Indecent Exposure (58 page)
- Hirschfield's meetings at the studio on Tuesday with the television staff were as awkward as the session with the motion-picture executives had been. Begelman again was called out of the conference room frequently, and during his absences staff members nervously whispered jokes back and forth about the
New West
article. - "Maybe we can get the rights from
New West."
"It would make a great movie, but no one would believe it." - On the other side of Burbank that morning—several miles up Olive Avenue, away from the Burbank Studios, the Disney Studios and NBC, past the Masonic Temple, the municipal power plant, Ben's Body Shop, and the Golden State Freeway—Detective Bob Elias sat at his desk on the second floor of police headquarters questioning Cliff Robertson. Robertson was on the telephone in his apartment in New York. Also on the line were Deputy District Attorney Walter Lewis and Robertson's lawyer, Seth
Hufstedler
. The interview was a formality; no new information was elicited. But Robertson did allude to what he viewed as the most serious problem confronting him as a result of reporting Begelman's crimes. - "Do you expect to lose any money as a result of this forgery?" Elias asked.
"Well, that's a conjecture, I would say that there is a strong possibility that because I've taken a forthright stand there is always the possibility that certainly in some areas of the industry there is the possibility that
1
might find that I won't work as much." - Hirschfield had b
reakfast Thursday with Lew Wasse
rman of MCA to discuss Hollywood labor issues. The subject of
Begelman
naturally came up. Wasserman made clear that he felt the affair was a "disaster for the entire industry." - Hirschfield then had a secret meeting with Richard Smith, the chief executive of General Cinema, the nation's largest movie
theater chain, in Smith's suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They had not had a candid, face-to-face discussion since late October when Smith had told Hirschfield in Boston that if David Begelman was reinstated as president of the studio, General Cinema would drop its tentative plan to make a major investment in Columbia's motion-picture production program. Smith had monitored subsequent events closely and, despite the reinstatement, sympathized with Hirschfield's plight. It seemed clear to both men, particularly in the light of the Judy Garland disclosures, that
Begelman
could not last. He would have to be removed again—permanently this time. To Smith, the principal question was not whether Begelman would remain at Columbia but whether
Hirschfield
would. - "I don't know," said Hirschfield. "I hope so." He brought Smith up to date on the seemingly irreparable rift with the board, and told him that the only solution seemed to be intervention by a strong outsider who might buy Columbia and install a new board of directors, or at least purchase a sufficient block of stock to have an influence on Allen and Rosenhaus. They discussed the possibility that General Cinema might be such an outsider or that Smith might be able to help Hirschfield find one. Smith was mildly encouraging.
- Hirschfield caught the noon United flight to Kennedy, feeling better than he had in some time. Although he had embarrassed himself in endorsing Begelman, he felt that most of the studio people understood the circumstances. In any case, all his predictions about a holocaust in the press were coming true.
Begelman
surely would have to be banished now. More important, the list of potential outside allies in Hirschfield's struggle to prevail over Herbert Allen had grown to include General Cinema. - The media storm grew even worse after the Judy Garland revelations. There were stories on the CBS evening news with Walter Cronkite and on other network programs. And the press forged ahead.
- Hollywoodgate
Rolls On
! (Liz Smith)
Criticism of Columbia Pictures Grows
{The Washington Post)
David Begelman Says He Is -Absolutely Not- Going to Resign
(The AP) - Even the telephone talk shows on radio entered the fray. "This is Bob Grant, you're live on WOR. Hello."
- "Bob, I'm calling in regards to the David
Begelman
affair out in California. You know,
I
don't understand. Some people are just never satisfied. Here's a guy who was making three hundred thousand dollars a year and Columbia Pictures was just about to give him a million-dollar bonus because he helped them build their industry back up, and he still had to embezzle ten thousand dollars, and that's not the worst of it. The thing that got me was that they made Cliff Robertson out to be the skunk. His friends—Begelman's friends out there—are on Cliff Robertson's back because he wanted to prosecute Begelman." - Robertson's concern about being blackballed was well-founded, more even than he realized. The previous August, Cliff had agreed to direct and star in a picture based on James Kirkwood's novel
Good Times, Bad Times,
about a sequence of tragedies involving the headmaster and students of a New England preparatory school. The producer employing Cliff was James Bradley, an associate of Merv Griffin. Bradley, who had produced and directed several television programs but no theatrical films, was attempting to raise money to make
Good Times, Bad Times
and had developed a number of promising leads, including an informal commitment for a little more than half of the picture's
$1
.9
-million budget. The project had been announced in the Hollywood trade press. - In late January, a
fter the Begelman-Robe
rtson controversy had erupted, Jim Bradley began getting anonymous telephone calls in the middle of the night. The voice on the phone—the same mature male voice each time—said in essence: Get rid of Cliff Robertson or you'll never get your picture made, and you'll lose everything you have. The calls came every night between midnight and three, including weekends, for two and a half weeks, and then stopped.
Bradley told a few close friends about the calls but did not tell Cliff Robertson or report the calls to the authorities. (The caller had not threatened physical harm to Bradley or Robertson.) Although Bradley was shaken, he kept Robertson as the centerpiece of the film project and continued his efforts to raise money. But the leads he had developed gradually ebbed and eventually disappeared. - FORTY-FOUR
- Ignoring calls on Friday from Barbara Walters,
Time
magazine,
The Washington Post, The New York Times,
Ray Stark,
The Hollywood Reporter, Business Week,
and Sam Conn, among others, Alan Hirschfield took the elevator down two floors to Allen & Company.* The last time he had been in the Allen offices—Tuesday of the previous week—he had left shouting, "I don't have to take this abuse." His trip to California had calmed him, however, and he found Herbert, as well, to be more subdued than Alan had seen him in weeks. Though neither man was happy, they both knew what had to be done. - "Morale, despite my efforts, is at an all-time low," Hirschfield reported. "The
New West
article and the daily press coverage has everybody upset.
New West
was just devastating. David's effectiveness is really at an end. He can't focus on business. He's so busy defending himself that he can't concentrate. No human being could. The barrage is just unrelenting. He's like a fighter in the ring getting hit not only by his opponent but by the referee and his manager as well. It's like seeing an animal taunted. While I feel great sympathy, I also have a responsibility to run the company." - "Should he resign?" Herbert asked.
- "For the good of the company, he should."
- "I agree. I'll call Sy We
intraub and discuss it. I think it can be worked out. Can we give him a production deal?" - *ln early December. Al
en & Company moved Its office
from Broad Street in lower Manhattan to the ninth floor of 711 Fifth Avenue, two floors below the executive suite of Columbia Pictures Industries. - "We probably can if we do it quickly. The more time passes, the more attention and scrutiny it will get. We can't revert to the December situation of a big contract
settlement, plus a rich produc
tion deal, unless we're prepared to accept a lot of criticism and potential liability." - "I'll talk to Sy," Herbert said.
- Telling no one their destination, and with a figurative look back over their shoulders, Hirschfield and Adler made their way to 100 Park Avenue, just south of Grand Central, and the world headquarters of Philip Morris Incorporated. Adler had established contact with Philip Morris through a business consultant friend in Los Angeles, Robert Fell, who had performed a number of services for Columbia and had been made aware by Adler that Alan Hirschfield was looking for a savior. Fell suggested Philip Morris.
- Philip Morris Incorporated was no longer just a cigarette maker. Although its principal brand—Marlboro—remained the world's best seller, and Benson & Hedges, Merit, and Virginia Slims were leaders, too, Philip Morris also had acquired the Miller Brewing Company and transformed it into the second-largest brewer in the United States, selling countless bottles, cans and barrels of Mille
r High Life, Miller Lite, and Lowenbra
u. With revenues exceeding $4 billion annually, Philip Morris was the fifty-second largest industrial corporation in America (twenty-eighth in terms of profits) and wanted to establish a strong "third leg" by acquiring a major company in a business outside of cigarettes and beer—probably in the consumer-products or leisure-time fields where its potent marketing skills could be fully utilized.
Among the industries it had considered was entertainment. Philip Morris's vice chairman and soon-to-be-chairman, George Weissman, had started his business career as a publicist for Sam Goldwyn. He still liked the picture business and was intrigued by the notion of acquiring Columbia Pictures. Weissman received
Hirschfield
and Adler in his office, and they were joined by Philip Morris's acquisitions specialist, Robert Critchell. As a statue of Johnny, Philip Morris's old symbol and mascot, looked on, the four men had a promising chat, and the Columbia people left a packet of financial information on Columbia Pictures Industries. It was agreed that Adler and Critchell would continue the talks on a more detailed level within a few days.
Ba
ck at 711 Fifth. Hirschfield return
ed a call from David Karr, his old friend in Paris, who in December had told John Tunney about the secret talks with Jimmy Goldsmith. Karr wanted Hirschfield to know that, despite any misunderstanding over confidentiality, Goldsmith was still interested in Columbia. He would be in New York in a couple of weeks and pla
nned to approach the
Allens
.
Perhaps there was hope on that front yet. - Herbert Allen telephoned Hirschfield at home that evening and told him that Begelman was prepared to resign immediately. Begelman and Sy Weintraub wanted to fly to New York on Saturday and spend Sunday negotiating with Hirschfield. Alan, who dreaded another personal confrontation with Begelman, suggested instead that David submit his resignation in Los Angeles and that Leo Jaffe be dispatched to the coast on Monday to work out the details. Hirschfield felt it was important, tactically and psychologically, for the resignation to precede the negotiation, rather than have the resignation itself become a bargaining chip, i.e., risk that Begelman would refuse to resign unless he got the terms he wanted. But Herbert insisted that David be permitted to come to New York and see Hirschfield and Alan finally relented.
- Grasping for new angles, the press made more and more mistakes.
Movie Deal Startles Hollywood
said a headline in the Friday
Los Angeles Times.
A more apt headline would have been
Movie Deal Startles Those in Hollywood Who Are Poorly Informed
. The story concerned Columbia Pictures' ownership of Rastar Productions, one of the several corporate entities through which Ray Stark did business. In purchasing Rastar Productions in 1974, Columbia had simply acquired Stark's interest in certain of his movies such as
Funny Girl
and
The Way We Were.
The transaction had been motivated primarily by tax considerations and was legal in every respect. Since the deal lacked broad significance, Columbia did not announce it publicly but merely included it in periodic public reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Variety
had reported the purchase at that time. However, when the
Los Angeles Times
stumbled across the deal three years later, while scrambling to rebut charges that it had neglected the Begelman-Columbia scandal, the paper presented the Rastar Productions purchase as a startling revelation of the true extent of Stark's influence at Columbia Pictures and of his motivations for becoming involved in the Begelman fight. The
Times
also hinted that Columbia's failure to announce the purchase when it occurred might have been illegal.
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