Review of Kid Stays In the Picture, The

Introduction

The movie shares its title with its source material - the autobiography of Paramount Pictures movie mogul Robert Evans, the man who was head of production at the studio during its 1970s revival. Evans was in charge of the studio when it was bringing to the screen its classics such as The Godfather, Marathon Man, Love Story, Rosemary`s Baby and the Odd Couple, and can be credited with taking Paramount from the bottom of the pile to the head of the food chain.

Described in Halliwell`s Filmgoer`s Companion as a "bland-faced American juvenile of the 1950s, Robert Evans entered the movie business as an actor. Discovered in true Hollywood style while lounging beside a swimming pool, he made a number of low-key appearances in movies before realising his real talent lay behind the camera. Curiously, he had made an appearance in the Lon Chaney Sr biopic "The Man of a Thousand Faces" opposite James Cagney, playing wunderkind movie producer Irving Thalberg. Evans` dream was to be a Studio Head, like Darryl F. Zanuck or Louis B. Mayer.

He was handed that opportunity by oil tycoon Charles Bluhdorn, whose Gulf+Western empire bought out Paramount in the late 1960s. Paramount Pictures was ailing. The studio hadn`t had a hit in years and a number of poorly judged productions had left the studio teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Evans turned the company round, as much through his own gift of the blarney as through any expertise.

His fall from grace and subsequent return as an independent producer was just as precipitous.

Video

Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic, quality throughout the movie varies depending on the age and quality of the source materials. Much of the documentary is backed by stills and archive material presented in the almost 3-D multiplaning technique used in the recent "Comedy Connections" documentaries on BBC1.

Audio

The makers have chosen to present the soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1, and while the soundstage is broad and offers some directional tricks, most of the mix consists of Evans` own voice (a recording of excerpts from his autobiography), kept to the screen speakers for clarity.

Features

The extras are a strange mix of supplementary materials. "The Film That Saved Paramount" is an edited down version of a promotional film Evans made to sell the studio`s upcoming output to its board of directors who were on the verge of closing the place down. Had their decision gone the other way, "The Godfather" might just be a book by Mario Puzo. Accompanying this are other short pieces including coverage of awards Evans received, not least the 2003 David O Selznick Lifetime Achievement award.

There is an audio commentary by the makers to accompany the main documentary, but by far the strangest of the extras is the "Gag Reel" made on the set of "Marathon Man" where Roy Scheider and Dustin Hoffman basically goof around doing impressions of Robert Evans.

Conclusion

A compelling, but frequently seedy look at Hollywood in the 1970s. Evans does not come across as any kind of hero, and you get the impression movies get made in spite of the studios.