder of Roy Radin.
1139
01:17:25,682 --> 01:17:30,311
Me?
Well, I wasn't even a suspect.
1140
01:17:30,437 --> 01:17:35,024
I was a tangential character
in the proceedings, at best.
1141
01:17:36,610 --> 01:17:41,322
However, the name Evans gets ink.
1142
01:17:45,035 --> 01:17:49,330
If you live by the sword,
know damn well you could die by it.
1143
01:17:49,456 --> 01:17:54,126
For many a decade,
the sword treated me real well.
1144
01:17:54,252 --> 01:17:56,504
Maybe too well.
1145
01:17:59,049 --> 01:18:02,051
Popeye and Urban Cowboy
hit the screens in 1980.
1146
01:18:02,177 --> 01:18:05,846
Now, seven years later,
the only product Evans was delivering
1147
01:18:05,972 --> 01:18:09,183
to the mountain of Paramount
was embarrassment.
1148
01:18:10,727 --> 01:18:13,854
Ending whatever I had left
of a legacy-to-be,
1149
01:18:13,980 --> 01:18:16,774
I was paid a rare visit
by Richard Zimbert,
1150
01:18:16,900 --> 01:18:19,860
the head honcho of business affairs.
1151
01:18:19,986 --> 01:18:23,864
He walked into my office,
not a happy camper.
1152
01:18:23,990 --> 01:18:27,451
"We go back too long, Evans,
and this is not me talking.
1153
01:18:27,577 --> 01:18:31,247
"It's orders. I can't help it.
Do you want the truth?"
1154
01:18:32,499 --> 01:18:36,419
Our eyes met.
I knew what he was going to say.
1155
01:18:36,545 --> 01:18:40,256
"No. But I gotta hear it, Dick.
Shoot."
1156
01:18:40,382 --> 01:18:43,217
"Bob, there's not one person
at Paramount
1157
01:18:43,343 --> 01:18:46,137
"that wants to do business with you."
1158
01:18:46,263 --> 01:18:50,266
"Dick, the only surprise is that
it's taken you this long to tell me."
1159
01:18:50,392 --> 01:18:52,685
I suppose when it's over, it's over.
1160
01:18:52,811 --> 01:18:55,354
It was hard for him
to say the next words.
1161
01:18:55,480 --> 01:18:59,358
"Your office, Bobby. We need a date."
1162
01:18:59,484 --> 01:19:01,610
"Is 90 days okay, Dick?"
1163
01:19:01,737 --> 01:19:04,780
"Yeah, sure.
If you want more, take more."
1164
01:19:04,906 --> 01:19:08,409
"No, 90 days will be fine."
1165
01:19:08,535 --> 01:19:11,328
Once king of the mountain,
1166
01:19:11,455 --> 01:19:14,498
now I was not even allowed
to climb it.
1167
01:19:32,184 --> 01:19:36,312
My 20-year home had been pulled
from under me.
1168
01:19:36,438 --> 01:19:38,981
From behind the gates
of Paramount,
1169
01:19:39,107 --> 01:19:42,067
I was now behind the gates
of Woodland.
1170
01:19:47,699 --> 01:19:49,784
For an entire decade,
1171
01:19:49,910 --> 01:19:53,704
my kid stood watching his father's life
fall to shambles.
1172
01:19:55,457 --> 01:19:58,209
Once I was a king, his mother told him.
1173
01:20:04,382 --> 01:20:09,094
My character, persona and
professional abilities were now lost.
1174
01:20:09,221 --> 01:20:14,308
Below-the-belt punches were hitting
me harder from all directions.
1175
01:20:14,434 --> 01:20:17,228
The effects of public disgrace,
the effects of drugs
1176
01:20:17,354 --> 01:20:20,940
and the effects of continued failure
never before experienced
1177
01:20:21,066 --> 01:20:23,692
all but shrivelled me into obscurity.
1178
01:20:26,196 --> 01:20:29,031
So deep was my depression
1179
01:20:29,157 --> 01:20:33,118
that I wanted to get into a car
and drive south one way.
1180
01:20:33,245 --> 01:20:37,373
Finally, I'd rid myself of the last
bastion of my dignity.
1181
01:20:37,499 --> 01:20:41,544
I sold my Woodland home
to a wealthy French industrialist.
1182
01:20:43,797 --> 01:20:47,341
The effect was that I all but lost
the will to function.
1183
01:20:48,802 --> 01:20:52,429
Nightmares were telling me
I would never leave there alive.
1184
01:20:55,809 --> 01:20:59,228
Then lightning struck, bad lightning.
1185
01:21:02,649 --> 01:21:05,067
I had nowhere to turn.
1186
01:21:06,778 --> 01:21:09,154
Fearing the worst, suicide,
1187
01:21:10,824 --> 01:21:12,992
I looked for protection.
1188
01:21:13,118 --> 01:21:17,663
I committed myself to the Scripps
Memorial Hospital, a loony bin.
1189
01:21:18,790 --> 01:21:22,334
I was put behind bars
and stripped of all my belongings.
1190
01:21:22,460 --> 01:21:26,714
The claustrophobia alone shot my blood
pressure up over to the 200 mark.
1191
01:21:26,840 --> 01:21:29,049
Not wanting a DOA on their hands,
1192
01:21:29,175 --> 01:21:32,720
the nurses shoved sedatives
down my throat trying to calm me.
1193
01:21:34,180 --> 01:21:37,683
A horrible mistake, with no way out.
1194
01:21:37,809 --> 01:21:39,518
Is it safe?
1195
01:21:39,644 --> 01:21:44,273
I had to take control of the never-ending
bad dream my life had become.
1196
01:21:44,399 --> 01:21:47,985
Never having been
psychiatrically orientated,
1197
01:21:48,111 --> 01:21:52,114
I knew that action, not therapy,
was my only shot at survival.
1198
01:21:53,700 --> 01:21:57,870
Take your time.
Tell me.
1199
01:21:57,996 --> 01:22:00,873
That night,
I snuck out of my cell-like room
1200
01:22:00,999 --> 01:22:04,043
and found my way
to a phone booth in the ward.
1201
01:22:04,169 --> 01:22:07,880
I called my limo driver, John Paul,
collect.
1202
01:22:08,006 --> 01:22:12,217
"John Paul, meet me tomorrow at noon
on the dot and wait.
1203
01:22:12,344 --> 01:22:15,846
"It might be an hour, a day, a week.
I don't care.
1204
01:22:15,972 --> 01:22:18,474
"Keep your motor running, got it?"
1205
01:22:20,602 --> 01:22:23,896
The next morning,
when all the attendants were busy,
1206
01:22:24,022 --> 01:22:28,734
I made my dash and made the elevator
as it closed behind me.
1207
01:22:28,860 --> 01:22:30,945
"I made it," I thought to myself.
1208
01:22:32,322 --> 01:22:36,575
As soon as I hit the bottom floor,
there were two goons waiting for me.
1209
01:22:40,455 --> 01:22:43,248
You're a very nosy fella, kitty-cat.
1210
01:22:43,375 --> 01:22:47,586
You know what happens to nosy fellas?
No? Wanna guess?
1211
01:22:47,712 --> 01:22:51,882
No? OK.
They lose their noses.
1212
01:22:53,176 --> 01:22:55,386
I made my dash.
1213
01:22:56,721 --> 01:23:00,766
The two goons were right behind me.
100 yards away my car was waiting.
1214
01:23:00,892 --> 01:23:02,977
I had to make it before they got me.
1215
01:23:03,103 --> 01:23:07,272
I was older than both of them together,
but they lacked one thing, heart.
1216
01:23:08,441 --> 01:23:10,693
I breathlessly made it into the car,
1217
01:23:10,819 --> 01:23:15,406
slammed the door as I grabbed
for a tiny bottle of J&B.
1218
01:23:16,282 --> 01:23:18,993
"Back to Woodland,"
I said to John Paul.
1219
01:23:23,832 --> 01:23:29,211
My limo was pulling into the gates
of my once-owned Woodland sanctuary.
1220
01:23:32,882 --> 01:23:36,218
What had been my Garden of Eden
for close to a quarter of a century
1221
01:23:36,344 --> 01:23:38,387
was mine no more.
1222
01:23:38,513 --> 01:23:42,391
Even more painful was that I was
now a tenant in my own home,
1223
01:23:42,517 --> 01:23:47,396
paying 25,000 dollars a month
for the privilege of living there.
1224
01:23:47,522 --> 01:23:49,732
Could I afford it?
1225
01:23:49,858 --> 01:23:52,568
Not by a long shot.
1226
01:23:52,694 --> 01:23:55,946
I knew that getting my home,
my roots of 25 years, back
1227
01:23:56,072 --> 01:23:58,490
was vital to my survival.
1228
01:23:58,616 --> 01:24:00,367
There was a big problem.
1229
01:24:00,493 --> 01:24:04,496
The new owner, a wealthy French
industrialist named Tony Murray,
1230
01:24:04,622 --> 01:24:07,332
had no intention of selling it back.
1231
01:24:08,543 --> 01:24:11,920
Without asking,
Jack Nicholson did a Henry Kissinger.
1232
01:24:12,047 --> 01:24:16,050
He flew to Monte Carlo and begged
Tony to sell me back my home.
1233
01:24:16,176 --> 01:24:19,303
Tony was shocked Jack would fly
halfway around the world
1234
01:24:19,429 --> 01:24:23,807
to plead for what he considered
just a piece of real estate.
1235
01:24:23,933 --> 01:24:26,435
Wherever Tony went,
he'd tell the story.
1236
01:24:26,561 --> 01:24:29,521
"Imagine! Jack Nicholson
on his knees to me.
1237
01:24:29,647 --> 01:24:32,733
"These film people, they're all crazy."
1238
01:24:32,859 --> 01:24:38,280
The impact of Jack's plea, however,
caused Tony to waiver.
1239
01:24:38,406 --> 01:24:41,116
He got me back my home.
1240
01:24:41,242 --> 01:24:43,243
Thanks, pal.
1241
01:24:51,002 --> 01:24:55,589
A year passed. It was close
to midnight on a Tuesday evening.
1242
01:24:55,715 --> 01:24:58,926
The phone kept ringing.
It awakened me out of a deep sleep.
1243
01:24:59,052 --> 01:25:03,097
It was only eleven o'clock.
Should I pick it up?
1244
01:25:03,223 --> 01:25:06,433
Nah. I know I didn't win the lottery.
1245
01:25:06,559 --> 01:25:10,104
Hey, maybe it's the broad
I slipped my number to last night.
1246
01:25:10,230 --> 01:25:14,358
Hey, it's not too late.
I'm up. I hope it's her.
1247
01:25:14,484 --> 01:25:18,403
Disguising my voice to protect me
from bad news or bad company,
1248
01:25:18,530 --> 01:25:21,281
I Englished it.
"Evan's residence."
1249
01:25:21,407 --> 01:25:24,493
I was wrong again.
It wasn't the broad.
1250
01:25:24,619 --> 01:25:27,162
But I sure won the fucking lottery.
1251
01:25:27,288 --> 01:25:31,750
It was Stanley Jaffe on the phone,
just made head of Paramount.
1252
01:25:33,503 --> 01:25:38,715
I'd given Stanley his first big gig
back in 1967 on Goodbye, Columbus.
1253
01:25:38,842 --> 01:25:41,260
"Called to tell you one thing.
1254
01:25:41,386 --> 01:25:45,389
"From this day on, the life of Robert
Evans is going to be a better one.
1255
01:25:45,515 --> 01:25:49,518
"You're way overdue, kid.
Now sleep well."
1256
01:25:50,687 --> 01:25:53,897
Stanley Jaffe's loyalty to me
was such
1257
01:25:54,023 --> 01:25:56,942
that it gave me back my dignity.
1258
01:25:57,068 --> 01:25:59,862
Back behind the gates
of Paramount I went.
1259
01:25:59,988 --> 01:26:03,615
And back to my old offices,
the best on the lot.
1260
01:26:03,741 --> 01:26:07,202
Do you believe in miracles?
Well, I do now.
1261
01:26:10,999 --> 01:26:14,168
I don't understand it,
this world of fickle flicks.
1262
01:26:14,294 --> 01:26:16,879
It's been 30 years now
and I'm still here,
1263
01:26:17,005 --> 01:26:21,133
still standing behind them gates.
Bet your house it ain't been dull.
1264
01:26:21,259 --> 01:26:24,928
I've either done it or gotten it.
You name them, I've met them.
1265
01:26:25,054 --> 01:26:26,680
Well, almost.
1266
01:26:26,806 --> 01:26:30,684
I've either worked, fought, hired,
fired, laughed, cried with them,
1267
01:26:30,810 --> 01:26:33,896
figuratively fucked by them,
literally fucked them.
1268
01:26:34,022 --> 01:26:36,648
It's been one hell of a ride.
1269
01:26:38,026 --> 01:26:41,361
Where is everyone?
Dead? Most.
1270
01:26:41,487 --> 01:26:45,699
Wealthy? Some.
Destitute? Yeah, many.
1271
01:26:45,825 --> 01:26:49,620
Retired? I don't know.
I ain't seen them.
1272
01:26:49,746 --> 01:26:53,916
One thing I do know. I ain't dead,
I ain't wealthy, I ain't destitute.
1273
01:26:54,042 --> 01:26:57,294
And I ain't retired.
Can't afford any of them.
1274
01:26:57,420 --> 01:27:00,422
Gotta keep standing,
stay in the picture.
1275
01:27:01,758 --> 01:27:06,470
My life today?
More volatile than ever.
1276
01:27:06,596 --> 01:27:10,515
This last year alone I've been
shot down, bloodied, accused,
1277
01:27:10,642 --> 01:27:14,019
threatened, disgraced,
betrayed, scandalised, maligned.
1278
01:27:14,145 --> 01:27:17,481
Tough?
You bet your ass it is.
1279
01:27:17,607 --> 01:27:20,984
But I ain't complaining.
Nothing comes easy.
1280
01:27:22,820 --> 01:27:25,781
The last question.
1281
01:27:25,907 --> 01:27:28,492
Is it truly worth it?
1282
01:27:31,537 --> 01:27:36,083
Sure. Know why? I love what I do.
And very few people do.
1283
01:27:36,209 --> 01:27:39,044
And when you think of most
of the work you do in life,
1284
01:27:39,170 --> 01:27:42,005
most of people's lives
are spent in their endeavours.
1285
01:27:42,131 --> 01:27:45,050
Few people enjoy what they do
and I love what I do.
1286
01:27:45,176 --> 01:27:48,136
So, yeah, it's worth it.
Damn right it's worth it.
1287
01:28:54,203 --> 01:28:59,624
OK. 1996. Robert Evans,
20 years from now.
1288
01:29:02,378 --> 01:29:05,797
Are we rolling? We're rolling?
Why didn't you tell me?
1289
01:29:05,923 --> 01:29:08,842
- I don't know if we're rolling.
- We're rolling.
1290
01:29:08,968 --> 01:29:11,887
Thank you very much.
1291
01:29:12,013 --> 01:29:15,891
My fellow Americans,
I'm coming to you tonight
1292
01:29:16,017 --> 01:29:19,311
because I am contemplating
ending my life.
1293
01:29:19,437 --> 01:29:22,064
After many years as head
of Paramount Studios
1294
01:29:22,190 --> 01:29:25,150
and then an independent producer
1295
01:29:25,276 --> 01:29:29,905
and suffering a terrible disaster
with my first independent venture...
1296
01:29:33,951 --> 01:29:37,079
...Marathon in Drag.
I can't remember. It was 20 years ago.
1297
01:29:37,205 --> 01:29:40,957
Anyways, I would like to ask you
all over the country
1298
01:29:41,084 --> 01:29:44,461
if you have a script
and it's a love story, I'll do it.
1299
01:29:44,587 --> 01:29:47,756
I don't care if it's in drag
or a monkey fucking an elephant.
1300
01:29:47,882 --> 01:29:51,718
If it's good, I'll do it.
That's a promise. You send it to me.
1301
01:29:51,844 --> 01:29:54,888
I just want to say
that I would talk more to you,
1302
01:29:55,014 --> 01:29:57,849
but I don't have the strength.
I'm in the hospital.
1303
01:29:57,975 --> 01:30:01,478
There's a Sony tape recorder here
and this is a maternity ward.
1304
01:30:01,604 --> 01:30:05,690
They tell me I just had a baby.
I never knew I had a vagina.
1305
01:30:05,817 --> 01:30:09,069
It came as a shock to me,
1306
01:30:09,195 --> 01:30:11,405
but I just talked to my wife,
Sue Mengers,
1307
01:30:11,531 --> 01:30:14,449
and she says didn't I know
she had a cock all the time?
1308
01:30:14,575 --> 01:30:17,911
I never knew it.
I give you my word.
1309
01:30:18,037 --> 01:30:21,206
She came in yesterday and showed it.
It was a terrific cock.
1310
01:30:21,332 --> 01:30:23,417
One of the biggest I ever saw.
1311
01:30:23,543 --> 01:30:28,046
Wait a minute. Is that phone for me?
Well, I'm recording. I can't talk.
1312
01:30:29,715 --> 01:30:33,969
Yeah, who's this? I can't talk.
I'm on television. Wait, stop rolling.
1313
01:30:34,095 --> 01:30:37,055
Yeah, what is it?
Who? Joyce Haber?
1314
01:30:37,181 --> 01:30:39,683
I remember her.
That was 20 years ago.
1315
01:30:39,809 --> 01:30:42,394
She died.
I can't come to the funeral.
1316
01:30:42,520 --> 01:30:45,689
Why am I going to her funeral?
I'm sorry. I'm too busy.
1317
01:30:45,815 --> 01:30:49,609
Send her something.
1318
01:30:49,735 --> 01:30:52,529
I don't know. Whatever she eats.
Candy, whatever.
1319
01:30:52,655 --> 01:30:54,656
Oh, she's dead now?
1320
01:30:54,782 --> 01:30:58,869
If she's dead, then what do you want
me to see her for?
1321
01:30:58,995 --> 01:31:02,080
Just get it done immediately.
I gotta go. Thanks.
1322
01:31:02,206 --> 01:31:05,876
What? I'm sorry, I gotta talk.
This is my wife. Yes, Sue.
1323
01:31:07,545 --> 01:31:11,631
My wife is Ms Mengers, one of the top
agents in town 20 years ago.
1324
01:31:11,757 --> 01:31:13,842
Today, business is terrible.
1325
01:31:13,968 --> 01:31:18,138
She's in Las Vegas.
She's a croupier at the Dunes.
1326
01:31:18,264 --> 01:31:21,349
At night she doubles as a dune.
She's a dune.
1327
01:31:21,476 --> 01:31:24,519
People go see her, they say,
"Sue Mengers's the dune."
1328
01:31:24,645 --> 01:31:29,232
She's a good dune, though.
The best dune I ever fucked.
1329
01:31:30,902 --> 01:31:34,779
I'm sorry, Sue. No, I can't. I have
to go back in my closet and clean it.
1330
01:31:34,906 --> 01:31:37,824
I haven't cleaned it in a long time.
They put me in a closet.
1331
01:31:37,950 --> 01:31:40,410
I don't know why.
They said I'd understand.
1332
01:31:40,536 --> 01:31:43,163
But I'm coming out
of the closet very soon.
1333
01:31:43,289 --> 01:31:46,291
The delivery was fine.
Yeah, it hurt a little.
1334
01:31:46,417 --> 01:31:51,046
Yeah, but it was wonderful.
They shaved me. Yeah.
1335
01:31:51,172 --> 01:31:55,383
I don't know. I can't talk.
I have to get off. I gotta see dailies.
1336
01:31:55,510 --> 01:31:57,802
I wanna see dailies of my delivery.
1337
01:31:57,929 --> 01:32:00,972
I wanna see myself giving birth.
1338
01:32:01,098 --> 01:32:05,936
They got a big close-up of my cunt.
It's terrific. I'll see you. Take care.
1339
01:32:06,062 --> 01:32:08,647
I want to thank you very much
for listening.
1340
01:32:08,773 --> 01:32:11,358
And I wanna say that I wish...
1341
01:32:12,485 --> 01:32:15,487
...all of you a healthy life
because my life is over.
1342
01:32:15,613 --> 01:32:18,323
And I was just gonna ask one favour.
1343
01:32:18,449 --> 01:32:22,244
President Warren Beatty
has asked me to ask your vote again
1344
01:32:22,370 --> 01:32:25,121
and I ask you to do it,
just for me.
1345
01:32:25,248 --> 01:32:29,834
He has some terrible scandal on me.
I'm afraid he's gonna tell it.
1346
01:32:29,961 --> 01:32:33,630
And it's very embarrassing to me.
So please vote for Warren Beatty.
1347
01:32:33,756 --> 01:32:37,008
And I wish you a good evening
and...
118427
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