Wonder Boy Or Womanizing Bastard?

I have no idea how accurate Peter Biskind's bio of Warren Beatty is.  Neither does Biskind, since he will tell a story and then have someone else--often Beatty--deny it.

Still, the book leaves the impression that Beatty is a major league narcissist.  Someone who seduces others--in love and business--and tosses them aside when he has no more use for them.

There's no question Beatty bedded hundreds, perhaps thousands of women.  This is a guy who'd chase after anything in a skirt.  He also spent a lot of time on national politics, being involved behind the scenes with George McGovern and Gary Hart's campaigns.

But I don't really care much about that.  I never worked with him, I never voted for him, and he never tried to sleep with me, so all that's left are his films.  How are they?  Not bad.

Beatty was famous about a decade before his contemporaries.  His first film, Splendor In The Grass (1961), made him a matinee idol at only 24.  Others of comparable age, such as Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman, would have to wait until the late 60s/early 70s before they became movie stars.

With all that power early, he became picky.  He's only starred in 22 films--many that he developed for years, even decades--in a career that was active for 40 years. He's also, arguably, had only three bona fide hits.  Still, all that time he's been on the A-list, and, to be fair, many of his flops are interesting.

He almost lost it all with his early choices.  The six films that followed Splendor flopped. (He also withdrew from What's New Pussycat?--the title came from how he'd greet women on the phone.  The film became a huge hit).  That's when he decided to produce.  He's arguably a better producer than actor.  In general, he started wearing many hats, including director and writer (or at least working with writers and taking credit).

The first film he produced was a game changer, Bonnie And Clyde (1967). It pointed toward a new direction for Hollywood, and ultimately became a blockbuster, but Warner Brothers almost didn't give it a full release--it took a lot of pushing from Beatty.  That's what a good producer does.

The next several films that he made, but didn't produce, failed. Some of them are pretty good--particularly McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) (he fought quite a bit with director Robert Altman, who made movies very differently from how Beatty did--but then Beatty tried to control all his films) and The Parallax View (1974). Then he started producing again, and made two huge comedies, Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978).  He followed those with Reds (1981), where he played John Reed, an American communist in the early 1900s.  Not a big hit, but well-respected.  Beatty won an Oscar for Best Director.  He was at the top of his game.

He didn't come out with another film until Ishtar (1987), his most notorious flop, though by no means his worst film  It was Beatty's gift to director-writer Elaine May, who'd helped him with his last few movies.  May had directed in the past, but always fought with the studios.  Beatty figured he could produce and get beyond those problems, but he and May ended up fighting as well, as the shoot got out of control.  Still, for all its flaws (such as no third act, and the silly conceit that Beatty is awkward with women), there's a lot to like.  It's no classic, but it deserves a reappraisal.

Trying to get his career back on track, Beatty made a big studio film designed to be a hit--Dick Tracy (1990). While it made decent money, it was a step backward.  In any case, who cares about Dick Tracy?  Beatty made a bigger comeback with Bugsy, featuring one of his strongest performances.  Biskind considers it the best film of 1991, but that's too much--it's no Goodfellas or Godfather.  Nevertheless, Beatty showed, even in his 50s, he could still pull it off.

After notorious bachelor Beatty married Bugsy costar Annette Bening and started a family, he never really did another good film (not that I'm saying there's a connection).  His next movie was something that didn't need to be remade (again), Love Affair (1994). No one cared, even if it featured a cameo from a frail Katharine Hepburn.  Next came Bulworth (1998).  Ugh.  There are those, including Biskind, who defend this film, but it's horrible.  What could have been a spritely satirical comedy (or just a good straight comedy) turned into undigested globs of politics dumped in the audience's laps, leaving behind a poorly-plotted, inhumanly acted mess. Finally, Beatty revisited some of the comedic territory of Shampoo in Town & Country (2001).  But with a shoot and budget completely out of control, and a constantly changing script, it's one of the biggest disasters in the history of movies.

He hasn't done anything since.  Now in his 70s, perhaps he'll come out of retirement.  But I don't know if he'd be willing not to be the lead, and not to have control.  For instance, he turned down the supporting title role in Kill Bill.  That would have been interesting.

Looking back, one of the reasons he didn't make that many films (aside from procrastination--he was considered for or attached to just about every major film Hollywood did for a couple decades) was due to his style.  He believed good films came from the clash of personalities, and liked to argue every step of the way.  With the writer, the director, the studio, the editor, etc. As a director himself, he believed in shooting as much as he could and discovering what he had in post.  It sounds dangerous, but seemed to work for him.

As an actor, he's talented, but limited.  He's good at playing awkward, naive characters.  His greatest talent may be at light comedy. He's not so good at strong passion, or character roles that require him to change his inner core.  He recognized his limitations and generally stayed with his range.

He may not have made that many films, but he made a handful of memorable ones, and you can't ask for much more than that.