The Kid Stays in the Picture

`The Kid Stays in the Picture,' a documentary about famed movie producer and studio head Robert Evans, begins like `The Great Gatsby,' a film Evans produced in 1974. To the wistful strains of `What'll I Do?' playing in the background, the camera glides lovingly over the furnishings, pictures and memorabilia that adorn Evans' Bel Air mansion and estate. The comparison is an apt one, for, like Gatsby, Evans was a wunderkind, a handsome young go-getter who knew early on the kind of life he wanted to lead and who willed himself to attain it. With a combination of good looks, charm, ambition and just a bit of plain old-fashioned good luck, he managed to go from being a mediocre movie actor to becoming the head of Paramount Studios in the course of a mere decade. And what a decade it was! Evans had a major hand in not only lifting Paramount from ninth to first place among Hollywood's major studios, but in bringing such films as `Rosemary's Baby,' `True Grit,' `Love Story,' `Chinatown' and, of course, `The Godfather' to movie screens everywhere.

`The Kid Stays in the Picture' is a dream-come-true for hardcore cinephiles, providing a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the true Golden Ages of Hollywood filmmaking. Evans' story is, in fact, the story of that time, for truly he hobnobbed with virtually every one of the key players responsible for that era. Evans' tale follows a fairly conventional arc for men of his type: the ambitious kid with dreams of larger-than-life glory achieves meteoric success in the entertainment business only to have his ambitions dashed on the shores of rampant egotism, overconfidence and drug addiction. In fact, Evans' life would make perfect fodder for a film of its own, as this documentary and the positive response to it demonstrates. Evans himself narrates the film, and although he tends to be a bit easier on himself than an outsider might have been, he is still willing to chastise himself when he feels it's called for and to render some rather startlingly unflattering assessments of certain major players on the Hollywood scene. He is, also, however, utterly devoted to those he feels have stuck by him through good times and bad, and he is not averse to lavishing praise on others when it is due. One objection to Evans' narration is that he doesn't always speak with the utmost clarity, sometimes making what he says come out garbled and incomprehensible.

As a piece of filmmaking, `The Kid Stays in the Picture' offers a kaleidoscopic array of stills, film clips and reenactments that reflect the temper and mood of the time. Directors Brett Morgan and Nanette Burstein obviously pored through a wealth of material on the subject, culling from it a comprehensive, streamlined and fast-moving narrative that grips the audience with its humor, its sadness and its tribute to the indomitableness of the human spirit. For if Evans' story is about anything, it is about how important it is for each individual to achieve his dreams and how equally vital it is for that same person, once he has fallen down, to pick himself up off the floor so that he can continue pursuing that dream.

`The Kid Stays in the Picture' is a wonderful time capsule for those who love movies. No true film fan should miss it.

This is an exceptionally fine, creative documentary about the man who was behind most of the great films of the 70's and 80's. What an terrific use of still photos and music, done in such a way (and using a technique that seems to make some of the stills "move" and appear 3-D)as to make Ken Burns' style appear downright antique. For anyone who grew up with the movies, especially the great ones of the last 20-30 years, this is an absolute must-see.

This is an interesting documentary about one of Hollywood's legendary producers, Robert Evans. Directed by Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen, it mostly uses film clips from movies he produced at Paramount plus a narration taken from the audio cassette Evans made for his autobiography.

There's so much material to draw on that it's impossible to really do justice to his life in just 90 minutes. I wanted to hear more details about the films he made and the people he knew, not just a quick synopsis, but then I suppose that's what the book is for. It would also have helped if they'd interviewed people like Jack Nicholson or the people who worked on the film productions, just to get another perspective.

Some people have complained that Robert Evans is pleading for sympathy, having gone from wonder boy to disgraced druggie, but I thought he was simply asking for some understanding and some respect. He seems to feel he was wrongly maligned, more than he deserved, for his drug use and troubles with the law, and I'd have to agree. Abusing yourself is hardly news in Hollywood.

Does Robert Evans have an ego? Sure, but if I'd brought "Chinatown" and "The Godfather" to the screen, I would too. You can tell there's a lot more to the man than just his films, but unfortunately, we only get to scratch the surface here.

Legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans narrates the story of his own life. His movie career started in 1956 at the poolside of the Beverly Hills Hotel. He gets a few movie roles. In 'The Sun Also Rises' (1957), Ernest Hemingway telegrams Darryl F. Zanuck to get rid of Evans with most of the cast's support. Zanuck proclaims "The Kid Stays in the Picture. And anybody who doesn't like it can quit." After an unimpressive acting career, he joins Charlie Bluhdorn whose company Gulf+Western Corporation purchased the failing studio Paramount Pictures. After a string of films such as Rosemary's Baby, Love Story and The Godfather, it had become the biggest studio. He then goes on to produce Chinatown after which his marriage to Ali MacGraw ends. It's also the start of the darker times. He starts doing cocaine. Some film failures such as 'The Cotton Club', and being connected in the murder of Roy Radin would send him out of the studio that he rebuild.

The stories are better than fiction. The name dropping and the movie connections are epic. It starts with Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra. Through it all, there is the gruff voice of Robert Evans. It's hypnotic. As he falls down the rabbit hole, it becomes even personal. The addition of his movies to portray his life gives such a surreal touch. It is movie magic. One also has the sense that this is an old man telling his tales. Like all such instances, one must take these stories with a grain of salt. It is nevertheless epic.

THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE (2002) **** Fascinating and wildly entertaining documentary by Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen on legendary Hollywood film producer Robert Evans – based on his notorious best-selling autobiography – of his rise from poolside discovery by Norma Shearer as a fledgling B actor to his successful climb atop Paramount Studios upper echelon and responsible for green lighting many of The Golden Age of the Seventies blockbusters (i.e. `Love Story', `The Godfather', & `Chinatown' to name three) to his disdain as an industry pariah involving cocaine and murder. Evans' unique sangfroid mixed with charm, chutzpah and a movie lovers' contempt for those who ‘just don't get it' wields a strong hold in his story and the wonderful cinematic ingenuity of making photo stills into diorama-like animation is used smartly as well as allowing its subject to pontificate without utterly destroying his self-made rakish image. One of the best indie docus down the pike in some time and a valentine for those who like their gossip with popcorn.