By JUDY SLOANE

Front Row Features

LOS ANGELES-Blake Edwards was a renowned writer, producer and director whose career spanned for over 30 years. Some of his classic motion pictures include “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “10,”  “S.O.B.,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Victor/Victoria” and the “Pink Panther” series.

“American Masters – Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames,” explores the filmmaker’s life and career through interviews with is family, including his widow, Julie Andrews, and actors Bo Derek and Lesley Ann Warren. It premieres on PBS stations across the country on August 27, 2024 (check local listings.)

Edwards’ movie “10” followed a middle-aged man, George Webber (Dudley Moore), who is having a midlife crisis, which would be his 42^nd birthday. He becomes infatuated with a young woman he has never met, Jenny Hanley, played by Bo Derek, who he considers a perfect 10.

In “Victor/Victoria” Edwards’ wife Julie Andrews portrayed Victoria Grant, who masquerades as Count Victor Grazinski, a gay Polish female impersonator, where her act is seen by Chicago gangster King Marshand (James Garner) and his girlfriend, Norma Cassidy, played by Lesley Ann Warren. Marshand becomes captivated by the performance and is stunned at the end of it when it’s revealed that ‘Victor’ is a female impersonator.

Bo Derek and Lesley Ann Warren joined the journalists at the TV Critics Association to talk about their memories of working with the great Blake Edwards.

Q: Bo, your role in “10” was groundbreaking in many ways for you. Can you talk about that experience and working with Blake on that film?

Bo Derek: You had a strong filmmaker who was relaxed and confident. I think that’s what impressed me the most, his confidence. 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.

Q: How was the process of getting your hair in cornrows?

Bo Derek: That was a ten-hour process with two girls working on my hair, but I think it helped create that unattainable female, that she didn’t have ordinary fluffy 80s hair.

Q: Lesley, by this point in your career, when you did “Victor/Victoria,” how aware were you of Blake Edwards?

Lesley Ann Warren: I had seen “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” eleven times, so I was already a gigantic fan. It was a huge deal. I didn’t audition, which was insane. I [went to see him,] and what Bo said, basically, he made me feel comfortable. And we had great laughs about how Julie (Andrews) and I had just done “Cinderella.” And in the meeting he said, “Do you want to do this role?” And I said, “I’ll do anything you want me to do.” So, I went home, read it and I was thrilled.

Q: Bo, in “10” there was some nudity for you to do. Could you talk about how Blake handled what’s got to be a very sensitive scene to shoot?

Bo Derek: Nudity was in his films. I was very comfortable. I grew up on the beaches of Southern California and you wear a little bikini, it’s not that different than being nude. 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 going to be okay. I thought it was so interesting that 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.

Q: How do you think today’s audience, particularly the younger generation, would take to Blake’s perhaps less nuanced depictions of gender and sexuality?

Leslie Ann Warren: I think for me, having been in “Victor/Victoria,” he was taking on the gender fluidity issue in a visionary way, way before it was a mainstream conversation. People come up to me with a lot of respect, admiration and excitement about what he chose to do in that regard. I’m proud that he made this film that dove into gender identity and all the pitfalls and issues around it in an incredible, entertaining but educational way.

Bo Derek: I agree with everything Lesley said. I don’t know if it started with “10,” but all of a sudden there was a jump forward for Blake in what he was writing and what he was trying to say.

Q: What did you both find unique about Blake?

Lesley Ann Warren: Everything. I’ve actually never experienced the kind of civility, grace and [being comfortable] on a set. When I was doing “Victor/Victoria,” he believed that people couldn’t be funny after ten hours of shooting, because of the mental acuity and spontaneity. So he would bring us in at eight and we’d be out of makeup by ten and we would stop shooting at five.

Bo Derek: I think the atmosphere, and I’ve said it before, comes from his confidence. You really had a very strong captain at the helm. Most of the people on the set he’d worked with for 30 years and they were very close friends. He was very loyal to his friends. And there was just a quiet calm. Everyone did their job. It was pleasant.

Lesley Ann Warren: He was also a great audience for an actor. He would fall off his chair laughing. You would hear his laugh through the take and we’d have to do it again. He really embraced and enjoyed what you were doing creatively.

Q: Did you ever sense that Blake based any of the male characters on himself?

Bo Derek: Yes, because I think Blake often used what happened in his life. He told the story that he was driving in Beverly Hills and there was a bride he could see from behind, and he said, “What if I pull up and she’s the one?” And so that started this whole story (in “10.”) So yes, at that moment Dudley was like Blake.

Q: If this “American Masters” gets people curious about Blake Edwards who have never experienced any of his films before, what’s the must watch three-movie binge you would suggest for them?

Lesley Ann Warren: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “Days of Wine and Roses” and “Victor/Victoria.”

Bo Derek: I think “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Victor/Victoria” and I’m a big fan of “S.O.B.” Talk about autobiographical for Blake!