"Made in Brentwood - The Bobby Darin Biopic"  (Westside Today Jan. 2005)

The stories of how movies get made are sometimes as compelling as the films themselves. Brentwood resident Arthur Friedman has lived one of those stories. Born in the Bronx, Arthur was a teen working at a New York City record store in 1957 when fate be-bopped across his path.

“One night a guy walks in, wearing shabby kinda clothes, and says to me, ‘I'm Bobby Darin.' He asked me my name and said, ‘Arthur, if someone comes in and asks for an Elvis Presley record or a Fats Domino record, would you try to sell them my record?'” That particular tune would not be a hit for Darin, but a friendship was planted between the two young men.

A year later, in 1958, Darin hit the charts with “Splish Splash,” and in 1959, “Mack the Knife” made him a superstar. While Bobby went to Hollywood, Arthur moved to Boston, where he worked in distribution for United Artists. In the 70's, he formed his own company and distributed independent films in the northeast.

By the 80's, Arthur was transitioning into producing, starting with the Coen brothers' seminal comedy, “Raising Arizona.” That movie was in production, in 1986, when Friedman happened to hear “Mack the Knife” playing on an oldies radio station. At that moment, the idea for a Bobby Darin movie was born.

“He was as great a nightclub performer as I've ever seen,” recalls Arthur. “This, to me, was the cinematic element.” There was initial excitement from Hollywood, but like many films, the picture got bogged down in development. Fortunately, a moment of serendipity occurred, much like it had years before in the record store.

“Sometime in 1996, I'm walking down the 3rd Street (Promenade) and I see Kevin Spacey. Not only did he look like (Darin), but his body language was like him; the walk. That kinda stuck with me.” While the talented Spacey was the critics' darling, he didn't have a box office track record to open a film.

That all changed in 1999 with the hit “American Beauty.” A few days after the movie opened, Arthur met with Spacey, and they became producing partners on “Beyond the Sea.”

And now, after almost two decades of unwavering determination, numerous rewrites, blood, sweat and tears, Arthur Friedman's vision is finally on the silver screen. “Kevin Spacey is phenomenal in this role and he sings great. Kate Bosworth captures (Sandra Dee) perfectly."

So how did Arthur keep his faith in the project for nearly two decades when so many people turned it down? “I have a wonderful wife, son and daughter, and we have a great deal of love and we have a great deal of faith, and we're able to laugh.”

Now, that's a Hollywood ending.