ARKOFF: THE COVENANT

Kenneth Turan’s review of “Flying Through Hollywood by the Seat of My Pants” was unusually valuable because he caught and reflected the unique character of Sam Arkoff, which I have observed for 22 years while helping publicize him.

What has never been pointed out by anyone, to my knowledge, is that Mr. Arkoff and about six other producers who have influenced moviemaking in the past half century have been known as people as much as for their specific films, and they have simultaneously been pivotal in certain areas.

SZA is still very much with us, driving himself around town with the top down in his 1974 Cadillac Eldorado, his cheeks almost as bright red as the auto, and his foot-long cigar clenched in mouth. He’s en route to making lots more exploitation movies, he hopes . . . Not just a name that has co-produced and/or co-distributed 504 films, but a character, too.

JULIAN MYERS

CENTURY CITY