The legendary producer writes about his greatest work. Himself.

As egos go, Robert Evans is the mountain to your average Hollywood luvvie’s molehill. We’re talking extraordinarily large, and he’s not ashamed to say it. Still, if someone’s going to dish the Hollywood dirt over 462 pages then who better than this legendary bad boy?

An actor before he was made head of Paramount studios in the 60s, to the disdain of most of the industry, Evans produced the likes of The Godfather, Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby. We all know how debauched Hollywood is, so it’s no surprise that he slips into a life of drugs, sex, crime and mental instability soon after. In fact, it’s the main reason to read the book.

Brash, amusing and enthralling, The Kid is unsurprisingly one-sided but does a good job of depicting the downside of Evans’ high life, as well as his admirable resolve to stay in the movies. Evans is a man who’s got mogul written through him like a stick of rock. The most expensive stick of rock around, naturally. Laura Bushell 30 January 03

The Kid Stays in the Picture: A Hollywood Life by Robert Evans, published by Faber & Faber 03 February 03.