The Kid Stays in the Picture

A whirlwind journey through Hollywood’s golden age, from the Paramount lot to the heights of 1970s cinema

Robert Evans, a former actor turned studio executive, recounts his meteoric rise to become head of production at Paramount Pictures in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Through a series of audacious gambles and keen instincts, Evans helps transform Paramount from a failing studio to the most successful in Hollywood, overseeing classics like The Godfather, Chinatown, and Love Story.

Evans’ conversational and unapologetic narrative style brings to life the glamour, excess, and behind-the-scenes drama of Hollywood’s most iconic era. The memoir crackles with celebrity anecdotes and insider dealings, while also exploring the personal costs of success and the fickle nature of fame. As Evans’ fortunes rise and fall, the reader is given a front-row seat to the triumphs and tragedies that shaped both his career and the American film industry.

Co-production with Patrick Milling Smith, Barbara Broccoli, Robert Evans, Michael G Wilson & Brian Carmody, in association with Complicité.

© Johan Persson