Ths is a reader’s response to last week’s LA Times profile on Matthew GoodE by Mary McNamara.
Below is the concluding paragraph of her op piece. Highest compliment on Matthew’s performance. Full article under the cut.
Also Deedee Messana of Sherman Oaks wrote
Photo: Miller Mobley/Paramount+
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Mary McNamara’s outstanding analysis notwithstanding, I’m not sure that Robert Evans would not have approved of Matthew Goode playing him in “The Offer.”
Although this flyover-nobody did not know Mr. Evans personally, I was lucky enough to have a small correspondence with him on Twitter between 2013 and 2017.
I nearly had a stroke (which would have smashed the oversized Evans-like sunglasses I also like) when he followed me and then felt another coming on when he responded several times to my thanks for the follow.
Over the years, I was just a bit less shocked when he would thoughtfully respond to my tweets, which were about decidedly non-Hollywood subjects. I even got a bit accustomed to the occasional direct message and greeting.
Yes, he was an older man by the time I made his online acquaintance. But he seemed to be an older man who perhaps was never as wholly outrageous as his publicly wild lifestyle might have suggested.
The Kid definitely remains in the picture, portrayed by an actor who might capture more of the Evans behind the sunglasses and the headlines. He just might have liked that very much.
Mary Stanik Tucson
Playing the kid
Thank you for Mary McNamara’s breathtaking portrait of Matthew Goode as Hollywood icon Robert Evans [“Matthew Goode Amps It Up,” May 8]. The photographer [Dania Maxwell] perfectly captured the drama, class and glamour of a bygone era and personified the depth brought to the role by this amazing actor.
lupusinfabulauk [Photographer Carolus Tonibus] By popular demand, another photo of #matthewgoode from the London premiere of #topgunmaverick, and one from 2009 #venicefilmfestival press conference of A Single Man. Plenty more where the latter came from.
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2022 and 2009 ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Rosalyn51 Note: Carolus, thank you so much for your generosity in answering my request (Venice Film Fest) and more Hope you’ll photograph Goodey again! x
Transcript of Robert Evans’ “impassioned speech” at the Gulf and Western board meeting to save Paramount from being sold off.
Robert Evans [Matthew GoodE]: Thank you, Barry.
Hello, everyone. I’m Robert Evans, Senior Vice President of Paramount Pictures. Now, look, last few years have been rough for Hollywood. I’m sure the only question on your minds is, should you sell short or go long? And I understand that. I do. You’re a Fortune 500 company. You’re worried about your reputation. But take a look around this table. You’re politicians, innovators, captains of industry. None of you are sitting here because you played it safe. And you all know in some ways that the most important tool to help you in your pursuits is loyalty. But you don’t want investors looking for a good time on a park bench. No, you want to develop a deep relationship. You want to create trust and love. But you can’t do that with empty promises. No, you have to… you have to feed their souls. Now, how do you do that? Well, that’s hard. That is hard. Right now, the soul of America is broken. War, assassination, civil rights protests. We’re hurting. We’re hurting. And people don’t trust politics or big business. So what can America look up to? Well, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you. Excuse me, Charlie. Paramount. Take a look at the logo. We’re the mountaintop. We’re the goddamn Statue of Liberty because you can give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and we’ll give them two hours of respite from the harsh realities of this world, complete with… with popcorn and Coca-Cola. And we’ll do what other people can’t, we’ll entertain them. We’ll give them escape. We’ll feed their souls until they’re fit to burst, and that’s something that you can’t quantify by checking the stock on the daily ticker. So sell short or go long. Well, a year ago, the answer might have been obvious. But then came “Love Story,” which has grossed over a hundred million dollars and fed the souls of America. And people might say, you know, “Evans, you only get lucky once.” At Paramount, we make our own luck. “Love Story” was the second biggest selling book of the decade beaten by only one other. And let me tell you, gentlemen, you do not throw in the towel. You do not throw in the towel when your fighter is about to land the second part of a one, two combination, and that right cross. Which is gonna bring us the championship, that’s gonna bring Paramount right back to its glory, well, that’s the biggest selling book of all time. It’s “The Godfather” and it’s ours. It’s ours! We can feed their souls because we know people want more than sugar or auto parts or whatever else Gulf and Western does. They want… they want stories, Charlie. They want escape. They want love. And they want guns, romance, and violence, “Love Story” and… “The Godfather."
Charlie Bluhdorn (Burn Gorman): Is that it, Evans?
Robert Evans: That’s it, Charlie.
Charlie: Then get out.
Robert: Thank you, gentlemen.
# # # # # # # #
Did Robert Evans convince Bluhdorn not to sell Paramount?
According to Michael Balderston of What to Watch “Fact vs Fiction: The Offer episode 6 — was Al Ruddy fired from The Godfather?” May 19, 2022
The fiction: The rumors that Gulf + Western was looking to sell Paramount came to near fruition in the final episode. Even more desperate to offload the movie studio after the disastrous Colombo press conference, Lapidus (Colin Hanks) and Bluhdorn meet with a prospective buyer, a Texas oil baron, who gives them a below-market offer. Unfortunately, that is their only offer.
When Evans arrives to talk to Bluhdorn about the potential sale, he bursts into a meeting where the board is about to vote on the deal, giving an impassioned speech about the value of movies and how The Godfather is going to save the studio and boost Gulf + Western. It works. Bluhdorn rejects the offer and Paramount stays under the Gulf + Western banner.
So… did Robert Evans convince Bluhdorn and the Gulf + Western board not to sell Paramount with his passion for movies?
The fact: This appears to be fiction.
While Gulf + Western did consider selling Paramount a couple of times, this was in the late 1960s — not during the making of The Godfather. And, although Robert Evans was leading the studio during the 60s, he wasn’t what saved Paramount. Instead, it was a business move by Bluhdorn.
In 1970, Gulf + Western acquired shares of the Italian real estate company Societá Generale Immobiliare (SGI). Bluhdorn worked with SGI’s accountant Michele Sindona, who had connections to the mafia and the Pope (Giovanni Montini/Paul VI), on a deal that saw SGI buy an interest in Paramount’s backlot. This gave Gulf + Western some breathing room on the Paramount debts, which were paid off later that year following the release of Paramount’s hit movie Love Story.
If this sounds familiar it might be because the Gulf + Western/SGI deal was an inspiration for The Godfather Part III — the Vatican was a shareholder in SGI at the time of the Gulf + Western deal…
VootSelect They’re in the last lap now! With a new enemy around, how will Al Ruddy and his team get ‘The Godfather’ to the big screen? Watch and find out.
