Following the premiere screening of his biographical film at the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Evans was asked by an audience member to name the one thing he regretted about his life.
"The second half", he replied.
That won over the house, not exactly made up of types whom you would think would be sympathetic toward a flamboyant, ultra-Hollywood-style producer and former studio chieftain.
In this comprehensive and sympathetic film, "The Kid Stays in the Picture", the maverick personality of Evans, as someone who thrived in the Hollywood system, is probably what won over the steadfast independent-film types here. And it will likely win over all movie buffs who view this USA Films release.
In short, through the prism of Evans, "Kid" is a splendid glimpse into Hollywood past, when producers smoked cigars, dated gorgeous women, led messy personal lives and put their careers on the line with gut-instinct movies. Even in his excesses, Evans seems such a refreshing change from the MBA types, corporate lawyers, merger maniacs, dealmeisters and abusive nerds who have Sammy Glick-ed their way to the top in today's cripplingly cautious, quarterly report entertainment world. He flourished in a day when producers were larger than life, rather than just larger than off-the-rack clothing.
In this affectionate and even-handed depiction of the unlikely rise and staggering fall of a man given to living on the edge, "The Kid Stays in the Picture" traces Evans' boyhood, when he grew up as a son of immigrant parents and, quite remarkably, made his way into acting. His unlikely ascent is the stuff of which legends are made: Evans was discovered poolside at the Beverly Hills Hotel by star Norma Shearer, who offered him a role as Irving Thalberg in the picture "The Man of a Thousand Faces".
Largely through his charismatic good looks, Evans soon got other parts. Self-admittedly, he was a lousy actor, but he had the presence to win plum roles, including the prized bullfighter part in the adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". Everybody from Hemingway on down was vehemently opposed to his casting, but Darryl F. Zanuck rose to his impregnable 5-foot-3 stature to pronounce, "the kid stays in the picture." That quip served as the title for Evans' autobiography, on which this film is based.
While achieving uneven success and notoriety as an actor, Evans' varied talents were discovered and lauded in a New York Times article by a journalist named Peter Bart. The very flattering Sunday piece worked wonders for Evans, who, with not a single production credit, vaulted to production head of Paramount.
Evans' early years at Paramount were filled with heady risk-taking, and he was always an inch away from being fired. But he was on an incredible roll: "Rosemary's Baby", "The Odd Couple", "Love Story", "Chinatown", "Harold and Maude" and "The Godfather", which easily could have become his undoing. His gargantuan battles with director Francis Ford Coppola are well-documented here.
Even as the studio's golden boy, Evans was undeniably always on thin ice, red-eyeing off to New York to wow the fuddy-duddy corporate board of Gulf & Western or wrangling with a director or star. Ultimately, we see him lose control of his life, cascading into an escalating downswirl -- nefarious characters, coke addiction, "Cotton Club" budget problems and, most severely, a crippling depression that caused him to curl into the womb of his beloved, rose-filled Beverly Hills mansion.
Under the kind and comprehensive directorial hands of Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein, "Kid" is an engrossing portrait of a man whose engaging manner and flamboyant style made him a truly larger-than-life character.
THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE
USA Films
Highways Films and Ministry of Propaganda
A film by Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein
Producers: Graydon Carter, Brett Morgen, Nanette Burstein
Directors: Brett Morgen, Nanette Burstein
Screenwriter: Brett Morgen
Based on the autobiography by: Robert Evans
Director of photography: John Bailey
Editor: Jun Diaz
Co-producers: Kate Driver, Chris Garrett, Sara Marks
Associate producer: Christopher J. Keene
Music: Jeff Danna
Color/stereo
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"The second half", he replied.
That won over the house, not exactly made up of types whom you would think would be sympathetic toward a flamboyant, ultra-Hollywood-style producer and former studio chieftain.
In this comprehensive and sympathetic film, "The Kid Stays in the Picture", the maverick personality of Evans, as someone who thrived in the Hollywood system, is probably what won over the steadfast independent-film types here. And it will likely win over all movie buffs who view this USA Films release.
In short, through the prism of Evans, "Kid" is a splendid glimpse into Hollywood past, when producers smoked cigars, dated gorgeous women, led messy personal lives and put their careers on the line with gut-instinct movies. Even in his excesses, Evans seems such a refreshing change from the MBA types, corporate lawyers, merger maniacs, dealmeisters and abusive nerds who have Sammy Glick-ed their way to the top in today's cripplingly cautious, quarterly report entertainment world. He flourished in a day when producers were larger than life, rather than just larger than off-the-rack clothing.
In this affectionate and even-handed depiction of the unlikely rise and staggering fall of a man given to living on the edge, "The Kid Stays in the Picture" traces Evans' boyhood, when he grew up as a son of immigrant parents and, quite remarkably, made his way into acting. His unlikely ascent is the stuff of which legends are made: Evans was discovered poolside at the Beverly Hills Hotel by star Norma Shearer, who offered him a role as Irving Thalberg in the picture "The Man of a Thousand Faces".
Largely through his charismatic good looks, Evans soon got other parts. Self-admittedly, he was a lousy actor, but he had the presence to win plum roles, including the prized bullfighter part in the adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". Everybody from Hemingway on down was vehemently opposed to his casting, but Darryl F. Zanuck rose to his impregnable 5-foot-3 stature to pronounce, "the kid stays in the picture." That quip served as the title for Evans' autobiography, on which this film is based.
While achieving uneven success and notoriety as an actor, Evans' varied talents were discovered and lauded in a New York Times article by a journalist named Peter Bart. The very flattering Sunday piece worked wonders for Evans, who, with not a single production credit, vaulted to production head of Paramount.
Evans' early years at Paramount were filled with heady risk-taking, and he was always an inch away from being fired. But he was on an incredible roll: "Rosemary's Baby", "The Odd Couple", "Love Story", "Chinatown", "Harold and Maude" and "The Godfather", which easily could have become his undoing. His gargantuan battles with director Francis Ford Coppola are well-documented here.
Even as the studio's golden boy, Evans was undeniably always on thin ice, red-eyeing off to New York to wow the fuddy-duddy corporate board of Gulf & Western or wrangling with a director or star. Ultimately, we see him lose control of his life, cascading into an escalating downswirl -- nefarious characters, coke addiction, "Cotton Club" budget problems and, most severely, a crippling depression that caused him to curl into the womb of his beloved, rose-filled Beverly Hills mansion.
Under the kind and comprehensive directorial hands of Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein, "Kid" is an engrossing portrait of a man whose engaging manner and flamboyant style made him a truly larger-than-life character.
THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE
USA Films
Highways Films and Ministry of Propaganda
A film by Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein
Producers: Graydon Carter, Brett Morgen, Nanette Burstein
Directors: Brett Morgen, Nanette Burstein
Screenwriter: Brett Morgen
Based on the autobiography by: Robert Evans
Director of photography: John Bailey
Editor: Jun Diaz
Co-producers: Kate Driver, Chris Garrett, Sara Marks
Associate producer: Christopher J. Keene
Music: Jeff Danna
Color/stereo
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 8/23/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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