Robert Evans (1) (1930–2019)

To be honest I'd never heard of Robert Evans before, but this book came highly recommended in one of the lists of 'books about movies'. This review is about the audiobook, but since it's unabridged it doesn't really matter.

Robert Evans life is quite unique, he goes from a nobody to Hollywood Wunderkind to boss of Paramount Pictures while never having produced a single film. Only in Hollywood! This autobiography tells about the excessses, the marriages (especially to Ali McGraw), Hollywood's crazy world and the movie stars. Of course, the movies made at Paramount in the sixties and seventies like The Godfather and Rosemary's Baby also play an important role.

Evans doesn't shy away from things and is man enough to admit when he was wrong. The things he can tell us are very interesting for anyone wanting a closer look at The movie business in that period from an insider's perspective. And Evans didn't just perceive, he played ball. He narrates the audiobook himself and his background as an actor seems obvious. Evans is great at impersonating others and has a nice coarse, booming voice to listen to, with a staccato like delivery. I'm always weary when authors narrate their own books, but he has the voice acting capabilities that lack in so many other audiobooks.

Both Audiobook and book come highly recommended for any moviebuff. People who are interested but don't care for 500 pages of this, there is always the 2002 documentary: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303353/… (meer)