Robert Evans and ADA film project (circa 1969)

Call me a masochist, but not only did I read Evan's bio, I even watched the HBO movie. And then showered.

In his letters, Hemingway mentions maliciously, per usual, that John Huston had once told him he had been a professional (or first rate collegiate) football player. Papa noted that that was how Hollywood people always talk: if they played some sandlot ball as a kid, by the time they got to Hollywood it had magnified into college or pro.

When a Hollywood writer, agent, producer, or director says they've "read" Ada, or Ulysses, or the Bible, it generally means that they own a copy. Maybe they read a chapter, or a paragraph, or a line.

So at a party somewhere, somebody told Evans that Ada was the next box office explosion written by that guy who wrote Lolita. And the rest is history.

Andrew (not Andy) Brown

One thing I have never seen mentioned on this email group is the
discussion of 'Ada' in Robert Evan's autobiography "The Kid Stays In
The Picture". According to the legendary producer, he flew overnight
to Europe to read the final draft of 'Ada', with a view to purchasing
the film rights. I seem to remember he claims to have read it all in
one night and reluctantly passed on the opportunity to buy it as "it
might have been a work of genius" but "I sure as hell couldn't
understand it". He notes with pride that "to this day, they still
can't figure out how to shoot the damn thing!".

Heh. Anyway, I read The Kid Stays In The Picture a couple of years
ago, so that's probably a highly inaccurate recollection.... a highly
recommended autobiography though, especially as the people on this
list are probably fans of "unreliable narrators"..... ;-)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0263172/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9b258ZmI9dXxwbj0wfHE9cm9iZXJ0IGV2YW5zfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=2;ft=20;fm=1

Andy