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At the time the iconic western film was released, the credits featured Redford alongside Newman and Ross. Now, the sequence has shifted—now it's Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross. The actor, the Sundance Kid, stands as among the hottest new box office properties since McQueen and Hoffman. Yet, while somewhat thankful, he remains largely indifferent.

Rejecting the Studio System

“I don’t consider myself,” he emphasizes, “part of the Hollywood machine. Think of that guy who drifts through the play by The Time of Your Life, saying, ‘It’s all built on sand—from top to bottom’? Well, that’s what I feel when it comes to Tinseltown. It’s impossible to manage a creative medium as if it’s commerce nowadays, but studios keep attempting to do just that. To them, film are just like consumer products. I find it repulsive.”

A Passion Project’s hurdles

Of course, we have heard similar things from aspiring film men. Yet he, who talks very quietly, appearing genuinely unsure at the interest in him, sounds as if he means it. A key factor is that he devoted nearly two years working on the sports drama realizing fighting the system was an even harder job than making a difficult movie.

The film, which hasn’t yet been shown here, despite that sneak previews took place months ago, has been released in America and has received reviews which suggest that it is not just than a skiing spectacular. “Actually,” he explains, “it is about competition and competitors. And the reason I want to open it here in Britain is because this is not a skiing country. The odds are better of it surviving here as a study of a certain kind of person as opposed to sports footage.”

“Producers aimed to premiere it where skiing reigns, showing it to all the experts. However… here is a movie depicting an American getting an Olympic gold on the slopes. Wouldn’t that going to wow them? Wow, provided that I stay away. They’d criticize me harshly.”

The Allure of Downhill Racing

“What drew you to skiing? To me the perfect blend of poetry and danger, an excellent means to portray the impact of competition. It requires being a kind of kamikaze pilot to participate. After experiencing it, you’re transformed.”

“I’d like you to see all those downhill veterans lingering near current athletes. It’s sad. Restless constantly. Nervous habits show nonstop. Physically depleted. Competition proves very cruel, affecting everyone. It might train you for useless skills, shattering you entirely.”

Redford’s Athletic Past

He speaks from experience, in his youth an excellent dual-sport standout, potentially famous on the court also. “Wow, I really hated to lose,” he says, “finally it got to where continuing was impossible, winning or losing. My focus shifted at my opponent and wonder—goodness, his sock is sagging. His footwear will chafe his skin by the end of the set, yet he’s so focused about the game he doesn’t notice. Then I’d notice an audience member, wondering: ‘What the hell is he thinking just now? Am I really acting out his dreams?, living his aspiration? Then the game was gone!’”

The Forgotten Canvas

His other love, possibly his first love, is painting. He bummed around across Europe for over a year in the late fifties, meeting creative minds and thinkers, some authentic, some not. Funds dried up in that beautiful city, yet encountered a mentor that set up a show for his art covering getting back to the US. Upon returning, his dissatisfaction again got the better of him. Acting became his path, first on Broadway, then television, and then movies.

Projects like Daisy Clover, Barefoot In the Park, Polonski’s Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, the western, his passion project followed in quick succession. Then came Sidney Furie’s Little Fauss, Big Halsey, depicting speed and rivalry with Michael J Pollard. Subsequently, possibly a movie about modern rodeo. Competition appears following him indefinitely.

What of his art? Redford looks a little uneasy. “So,” he confesses, “It’s been dormant recently. That’s the reason I’d like to take a rest from filming and start again. Can one truly reboot? I doubt it. It demands seriousness, is it?. It requires your entire focus. However, being here in London impressed me regarding art. It’s made me itch to create.”

“Notice the illumination here in London. Incredibly beautiful. Each dawn since arriving I’ve got up early strolling amazed. It’s unlike anything anything like it. I need to return again soon. If the film premieres—if it ever does.”

Newman’s Savvy

“If only I were as savvy like Newman. He would have ensured that such a movie received proper treatment like mine has. What about Rachel, Rachel?? “Indeed. However, Newman struggles against the industry.”