"That story was a nightmare," recalls Guy McElwaine, the former Columbia Pictures chief who was then Beatty's press agent. "We thought we'd worked out a strategy to deal with Rex, but obviously it didn't work." The story even tweaked McElwaine, portraying him as a professional hand-holder with a pink-walled office and a chocolate-brown Mercedes. "My office was done in beige and my Mercedes was maroon," protests McElwaine. "But that gives you an idea of how accurate everything else was."
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Bonnie & Clyde & Joe & Pauline
This year is the 30th anniversary of the release of "Bonnie and Clyde." Sunday's Calendar detailed the film's approval, financing and casting struggles. Today's second part, told mostly through the words of key participants, tells how the film earned its status as a classic after initial reviews nearly buried it.
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There were a few promising signs. The New Yorker's Penelope Gilliatt liked the film. When it opened in Los Angeles, Times film critic Charles Champlin conceded it was "the work of talented and dedicated people with a point of view." The most dramatic turnaround came from Morgenstern, who saw the film again and wrote a new review, recanting his pan of the previous week. In October, Pauline Kael wrote an impassioned defense of the film in the New Yorker. But by then Warners was already booking a new film, "Reflections in a Golden Eye," into the theaters where "Bonnie and Clyde" was playing.
"They didn't understand the movie," recalls Joe Hyams, a longtime Warners publicity executive. "On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the biggest culture shock for Warners, it was a 9." By late October, most theaters had stopped booking the film. If not for Beatty's persistence, that might have been the end of it.
ARTHUR PENN, DIRECTOR: It was discouraging. Time magazine said we used money from the wrong era. It's true. When we were shooting the first robbery scene, we didn't have the right bills. And I said, "To hell with it, let's just shoot it. Who's going to care?" Well, Time cared!
WARREN BEATTY: I was surprised when the Rex Reed piece came out. When I'd talked to him he'd seemed so dewy-eyed. I didn't really understand what we understand now about the media. That type of character assassination was just coming into vogue.
JOE HYAMS: Warren was breaking Warners' [expletives] 24 hours a day. Dick Lederer called him the mosquito because he was always buzzing around. He worked the film all over the world, cajoling sales managers, convincing theater owners. Warners did 25 different ad campaigns for the film before he was satisfied. I remember seeing Warren and Lederer in the office at 2 a.m., their sleeves rolled up, working on new ideas.
