This documentary is based on the autobiography of Robert Evans, the head of Paramount during its rise in the late 1960's and early 1970's, with films like "Rosemary's Baby," "Love Story," "The Godfather," and "Chinatown."
The film begins with a quote: "There are three sides to every story: my side, your side, and the truth. And no one is lying. Memories shared serve each one differently." This film, being based on his autobiography and narrated by Evans himself, is clearly his side. This makes it less objective than one normally expects documentaries to be, but also way more entertaining.
When the film starts in the mid-1950's, Evans was already doing very well as an executive in the Evan-Picone women's clothing company. He was poolside in Beverly Hills when he was discovered by Norma Shearer, who decided he was the right person to play her late husband, Irving Thalberg, in the film "Man of a Thousand Faces." Suddenly he became an actor on the west coast in addition to being a businessman on the east coast.
Next up was a key role in "The Sun Also Rises," but Ernest Hemingway and a number of the other important people involved in making the film demanded that Evans be fired. The producer, Darryl Zanuck, arrived on location, where Evans had been practicing bullfighting for several months, and announced that "the kid stays in the picture." Suddenly Evans realized that he really wanted to be a producer, so he could be the person who has that kind of power.
Evans' rise to the top is quite amazing. Only about 10 years after this pivotal event, he was running Paramount and was involved (instrumental, to hear him tell it) in some of the biggest films of the time.
The way Evans narrates the film is highly entertaining, both because of the actual content but also because you're always wondering just how much of what you're hearing is really true. But somehow he manages to weave enough self-deprecating words in amongst the self-congratulating ones to make you like him, in spite of his faults.
The film contains very little if any newly filmed material. It consists mostly of news footage, clips from films, and still pictures, with narration by Evans throughout. The handling of the still pictures was particularly interesting, because the foreground parts of the pictures were made to seem to float in a three-dimensional way above the backgrounds, making them far more alive and interesting than they could have been.
I highly recommend that you make an effort to see this film. And if you don't normally like documentaries, this one will change your mind.
Seen on 8/29/2002.
The film begins with a quote: "There are three sides to every story: my side, your side, and the truth. And no one is lying. Memories shared serve each one differently." This film, being based on his autobiography and narrated by Evans himself, is clearly his side. This makes it less objective than one normally expects documentaries to be, but also way more entertaining.
When the film starts in the mid-1950's, Evans was already doing very well as an executive in the Evan-Picone women's clothing company. He was poolside in Beverly Hills when he was discovered by Norma Shearer, who decided he was the right person to play her late husband, Irving Thalberg, in the film "Man of a Thousand Faces." Suddenly he became an actor on the west coast in addition to being a businessman on the east coast.
Next up was a key role in "The Sun Also Rises," but Ernest Hemingway and a number of the other important people involved in making the film demanded that Evans be fired. The producer, Darryl Zanuck, arrived on location, where Evans had been practicing bullfighting for several months, and announced that "the kid stays in the picture." Suddenly Evans realized that he really wanted to be a producer, so he could be the person who has that kind of power.
Evans' rise to the top is quite amazing. Only about 10 years after this pivotal event, he was running Paramount and was involved (instrumental, to hear him tell it) in some of the biggest films of the time.
The way Evans narrates the film is highly entertaining, both because of the actual content but also because you're always wondering just how much of what you're hearing is really true. But somehow he manages to weave enough self-deprecating words in amongst the self-congratulating ones to make you like him, in spite of his faults.
The film contains very little if any newly filmed material. It consists mostly of news footage, clips from films, and still pictures, with narration by Evans throughout. The handling of the still pictures was particularly interesting, because the foreground parts of the pictures were made to seem to float in a three-dimensional way above the backgrounds, making them far more alive and interesting than they could have been.
I highly recommend that you make an effort to see this film. And if you don't normally like documentaries, this one will change your mind.
Seen on 8/29/2002.