To coincide with the release of The Kid Stays In The Picture, celebrating the roller-coaster career of Robert Evans, Making Movies pays tribute to some of Hollywood's less well known stars without whose chutzpah, drive and determination, some of the most famous movies in history might never have seen the light of the screen.
Ignoring - if it's possible - the celebrity girlfriends, cocaine bust, murder rap, nervous breakdown and triumphant return, Evans deserves to be on this list for three reasons.
First, the films he made. To have one film in a career, in Evans' case The Godfather, that always makes every top 10 movie poll of all time - let alone the top slot, is a crowning achievement. To have two, (Chinatown) is something else.
The second, is that unlike some of the producers in this list who built studios, Evans achieved the equally arduous task of turning an ailing one around (Paramount), with worldwide box office smashes like Love Story - a film no one wanted to get involved with at the time.
And lastly, he stands for all the actors who became producers, from Chaplin and Mary Pickford to Michael Douglas and Tom Cruise, who use their influence and connections to make better films than the studios might develop. Perhaps with this documentary, Evans has pulled off the producer's ultimate dream, turning his own life story into myth.
He said:
To actress Ali McGraw: "Take my number. I'm only seven digits away".
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