''The Kid Stays in the Picture'' is a 1994 print autobiography by film producer
Robert Evans
Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930October 26, 2019) was an American film producer, studio executive, and actor, best known for his work on '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), '' Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), and ''Chi ...
. A
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
of the book was released in 2002.
The title comes from a line attributed to studio head
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...
, who was defending Evans after some of the actors involved in the film ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...
'' (1957) had recommended he be removed from the cast.
The film adaptation was directed by
Nanette Burstein
Nanette Burstein (born May 23, 1970) is an American film and television director. Burstein has produced, directed, and co-directed several documentaries including the Academy Award nominated and Sundance Special Jury Prize winning film ''On the R ...
and
Brett Morgen
Brett D. Morgen (born October 11, 1968) is an American documentary filmmaker. His directorial credits include ''The Kid Stays in the Picture'' (2002), ''Crossfire Hurricane'' (2012), '' Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'' (2015), '' Jane'' (2017), and ...
and released by
USA Films
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in the U ...
. It was screened out of competition at the
2002 Cannes Film Festival
The 55th Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May 2002. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film '' The Pianist'' directed by Roman Polanski.
The festival opened with ''Hollywood Ending'', directe ...
.
Synopsis
Book
The book chronicles Evans' rise from childhood to radio star to film actor to production chief of
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
to independent producer, his marriage to
Ali MacGraw
Elizabeth Alice MacGraw (born April 1, 1939) is an American actress and activist. She gained attention with her role in the film ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She gained an ...
, his downfall including his 1980 cocaine bust and implication in the murder of
Roy Radin
Roy Radin (13 November 1949 – last seen 13 May 1983, remains found 10 June 1983) was an American show business promoter who packaged vaudeville shows and oldies music nostalgia tours in the 1970s and early 1980s. He was probably best known for h ...
, aka "The Cotton Club Murder", his banishment from Paramount Pictures, and his return to the studio in the early 1990s.
The audiobook version was read by Evans himself, with (presumably impromptu) additions.
A revised edition of the book, published in 1995, adds several chapters of new material, including material on his projects after his return to Paramount Pictures.
Film
The film version, released in 2002, uses Evans' narration interspersed mostly with photographs from Evans' life as well as brief film footage from films such as ''
Love Story'', ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...
'', ''
Rosemary's Baby'', ''
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
'', and ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...
'', along with interviews to tell the story from his discovery by
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
for ''
Man of a Thousand Faces'' (1957) to his return to Paramount Pictures.
According to the commentary by directors Burstein and Morgen on the DVD, many elements from the book, such as Evans' childhood and his other marriages (the film concentrates only on his marriage to Ali MacGraw), were dropped because they felt they did not move the story along.
Critical response
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 112 reviews, with an average rating of 7.69/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though not objective by any means, ''The Kid Stays in the Picture'' is irresistibly entertaining."
Stage production
An adaptation of the book—along with material from a further, unpublished volume of Evans' memoirs—for the
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
stage was announced in 2010, to be written by
Jon Robin Baitz
Jon Robin Baitz (born November 4, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and television producer. He is a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as a Guggenheim Museum, Guggenheim, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and NEA fellowshi ...
and directed by
Richard Eyre
Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director.
Biography
Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Ma ...
, but the production was canceled in 2011.
Another stage adaptation of the book was first performed at the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 2017. It was adapted by the
Complicite theatre company and directed by
Simon McBurney
Simon Montagu McBurney (born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, playwright, and theatrical director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films ''The Manchurian Candidate'', ...
. The cast included
Danny Huston
Daniel Sallis Huston (born May 14, 1962) is an Italian-born American actor and film director. A member of the Huston family of filmmakers, he is the son of director John Huston and the half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston.
He is known for h ...
, son of
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...
, who worked with Evans on ''
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
'' in 1974.
In popular culture
The film version was parodied in the IFC series ''
Documentary Now!
''Documentary Now!'' is an American mockumentary television series, created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas, that premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC. Armisen and Hader star in many episodes, and Thomas and Alex Buono ...
'' with
Bill Hader
William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (2018 ...
as Jerry Wallach.
Documentary Now! Isn't a Parody. It's Not an Homage. It's a Different Style of Comedy.-Esquire
/ref>
Robert Evans and his book appear in Moby
Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...
's "We Are All Made of Stars
"We Are All Made of Stars" is a song by American electronica musician Moby. It was released as the first single from his sixth studio album, '' 18'' (2002), on April 1, 2002. It reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and became a top-10 hit in ...
" videoclip.
References
External links
*
Review of ''The Kid Stays In The Picture''
DVD Verdict review
DVD Talk review
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kid Stays
2002 films
2002 documentary films
American documentary films
Documentary films about film directors and producers
Works about the history of Hollywood, Los Angeles
Autobiographies adapted into films
Show business memoirs
Collage film
Non-fiction books about film directors and producers
Films directed by Nanette Burstein
Films directed by Brett Morgen
Films produced by Graydon Carter
Films scored by Jeff Danna
Cultural depictions of Robert Evans
2000s English-language films
2000s American films