“Why is this a dark secret? It’s just a movie.”
Ryan O’Neal, who died this week at the age of 82, was a smart, kind-hearted man who was confused by the contradictions of Hollywood. While nervously waiting for the release of love story Five decades ago, he respected the veil of silence, but was also confused by it.
“love story is on its own blacklist, but I don’t understand why,” he noted.
The film was, of course, the surprise hit of the year, but even the bestseller it was based on was suddenly on the “don’t talk” list.
Why the secret?
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Compared to today’s Amazon and Apple world, Hollywood in the 1970s was a small town love story should be sorry. Every studio rejected the script, and apparently every “money actor” turned down the lead role. The film’s original director lied and said the script had “emphasized”. The author denied his credit. Paramount’s CEO stipulated that every dollar spent over the $2 million budget would come from his studio boss’s salary.
O’Neal himself was told that his key scene with co-star Ali MacGraw would be overshot. It was also rewritten under the influence of a new score.
O’Neal spent five relatively quiet years there Peyton Placebut his switch to features now seemed a risky venture.
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Natural, love story would make O’Neal a star and land him roles for filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick and Peter Bogdanovich and others.
O’Neal’s obituaries suggest he was the one love story part after an intensive decisive round. O’Neal even thought it was a “job,” and the new director, Arthur Hiller, a quiet Canadian, agreed to hire him because he was out of options and had a start date in sight.
His co-star MacGraw agreed to the casting, but she did not approve of the casting and complicated the decision-making process by her surprising collaboration with Robert Evans, the production manager.
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In the confusion, no one had officially given the go-ahead, so as Evans’ top subordinate, I went through the paperwork so no one would notice.
Furthermore, with all its shortcomings, love story provided effective counterprogramming for the various wannabes Easy driver Sequel in pre-production. A romance between a rich boy and a poor girl seemed like a good answer Midnight Cowboyand the poignant script had its own subtle influence that missed difficult story sections.
But love story had to survive a chain reaction of scorn from story snobs. Author Erich Segal decided to forego recognition until his novel reached the bestseller list. Writing a novel based on the screenplay was actually the studio’s idea, not Segal’s, and the studio heavily promoted the book. Always a shy professor, Segal enjoyed appearing on the Today show and Johnny Carson. But since he also taught classics at Yale, he felt that he would lose his job after becoming a “pop” writer.
He was right. When Yale refused to take up his term, he was effectively fired. Segal moved to Britain and made a lot of money from sequels love story and other films (Yellow submarine was a).
He admitted that Hollywood was good to him, but it was a difficult relationship.
Source: Deadline
Bernice Bonaparte is an author and entertainment journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a passion for pop culture and a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest entertainment news, Bernice has become a trusted source for information on the entertainment industry.
