American Masters delves into the life and cinematic career of director Blake Edwards
Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Days of Wine and Roses. The Pink Panther. 10. Victor/Victoria.
The versatility of the genre-crossing director who made all of those movies and many more (plus such television ventures as Peter Gunn) speaks for itself, but a notable group of talented Hollywood types also speak about it when the PBS documentary series American Masters presents the new profile Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames.
Laden with never-before-seen clips and photos, the program traces the life of honorary Oscar recipient Edwards (who died in 2010), from his beginnings as an actor to his emergence as a maverick creative talent who often went against studio system conventions.
One of his major collaborators was legendary actress Julie Andrews, who was his second wife from 1969 until his death. Expectedly, she is among the interviewees in the PBS offering, as are Edwards’ children from his first marriage, actress Jennifer Edwards (S.O.B.) and actor-writer-director Geoffrey Edwards (Rad). Among others offering their insight are actors Bo Derek (10), Lesley Ann Warren (Victor/Victoria) and Robert Wagner (The Pink Panther), and filmmakers Rob Marshall (who choreographed a Broadway version of Victor/Victoria), Rian Johnson (Knives Out) and Paul Feig (Bridesmaids).
Danny Gold — the producer, director and co-writer of the documentary — credits Edwards’ lasting impact in part to his “honesty about himself and his fearlessness to show it in certain projects that he did.”
Says Gold: “I came up in the ’70s as a kid and was introduced to Blake through the Pink Panther movies, but then going back and then watching all his other films, [you see] how it resonates at different times in your life. And seeing the perspective from current filmmakers [on] what they took from Blake’s career I found really engaging, watching them dissect scenes and seeing how [that has] resonated in their work.”
Someone whose career surely benefited from Edwards’ work was Bo Derek, who became a global sensation as Dudley Moore’s seemingly unattainable quest in 1979’s 10. At the time, she recalls, “I had no agent. It all came from a mutual friend who had seen Blake Edwards at dinner, and he said he was looking for this girl [for the part], and she thought I should go in. I’d never even been on an interview before, so I just went in and met some nice people. And I went home, and I had the part.
“He spoiled me for the rest of my career,” Derek adds of Edwards. “You had a strong filmmaker who was relaxed and confident. I think that’s what impressed me the most, his confidence.”
Lesley Ann Warren also had big results from working with Edwards, landing an Oscar nomination for her performance as a gangster’s (James Garner) moll in 1982’s Victor/Victoria.
However, she says that after an early private screening of the musical, “I went into my car and I was crying. I thought, ‘This is the end. I’ve ruined my career.’ Then there was a big premiere, and the whole theatre was loving what I was doing, applauding and all of that. And I thought, ‘OK, maybe this is really working.’ When I got the nomination, [Edwards] was one of the first people to call me. It was so touching. He was so happy for me, and he knew how scared I had been.”
American Masters airs Tuesday, August 27 on PBS