Streisand: a star is borne (by praise)
Daily Trojan / December 8, 1983
When Barbra Streisand came to Arthur Knight's Cinema 466 class to discuss her new film, Yentl, last week, at times it sounded more like a testimonial dinner than a question-and-answer session.
For Streisand, this may have been the first opportunity in a long time to hear such flattery. Intensely guarded, she rarely goes out in public, and Knight noted that this was only the second time she had appeared before a large group to promote a film.
If it was a second for Streisand, it was a definite first for Knight's class. A bodyguard standing watch next to the stage while Knight conducted the post-screening interview symbolized the unique nature of the event.
"I should tell you that one of the conditions of Miss Streisand being here this evening is that we not have any press," Knight told the class. "Entertainment Tonight wanted to come down, the Herald Examiner wanted to come down... The Daily Trojan is here, but that's all."
Streisand said that if the press were allowed to attend, they would only pick up on the negative comments expressed by students. "They'll pick anything where somebody decides they're angry with me," she said.
Actually, there were only two even slightly disparaging comments, from students who felt that some of the Jewish aspects of Isaac Beshevis Singer's source story had been compromised. She responded, "There are certain things you just can't do, and this was not a documentary on Jewish life."
Streisand discussed at length the trouble she had pitching the project to major studios. "I think they just didn't trust a woman, to tell you the truth — the idea of a woman having so much responsibility, especially financially," she said. "They were afraid to give me four and a half million dollars." (The film's eventual budget was about 10 million dollars.)
The hesitation also came, she said, "because it has an ethnic background — Jewish, to be more specific. It's about a girl who wants to pursue an education. It could be about a girl who wants to be a doctor, and she goes to medical school, and they teach her philosphy about viruses, you know? It's just a background to a story, like the political background was to The Way We Were. It's not what the film's about."
The film's tremendous success so far has surprised Hollywood cynics, but not her. "I knew they would like this movie," she enthused. "I don't know — it still hasn't opened in Kansas City. But I think it's a universal storv."
Her multiple hats as star, director, co-producer and co-writer solved more problems than they caused, she added.
"I found that doing more than one job was actually beneficial. Each job served the other. Put it this way: there's four less people to disagree with. Everyone gets along, you see?"
"I had a wonderful, wonderful crew, and they liked me. So if they liked me, they liked the producer, the director, the star..."
One student asked if Streisand would ever consider performing live in concert.
"Even though this (film-making) is big-time stuff, you're still in a private situation. You do a scene and you don't have to get applause. When I don't have to remember words, I always remember words. But the thought of that actor's nightmare, of going out in front of so many people and singing... That's about 10 years away."
— Chris Willman
End.
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