Director Blake Edwards was spotted filming “Darling Lili” in Paris on September 27, 1968. … (+)
“He was a great audience for an actor. He would almost fall off his chair laughing. He really embraced what you were doing creatively and enjoyed it.”
Here, actress Lesley Ann Warren talks about prolific screenwriter/director Blake Edwards.
She appears in the new documentary titled “Blake Edwards: A love story in 24 pictures.”
Edwards, known for cinema classics such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses And The Pink Pantherwas also a sculptor and painter as well as a devoted family man.
Featuring never-before-seen archival video and stills, the documentary explores the filmmaker’s complex life and genre-spanning career from the perspective of fellow filmmakers and family, including his wife Julie Andrews.
Edwards’ story is further illuminated through interviews with those who worked with him and those who admire him, including Warren (Victor/Victoria) and Bo Derek (10), as well as filmmakers Rob Marshall, Rian Johnson, Paul Feig and more.
Of her first collaboration with Edwards, Derek says: “He ruined the industry for me for the rest of my career. I thought that’s what filmmaking was like – you have a strong filmmaker who is relaxed and confident. I think that’s what impressed me most, his confidence.”
She adds: “I had no experience at all and he made me feel like I knew what I was doing. Since I had nothing to compare myself to, I thought, ‘Well, if he likes me, then I’m good. That’s easy.'”
Warren admits he saw Breakfast at Tiffany’s She was an ardent fan of Edwards’ films long before she had the opportunity to work with him.
“It was a huge deal,” she says. “I didn’t audition, it was crazy. My agent at the time called me and said, ‘You absolutely have to go and meet Blake for this role.’ I hadn’t read the script or anything.”
She rushed to the meeting and said she immediately realized she felt “so comfortable” with Edwards.
“At the meeting, he asked, ‘Would you like to do this role?’ and I said, ‘I’ll do whatever you ask me to do.’ So I went home and read it. I was so excited.”
Warren eventually received an Oscar nomination for her work in Victor/Victoria.
The film addressed gender fluidity at a time when the topic was not yet part of the mainstream conversation, Warren emphasizes, and thus shows Edwards as a true visionary.
“It was a different time and a different sensibility and I’m proud that he made this film that deals with gender identity and all the pitfalls and problems that come with it in an incredible, entertaining but also educational way.”
Derek says that when she worked with Edwards, she discovered, “He had a special way of telling women’s stories and you just knew that everything was going to be okay.”
Director Danny Gold says Edwards’ family was fully involved in putting the film together.
“(They) gave us really unprecedented access to his archives. So we had photographs, home videos and various things like that.”
Gold also asked current filmmakers to comment on Edwards’ lasting influence on the medium.
Gold used the technique that directors Johnson, Marshall and Feig used to film Edwards’ work and found it “really captivating.”
“I found it really interesting to watch them dissect scenes and see the impact it had on their work.”
Returning to Edwards and his laughter, Warren says she appreciated another quality in this man: “He believed that people could no longer be funny after ten hours of filming.”
She says his belief in this concept led to “civilian” working hours.
But Edwards was adept not only in the way he directed his set, but also in the way he used his flair for comedy to make a point, says Michael Kantor. American Masters Executive producer who believes this film will do the same.
“Hopefully the documentary will entice people to look not only at the ‘topping of the topping,’ as Blake would say when it comes to building a comedy scene, but also at the issues that became increasingly important to him.”
“Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Pictures” premieres on PBS
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