Page 9 - JIMMY REARDON LETTER TO CHICAGO CRITICS

ffffff

River had experienced a lot of life before we met on the set of “JIMMY REAR-

DON,” but it was not until Fox marketing executives and Fox publicity decided to

change our movie, saying it was basically an embarrassment, that River felt shame.

I was branded a dificult director who had delivered an “un-releasable” movie that

had to be “ixed” by the newly installed Island President Schwartz affably working

with the Fox publicity department.

“On the street,” as the Hollywood saying goes, Schwartz and Goldberg were

known to be “saving” the movie. They sure weren’t saving my career. They made

sure that was “over.” (Of course it wasn’t. Here I am.)

By the time Fox inally distributed our movie in 1988, it wasn’t the same ilm, and

our star River was appearing as a different – and older – character in movies like

“Running on Empty,” which was made for a much more sophisticated audience.

This kind of audience -- and the critics who communicate to this audience -- were

completely ignored by Fox publicity when our movie came out.

Because of the long slow redo at Fox, River now had two other well-reviewed

movies in the marketplace, and in each of those he appeared older, which of course

he was. His agent, whose son we didn’t hire, was no longer friendly to our ilm.

She advised River not to discuss his earlier picture, saying he was now giving

“adult” performances in “serious” productions. Making it worse, River’s mother

Arlen still objected to the “fuck you” line.

So River gave almost no interviews, a hardship when trying to promote a film. Be-

fore long River’s fans came to believe he didn’t like the movie, or was somehow

ashamed of it.

But that wasn’t it, as the poet says, that wasn’t it at all. He was proud of our movie

when we finished it. This shame came from Fox publicity.

River took it hard when it became known that Fox was delaying the release of our

movie because it was his irst starring role, and Hollywood being itself, we won-

dered if it might even be shelved, and this could bring harm to his future career. As

his friend as well as director, it wasn’t easy to watch him struggling to remain op-

9