While the ’90s for me were defined by child-rearing, A River Runs Through It (1992) led me to try my hand at fly-fishing in Tasmania. While I could appreciate the good looks of a young Brad Pitt, my heart still belonged to Redford. Indecent Proposal (1993) sure was a fantasy, and a great diversion from the washing and cleaning that came with a household of five.
A teenage Lisa Johnson, hopelessly devoted to Robert Redford.
In 1998, Redford still looked great in denim, at 62, in The Horse Whisperer. Spy Game and The Company You Keep fed my love of espionage, and All Is Lost, while not critically acclaimed, reminded me that, no, all was never lost. Redford’s reunion movie with Jane Fonda in 2017, Our Souls at Night, reminded me that time was travelling fast. And The Old Man & the Gun confirmed that reflection and wisdom are the rewards of ageing.
I don’t have a favourite Redford film. But I’ve watched and rewatched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) with one of my daughters, who was more besotted with Paul Newman. And I’ve enjoyed reruns of The Sting (1973), one of my late father’s favourites (also a Paul Newman fan).
Sure, as a girl, I fell for his looks. As an older woman, I realise that Redford opened up my world and ignited my curiosity. I try to live by two pearls of wisdom that define Robert Redford for me. The first came from a conversation he had with his long-time friend, Sydney Pollack, who had directed him in The Way We Were, Three Days of the Condor and Out of Africa. “Success,” Redford told Pollack, “is a funny game. I don’t know that the most fun wasn’t when you were striving towards it, rather than achieving it.”
The second was in regards to retirement, which is around the corner for this girl from Chester Hill.
Paul Newman, as Butch Cassidy, and Robert Redford, as the Sundance Kid, in the 1969 classic’s final shootout scene.Credit: 20th Century Fox/AP
“You make the most of what you’ve been given – that’s how I see it,” Redford said. “And you keep pushing to make more of it. I don’t see any reason to stop. I think retirement can lead to death, and that’s not for me.” Indeed, he co-produced the series, Dark Winds, in which he made a cameo appearance playing chess in a jail cell.
Thanks for the memories, Mr Redford. They light the corners of my mind.
Lisa Johnson is a school teacher who walks to work singing ’70s songs.
