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Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America

Does Warren Beatty deserve a spot in the pantheon of Hollywood greats?

If Hollywood鈥檚 a gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel would do well to watch out for Warren Beatty. As depicted by Peter Biskind in his new biography Star, the 72-year-old actor/director/producer/writer/lothario might not devour small children, but will assuredly hijack directors鈥 chairs, steal screenwriting credits, bankrupt studios, and canoodle every woman in sight 鈥 Gretel included.

Though its subject is as well known for his prowess with ladies 鈥 Julie Christie, Diane Keaton, Madonna, and, by Biskind鈥檚 math, 12,772 others (click for some skeptical commentary on this number), 鈥淪tar鈥 focuses as much on Beatty the Hollywood professional as on Beatty the lover.

鈥淸H]ow many defining motion pictures does a filmmaker have to make to be considered great?鈥 Suskind asks. 鈥淏eatty can claim five as a producer 鈥 鈥Bonnie and Clyde,鈥 鈥楽hampoo,鈥 鈥楬eaven Can Wait,鈥 鈥Reds,鈥 and 鈥楤ugsy鈥.... You can quibble with any one of these, but all together, it鈥檚 a full house.鈥 But buyer beware: The author of 1999鈥檚 鈥淓asy Riders, Raging Bulls鈥 鈥 which was a love letter to America鈥檚 artsy, European-influenced, director-fueled 1970s cinema 鈥 Biskind is as enamored of Beatty鈥檚 oeuvre as some women seem to have been of the dramatic swoosh of hair and skintight jeans of George Roundy, the clueless, ladykilling hairdresser of 鈥淪hampoo.鈥

鈥淏eginning as a metaphorical apologia for Beatty鈥檚 own conduct,鈥 Biskind writes, 鈥溾楽hampoo鈥 evolves into an auto-critique, as George devolves from a thoughtless hedonist to a plaything of others, to his own victim.鈥 Don鈥檛 be vexed by the florid prose 鈥 Beatty is at his peak in this film, and Biskind鈥檚 dead-on discussion of it is his book鈥檚 highlight. A marginal actor with leading-man looks, Beatty had followed sister Shirley MacLaine from Arlington, Va., to Hollywood and outgrew his reputation as a second-rate James Dean to produce and star in the 1967 blockbuster 鈥淏onnie and Clyde.鈥 This genre-busting, ultraviolent tragicomedy was an unlikely hit, but 鈥淪hampoo鈥 鈥 a film whose ridiculous, 鈥Saturday Night Live鈥-worthy premise (that gay hairdresser is actually straight!) is a knowing indictment of both its own star鈥檚 promiscuity and the vacuous 鈥70s 鈥 was an unlikely cultural touchstone. If Biskind retreads material he already covered in 鈥淓asy Riders,鈥 so what? Generation Y鈥檚 dim memories of Beatty as that guy from 鈥Dick Tracy鈥 are fading, and there鈥檚 nothing wrong with another history lesson.

But the history is not always flattering. Beatty was, in both his professional and personal lives, often considerably less than a stand-up guy. But Biskind rarely indicts him. On the actor鈥檚 pressuring of girlfriend Joan Collins to have an abortion in 1960: 鈥淭hey both knew they weren鈥檛 ready for the responsibility.鈥 On his refusal to cast French actress Leslie Caron, whose marriage he鈥檇 help break up, as Bonnie in 1965: 鈥淸T]he actor disabused Caron of her belief that the part was hers.鈥 On the murky deal he negotiated for a disproportionate share of the profits made by 鈥淪hampoo鈥 compared with those of director Hal Ashby and screenwriter Robert Towne: 鈥 鈥楽hampoo鈥 helped everyone connected with it, some more than others.鈥 Every betrayal Beatty seems to stumble into 鈥 every ex-girlfriend shunned, every codirecting credit finagled, every budget overage poorly spent 鈥 is met with a shrug. 鈥淚 realized that trying to 鈥榚xplain鈥 Beatty would be futile,鈥 Biskind writes in an introduction.

Still, if not a psychoanalyst, the writer is a revisionist. 鈥淲hy Warren Beatty?鈥 he asks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 distressing to have to make a case for his importance just because no one under forty (maybe fifty?) knows who he is.鈥 Biskind鈥檚 all too right. After 鈥淪hampoo,鈥 a depressed Beatty 鈥渒ept returning to the idea of a romantic fantasy ... a comedy of resurrection.鈥 The result, 1979鈥檚 鈥淗eaven Can Wait鈥 鈥 Beatty plays a dead football player who is reincarnated to, uh, lead his team to Super Bowl victory 鈥 did sell tickets, and did win an Oscar (for, ahem, Best Art Direction). But when Biskind insists that this light comedy 鈥渋s about acting in a larger sense 鈥 trying on identities, looking for the right fit between inner and outer,鈥 his narrative creaks. Unlike his peers 鈥 Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, even George Lucas 鈥 Beatty never inspired a cult following. His films鈥 promotional posters don鈥檛 adorn dormitory walls.

But does this mean his legacy is meager? Mas o menos: Beatty took home a Best Directing Oscar for 鈥淩eds,鈥 an overlong biopic of Communist John Reed, but the film was lost in the midst of the conservative Reagan revolution. 鈥淚shtar鈥 was an expensive flop. 鈥淒ick Tracy鈥 made money, but succeeded more as a McDonald鈥檚 tie-in than a film. 鈥淏ugsy鈥 lost money, but won Oscars (although for Best Art Direction and Costume Design). 鈥Bulworth鈥 was racist garbage disguised as liberal social commentary. 2001鈥檚 鈥淭own & Country,鈥 Beatty鈥檚 most recent film, was a expensive flop. Meanwhile, Gary Hart, Beatty鈥檚 favorite presidential candidate, was sidelined two decades ago, Beatty鈥檚 own on-again, off-again political ambitions seem permanently off-again, and he never made his dream picture, a Howard Hughes biopic (Scorsese beat him to the punch with 2004鈥檚 鈥淭he Aviator鈥). Could it be that this lady鈥檚 man鈥檚 greatest post-鈥漇hampoo鈥 success is his stable May-December marriage to Annette Bening and the four children it has produced?

Biskind can鈥檛 escape it: Aesthetically, Warren Beatty is like cabbage. He matured early and, after a glorious spring, wilted.

Justin Moyer is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.

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