AFI's pic list leaves Duvall cold
"What's it good for?" he demands.
" 'Singin' in the Rain' is No. 10 on the list, c'mon now!" laughs the exasperated co-star of "Network," "Apocalypse Now," "The Godfather" and three other titles cited by AFI.
" 'Gone With the Wind' (No. 4)? You got to be kidding! That one was botched from the day it started. It's supposed to be one of the great films of Hollywood. It's a mess. You're dealing with legends and myths, not greatness."
If these lists meant something, Duvall points out, he wouldn't have any trouble bankrolling dream projects, such as "The Apostle," which took years to float, and "The Cup," a soccer drama he hopes to start shooting in Scotland in October. Still simmering on the back burner: a movie about his new hobby, the tango.
"It's a funny thing," says the 67-year-old actor. "I'm in six of AFI's 100 great movies, more than anyone other than Ward Bond (in seven), and I still have to go hat in hand."
Duvall blames the industry's current status on greedy agents.
"They're not very creative or inventive when it comes to independent films," contends the actor, who will next be seen as John Travolta's courtroom nemesis in Touchstone's "A Civil Action."
"When an agency says, 'We'll do your project,' it's all bullshit. They have to play it safe, not low-deal, to (pad costs and) build on a kitchen or a house, or buy a new car."
Though Duvall says he hasn't lost his desire to take chances, he continues to move comfortably between such big studio productions as "Deep Impact" and personal "decomputerized" films like "The Apostle," which moves to video and DVD Aug. 18.
"My films over the last two years have made, combined, $150 million," Duvall says, quieting those who would like to pigeonhole him as a fringe player.
