Waiting for Bob . . .

By Rick Farris

I've done several films with Robert Redford. The first was "The Electric Horseman" with Jane Fonda, which we shot in Las Vegas,
Saint George, Utah and on stage in L.A. Next was when he directed, "Ordinary People", then "The Natural", "Havana" in the Dominican Republic, followed by "Sneakers" with Sidney Potier and River Phoenix.

We aren't exactly old friends, but were friendly on the set, he always remembers my name and initiates a little boxing dialogue.
While in the Domincan Republic, we were staying at the Jaragua Resort in Santa Domingo.
Leonard and Duran III was going to be fought.
To assure the crew be able to watch it, he bought the fight for the entire hotel, every room.

When we speak on set, he occasionally brings up a boxer he likes, and it'll usually be somebody I'd like to see lose.
Redford liked Leonard, me Duran. I liked Chavez, he liked Whitaker. He was an Ali guy, I favored Frazier. You get the picture.

He is truly a gifted actor and perhaps, more so, a director. "A River Runs Thru It", just another example of his directorial talents.
You see different directors work different ways. Redford is an "actor's director."
He spends time sitting with the cast as they approach each scene, it's a long process, it takes time and we do a lot of waiting.
On a mega-million dollar film, you have that license to not to hurry. But on TV, you are expected to have 50 shots in the can each day.
We move fast in TV, big budget films provide more time, generally speaking.

Other directors, especially the Italians and Eastern European's, will spend more time composing a shot as a painter would a portrait.
They're background in art comes thru in how their films are photographed, they are involved with the film's overall look.
However, Robert Redford makes sure he's got the best cinematographer, production designer, etc. to create the proper look for the story.
He's about the talent.

When we were shooting "The Natural" in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1983, We'd often have a 7am set call at the baseball stadium where we were filming.
The actor's make-up call was usually a half-hour prior to crew call, even earlier on the days Kim Bassinger was working.
Redford would have a 6:30 make-up call and not roll in until about ten in the morning.
The set would be lit, the other actors had done a "dry run" rehersal, retreated to their motor homes.
Awhile later, I'm in the parking lot where our entire company of trucks has formed a small village.
I'm playing catch with a sound man, who'd grabbed a hard ball and a couple of gloves from the prop department.

All of a sudden we hear the sound of Redford's Porsche Carrera pulling into the lot.
We see the car pull up to the make-up trailer and park.
The actor pops out of the front seat, wearing a white cotton under-shirt, levi's and and scuffed cowboy boots.
A transportation coordinator approaches the actor smiling, Redford smiles, hands the man his car keyes and steps into the make-up trailer.

His hair-stylist, Sue Shwaree, and make-up artist, Gary Liddiard go to work on the sun-dried skin of the one-time "Sundance Kid."
The 46-year-old actor was obviously an outdoorsman, snow skier, former high school athlete.
He spent a lot of time under the sun. His fair complexion showed a lot of wrinkes in the back of his heavily lined neck.
When lighting Redford's close-up, his facial warts are also a concern. His rugged personna accepts the flaws, but we avoid enhancing their presence.

When his make-up is being applied and hair styled, Robert Redford usually reads. And when he's into a story, he won't stop reading until finished.
He doesn't care who is waiting or how much time is being wasted. When you are Robert Redford, you have more latitude than most.
He shows up late, and pretty much works when he's ready to work.
We on the crew could care less, we get paid by the hour and are away from home anyway. And besides, it's Rober Redford and we like him.

In the Domincan Republic, the largest set ever built for a motion picture, four blocks of downtown "Havana" was constructed for the movie.
We had crew members who'd been in the Navy in the late 50's, had visted Havana before Castro.
They were amazed at the exact reproduction of downtown Havana. "This is just how it was . . ", claimed a wardrobe supervisor.
The costumer pointed to a bar across the street from where we stood, "That's the Floridita. That was Hemmingway's hangout!"
He looked as if he had actually stepped back in time. However, the set was a facade, walls with no insides.
False fronts, but they looked real to the eye, and more important, the camera.

On set, we'd break for lunch. Afterwards, we'd throw the football as director Sydney Pollack paced in front of the camera.
The four-time Academy Award winning director was waiting for his star to emerge from his motor home. Lunch had been over an hour.
Finally, out of desperation, he walks to the motor home, enters and then returns minutes later.

"He's reading a book, just about finished with the chapter. He'll be here in a moment."
In due course, Bob Redford surfaced from his motor home.
He'd rehearse with the director and co-stars Robert Duvall and Darren McGavin for nearly an hour.
Then we'd shoot. We'd finish before sunset. Return to the hotel and do what film crews do on location.

The first film I worked with Robert Redford, The Electric Horseman, was also directed by Sydney Pollack.
On that one, same thing, Redford would keep everybody waiting at times. Pollack paced, tried to roust him, we waited and then shot.
Willie Nelson was in that one, too. A real fun shoot.

However, you'd think that Sydney Pollack would know by now (sadly he passed recently).
He directed seven Redford pics, including "Out of Africa".

It was usually a wait with Robert Redford. But as I mentioned earlier, he was worth the wait.