:46:03
Now go back and give me a movie.
:46:07
The next morning
I told the New York honchos...
:46:10
...that the picture couldn't
be ready for Christmas.
:46:12
I didn't need a phone
to hear their screams.
:46:16
Coppola?
Of course he agreed with them.
:46:18
"You've got it for Christmas.
Don't worry. Evans is crazy.
:46:21
He wants to change everything.
Hear this: He wants me to make it longer."
:46:27
Then I get my orders, and unalterable.
:46:30
"Evans, the picture is to be ready
for Christmas, and that is it."
:46:35
Fine. I quit.
:46:37
A year before, they would've
booted me out on my ass.
:46:40
Yeah, but Love Story saved Paramount.
And I was their fair-haired boy.
:46:45
When you've only got one shot, either you
pull down that beautiful brass ring...
:46:50
...or you get them brass knuckles
in the balls. You got no second time around.
:46:55
To Francis
and the entire company's chagrin...
:46:58
...Bluhdorn backed me,
and backed me all the way.
:47:02
Once again, the eastern seaboard is reminded
that winter is never over until Jack Frost...
:47:07
... gets a hotfoot that will send him
scurrying on his way. The winter-weary...
:47:11
It was the morning
of The Godfather premiere.
:47:13
Outside, New York was suffering through
the worst March blizzard of the decade.
:47:17
I was parked at the Carlyle Hotel,
making last-minute preparations...
:47:21
...when Ali came in from the cold.
:47:24
Against her wishes,
I'd packed her off to Texas...
:47:26
...to star with Steve McQueen
in The Getaway.
:47:29
Two months had passed, and I hadn't
once bothered to visit her on location.
:47:34
Quickly, we embraced.
:47:36
Instead of kissing her, I whispered, wait here.
I'm expecting a call.
:47:41
Weeks ago, I had invited
Henry Kissinger to the premiere.
:47:44
My timing couldn't have been worse.
:47:46
The North Vietnamese offensive had just
begun and, naturally, he begged off.
:47:50
Hello, this is Robert Evans.
May I please speak to Dr. Kissinger?
:47:53
"No. Dr. Kissinger's with the president.
He'll have to call you back."
:47:57
Have him call me as soon as possible.
Please, it's urgent.