Notes on Beatty Thing
Last night's AFI Warren Beatty tribute at the Kodak theatre, which lasted three and a half hours, was an exceptional evening even by the emotionally gushy standards of such affairs. Or so says Pete Hammond, who's been to several of these shebangs over the years. A fantastic list of A-level talent and heavy-hitters, and much eloquence and with and warmth.
Here are some random notes which I'm not going to even try to shape into an article. This is just one recollection, and I'm not going to call over town to verify every last detail but most of this is probably on the money.
"Taped tributes from Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, Mike Nichols, James Toback, Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie and John McCain were played. There were specially shot clips of Beatty talking about his career that ran all through the show.
"The old legendary girlfriends from way back weren't there, live or on tape -- no Leslie Caron, no Michelle Phillips (or at least, I didn't see her), no Britt Eklund, no Joan Collins. Poor Natalie Wood is dead, of course.
Nobody mentioned or even privately discussed Peter Biskind's long-gestating book about Beatty, Hammond said, so I called Biskind to see how things are going. Fine, he said. He's finished Part Two, which starts with the making of Shampoo and obviously moves on to the present. Part One -- early life, starting out, early career -- is tougher because so many people who were around are dead. But the plan is to have it out by the fall of 2009.
"Al Pacino, Jane Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Diane Keaton, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Towne (who once showed me a "fat farm" version of a script he wrote for Beatty's Love Affair that was much better than the version that was ultimately shot) and Halle Berry delivered live remarks," Hammond reports.
"The show opened with Earl Scruggs and some bluegrass banjo players, in tribute to Bonnie and Clyde. The first person on, I think, was Jane Fonda. She never made a film with Beatty but said that Warren and she "did a screen test together for a Joshua Logan film that was never made." Nicholson showed up in shades a long black coat, looking a little tattered. Pacino presented the actual award to Beatty. Keaton said that of all her screen moments, she was proudest of the "don't leave me" train station scene from Reds.
"George McGovern was there, Bill Clinton was there, Gary Hart was there. it was kind of a McGovern campaign revival. Warren Christopher, Jerry Brown. Clinton came on, looked great and gave this amazing speech, mentioning Bulworth as an important film to him. USA Today's Anthony Breznican and Variety's Anne Thompson were there.
"Near the honoree's table, Beatty hugged sister Shirley MacLaine for the longest time...they just stood there and hugged and didn't let go.
"Somebody -- it may been Don Cheadle -- somebody came out and said that as directors, Clint Eastwood and Warren Beatty are together typically require 140 takes per scene -- Eastwood does one and Warren does 139.
Tarantino, whom Beatty blew off as far as playing the lead role in Kill Bill was concerned, "said W.B. represents the kind of thing that Hollywood isn't any more," says Hammond. Dustin Hoffman went on forever. Michael J. Pollard came up and said something colorful and incoherent, which was kind of cool.
The gift bag "was a collection of Beatty movies on DVD" and one of those video table frames that runs a slide show of different shots.
There was one clip shown from The Fortune. Lee Grant, who at one time was apparently working on a documentary portrait of Beatty, was not there. Ishtar director-writer Elaine May, says Hammond, was there also.
Nobody mentioned Barack Obama the entire night. What...out of deference to Beatty's friendship with John McCain?
Beatty thanked the film industry for leading him to wife Annette Bening, "who has given me the most important thing of all, which is her love." He said he was "particularly humbled by the presence" of McGovern, Hart, Brown and Clinton, and at one point described himself as "an old-time, unrepentant, unreconstructed, tax-and-spend, bleeding-heart, die-hard liberal, liberal, liberal Democrat."
The event was a drinks-and-dinner deal that involved unscrewing and removing most of the seats in the orchestra to make room for tables. A much abridged version of the Beatty tribute -- what, 90 minutes' worth? -- will air 6.25 on the USA Network at 9 pm.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 13, 2008 at 10:56 AM
comment #1
DarthCorleone
says ...
Math nerd alert: if Warren Beatty and Clint Eastwood average 140 takes per scene, the joke would require that Beatty uses 279 takes - not 139 - to Clint's one.
Posted by DarthCorleone
at June 13, 2008 12:53 PM
comment #2
Midwest Doug
says ...
If Nicholson looked tattered, he must have stayed for the entirety of the Lakers debacle before heading to the Kodak.
Posted by Midwest Doug
at June 13, 2008 1:12 PM
comment #3
MilkMan
says ...
Was Joyce Hyser there? And if she was, was she wearing a raincoat?
Posted by MilkMan
at June 13, 2008 1:17 PM
comment #4
samizdat
says ...
The Clinton stuff is interesting because I remember Beatty as being rather critical of Clinton while promoting Bullworth. I remember him citing his disappointment with Clinton's second term as being a primary inspiration for doing the film. What began with great hope had ended up as just another disappointment. Lots of comments along the lines of "The guy's won by a landslide and doesn't have to worry about re-election, but you look at the administration and don't sense a burning desire to fulfill the dreams that were there at the beginning of his Presidency..."
Posted by samizdat
at June 13, 2008 1:22 PM
comment #5
alynch
says ...
I assume there was no mention of McCabe and Mrs. Miller?
Posted by alynch
at June 13, 2008 1:34 PM
comment #6
Gaydos
says ...
I'm proud of my colleague Steve Chagollans' edit package ie Warrenography from yesterday's paper: http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=awardcentral&jump=features&id=afiwarrenbeatty
Posted by Gaydos
at June 13, 2008 2:26 PM
comment #7
Chicago48
says ...
Has WB done anything lately to warrant all these awards?
Posted by Chicago48
at June 13, 2008 4:09 PM
comment #8
berkguru
says ...
WB is a dinosaur that hasnt made anything good in over 20 years.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Posted by berkguru
at June 13, 2008 4:26 PM
comment #9
EOTW
says ...
Milkman, fill me in. What does Joyce Hyser have to do with WB? Did he bang her out in the 80s or something?
Posted by EOTW
at June 13, 2008 4:28 PM
comment #10
T. S. Idiot
says ...
Who sang "You're So Vain"?
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at June 13, 2008 4:48 PM
comment #11
MilkMan
says ...
You're kidding, right, T.S.? Carly Simon.
Joyce Hyser is indeed the leading lady of one of the more pernicious rumors concerning Old Golden Tools romantic highlight reel.
What has WB done in the last 20 years to justify one accolade after the next? That is a damn good question. I'm assuming all this crack massaging has to do with what WB did durintg the first 20 years of his career. This is just another case of an old fogey calling in chits, trying to fill in time before he shuffles off to that Big Bedroom in the Sky, a Monster Ego's last stand against time's dustbin. If WB hadn't spent the last 25 years playing coy with everyone, doing his best impersonation of the ingenues he's spent most of his life hanging around with, then he might have made something worthwhile (*cough* Boogie Nights *cough*). I am not a Bugsy fan. Bugsy was the world's most expensive date and Bulworth was just another excuse for WB to martyr himself on celluloid. And never trust a man who insists on being shot as if he's Marlene Deitrich. As far as late 60s/early to mid 70s era Leading Men go, I would put WB somewhere after Ryan O'Neal. Now there is someone who could use a few lifetime achievement awards. The Driver? Barry Lyndon? Paper Moon? Ryan O'Neal was a great leading man.
Posted by MilkMan
at June 13, 2008 5:27 PM
comment #12
Jamie
says ...
Would love to see Julie Christie's segment. Wonder if thats awkward for Mrs. Beatty.
Posted by Jamie
at June 13, 2008 6:14 PM
comment #13
Mgmax, le Corbeau
says ...
"What has WB done in the last 20 years to justify one accolade after the next?"
Town and Country is a masterpiece.
Just kidding. Yeah, why not life achievement for Jon Voight? He's worked steady, in good things and bad (his FDR in Pearl Harbor is hilariously awful, and I'm a semi-defender of that movie), but could you really argue that the few movies Beatty has released with an eyedropper since Reds are a more impressive body of work than Voight's steady employment?
Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau
at June 14, 2008 6:15 AM
comment #14
Mgmax, le Corbeau
says ...
"Lots of comments along the lines of "The guy's won by a landslide and doesn't have to worry about re-election, but you look at the administration and don't sense a burning desire to fulfill the dreams that were there at the beginning of his Presidency..."
Of course, the fact that that wasn't true (he never even won by a majority, let alone a landslide) and Clinton was facing Republican majorities in both houses at least part of the time might have something to do with it. If Beatty doesn't even understand that his supposed deep insight into politics isn't worth much.
Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau
at June 14, 2008 6:18 AM
comment #15
Gaydos
says ...
From age 22 to 37, Rimbaud didn't write a single damn poem worth remembering. What a hack!
When did "the last 20 years" become the measuring stick for a person's lifetime achievements? By that standard, King Vidor, Frank Capra, Gregory Peck, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan and (fill in your choice here) might all be found wanting.
Maybe those last two are the tip-off to the Beatty oeuvre: he's a rock and roll artist and the fertile period for most rockers is age 18-38, then off to the greatest hits circuit.
Doesn't mean "Satisfaction" isn't the greatest record ever made, doesn't mean Warren didn't rock the biz, when he was fab.
Posted by Gaydos
at June 14, 2008 7:54 AM
comment #16
Tim
says ...
Alright, Milkman - give up the goods already. Enough dancin'. What's with Beatty/Hyser?
Posted by Tim
at June 14, 2008 9:05 AM
comment #17
jany
says ...
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Posted by jany
at April 22, 2011 7:05 AM