My phone interview with producer and former studio chief David Picker came off without a hitch. The subject was “Musts, Maybes and Nevers“, his just-published book which was celebrated last night at a party in Beverly Hills. We kicked it around, of course, but it was mainly an excuse to hope from topic to topic. There was so much to get into. My admiration of Richard Lester‘s Juggernaut (’74), which Picker produced. My evolved opinion of Lenny and particularly Dustin Hofffman‘s performance. George Stevens‘ The Greatest Story Ever Told and the hardening of the creative arteries that happens to almost every filmmaker. The possibility that Paramount might boot Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street into 2014. Picker’s writing habits. Robert Altman, Stanley Kramer, et. al. Again, the mp3.