Product Description

From his marriage to Ali McGraw, his cocaine bust, the accusations of murder, the friendships with the likes of Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman, to his legendary court case and bust up with Francis Ford Coppola, this is the tell-all autobiography from Robert Evans, the legendary Hollywood producer ("The Godfather", "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown") who's lived the Hollywood dream.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124918 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Newsweek
'It's the wildest, most profane, most ridiculously riveting movie memoir ever!'

Variety
'The best Hollywood memoir I've ever read.'

Time
'It's more than a must read. It's a must read again and again!'

Customer Reviews

an epic read
I've read a lot of film books, and this one immediately went to the pile of Best Ever, alongside other classics like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. Robert Evans is one of the most unique and entertaining narrators I've come across. You can practically hear his gravelly voice as you read.
It's quite a life he's led - produced Chinatown and Love Story, married to Ali McGraw who famously left him for Steve McQueen, busted for drugs, name dragged through the mud, pals with Jack Nicholson (who, when Evans was depressed and sold his house to a Frenchman, flew to France to beg the man to sell his house back to Evans again - who can say Jack is their estate agent?). I love this book because, whilst you don't quite believe all the facts you are reading, you completely understand how Evans got where he is today: through optimism and charm. It's catching. It's got a touch of the expose about it but really, this book is a manual to becoming the toast of Hollywood without really knowing what you are doing. As long as you've got the nerve. You really can't help but like him, the cheeky devil.

An eventful life
Robert Evans is a great character. He spares no-one in this tell-it-like-it-is autobiography - least of all himself. Evans must have packed more into his first 30 years than the rest of us achieve in 70: Certainly more marriages; more deals; more living on the edge.

Robert Evans has seen the highs and lows of Hollywood. The Paramount mountain remains a metaphor for his ups and downs as actor, producer and head of studios.

If you like Hollywood gossip, you'll love this - numerous relationships with a whole range of glamorous women from Ava Gardner to Ali McGraw to Raquel Welch (naming just three of many). Perhaps the most interesting relationships are those with men including Warren Beatty, Roman Polanski, Henry Kissinger and Jack Nicholson.

This book is more a series of anecdotes than a biography in strict chronological order. Some great stories and very entertaining.

It would be easy to say that Robert Evans is prone to exaggeration (some of the stories are a little wild), but he certainly has produced an entertaining book - perhaps the highlight of his creative life.

I enjoyed it, and it made me laugh.

The talking book is also worth listening to if you get the chance.

THE Hollywood Memoir
This has to be one the best inside Hollywood books ever written. Robert Evans Actor turned Paramount Production head turned the studio around from the dark uncertain days of the mid sixties to the glory of, Rosemary's Baby, The Godfather Pts 1 & 2 and Love Story. Evans cuts a path through Hollywood like a man possessed with a desire to see Paramount rise from the ashes of its bloated existence. The cast list is far greater than any Hollywood epic before or since as Evans counts Jack Nicholson, and Warren Beatty as close friends. His use of Godfather terminology and the importance of his brother highlight his passion for loyalty.

Although Evans has lead shall we say a full life the cost of this on him personally has been great. Divorce (many times), Public Disgrace on a murder charge that he had nothing to do with, and a predatory attitude towards women which is at times far from honourable. He counts his son Joshua as his greatest production but saw the breakdown of his marriage caused by a movie. This man was married to the movies and no-one else.

If you love the movies then by this book. It will certainly open your eyes to the goings on behind the scenes and in the ivory towers of Hollywood and one mans struggle to make great movies.