Bo Derek gives director Blake Edwards a perfect ‘10’

Blake Edwards spoiled Bo Derek when it came to directors after they worked together on “10.” The relationship that made Derek so in love with working with Edwards is examined as part of the new “American Masters: Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames.”

The production – set to debut at 8 p.m. Aug. 27 on Valley PBS – looks at how Edwards redefined slapstick comedy through a lens that continues to impact today’s directors and actors. His resume covered more than four decades and included “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Victor/Victoria” and many of the “Pink Panther” movies.

It was his 1979 feature “10” that transformed the unknown Derek into an international star as she would become the yardstick for gauging beauty on a scale of one to 10. But, it was the pleasant introduction into filmmaking that resonates the most with Derek.

“He spoiled me for the industry for the rest of my career. I thought that’s what filmmaking was like. You had a strong filmmaker who was relaxed and confident. I think that’s what impressed me the most, his confidence,” Derek says. “And for me, I just walked in. I had no experience at all. And he made me feel as though I knew what I was doing, because I had nothing to compare it to.

“I thought, well, if he thinks I’m good, I’m good. This is easy.”

Edwards was looking to cast the “perfect woman” to be the object of great attention from the character played by Dudley Moore. She got some interesting coaching from her then husband, John Derek, who also was a filmmaker.

He told her that it was a great part that she would get only if she was ready. John Derek added that if she was not ready it would be nice to have someone else tell her that.

Despite never having auditioned for an acting job, she was ready and landed the role that Bo Derek stresses changed her life forever.

The documentary uncovers the man behind the camera and explores how his four-decade marriage to legendary actress and singer Julie Andrews shaped his life and career. It includes never seen archival video and stills used to explore the filmmaker’s complex life and genre-spanning career.

Along with Bo Derek, the documentary includes interviews with Andrews, his children, Lesley Ann Warren, Rob Marshall, Rian Johnson and Paul Feig.

Executive producer Michael Kantor points out that Edwards was a perfect choice for the “American Masters” series because when it comes to directors, he is an American master.

Kantor adds, “When you look at the people he influenced and the performances he got, the work with Henry Mancini. He seemed to bring out the best of his collaborators, and it was really learning about those collaborators that I found really interesting.

“And of course, Julie Andrews, seeing the shift in her career when Blake sort of dared her or urged her to take on very different roles, I found fascinating.”

Danny Gold discovered while directing the documentary the strength of Edwards was his honesty about himself and his fearlessness to show it in certain projects that he did and that he brought himself into it. Gold was inspired to become a director because of movies such as Edwards’ “Return of the Pink Panther” and now sees that work in a new light.

Edwards has a reputation of being fun and upbeat, but he had dark moments. Derek never saw that side of the “10” director.

“He did tell me that he was deep into therapy. I remember that. But I never saw his depressive side. He was just so full of kind of a wicked grin and a smile and chuckle. That’s what I saw,” Derek says.

The “American Masters” production shows the way Edwards worked as a director. In the case of “10,” the work called for Derek to do her first nude scene in a motion picture. She was already comfortable with the fact she would be so exposed and any doubts she had were calmed by Edwards.

“I was very comfortable. I grew up on the beaches of Southern California and you wear a little bikini and that’s okay, but it’s not that different than being nude,” Derek says. “I was okay with it and I trusted his taste.

“Because he already had such a body of work and he did have a special way of presenting women, telling women’s stories, that you just knew that this was all going to be okay. And I thought it was so interesting, it wasn’t a love scene. It was the most important dialogue for my character and partly for Dudley Moore’s character was going on while we were in bed. So, it was a very different take than a love scene.”

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