Robert Evans: Staying in the Picture

The screening room has undergone some changes over the years. "By 1978 or 1979, the chairs were getting run down," Evans says. "But I couldn't afford to replace them. From 1979 to 1989, the only money I made was as a male model for a cosmetics company. Finally, when I got a new deal at Paramount in 1990, the first thing I did was design new chairs. Shortly after that, Jack Nicholson came over here to see Dances with Wolves. He said, 'Where are the old blackies?' I told him I was donating the chairs to the Motion Picture Relief Home. He asked if he could have them. He sold one of them for $125,000, another one for more. Naturally, he wouldn't give me half, but that's beside the point. He recognized their value, because lots of decisions and deals were made in those chairs."

Today Evans still screens movies a few times a week. "I'll invite actors, directors, movie pals, along with a few tennis bums. I like to get the reading of people in their twenties. I ran Love Story a couple of months ago, and there was no one here over 35. There were tears in all the girls' eyes afterwards. I realized that simple story, 30 years old and with corny dialogue in a lot of places, still strikes people's emotions."

He also runs new movies, though he admits that he doesn't always make it to the end. "I like to keep up with the new actors and the new comedians," Evans says. "I enjoyed the picture that the Farrelly brothers did--_Shallow Hal_. I thought Jack Black was wonderful. I tried to get him for a picture, but I couldn't."

Although it would be tempting for Evans to sink into memories of his glory days, he prefers to look forward; he starts production on a new picture, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, this summer. At first he resisted the idea of a film version of The Kid Stays in the Picture because he was not eager to relive some of the painful episodes in his past. But despite his initial misgivings, this low-budget documentary turned out to be a more satisfying venture than any of his big studio productions during the last decade, which have included Sliver, The Saint and The Out-of-Towners. "They were fair at best," Evans says candidly. "On The Saint there were 11 writers, and by the time they were finished, it had nothing to do with the story I set out to tell. Everything today is done by committee. That's why I loved, loved, loved making our little picture. We did it ourselves."

The film's premiere at Sundance was a slightly surreal experience for the 71-year-old producer. "I don't belong at Sundance," Evans admits. "I'm everything they're not." To his amazement, he received a 12-minute standing ovation after the screening. "Back in 1958, I was friendly with Cary Grant," Evans muses. "He was a big movie star, and I was a wannabe, but we were taking out the same girl, a Yugoslavian basketball player. The three of us did everything together. One day Cary came to me and said, 'Bob, I'm a believer in LSD. It's done marvels for me, and I would like the three of us to take it together under a doctor's care.' So we took it at the doctor's office. When I was at Sundance, I told the audience that story and said, 'That was the last time I hallucinated until tonight.'"

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