The movie that broke Robert Redford’s heart: “Hollywood isn’t about art”
The recipient of almost every prestigious accolade that the industry has to offer, the legacy of Robert Redford is one that very few have been able to or will ever match. With classics like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men in his oeuvre, the Hollywood icon rose to the very top and left his mark on those who grew up watching him.
In addition to his excellent run as an actor, Redford also delivered interesting movies as a filmmaker, which earned both critical acclaim and commercial success. He came out swinging with his debut feature itself, Ordinary People, which not only won four Academy Awards and widespread praise but also grossed very favourably at the box office.
Despite his stature in the industry, Redford has also faced the familiar struggles that artists are used to when dealing with studio executives. During a conversation with the Harvard Business Review, the actor opened up about the difficult experience he had when he was trying to get his 1969 sports drama Downhill Racer made.
Starring Redford as a downhill skier who has grand ambitions about his field but is confronted by personal conflicts, Downhill Racer is an interesting adaptation of Oakley Hall’s novel which required a lot of compromises in order to be released.
“In 1969, I made my first independent film, Downhill Racer—a small, character-focused movie about a Pyrrhic victory,” Redford recalled. “That was when I learned about how the film industry really works. I didn’t take an actor’s salary or a producer’s fee to make the film. I sacrificed a lot; it was real guerrilla filmmaking. Merely getting the idea on screen was far more meaningful to me than the money. I simply presumed that once the film was made, it would be distributed.”
The Hollywood star added: “The film distribution system back then was a closed one—the studios and theatre chains had relationships that went back 40 or 50 years. The studio simply tossed Downhill Racer away without a second thought. I broke my heart trying to get that film promoted and distributed. Of course, Hollywood isn’t about art; I knew that. But I wasn’t aware that if you really want a studio to make and distribute your film, you have to answer the only question that matters to the executives in the industry: How will your project make money?”
Redford obviously figured out the answer to that question as he went further ahead with his career, but smaller projects like that remained closer to his heart because of how much they demanded from him both on and off the set. All said and done, Downhill Racer is definitely among the more fascinating additions to his extensive filmography.
