<<< January 9 - 12, 2003 >>>

Presented in association with Paramount Pictures

Like lightning in a bottle, producer, studio executive and The Kid Stays In The Picture author Robert Evans exudes a mysterious, otherworldly something that bridges both the Golden Age Hollywood of the 1940’s and 50’s, and the nonconformist New Hollywood of the 1970’s.

Born in 1930 in New York, Evans had seemingly done it all at an early age, from his teenage career as a radio actor in N.Y.C., to working as a deejay in pre-Castro Havana, to his days as a budding screen star in the 1950’s in such films as THE SUN ALSO RISES and MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES (playing Hollywood mogul Irving Thalberg.) Having given up acting to rejoin his brother Charles back east in the fashion business, Evans underwent an astonishing phoenix-like transformation when picked by CEO Charles Bludhorn in 1966 to take over as Paramount Studio’s head of production, at a time when the studio was teetering on the brink of financial collapse.

A flood of artistically and commercially successful pictures followed in Evans’ wake, including ROSEMARY’S BABY, LOVE STORY, THE GODFATHER I and II, CHINATOWN and PAPER MOON, establishing Paramount as arguably the most vital and creative studio of the entire New Hollywood period. Evans basked in the golden glow of his success, hosting legendary parties at his Beverly Hills home and marrying one of the most glamorous actresses of the day, Ali MacGraw (who would scandalously leave him for Steve McQueen.) After striking out on his own as an independent producer in the mid-1970’s, Evans continued to show surefire commercial instincts with films like MARATHON MAN and URBAN COWBOY, until he was nearly derailed by the financial and legal problems surrounding THE COTTON CLUB in 1984. Now, having survived nearly five decades in the movie business, Robert Evans has risen phoenix-like once again with the phenomenal success of the book and documentary of THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE.

We are very excited to welcome legendary producer and studio executive Robert Evans to the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian for the first major Los Angeles retrospective of his work - !

Thursday, January 9 – 7:15 PM

Double Feature:

THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, 2002, Focus Features, 91 min. Dirs. Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen. Consummate Hollywood survivor Robert Evans narrates the story of his rise, fall and second coming in this irresistible documentary, charting his career from Promising Young Actor in THE SUN ALSO RISES, through his emergence as Paramount Pictures’ savior in the late 1960’s and the Golden Years of CHINATOWN and THE GODFATHER, his marriage (and divorce) with Ali MacGraw, the COTTON CLUB scandal, Jack Nicholson, the Beverly Hills mansion and much more.

New 35 mm. Print! LOVE STORY, 1970, Paramount, 99 min. Dir. Arthur Hiller. Written by Erich Segal (based on his novel), LOVE STORY follows the rich boy-poor girl romance of preppie millionaire Ryan O’Neal, and "social zero" Ali MacGraw, as they first trade verbal fireworks, and then fall truly, madly in love against the turbulent backdrop of Harvard in the early 70’s. Beautifully acted by O’Neal and MacGraw, and sensitively directed by Arthur Hiller (THE IN-LAWS, THE HOSPITAL), LOVE STORY is as much a landmark of 1970’s pop culture as Elton John’s "Your Song" or Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Discussion between films with Robert Evans (schedule permitting).

Friday, January 10 – 7:15 PM

Double Feature – New 35 mm. Prints!

ROSEMARY’S BABY, 1968, Paramount, 136 min. Dir. Roman Polanski. One of Evans’ first major hits after he took over Paramount was this eerie supernatural thriller about a young New York couple (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) who move into a new apartment building, where they’re quickly befriended by lovable Ruth Gordon and husband Sidney Blackmer. All is not as it seems, though – and Farrow soon comes to suspect that her neighbors have truly sinister plans in store for her and her unborn baby …

HAROLD AND MAUDE, 1971, Paramount, 91 min. Evans fought hard for nonconformist editor-turned-filmmaker Hal Ashby to be allowed to direct the wildly-offbeat HAROLD AND MAUDE. The result is one of the most poignant and subversive films of the New Hollywood era, the impossibly beautiful love affair between suicidal youngster Bud Cort and hearse-driving 80-year old Ruth Gordon. Discussion between films with Robert Evans (schedule permitting).

Saturday, January 11 – 6:00 PM

New 35 mm. Print!

THE GODFATHER, 1972, Paramount, 175 min. Director Francis Ford Coppola transformed author Mario Puzo’s sprawling Mafia saga into the Great American Movie of the 1970’s, a towering, cinematically-stunning portrait of darkness and violence overwhelming every level of American society like a monstrous tidal wave. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire and Robert Duvall head one of the best casts assembled since CITIZEN KANE. Discussion following with Robert Evans (schedule permitting).

Sunday, January 12 – 4:00 PM

Double Feature:

CHINATOWN, 1974, Paramount, 131 min. Dir. Roman Polanski. Jack Nicholson gives his greatest performance as 1930’s private eye J.J. Gittes, maneuvering through a nightmarish L.A. netherworld of cheating husbands, stolen water rights, incest, murder and more, as he desperately tries to save beautiful Faye Dunaway from her raptor-like father John Huston. Writer Robert Towne’s magnificent, labyrinthine script has been widely hailed as the best of the decade.

New 35 mm. Print! MARATHON MAN, 1976, Paramount, 125 min. Dir. John Schlesinger. Nailbiting political thriller with Dustin Hoffman investigating the death of his government agent brother Roy Scheider – and running smack into Nazi-on-the-run Laurence Olivier, in one of his most wildly entertaining performances. Robert Evans to introduce screening (schedule permitting).