Robert Evans, ‘Chinatown’ Producer and Paramount Chief, Dies at 89

The Kid Stays in the Picture ... what a legend

Many classics were made under the patronage of Robert Evans over at Paramount. The list of great movies is endless: The Godfather, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, Harold and Maude, The Conversation, Serpico, etc.

Evans didn't just take part in the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s, he helped invent it

According to Evans, and this has been disputed by some, including Coppola, it was he who persuaded Coppola to make The Godfather 30 minutes longer after a poor first cut was test-screened. Coppola had denied that for many years, but his short obit on Evans today does clear things up a bit, albeit in still ambiguous notes :

“I worked with Bob, who gave me some of his helpful ideas including suggesting John Marley as Woltz and Sterling Hayden as the Police Captain, and his ultimate realization that ‘The Godfather’ could be 2 hours and 45 minutes in length.”

If you want to read Evans’ biography, “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” please do yourself a favor and get the audiobook because it is a much better way to experience ‘Kid.’ Evans narrates it himself and the punch-drunk conviction with which he relays his stories is just incredible. There is also an excellent documentary of the same name, one of the very best non-fiction films of the 2000s, which I highly recommend for any serious movie buff to watch.

Evans’ lore in the industry is very real and even bleeds into inspiring casting choices.

If you’ve ever seen “Wag the Dog,” Dustin Hoffman’s character is based on Robert Evans. According to Hoffman, Evans hated that performance. Also, Bob Odenkirk used Evans as inspiration for how he'd play Saul Goodman in “Better Call Saul.”