:19:00
A gamble? Sure.
It paid off. Roman loved it.
:19:04
But then the fights began.
You know, fighting is healthy.
:19:08
If everyone has too much reverence for
each other, or the material...
:19:12
Check it out and think about it.
Invariably, it turns out underwhelming.
:19:17
By the end of the first week's shooting,
Roman was a week behind schedule.
:19:22
Everyone from Bluhdorn to Bill Castle
wanted me to throw him off the picture.
:19:28
Roman's dailies were weird. They
touched off an ominous sense of fright.
:19:33
One I'd never seen in film before.
:19:37
At the same time, Bill Castle
was pressing the right buttons...
:19:40
...getting the New York brass unnerved on
our Polish discovery, my Polish discovery.
:19:45
We're 10 days into shooting, and
Roman was five days behind schedule.
:19:49
"Fire the Polack," were the words
from New York. Fire him? Fuck you.
:19:54
He goes, I go.
:19:57
For a moment, I thought I'd have
to pay my own plane fare back.
:20:00
I grabbed Roman aside.
Listen to me carefully, Roman.
:20:05
My ass ain't on the line.
My ass is out the door, and so are you.
:20:09
Now pick up the fucking pace
or we'll both end up in Warsaw.
:20:12
Bluhdorn and company weren't the
only ones screaming about Roman.
:20:16
Another power entered the scene.
:20:19
My secretary comes in
with an urgent message:
:20:22
"Frank Sinatra's on the horn. He must
speak with you." I picked the phone up.
:20:27
"I'm pulling Mia from your picture, Evans,
if she ain't finished by November 14.
:20:32
She's starting in my picture
on the 17. Got it straight?"
:20:35
His picture was The Detective, the
project that launched my producing career.
:20:39
Now it was about to sink it.
:20:41
Frank, you don't understand. We're
not gonna be finished till mid-February.
:20:45
"Then she's quitting.
Don't fuck around with me.
:20:49
We go back too far. She's my old lady,
she'll do as I tell her."
:20:52
Before I could say anything,
he hangs the phone up.
:20:55
Well, Frank didn't bark, he bit.
Bit Mia pretty good.