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-You know, I think
the story of Kirk,

Michael, my son,
Cameron, my grandson,

is really the story of America.

The tragedy of failure
and the tragedy of success.

-As an actor, it was really
intimidating watching my father,

because his persona, his
presence was so strong and so...

dynamic, um,
that, forget acting,

you just didn't even know
how you'd ever be a man.

-For the first time in my life,
people are cheering for me.

[explosions]

-[man] I am Spartacus!

-[man] I am Spartacus!

-You had child right.

Then you went to
that butcher Schneider.

Everything I hate!

Maybe I like to be
cheap once and awhile.

Maybe everybody does.

Because I'm a loner, clear
down deep to my very guts.

[splashing]

♪dramatic music♪

[birds flapping]

♪playing trumpet♪

[gunshots]

-Anybody else
wanna try their luck?

-Keep it up, Arch.

I'll put another hole
in that chin of yours.

-Before or after
you take your nap,

grandpa?

I said to Michael...

Michael, I had it
much easier than you,

because I came
from abject poverty.

There was no way to go but up.

But you come from a
nice swimming pool,

a father who's a star.

That's much more
difficult to overcome.

-It's hard when you say,
well, I think I can act.

I mean, this is around the
same time when people say,

why are you acting?

I mean, why'd you...

You won the Academy
Award as a producer,

why don't you just produce?

I said, well, I
think I like acting,

you know?

I think I can offer something.

♪upbeat music♪

-Greed, for the
lack of a better word,

is good.

[alarm sounding]

[splashing]

-[heavy breathing]

-This morning...
-I'm pregnant.

[cheering]

Well first of all the
two hundred pairs of eyes are

not focused on me.

They're focused on you.

-[man] Fuck you motherfu--

[gunshots]

[screaming]

-If our family
members are the enemy...

I don't know how you wage
war on your own family.

-Sometimes my speech get in
the way of what I want to...

Imagine...

-Not too often.

-Imagine what it is

to have a stroke.

Very interesting,
because speech,

you take it for granted.

You think, you
say, and you say it.

I think a thing, and then I
have to articulate each word,

so my thought is here, my
speech is going very slowly.

And then that...

That's
frustrating and exhausting.

-[Michael] But
great for oral sex!

[laughing]

-[laughing]

I don't know why I
put up with you.

Look.

You have...

You have won two Oscars.

One as a producer in
my movie, Michael.

Remember that movie...

I'm going to cry.

-But you see it's good to know
that all is forgiven and this is

not--

-All is forgiven?

-It's not on the edge of your...

Kind of half-joked about
it, which is 'Cuckoo's Nest.'

I guess I'd ask you,
thinking in hindsight,

what do you think I
should've done differently?

-Oh.

Oh boy.

That's a good, good...

Yes!

Yes!

Save it.

Save it.

I will answer that.

I will answer that.

I could've been a contender.

-I know that.

-Because...

that was a low, low
point in my life.

Because I bought the
book from Ken Kesey.

I'd paid Dale Wasserman,
who made the stage play.

-[Michael] Stage play, yep.

-[Kirk] Contrary to all--
to the advice of my agent,

I went to Broadway.

-[Michael] I'm asking
you what I could've done.

I know how important it is, Dad.

-Wait, wait, can I...

-Make me more guilty?

-Oh, my god.

-I mean, I know
how important it is.

I know how important it is.

-I had to say that.

-I just asked you
what I could do.

All right go ahead.

I'm sorry.

-I have to preface
by all these remarks.

-Okay.

-Then they call me late.

-I didn't-- You'd been
working all those years.

I finally pulled it
off that last year.

But I'd been working
on it for years before.

-Don't rub it in.
-I'm not rubbing it in.

I'm just wanting to make sure.

-You did it.

-Times have changed.

-Michael.

Go ahead.

And I thought,
maybe that part...

-McMurphy.

-McMurphy.

That I had played so
brilliantly on Broadway.

I would play in the movie.

It was not to be.

I saw in the paper that Jack
Nicholson was going to play my

part.

So what could you have done?

You were the producer.

You could've said, no, no.

My father must play that part.

-But let me ask you something.

You don't think the director has
some control about the casting

of the movie?

-Not when you're a producer.

-When I'm 29 years old,
my first picture's producer.

-Did you ever--

-Life changes.

-Did you ever ask--

-Don't you...

Don't you raise
your voice at me, dad,

-Did you ever ask them?

-For you to play the part?

-Yeah.

-Dad...

I mean, how could you...

We've been through...

You cannot believe...

I didn't only ask
them, I cajoled,

I persuaded and
everything else, Dad.

But, you know,
things had changed.

I mean, I'm sorry.

Ages and everything else.

It's hard to
accept and recognize--

-I was too old.

-Jack...

Jack Nicholson was 24...

Jack Nicholson was 24 years
younger than you at the time.

-So much?

-So much.

I just wanna be...

That's always...

-I forgive you.

-I forgive you.

[smooch]

[laughter]

I forgive you.

♪orchestral music♪

-[Kirk] The big hero of my
story is my father and mother,

that they made it
to this country.

They came from
Russia about 1910.

[indistinct] class to hopefully
come to a place where their

children have a chance.

The secret of America
is you have a chance.

And that's wonderful.

-Kirk taught her how
to write her name,

and she wanted so much, she
wanted to go to night school.

She was very learned in Russian.

She spoke Russian very well.

-[Kirk] My father
started off a rag man.

The lowest on the
economic scale.

-He was very strong
physically, but emotionally...

he had a temper and he
wasn't the best father.

-He was a failure.

He could hardly
support the family.

I had six sisters.

I was the only boy.

And we all worked to
help support the family.

-He had told me
stories about, uh,

you know, there never being any
food in the refrigerator or if

there was, his
father would take it.

-Once when I was younger, we
were all sitting on the table,

my father was at the end.

-I guess we're eating my
father and my father dosed off,

you know?

And there.

-But I was here with
my cup of hot tea,

and there went my
father who looked so big,

so strong, and I felt...

weak and weaker.

And then I took my spoon.

-Kirk had that desire.

-I took the spoon of
tea and I flipped it.

-He flipped it.

[laughs]

-[Kirk] Right in
my father's face.

Arg!

He was like a lion.

and he threw--
I like to think that

he knew there was a cot there.

But I felt...

I felt good.

I felt...

I faced the lion and I survived.

-[laughs] Oh.

It's true.

-It was hard for him to express
his delight with my success.

-You're a cruel
and vengeful man.

You're everything you always
said you hated in your own

father.

-[Kirk] I came to
look at, to find them,

and it was afternoon and
I found him in the bar,

sitting all alone,
drinking boilermakers.

-I'm gonna get somewhere.

Make money.

Take care of the old lady.

I'm not gonna be a
hey you all my life.

I wanna hear
people call me mister.

I'm gonna make
something of my self.

-[Kirk] Hello pa, I did
a movie, 'Champion.'

Yeah.

Did you see it?

Yeah.

Do you like it?

Yeah.

But-- What...

That was the end of
the conversation.

Every son wants the
approval of his father.

They want the pat on the back.

And that was a tragedy in my
life that I never got that from

my father, because he
wasn't able to give it.

-My father, and in
fact to some extent,

is still trying to
get out of Amsterdam,

New York.

And here he is, 86 years old and
a wealthy man with a career of

some close to 90
pictures, you know?

And, uh, sometimes I think that
little boy just doesn't leave

us.

-You know.

My father never called
my mother by her name,

Bryna.

That's why I named
my company Bryna.

He was...

Hey, tell the misses, uh...

Never.

That's...

And her...

I guess he must have,
but I never heard him say,

Bryna.

He couldn't.

Isn't that awful?

-Kirk has always said to her,
one of these days I'm gonna put

your name up in lights and
it's gonna be before mine.

He named his things Bryna
Productions by Kirk Douglas

underneath.

-[Kirk] I took her once to Times
Square in a big limousine and we

stopped up...

a billboard that
was a whole block,

and there you see, ma?

Your name that I told you.

B-R-Y-N-A.

Bryna presents 'The Vikings.'

And my mother looked
at it and she said,

America is such a
wonderful land.

[laughs]

-Kirk was the first movie star
to desert the studio system,

and to form his own
production company,

the Bryna Company.

Unheard of.

[explosions]

-[man] Five, four,
three, two, one,

zero.

[blows whistle]

-[Jack] Kirk was about to do a
film called 'Paths of Glory,'

and he was looking for a
director so he called up this

young 26-year-old
director and said,

I'd like you to do
'Paths of Glory.'

The director's name
was Stanley Kubrick.

[explosions]

-[blows whistle]

-When I formed my
own company, you know,

I did 'The Viking.'

I did 'Spartacus.'

I did 'Paths of Glory.'

-Where it came from, for
him to have this sense of

individualism, uh, and he's
always been somewhat of a loner.

But this sense of
individuality or this...

This, uh, critique in
this literary sense,

I don't know.

-You've been after
the job from the start,

we all know that my boy!

-I may be many things, sir.

But I'm not your boy.

-Well I certainly didn't
mean to imply any biological

relationship.

-I didn't want to be a mogul,
but I wanted to have more say in

what-- in what I would do.

-I apologize for not being
entirely honest with you.

I apologize for not
revealing my true feelings.

I apologize, sir, for not
telling you sooner that you're a

degenerate, sadistic old man.

And you can go to hell before
I apologize to you now or ever

again!

♪piano music♪

-[Michael] You're in the navy
and you see a LIFE Magazine

cover of this beautiful gal.

And he says, I know that
girl, I went to school with her.

No you don't, you don't.

I tell ya.

I know that girl.

And he said, you know what,
I'm gonna marry that girl.

-When they came back a few
months later and we did manage

to have lunch.

Then we went to a
matinee, and then we had dinner,

and then he asked me to
marry him over dinner.

-And that's how relationships
and divorces happen,

when you decide before you
hardly know somebody that you're

gonna go marry them.

-When Michael was
born, the day he was born,

Kirk was doing a play called
'Kiss and Tell' in New York.

And, [chuckling] I probably
shouldn't tell this story but I

will.

Um, and when he came out of
it in kind of a long labor,

over ten hours and
everything, and,

uh, he came back between the
matinee and evening performance.

And he walked in
and he said, God,

what a day I've had!

And there was a big water
pitcher and almost picked it up

and I thought, should I
throw it at his head or not?

I didn't.

[laughs]

-[Kirk] Her father was the
attorney general of Bermuda,

and she had a wonderful
quality that she still has.

It's that openness.

-I had, um, some inkling that
something was going on with him

and his various leading ladies,
but this one in particular.

-Yes.

I liked women.

I liked Marilyn Maxwell.

She was beautiful.

-Winner takes all.

-Yes, sure.

-I've never had this
experience myself,

but what would it be
like to be Kirk Douglas?

-Come here.

-[George] Every woman
that you see on the set,

in the trailer, in
the makeup room,

in the hallway, in
the commons area.

They're all kinda
saying, hey, hello.

That would be
tough to deal with.

-I'm expensive.

Awful expensive.

I didn't want you to think...

-[George] I think he dealt with
it very well if he limited it to

just leading ladies.

-Does it still hurt, doll?

-I mean, just consider the
restraint that that took.

-I remember a lot-- I
remember 'Bad in the Beautiful.'

I remember coming to visit the
set and it just happened to be

the day he was
doing the love scene.

And I'll never
forget, and he had her,

and I thought, oh my god.

And he had her,
and he looked up,

and I was like right over
Lana Turner's shoulder.

And he looked up
and he said, son.

-[roaring laughter]

I don't know.

I guess I was a bad boy.

Yes, yes.

I have had lots of
women in my life.

-I said I wanted a
divorce, and, um,

he said, before you
finally make up your mind,

would you go and
talk to the doctor?

-Women, to me, um, a
byproduct of success.

-The doctor said to me it boils
down to what you can put up with

and what you can't.

And I said, well, I cannot
put up with chronic infidelity.

I find it
diminishing as a woman.

That I can't deal with.

And if there is not a
basis of trust in a marriage,

then it's not a marriage to me.

-I think my earliest memory,
uh, would be around three.

And that's them fighting.

Not physically fighting,
but voices being raised.

♪dramatic music♪

-Sad.

He was crying.

-[Diana] I remember the scene...

I remember when
Michael came in and...

-That was pointed.

-That was one of the reasons
I decided to get the divorce,

too.

It was so deeply
upsetting to him,

seeing his father and I arguing.

Finally when I
decided to get the divorce,

and I said, look, for once,
let's really be honest with each

other.

I don't think this is anything
that you're going to be able to

stop doing.

And he said, no, I can't.

And I said, well, thank you.

You've freed me now in a way to
be able to go ahead and live my

life and go on.

And I...

I loved him then.

I was really respected
and loved him for that.

-[Michael] I remember when we
moved to New York and the first

time the dad came to
visit the apartment.

I remember that vividly.

I must've been five.

And he walked...

He walked in and kissed my
mother hi on the cheek and I

broke into tears sobbing.

Broke into tears sobbing.

Ran out of the room.

Because the emotional release,
the lack of the-- That there was

no tension.

That there was no tension.

And I realized then how
much you must've been,

you know, eggshells.

And he said hello.

And as a result, their
divorce was always amicable.

♪orchestral music♪

-I fell in love
with Anne in Paris.

While I was
shooting 'Act of Love.'

I kept thinking of
her, so I called her.

-[Anne] I received a phone
call and it was from Kirk.

I'd like to have a
relationship with you,

and with you alone.

Little did I know.

[laughs]

-She was so
difficult to get into bed.

-[Anne] And one
day he says to me,

my ex-wife is
visiting with the children.

And I said to myself,
aha, this is my exit.

He came back from
work and he said,

I have to talk to you.

And all of the sudden he just
turned his head and he said,

I want you to marry me.

I totally fainted.

-A year later, I
married her in Las Vegas.

-[Anne] I never expected
that, because he enjoyed his

bachelorhood.

First of all, I don't think
that many men are very faithful

anyway.

I had a long conversation with
him after we got married and I

said, let's be
honest, if you tell me,

I know it's just because
it's somebody in the movie or

somebody that's just a person.

But if you don't tell me, then
I will consider that something

more serious.

But that pact was not kept.

Suppose your best friend
is going to say to you,

watch out for, uh,
Barbara because,

uh, she pretends to be your
friend but really they had-- she

has an affair with your husband.

In Kirk's life there
was somebody like that.

And I knew her, she
wasn't that close to me,

but I knew her and we
saw each other socially.

And I put him at that time
in front of an ultimatum.

I said this has to stop, and we
don't see her or her husband or

anybody anymore.

He had to make the choice.

That I couldn't live with.

It wasn't easy.

And, uh, you also
feel a little bit...

I felt I was a little bit
diminished and insecure.

-[Joel] As the years
went on, you know,

I've gotten, you know,
tremendous respect for the lady

and primarily because, you know,
Dad's not the easiest-- Is not

easy to live with.

And my lord, they've
endured now 45 years.

-Listen.

In every man and
woman relationship,

sex dominates the
relationship at the beginning.

But if you survive
lots of obstacles.

-And we had ups and
downs in 48 years.

-[Kirk] You have a deeper
rapport with the other person,

and that is as if you are seeing
the other person for the first

time.

I love my wife more now
than I have ever loved her.

-And really the happiest years
of our life have been in the

last 12 years.

♪dramatic music♪

-[Joel] Dad, I think, I mean
he's taken a lot of risks.

-The symbol of the senate.

Oh, the power of Rome!

[indistinct yelling]

-To take on a picture
like, uh, 'Spartacus,'

which at the time was the
largest independent ever

undertaken.

-Tell them we we
want nothing from Rome.

Nothing.

Except our freedom!

-A lot of films
that Kirk produced,

uh, were struggles
against the studio system,

or against the
political realities.

I mean, real, you know, strong
statements for those days.

-It's no accident that later
when he made 'Spartacus' that he

hired a blacklisted
writer like Dalton Trumbo.

It's no accident that when he
talked about slavery in that

movie that he was making
a point about right now.

And about what the 60s would
become in terms of the civl

rights movement.

-[woman] Why
doesn't he kill him?

-[man] Kill him.

-[woman] What's the matter?

-[all] Kill him!

-Kill him you imbecile!

-Kill him!

-Kill him!

Oh!

-Now the writer of
'Spartacus' was Dalton Trumbo.

Dalton Trumbo was one of
the blacklisted writers,

but he's one of the most gifted
screenwriters of the generation.

He wrote 'Spartacus.'

At the end of the
film now, Ed Lewis,

who was the line
producer, Kubrick and Kirk say,

well, whose name
goes on as the writer?

And I remember Kirk
telling me that Kubrick said,

well, put my name on it.

-I felt offended by that.

I said, Stanley, wouldn't you
feel terrible to take credit for

a body of work?

-[Jack] Kirk says,
you know something?

The film is done.

Universal has to distribute it.

Cost too much to
put it on the shelf.

-And I went home that night and
I thought about it and I said,

to hell with it.

I'm going to put Dalton
Trumbo's name on the screen.

What could happen?

-And I remember, Ed
Lewis said, Kirk,

if you do that, it
could cost you your career.

And Kirk said, I don't care.

He wrote it.

His name goes on the screen.

-Oh people were saying, Kirk,
you will never be able to work

again and that's so dangerous.

-Film opened and there...

Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo.

♪dramatic music♪

-The sky didn't fall in and
the blacklist was broken.

-Several days later,
Kirk gets a letter.

And the letter said, Dear Kirk.

Thank you so much for
giving me back my name.

Thank you.

Dalton.

-I think...

I'm more proud of that than
anything I ever done in movies.

-Today these young people don't
understand the kind of courage,

putting to hazard
his whole career,

because of something
he deeply believed in.

[crowd cheering]

-I think it's all over.

Kelly's through.

He's all through!

He's totally washed up.

He's finished.

We're getting a new
champion tonight.

♪dramatic music♪

-Early on, I mean, we know
the roles that he's famous for.

We know the intensity.

We know the rage.

He was a pretty intense guy.

-Well what do you know?

Aren't you the big shot?

Pull!

Have you got any
friends with push like that!

Oh, everybody else
is gonna let you go.

The courts, the
judges, the juries.

Everybody except me.

-Ah!

Ow!

-For a little kid,
he was intimidating.

I mean, he intimidated adults.

And he was a lot
of out of control.

-You know, Dad was very
much a bully to an extent.

-[Michael] The temper
you saw on the set was...

was Dad's persona.

-Chuck!

-You can buy yourself a dozen
silver foxes but you're gonna

wear this!

-[heavy breathing]

Don't, Chuck!

Don't!

-He just...

didn't know emotionally...

When he was frustrated,
he would just get angry,

you know?

And you see it professionally.

[pounding]

[crying]

-Wasn't obviously
the normal kind of,

uh, you know...

father.

-'Spartacus' was on TV I
think, and I mentioned,

you know, how great Kirk looked
and so on and I remember Michael

says, yeah, but you know, when
you're young and you see your

father on the big
screen crucified and saying,

I did this for my
son, it's tough!

[laughs]

-Goodbye my love, my life.

Goodbye, goodbye.

♪dramatic music♪

-[Michael] But the
stamina was awe-inspiring.

And I just remember
that he could do...

He could do anything.

He was a fast gun drawer.

[gunshots]

-He could jump on horses.

He could juggle.

He could walk the oars.

He could do anything.

Anything.

-Michael was
first born, you know?

Um.

You know, that held a, I think,
a whole different relationship,

uh, thing with dad.

I mean, they weren't
too sure about me or,

you know, if they wanted me.

I always had the
weight problem, you know.

And Dad was very
demonstrative, you know,

about that.

You know, we were in a...

We were in a business and in a
life where it's more important

of how we look rather
than what we are very often.

-[Michael] I think he
was probably a little more

emotionally vulnerable.

I, rightly or wrongly, I think
probably emotionally shut down

pretty early and sort of formed
kind of a cast iron stomach.

With me, uh, he
never physically,

uh...

Just raged.

-When, you know, you
had his full attention,

it could be very devastating.

-[Michael] He was pretty
consumed and I think I learned

pretty early to
kind of stay away.

I mean, to be
there, but be quiet,

to stay away.

This was not a...

Just made everything...

easier.

-I can remember
sitting in the bathtub,

crying my eyes out.

Mike's pounding at the
door saying Dad had a baby,

you know?

He had a...

A Peter.

And I just remember
crying and crying and crying.

-Joel, he said, he's not
gonna want us anymore.

And I said of course he is,
you're always his children.

He's always gonna want you.

And he said, no, not if
he has other children.

And I said, yes he will,
even if he has other children,

he'll still want you.

-I think I always, uh, was given
a little bit of favoritism.

First, I was the oldest
of the second time around,

so in a lot of ways, I feel that
I received certain things from

him that the other kids didn't.

I don't think he
loved them any less.

I don't think he
loved Eric any less.

-Michael's brothers,
they have it tougher.

Their father was a movie star.

Their brother was a movie star.

It puts a
terrific burden on them.

My youngest son is Eric.

Eric has had lots of
problems with alcohol,

with dope.

And it's too bad,
because he's so smart,

and he can so charming.

But I learned a lot from him.

Maybe I learned
more than he learned.

Because I learned that
eventually everybody had to

solve this problem, that
he has my love and support.

What else can I say?

-Fun's over boys.

Unbuckle them.

-Let's shoot it out.

-All right, Shanghai.

-Go ahead, draw!

All of you.

But you get it first, Shanghai.

-And you second, Ringo.

-I liked Burt.

I liked him a lot.

-From a leading man
standpoint, you know,

not leading woman, but I
mean, it's an amazing kind of

chemistry that these two
men had with each-- you know,

with each other.

-Are you sufficiently up on your
bible to know who Judas was?

-I suggest you
read that letter, sir.

It's from the president.

-I asked you a question.

-Always ended up having a fight,
getting pissed off at each other

and, you know, never
work, kinda work again.

-Yes I know who Judas was.

He was a man I
worked for and admired.

Until he disgraced the
four stars on his uniform.

We got along.

And we fought a lot.

People say, they go to this..

-He had a deep love for
Burt and found a respect.

They did, what...

-I think seven or eight movies.

-Here's these two guys.

Super macho,
viril, gung ho guys, right?

Did the funniest thing ever
done at the Academy Awards.

-[singing] ♪It's great
not to be nominated♪

♪Great not to be nominated♪

♪Great merely to
sit here and relax♪

♪Since we have been
bested, we're not interested♪

♪But who stuck those
knives in our backs?♪

-Then we went
[whispering] ta ta ta ta.

♪upbeat music♪

-And I would climb
up on his shoulders.

♪upbeat music♪

[cheers and applause]

-We used to have such fun.

-So long, Arch.

-So long, Harry.

Hey, Harry.

You take care of yourself, okay?

-You too, Arch.

-[Sherry] Kirk
was bigger than life,

and Michael was living in
another family with a mother who

he adored and a step-dad that
he loved more than anything.

And Kirk he would see, I
think, mostly in the summer on

vacations.

But it was a
bigger than life life.

I think as much as he
loved Bill and his mom,

I think he wanted Kirk's
approval more than anything.

-My acting, heh, was so...

painfully shy.

Was such an exercise in
overcoming stage fright.

I used to act
with a waste basket.

Just before I go on I get sick.

That really might be a good
reason as to why I kept doing

it.

Because I don't know why.

-To be a son of Kirk Douglas at
the time when he's probably the

greatest movie
star in the world.

Can you imagine what kind of an
effect that has on a young man?

Trying to prove yourself?

-You're starting your career
kind of playing gentle young

men, kind of hippy
roles or, you know,

pacifists or gentle young men
roles because you don't even

wanna begin to think that you
could tap any of that element

that your-- that's your father.

Um, and the thing about being
an actor is you're trying to

establish your own identity.

And everybody's like, yeah,
you look just like your dad.

-The immediate assumption is
that you're there because your

father was a
superstar and, you know,

he put you there.

So all of our life
we were used to...

and working on Dad's
stuff or whatever...

Having to do it twice or
three times as better.

-The list of Hollywood children
who have fallen into disaster

is, you know, we'd be on the
air for the next 24 hours.

-Michael had to show that
he was Michael Douglas,

not merely the son
of Kirk Douglas.

-Let's talk about 'Summertree.'

Are you making fun of me?

-No, no, no, no.

Of you?

No, no.

This is a paranoid guy.

-[laughs]

-This is the most
paranoid guy I know.

I used to know.

-'Summertree.'
-'Summertree.'

-New York.

Lincoln Center.

My son Michael
going to play the lead.

I come up to New York.

I'm very proud.

And when I come up, the...

the director who was
Amy Irving's father.

-Jules Irving.

-Finally, my son from the...

-Big disappointment.

-So what did your papa do?

-My papa bought the
rights to that play,

bought the screen rights, had
it developed into a screenplay,

right, and a film
called 'Summertree.'

And then gave it to his son
who said I don't want to do it.

-Why?

-Because, probably it was
a hostel act on my part.

-Against me?

-Probably, dad.

Probably.

But we did it.

-That's what the V stands for.

-[laughs] I know that.

-Jerry.

-Mhm.

-Bye!

-And the picture
was not a success.

-[Michael] It wasn't bad.

-But it wasn't a very
interesting picture.

-Yep, yep, it was.

-Ah.

Doo doo.

[humming]

-[Kirk] Yeah, so you and Newley
and your girlfriend and left and

I was there to pick up the
pieces and edited the picture.

I was heartbroken because
I had done it all for you.

I wanted to show
you that I loved you.

I felt lonely.

Don't you understand English?

-I understand English, but
did I make you feel lonely?

-Yeah.

-How did I make you feel lonely?

-Because you walked away.

-What?

I should know at that point of
my life about post-production?

-No.

-No!

I mean, you're the
producer of the picture.

You got screwed by...

-You should be
responsible for what--

-You got screwed
by Anthony Newley.

You got screwed
by Anthony Newley.

Which I completely--

-You went out off with him!

-I went off with Brenda Vaccaro.

I didn't go off
with Anthony Newley.

[laughs]

-Michael was such an adventurer.

♪upbeat music♪

He said, do you want to go to
Catalina with me and I said,

yeah, but it's
such a long schlep.

He said no, we'll fly there.

I said, fly?

He said, yeah, I just
got my pilot's license.

I was like, what?

Next thing you know we're
in this tiny little plane.

We're all scared to death.

Michael takes his hands
off the steering wheel.

He's doing bits.

Look ma, no hands.

The next thing you
know we're in Catalina.

He had a little
devilish quality about him.

He was always fun.

He was the first to
have the new car.

He was the first to
have the pilot's license.

Who knew?

From a pilot's license.

He was the Howard
Hughes of our day.

-[VO] 'The Streets
of San Francisco.'

A Quinn Martin production.

Starring Karl Malden.

Also starring Michael Douglas.

-You have to remember
those police shows back then.

'Hawaii 5-0,' whatever...

The second lead, the second
banana was like two steps back

in soft focus.

The focal point
couldn't even carry you.

-I said, Michael.

When you do crap, do it fast.

And we're doing crap.

-Karl was the first
guy to say, come on,

come on.

You go.

♪upbeat music♪

He allowed me, you know,
so many chances to have,

you know, our shows
develop where I was the lead.

How come I always gotta
have a dime when you never do?

-What do you mean, never do?

-And if I kept track of how much
money I put in for your coffee,

I'd have a week's pay by now.

I came to Karl and I
said, I wanna leave the show.

Because I want to produce 'One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'

I finally got it done.

I've been working
on it for six years,

and I finally got it done.

And we had a really close
relationship and we worked our

butt and he gave me a hug and
he knew how much it meant to me.

He said you go for it.

-One morning he came in...

into my cab-- my trailer.

And I said, well, what
the hell happened to you?

His eyes are red.

-Okay, buddy boy.

What's chewin' on ya?

-He says, I cried all night.

What happened?

I had a talk with Kirk.

I'm ready to go into production.

And I've got the money.

I've got the actor.

I've got it all put together.

And for the first time, I
said, how do I come in this Dad?

What's my share?

What do I do?

He said, talk to my lawyer.

He said that killed me.

I couldn't sleep.

-The winner is...

'One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest.'

[cheers and applause]

-The old guilt button of how
to control somebody or to make

somebody feel guilty, as if
they've done something wrong or

failed you.

Um.

As you get older, both on your
own and having done a little

therapy or understanding things.

That doesn't, nah.

To anybody who's got a dream and
possibilities that is not gonna

be a reality, just hang on.

It'll be all right.

It'll work out.

Thank you!

-We were shooting 'Fatal
Attraction' and we were walking

to the set.

And the set was
in a public place.

And a woman came running
up to Michael and she said,

are you Michael Douglas?

And he said yes.

And she said, oh, I like your
father much better than you.

And I looked at this woman and I
thought how could she possibly

say something like that?

And he was very
polite and he said,

yeah, my dad's great.

And he kept walking.

And I never said
anything, but I thought,

what pain this man has to go
through every single day of his

life because he's being
compared to his father.

-Michael loves Kirk.

I mean, he really
came to terms with him.

He forgave him, I
think, for all that stuff.

-I think that as Michael grew up
and got that approval from his

dad and became his equal
that a great sense of peace and

accomplishment could
settle over him in his life,

and he didn't have to feel that
he was pressing his nose against

the window.

-Now my father never
gave me a pat on the back.

But I really tried to always
give my sons a pat on the back.

Did I succeed?

-You did.

-So, since nobody gave
me a pat on my back,

I have written a song.

[singing] Give
yourself a pat on the back!

A pat on the back!

[laughs]

-No one's given you
a pat on the back?

No one's given you
a pat on the back?

-I think that you have given
me several pats on the back.

-No I've given you
[foreign language]

-Am I talking too much?

-No you're not talking too much.

But I noticed a
tremendous change...

-In me?
-...in you.

You know, since your studying...

-Really?

-Really?

Really?

Me?

No?

Me?

Really?

Oh, I'm just...

Yeah, everybody.

You're always
saying, you're finally,

your hostility is over,
son, and we can talk.

And I always say to you, do
you ever think maybe that you've

changed and that it's dramatic?

I see somebody at 86
years old with 86 movies,

12 novels, four
boys, grandchildren,

who's done it
all, who continues,

and I don't see you
have any fear of the end.

I see you dealing, you know,
with your life one day at a time

and it's just inspirational.

[applause]

-Ladies and
gentlemen, Kirk Douglas.

♪orchestral music♪

-Thank you.

Thank you.

I see my four sons.

They are proud of the old man.

[cheers and applause]

And I am proud too.

Proud to be a part of
Hollywood for 50 years.

But this is for my wife Anne.

I love you.

[applause]

I thank all of you
for 50 wonderful years.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

[applause]

♪orchestral music♪

-[man] Mr. Douglas, what does
it mean to you to receive the

Lifetime Achievement
Award here at the Berlinale?

-Listen.

I must confess.

If you-- If you
live long enough,

you receive all the awards.

[laughs]

-The President of the United
States of America awards his

Presidential Medal of
Freedom to Kirk Douglas.

Kirk.

[applause]

-[Jack] Kirk was in his
prime as a major movie star.

He would take time out and go
around the world for the state

department.

In certain parts of the
Middle East and North Africa,

the American ambassador
couldn't go into some of these

universities.

I mean, he would be stoned.

♪dramatic music♪

But Kirk Douglas, movie
star, American movie star,

could go to these universities
and have these young students

who were anti-American look at
him with adoring eyes and he

would tell them about what
the culture of America was all

about.

Freedom to speak, to
create, to be an artist,

to say what you choose.

I think it had a magnificent
effect on these students.

-As your reading
somebody else's words,

somebody else is
telling you what to do,

where to go, how to
stand, what to stay.

-Well then you don't understand
what acting really is and,

of course, that would be quite
a long conversation to go into.

I mean, acting is
an interpretive art.

I mean, you may, uh, you may
hear Heifetz play the violin.

He didn't write the
piece, but oh how he plays it.

And that's what's wonderful.

Well that's what an
actor tries to do.

He may not have
written the piece,

but what he wants to
do is interpret it.

♪dramatic music♪

-Can I...

Can I pour you a drink, Paul?

-I don't know if I lost myself,
but that was a painful part to

play because if I
go [foreign language]

however you
pronounce it, was just a...

a sad character.

-Paul.

All the way home
I kept thinking--

[clink]

I wondered, Paul, if
only we'd try a little.

If we'd make some
effort to remain friends,

if...

if it would've been
better for both of us.

-I see you finished it.

-Oh yes, because,
Paul, when you look back,

so much of life is
wasted in loneliness.

-I control the
character that I played,

but in that-- in that sense,
I really did get lost in the

character.

-Where are you going?

-I'm getting out of here
before one of us gets killed.

-Don't go, Paul.

-I'll be back for my
things in the morning.

-Please don't go, Paul.

If you only know how long I
waited for you before you came

here.

-I know all about loneliness.

Only I don't whine about it.

♪dramatic music♪

-In my case, I think that I
also became an actor to escape.

-Why do we do these things, Joe?

Who knows.

I built my whole life
on hating my father.

All that time he was
inside me laughing.

Maybe he was crying.

Poor devil, maybe he
couldn't help himself either.

People make
acting too convoluted.

Because, first of all, there's
the sort of thing called talent

and present.

Some people just have a present.

The cameras like them.

Well I don't think,
you know, you learn that.

[bubbling]

[rumbling]

-What was that?

-I thought an earthquake.

-There was a way that
Michael, his movies,

uh, always, and still do, always
seem to kind of presage reality.

[alarms]

-[man] Each picture seems to at
once take the pulse of the time

and to be a daring thing.

-The movie opened and
it was a good picture.

It did well.

And then about three weeks
after the picture opened...

-Three Mile Island hit about ten
days after the opening of the

picture.

-Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

An accident at a
nuclear power plant.

Some radiated steam escaped into
the atmosphere before the plant

could be sealed off, but
officials say there is no threat

to health.

The plant is 10 miles
southeast of Harrisburg.

-And what really did
it for the picture,

of course, was when Cronkite
ran a splitscreen of the

correspondent down at Three
Mile Island giving the report,

and then took the scene out of
'China Syndrome' and ran them

side-by-side and they're
saying the exact same thing.

-Oh my god, why?

[indistinct screaming]

-The exact same thing.

-No!

Oh please God.

[explosion]

[sirens howling]

-[Michael] That was
an epiphany for me.

That was the most, um, religious
moment I think I've ever had in

my life.

That was something saying
this goes way beyond being a

coincidence, this is God trying
to tell me and us something.

That this movie that's being
dismissed that I thought was

pretty good, somebody's telling
us that there's some real

validity here.

-It always amazed
me that he had that.

I mean, that he...

He had a
clairvoyance of some kind.

-I was getting ready for 'China
Syndrome' and I had long hair

and a big beard.

Um.

I met Diandre at, uh,
Jimmy Carter's inauguration.

-[man] It was as if
Michael's dream come true.

These two people meet, the
glances across a crowded room.

-[Michael] She was a sophomore
in college at Georgetown

University in the
school Foreign Service.

There's a vulnerability,
kind of a waif-like quality,

uh, about her.

-It's a...

pale beautiful golden creature
who is the opposite of him.

-[Michael] I guess
opposites attract.

-He was literally transformed.

-You know it was all very kind
of quick and emotional and got

married, I think, less than
eight weeks after we met.

-[Jann] When Michael
got married to Diandre,

basically Michael's men friends
there were Jack Nicholson,

Warren Beatty, and myself.

And I thought, oh
man, [chuckles]

This is some bad examples here.

-She had a very difficult
time adjusting to the publicity,

the noise, the fanfare and
everything in Hollywood.

She found it very difficult.

I remember when she first came
over here and they went to a

premiere and she said, people
were taking our pictures without

even asking permission.

-[man] It seemed like
the archetypal couple.

Of course, sometimes things
don't end up the way you foresee

them.

-You bastards!

-Oh, shit.

-When we were doing
'Romancing the Stone,'

I was unmarried, unattached.

And he had told
me, quite frankly,

that he was separated.

And then you work that
closely with someone,

and he was, just
gorgeous, you know.

And smart.

And funny.

And capable.

And...

Anyway, I think I started
to really fall for the man.

-Kathleen was an
important part of my life.

I was separated at
the time, I will say.

But we carried on like
bandits, onscreen and off.

[yelling]

[splash]

-And then Diandre
came for a visit.

And that was that as soon
as I realized he had a wife.

That was that.

-I think Dad's got it.

It's, um...

that deep-seated charisma.

-[heavy breathing] I think
you feel to close to the flame.

-It goes beyond, as you
know, the physical attraction.

-I think you liked it.

[heavy breathing]

That's
why she killed herself.

-Ah!

-Men fall in love with
beauty and they seek it.

-Oh!

Oh!

-What are you doing?

-Sometimes in the
case of a movie star,

it seeks them.

-[heavy breathing]
Oh God, look at us.

-Come on, I want
you inside of me.

-Oh no, no.

I can't do this.

-Come on, put it in.

-I'm not gonna do this.

-Come on, now!

-And that can be a
very difficult thing,

to have beauty
stalking you 24 hours a day.

-You stick your dick in my mouth
and then you get an attack of

morality.

-This never happened, all right?

-Sex in cinema is very hard
because everybody's a judge,

you know?

And it's hard for them to
understand how choreographed it

is.

So if you go do
with Adrian, think of,

you know, okay, so
Glenn, go up on the sink.

-[heavy breathing]

-She's gonna put her
hands back onto the thing,

into the water, okay?

And then how bout, okay,
how bout if you take your wet

fingers and you
stick them in my mouth.

[water running]

Let's do that.

I try to do a thing, I pick her
up off of the kitchen counter

and I start taking--
My pants are down,

my trousers are down my leg.

I try to get her to
bed is a comic relief.

Hahah, a nervous laugh that
allows you to get out a nervous

laugh that frees up so
you can enjoy the focus.

But it's all choreographed.

It's all kind of rehearsed.

-We developed a script,
Stanley Jaffe and myself,

called 'Fatal Attraction,'
which was a script that we were

passionate about.

-I was a television actor trying
to make the transition into

feature films, period.

-And we went to
Michael as our first actor,

and he said, yes.

He loved it.

He got it, instantly.

-So I was not on any
kind of approved list.

-So then we went to get
directors and eventually,

um, we got Brian De Palma.

-It's hard to fight for yourself
as an actor if you don't have

the confidence, you know?

I mean, if you're feeling
nobody else is seeing it.

-Brian and Michael met, and
Brian De Palma came into us and

he said, I can't do the
movie with Michael Douglas.

And we said, what?

What are you talking about?

We're gonna start
shooting in six weeks.

And he said, I just
don't believe in him.

I don't think he's sympathetic.

Now this, in retrospect, almost
becomes comical because Michael

Douglas is the most sympathetic
actors on screen and one of the

most amazing things
about 'Fatal Attraction,'

to me, and I will never
forget the first preview,

is that you have a man who
has cheated on his wife,

goes home, jumps into the bed so
it looks like he's been there,

and the audience
started to applause.

That's how much they
loved Michael Douglas.

But Brian De
Palma, um, at the time,

did not want to do
the movie with him.

And he withdrew
from the project.

We never told Michael that
until about five years later.

Because we felt that if we
told him that it would hurt his

confidence.

-I was unaware till later.

And, of their support
that Brian De Palma,

who was hot at the
time, would, uh,

do the picture if
I was not in it.

-Because we could
laugh about it then.

He was one of the
biggest stars in the world,

and Brian obviously thought
that he had made a mistake.

-So where's your wife?

-Where's my wife?

My wife is in the country with
her parents visiting for the

weekend.

-And you're here with a strange
girl being a naughty boy.

-I don't think having
dinner with anybody is a crime.

-Not yet.

-I think that often the
relationship between men and

women, the
relationship between the sexes,

was something
that fascinated him,

that he struggled with
as well in his own life.

-They said, how could you do it
with a beautiful wife like Anne

Archer.

I said, yeah, but,
wasn't she kinda kinky?

Glenn Close.

She looked like she maybe
had something up her sleeve or

something like that.

Could that possibly
not happen to you?

Might?

-The way you run away
after every time we make love.

-Well Alex, what difference does
it make whether I leave now or

in the morning?

The fact is I gotta go.

-You're not gonna leave now.

-Oh come on.

Oh come on.

-I mean it, I mean it!

-Stop it.

Come on!

[shirt rips]

Hey, Alex!

C'mon!

-[Michael] 'Fatal
Attraction,' you know,

after you're doing all your
analyzing as a character in

this, and I
remember having this...

It's so silly now, that's
become bubble breaking,

saying, wait a minute.

What character?

-If you can't fuck me,
why don't you just hit me?

-You're so sad.

You know that Alex.

Lonely and very sad.

-Don't you ever pity
me you smug bastard.

-I'll pity you.

I'll pit you.

I'll pity you
because you're sick.

-Just...

exist.

Just be there, and just
take it moment to moment,

and, you know, don't act.

Try not to act.

-What are you doing?

Please don't.

Please don't go.

I don't mean it.

Please, I'm sorry.

I'll tell your wife.

Ah!

-You tell my
wife, I'll kill you.

-That series of
pictures, whether it was 'Fatal

Attraction,' um,
'Basic Instinct,'

uh, 'Disclosure,' the
picture he did with Demi Moore.

And certainly
'War of the Roses.'

All kind of dealt with the
love-hate relationship between

men and women.

-Oliver.

If you don't get
out of here now,

you have no idea
how far I'll go.

-How far?

Tell me.

-I think that we had...

I mean, looking back,
but even at the time.

I think we had a freedom.

You know?

We all didn't have heavy, heavy
handed reputations to uphold.

-We haven't passed
any point of no return.

-I have.

-I'm not convinced.

Nobody that makes patte
this good can be all bad.

-One of the things that
Michael has always done,

which is really,
really quite fascinating,

is he's always chosen movies
where the female is very strong.

-That depends on what
the patte is made of.

-[chewing]

-Oof.

-Until 'War of the Roses,'
Michael had never really done

something where he was...

Looked like a fool.

Well, that's very brave.

-Goddamn you!

[crash]

[ruff]

Jesus Christ!

[struggling]

-I think that when Michael
came home from doing 'Fatal

Attraction' and, uh, 'Wall
Street' in that back-to-back

two-three run of pictures, and
just one workday after another

after another.

I mean it's back and forth.

And he, you know, was exhausted.

He had this energy, you know, he
was now taking too many drugs.

-I have one drink before
dinner to take the edge off.

It's different.

-Oh, is it?

-Because otherwise I
would be dying of boredom.

-My marriage wasn't going well.

I'd just lost my step-father.

92.

Unexpectedly.

I-- I was drinkin.'

-Why don't you go in and tell
your daughter how bored you are?

-And we have a lot of
issues that were brought up.

It was very helpful.

It was a lot of venting
that went on with Diandre too.

-He's never allowed, you
know, people to see that kind of

vulnerability, you know.

That kind of, uh...

you know, frailty.

-It was really more
despair than drink and drugs.

-They had guys that I
remember that were renting these

motorized glider plans, these
photographers flying over the

facility trying to grab a
picture of him exposed.

-And so I go into rehab, um,
only to find out that I've gone

to rehab for sex addiction.

Because some smart, some
smart British editor said,

oh, blimey, another
boring, you know,

story about rehab.

I know.

This guy's done these pictures.

Let's make it
about sex addiction.

-And that was...

I was, what's wrong
with sex addiction?

[laughs] I have
had it all my life.

It never bothered me.

-And the only reason I mention
it is because that hung around.

92.

That's been 14 years.

And that little lie, or that
little piece of information that

was slipped in there that got a
lot of press affected how people

looked at me after then, and is
one of the reasons why to this

day I have such a strong
reaction against tabloid press

and willing to go to
the mat for lawsuits.

-What about hard work?

-What about it?

You work hard?

Bet you stayed up all night
analyzing that dogshit stock you

gave me, eh?

Where'd it getchya?

My father, he worked like an
elephant pushing electrical

supplies until he dropped dead
at 49 with a heart attack and

tax bills.

-He seems to be able to tap into
the zeitgeist in a way that's

almost uncanny.

-50, a hundred
million dollars Buddy.

A player.

Or nothing.

-What goes on
inside there, Mike?

You know?

What goes on?

-Well I, uh, I appreciate the
opportunity you're giving me,

Mr. Cromwell, as the single
largest shareholder in Teldar

Paper, to speak.

-It's a very quiet
rumble and roll,

you know.

It builds.

-Well if he lets it
go, it's like a volcano.

He erupts.

-One thing I do know is that our
paper company lost 110 million

dollars last year, and I'll bet
that half of that was spent in

all the paperwork going back
and forth between all these vice

presidents.

-Oliver Stone tests his actors.

The second week into,
um, shooting that picture,

he came into my
trailer and he said,

um, you okay?

I said, yeah.

You doin' drugs now?

I said, no, I'm not...

But you look like you've
never acted before in your life.

The point is,
ladies and gentlemen,

that greed, for
lack of a better word,

is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

I said, Oliver, I
thought it was okay.

You think so, huh?

Hm.

He kinda smiled at me.

So the rest of that
picture, I had a bug for Oliver,

you know, like...

I'm gonna get this guy.

And I would act right to him.

And all he wanted was to just
inch up the ratchet a little

more of an edge.

And greed, you mark my words,
will not only save Teldar Paper,

but that other malfunctioning
corporation called the USA.

Thank you very much.

[cheers and applause]

-[Jann] Jack was up for the
Academy Award that same time,

and, uh, Jack said, you know, I
sat there and I was rooting for

you.

You know, I was wearing my lucky
suspenders because I wanted you

to win.

It was really sweet.

-And the winner is...

Michael Douglas.

[cheers and applause]

-[Michael] That Oscar
really meant a lot to me.

I mean, the nomination
for openers was like,

wow, my peers, my acting
peers have bestowed this on me.

And it's difficult to talk about
stepping out of the shadow of

somebody as, you know, who
cuts a swath as large as Kirk

Douglas.

And in particular, to my father,
who I don't think ever missed

one of my college productions,
for his continued support,

and for helping a son
step out of a shadow.

I'll be eternally
grateful to you dad,

for that, to, uh...

[cheers and applause]

That catapulted me up
to becoming a star, but...

but even more importantly for me
personally was it just gave me

the confidence.

And goodnight
Cameron, I love you!

[cheers and applause]

That was a great year.

A really, really great year.

-The worst memory of my father
was getting a call from my

mother and spending about five
minutes trying to understand

that basically he was dead.

-I was in the helicopter.

We crashed about 50 feet
up with a small plane.

The two people in the
plane were killed instantly.

We fell to the tarmac.

-I was expecting the worst
because there was nothing left

of that helicopter.

-So it was kind of miraculous
when we found out that he was

actually in the hospital,
although not knowing his

condition.

-I don't remember anything
until I woke in the hospital.

-Anne was there waiting
for me when I came in,

and they were-- a nurse and a
doctor were taking off Kirk's

pajama tops.

-But his body was black.

-Black!

Not blue.

But every vein in
his body had burst.

All his capillaries
were flowing freely.

He...

He was looked like he'd been
over a spit being barbecued.

-[man VO] Kirk Douglas's son
Eric delivered an emotional

message on behalf of his father.

-We're so lucky to have my dad
here alive and doing so well,

from something that was
unbelievable to have lived

through.

-And I was...

in the hospital.

And I thought, two
young people were killed.

-And that I think was a pivot on
which a lot of his personality

turned.

-Why am I alive?

So then that gets you thinking.

Then I wrote my first book.

And I didn't know if
it would be published,

but it was taking inventory.

♪orchestral music♪

Where have I been, where
am I, where am I going?

-He wanted to study the Torah
and other Jewish writings and

talk about his philosophy of
life and also he wanted to

listen.

-I had the helicopter crash.

Then...

a pacemaker that
keep my heart beating.

Then my stroke.

I said, you know, I think
God is pissed off at me.

-That brought with the
stroke a lot of depression.

I mean, we went through a lot.

-[Kirk] What can an
actor do who can't speak?

Wait for Saturday
pictures to come back?

-It was, uh,
desperate times sometimes.

-He was convinced that she was
going to leave him because of

his behavior in the past...

And when there was nothing
further from her mind than

taking care of him
that it finally,

finally sank through.

-You know, you have periods
where you just lie in bed,

you don't want
contact with the world.

You would say, hey, now get your
ass out of the bed and start

working with a speech therapist.

She knew when--
when it would get tough,

when to have to have affection.

She's an amazing girl.

-God knows she put up with
enough shit for enough years.

-But next year, I would marry
her again to celebrate our 50th

anniversary, if she says yes.

-To have a bar mitzvah when
you're 83 is actually a very old

tradition, and the reason
you have it at 83 is that the

biblical lifespan is 70, which
means if you live 13 years past

70, you get a
second bar mitzvah.

And when Kirk
heard that tradition,

he thought that's for me
because I am in a sense reborn.

-Maybe my mother is watching.

-Mom was that kind of a
person, she was religious.

She was pious.

You'd come to her house on
Friday as poor as it was,

it was beautiful.

-[man] A now the great
honor to call our bar mitzvah

[sing-speaking Yiddish]

-She make the bialy and have it
on the table and the floor had

to be scrubbed before Sabbath.

-[singing Yiddish]

I am 13 years
old again and I promise,

I promise to be a good boy.

[laughter]

-[Michael] You don't think of a
stroke as being something that's

a blessing, but it was a
blessing in disguise for him.

It has brought him to peace, and
it's just a joy to see somebody

kind of finish his last
act in such a-- such a,

um, graceful way.

-He always walked
me to the door.

Always.

And he opened the
door, and I thanked him,

and I was leaving
and he said, rabbi,

and I turned around and
he said, come back soon.

There's a lot to learn
and the sun is setting.

Yeah.

-When my mother died, I
was holding her hand,

and she was in a coma and she
opened her eyes and looked at my

terrified face and she
smiled and she said,

don't be frightened, son.

It happens to everyone.

♪piano music♪

My mother and father never
went to school in Russia,

but here, everybody has
a chance for education.

That's why Anne was so
interested in the playground of

schools.

When I look at the
faces of these children,

Mexican, Filipino, Asian...

I think that's the
future of America.

-My class calculated that you
have donated two million five

hundred thousand dollars to help
school children become more...

-[Kirk] We owe our kids a
better life than we had.

[chanting]

And I don't know if
you will succeed.

-Easy...

Easy...

Good dog.

Easy!

[growling and biting]

Jesus Christ!

-On what do you base
your creative choices?

What are the criteria that
determine what you're going to

do next?

-You read something and
you are emotionally moved,

the script moves
you, it scares you,

it makes you laugh.

[growling]

[gunshots]

-[heavy breathing]

Shit, James.

You shot Dr. Gaskell's dog.

I put it down and then I
find myself haunted by it.

I find myself with a pad by my
bed and kind of taking notes

thinking about it.

[car honking]

-Hey!

Where do you
think you're going?!

-I'm going home.

-Hey!

-[Michael] I
loved 'Falling Down.'

'Falling Down' was a movie
that nobody wanted to make.

It hit home because what a lot
of people don't remember is that

the defense industry was the
largest industry in southern

California.

Not the entertainment industry.

I don't want lunch.

I want breakfast.

-Yeah well hey,
I'm really sorry.

-Yeah.

Well, hey, I'm really sorry too.

-Ah!

-[Michael] And then one day the
Cold War was over and they all

got pink slips that said thank
you for all your hard work.

-Sit down over there!

Hey, hey, hey!

Mister.

Where you going?

No, no, no.

You sit down there and
you finish your lunch,

come on.

-It did okay.

But like my father's favorite
picture and mine is 'Lonely Are

The Brave.'

Which to this day, you know, has
not been seen really by anybody,

and it's just a
classic Dalton Trumbo.

It's a great, great picture.

And in a lot of ways for me,
'Falling Down' kind of falls in

that category for me.

[horse neighs]

[honking]

-What do you think you're doing?

[galloping]

-[Kirk] I think we
are both daring.

We take a chance.

You did fine little girl.

We like to do something with
a little danger attached to it.

[crowd cheering]

-Hello, how are you?

Come here, come here.

[indistinct chatter]

-It's been a nice
experience all the way through.

I'm just kind of learning as
I go and really enjoying it.

-[Diana] When Cameron was
going through the early part of

adolescence, when he really
needed to have a father around a

lot, Michael was not able to be
around a lot and I think that he

regrets that very much.

-Some people have
truck drivers as parents.

Parents are gone
for a long time.

It's kind of the way it works.

And I always
accepted that, you know?

I always understood
and realized that.

-You know, Cameron is
extraordinarily talented,

lovely guy with a
great heart, um,

who got into drugs
at an early age.

♪electronic beats♪

It was a disease that, you know,
devastated him personally and

certainly wrecked
havoc on our family.

And I'm proud and
happy to see him at 24,

ten years later,
coming out the other side,

but I don't wish it on anybody.

-All the success that
Michael had not brought him,

um, the happiness he
needed and is looking for.

I think you can
only really find,

you know, in a
satisfying personal life.

-I was, you know, recently
divorced and was not ready to be

tied down but was
seeing, you know,

four or five people but
each was in a different city.

-I've seen my dad with a lot
of different girls basically,

you know?

-And I go to the screening
and there's this movie called

'Zorro.'

So I sit in the living room,
look down at the screen and go,

who is that?

-Well, we met at the
Deauville Film Festival.

-As I look at the schedule, and
I see 'Zorro' is coming the next

day.

-The lady in the car who was
like the representative for him

I guess said, you'll never
guess who wants to meet you.

-And if she's coming alone and
maybe if I could see her for a

drink or dinner.

-Who?

Michael Douglas.

So my brother's like nudging
me in the back of the car,

like, oh really?

-So I went, yes!

-[laughs]

So anyway, that night...

-I think that's when I asked her
if I could be the father of her

children.

-He said he wanted to
father my children.

Like that.

So I go, okay.

So I said, well,
you know Michael,

I've heard a lot about you.

I've read a lot about you.

And I've seen a lot about you.

And it's so nice to know
that it's absolutely true.

-It's nice to
know it's all true,

she said.

She said, good night.

-And the receptionist
said, ooh, Miss Zeta-Jones,

you'll never guess there's a
huge surprise for you upstairs.

And I was like, well what?

You'll never guess
who sent you flowers.

Mr. Michael Douglas
sent you flowers!

-[Michael] So we courted.

Courted the old fashioned way.

-[Catherine] When he used
to date me and take me out,

I always, like, make sure my
brothers would swing by at like

10:30 just to say hi.

[laughs]

-[Michael] I think I got a
kiss or two in those nine or ten

months.

-[Catherine] He
said, oh, you know,

let's swing round
and meet my dad.

I said great, and then I
remembered who his dad was.

[laughs] Like, oh my
god, are you kidding?

He said no.

Oh.

To his house?
To his home?

He said, yeah, my dad's home.

[cheers and applause]

I was such a sycophant.

A complete schoolgirl fan.

-[Don] I must say Kirk
that everyone is smashing up to

you, and you and I know that
you feel in your heart that you

should be a major star
again in another picture.

And I'm telling
you forget about it.

That's the thing of the past.

[laughter and applause]

-[singing in foreign language]

-And then I saw him just
get so happy with her,

you know, and then they started
spending so much time together,

you know, and he
called everything else off,

you know, with all
his other friends and,

uh, so I knew that
it was a good thing.

They love each other a lot.

-She just won an Academy Award.

She's had two babies at the
height of her career in the

last-- In the prime of her
career she's had two kids.

So she's gonna be busy.

And so I said, let's do this and
I'll be Mr. Mom and you take off

and then I can follow.

As long as there's a golf course
nearby and I can do some work

for the United Nations.

-I have been very impressed
with Michael because I...

I am impressed with
people that help other people.

Michael helps other people.

-[Michael] The civil war's
been over for like ten months.

They have these
camps for the kids.

And they've been pretty
successful in these kids finding

their parents
through video tracing.

-[Kofi] I'm only here
to introduce Michael Douglas,

the United Nations
messenger of peace.

It's wonderful to
have him on board.

Please.

-The two areas I'm going
to focus on in my work is

disarmament and human rights.

In the area of disarmament to
try to pursue nuclear abolition.

♪piano music♪

That's right, we're
going to the park.

You wanna go on the sea-saw?

-Yeah.

-Eh?
You wanna go on the sea-saw?

-[Jann] He's learned his lesson.

All those mistakes were made and
now he gets to do it right this

time.

-Having his son 22
years after his first son,

he gets the time now to
really enjoy those moments.

-Oh, good balance!

And are blessed
and fortunate enough to have

something that's more nourishing
or more important than that,

which is love and a family and a
bond and just the joy that all

you wanna do is spend
time with your kids.

-[VO] They're father and son and
they both have Oscars on their

mantels.

Welcome Kirk and
Michael Douglas.

[cheers and applause]

-He said, son, I'd like to drive
in the car with you because I

got a couple of ideas.

I said, Dad, we're
just presenting an Oscar.

I know, I know.

But I've just got
a couple of ideas.

-We are here tonight to present
to you tomorrow's headlines.

Now, speak distinctly.

-[Michael] He came up
with the first one now,

remember to annunciate.

Which was good.

And then he decides to rip--
to rip the-- and the winner is

[ripping noise]

And I said, Dad,
you can't do that.

You're supposed to say,
and the Oscar goes to.

-And the winner is...

[laughter]

-There's a slight
lag time, you know?

You have to get the thought and
then get your mouth around the

words.

So.

And the winner is...

'Chicago'!

♪piano music♪

gay Paris.

Now Paris is sad.

But I am glad you
chose to marry me.

[singing] ♪And if
you ever leave me♪

♪I will follow you and cry.♪

♪Please, darling, stay
with me until the day I die♪

[glass shatters]

-[Kirk] ♪Please stay with me♪

♪Until the day I die♪

Was I a good father?

-You have ultimately
been a great father.

-Ultimately.

-Ultimately.

But you certainly...

fatherhood would not have been
one of your highest parts of

your resume, early on.

You have been renowned for your
acting and your producing and

the need to succeed at those
were the principal desire in

your life.

And one's marriage and
children came second.

Especially when you were working
as much as you were working.

But your sense of forgiveness
and your love and sense of

family and friends is
inspirational for anybody,

you know, and that's why it's
just so great for people to know

and I can see how much
you can change in your life.

And how you can
still learn more,

at a time when everybody else is
so called retiring and kind of

dying and withering away,
you're continuing to grow.

And, you know,
continue to chart like that.

And that...

I admire you so
much, so much for that.

And love you for it.

[singing] ♪Happy
trails to the moon.♪

We have one last one.

Do you remember the words
to 'A Whale of a Tale'?

-[both singing] ♪Got a whale
of a tale to tell ya, lads♪

♪A whale of a tale or two♪

♪'Bout the flappin' fish
and the girls I've loved♪

♪On nights like this
with the moon above♪

♪A whale of a tale
and it's all true♪

♪I swear by my tattoo♪

-♪Got a whale of
a tale to tell ya, lads♪

♪A whale of a tale or two♪

♪'Bout the flappin' fish
and the girls I've loved♪

♪On nights like this
with the moon above♪

♪A whale of a tale
and it's all true♪

♪I swear by my tattoo♪

-[both singing]
♪Then one evening♪

♪Her flame of love blew out♪

♪Blow me down
and pick me up!♪

♪She swapped
me for a trout♪

-[singing] ♪Got a whale
of a tale to tell ya, lads♪

♪A whale
of a tale or two♪

♪'Bout the flappin' fish
and the girls I've loved♪

♪On nights like this
with the moon above♪

♪A whale of a tale
and it's all true♪

♪I swear by my tattoo♪

[laughing]

-Done.

-[Kirk] I'm a big fan.

-[laughs]

♪upbeat music♪