He knew exactly what he was doing and that was making a box office movie. The glamorous casting with Pfeiffer was a Hollywood scoop. ‘I just thought it was a good, tough love story. A good dynamic of two raw characters. I thought the collision of those two was interesting.' That is Utah Bob talking. Off in the mountains a Grand Prix drive away from Salt Lake City he really is the Sundance King. He rules the area with benevolence and his influence is immense through the Sundance Film Festival he created in next door Park City which has become one of the world's most important. Initially, it was his escape from the glamour image. ‘ Hollywood never wanted me to get away from the stereotype so I dropped out for a time. People look at films in terms of cosmetics.It makes the work itself seem insignificant. All during my career I have been fighting to avoid the glamour.' Nevertheless, he has learned to play cards with the good-looking Devil. He goes along with the game and in return is allowed to play his own. It began with ‘Ordinary People' and has continued with landmarks including ‘The Milgrano Beanfield War' and ‘Quiz Show.' In return he will appear in movies like ‘Up Close and Personal.' Diplomatically, he ‘adores' Pfeiffer and love stories. He just isn't about to be specific about which love stories. Honest Bob not talking. His place in the Hollywood earning hierarchy is not trumpeted but his involvement in a box office targeted film allows him a return of close to $20 million. Like Demi Moore in ‘Indecent Proposal' there is a price. And one to be paid which he does with grace going on a restricted ‘sell' of products. Now, the photographers tend to be hand-picked. Audiences found the cameras got too close in 1989's ‘Havana' which was all about scruples and people who didn't have any:‘ When the reviews came out a lot was written about how much I had aged but I was playing a card player who had been ravaged by time so I let my age show. We did nothing to hide it. It was part of the character. Look what the reaction was! The only thing the critics could write about it was that I looked old.' With hindsight that was a kindness. The movie was more weatherbeaten than Redford . There is much grander hope for ‘The Horse Whisperer'. Hollywood machinations are not subtle. Disney who produced ‘Up Close and Personal' are partners with Redford and his Wildwood Enterprises in the multi-million dollar film. In the film Scarlett Johansson and her horse are brutally injured when they are hit by a huge truck. Kristin Scott James as her magazine editor mother -- supposedly modelled in the novel on Tina Brown of ‘The New Yorker' -- is convinced her daughter will only live if the horse does. For that to happen she needs the help, the magic, of a Montana rancher. Redford is ‘The Horse Whisperer'. You can see the advertisements now. Horses, the Big Sky vistas of Montana -- Wyoming will ‘double' in some scenes -- and Redford back in cowboy country appears to have the requisite box office ingredients. And don't forget the romance, the way he was. Redford loves a love story.
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