The Kid Stays in the Picture - A Story of Old "New Hollywood"
The power of positive thinking and cocaine!
By: Robert Evans
Published: 1994
432 Pages
Briefly, what is this book about?
This is the autobiography of Robert Evans. It jumps around a lot, but it’s mostly built around his time as head of production for Paramount pictures from basically 1966-1974. Evans had basically zero experience, but by working himself nearly to death he produced such films as: The Godfather, Love Story, Chinatown, and Rosemary’s Baby. In the process he saved the studio and became one of the most iconic figures of “New Hollywood”.
Or to come at it from another angle, imagine Hollywood in its most wheeling and dealing, debauched, and drug-fueled state, that’s what this book is about.
What’s the author’s angle?
Evans is an obvious narcissist, and it’s clear that he has axes to grind, scores to settle, and crimes to explain. But he also has people to thank, stories to embellish, and insights to dispense. This is the author’s book in a way that few books are. If Evans had any kind of editor, or even a lawyer look over this book I’m sure he told them to piss off far more often than he listened to them.
If you pick it up on audio, Evans did the reading which adds a whole other layer to his stories.
Who should read this book?
If you enjoy meeting that person at the party, the person who name drops like each name is a bomb and he’s over Germany in 1945. The guy who tells one insane story after another, stories so insane you can’t believe they’re not exaggerated. But it’s also possible that they’ve actually been toned down for legal reasons.
If you enjoy outrageous raconteurs, then this is the book for you.
Specific thoughts: What does success look like?
Lots of people are looking for a guidebook to success. Amazon is overflowing with self-help books, many of which I have read, and some of those have been useful, but all of them are too “clean”. They rarely talk about luck, and to the extent that they mention difficulties, it’s generally just one big difficulty, which when overcome, leads to the amazing life they now have.
This is not a guidebook to success, but Evans was obviously successful numerous times. And he tells you about how he achieved those successes. But he also describes the difficulties, the repeated failures, and the brutality of the business. Does he put in everything? It would have been a much longer book if he had. Evans may have been involved in a murder. He pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine. He was married seven times (four of which were covered in the book). But he puts in a lot more than most. It’s the rare autobiography that isn’t at least a little bit hagiography. Not this one. It would be pretty difficult to come away from this book thinking Evans is a good person, but it would be equally difficult to come away from the book thinking he’s a dull person.
Evans is also one of those people whose name may ring a bell, but only if you’re above a certain age, but turns out to be incredibly well known by everyone in the industry. If there’s a sleazy producer role in a movie, there’s a good chance the person was emulating Robert Evans. (See for example Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog or Bryan Cranston in the more recent series The Studio.) In fact if there’s a sleazy fast talking person in general it might have been based on Evans. Bob Odenkirk says that he based Saul Goodman on Robert Evans.
Evans took a lot of swings, and the majority were successful. He was involved in movies like Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby, Love Story, and The Godfather. (Lots of stories there…) And even his misses were interesting. (He feels like Popeye, with Robin Williams, is an overlooked classic.) But regardless of how you feel about him or his movies, you have to admit that there was a raw passion to things that’s almost entirely missing from the movies of today. Evans is like that food cart vendor you see downtown. You may end up eating the best hotdog you’ve ever had, or you may get food poisoning. Current Hollywood, on the other hand, is more like a McDonald’s, you always know what you’re going to get. And in the moment it’s pretty tasty, but looking back you’re full of regret. I know Evans had a lot of regrets, but I know that he didn’t regret his endless quest to make amazing movies.
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One of the best portrayals of Evans is Bill Hader in Documentary Now! But then again I could watch Bill Hader in just about anything. I’m kind of hoping that I’ll reach a similar stature, though in a much tinier niche. My goal is to get to the point where people will read my reviews of any book, no matter how weird or obscure.
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