Deleted scenes that have never been seen

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by sidewinder572, Jul 1, 2007.

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  1. MekkaGodzilla

    MekkaGodzilla Forum Resident

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    In The Spice Girls movie "Spice World" (1997), they filmed the girls singing Gary Glitter's song "Leader Of The Gang" and at some point Gary joins the girls on stage to sing the song with them.

    Following his arrest on child pornography charges, his scenes were deleted from the final film and the audience only sees the girls singing about 75% of the song.
     
  2. Harvey Keitel's scenes from Apocalypse Now, before he was replaced by Martin Sheen. I've never heard a real explanation for why he was let go, other than "he wasn't working out" or something similar. I'd like to see for myself.
     
  3. I seem to recall that Coppola gave some sort of explanation in the documentary for the new Blu-ray but can't remember what it was exactly...
     
  4. mannymarks

    mannymarks New Member

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    Oakwood, GA
    It's hard to even imagine Keitel in that film now, it works so perfectly the way it is (finished).
     
  5. Ricko

    Ricko Forum Resident

    Huge chunks of Cleopatra (1963) are MIA. Originally conceived and shot as two movies to be released a year apart, there's two hours missing from the original director's cut(s).

    The gutting of the surreal spiritual context and the addition of battle scenes may be why it's so mediocre.
     
  6. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Just to defend the director and post crew in the editing process: don't forget that every movie ever made has deleted scenes. 90% of the time, the footage was omitted from the released film because 1) it sucked, 2) it slowed the film down, 3) it had logistical or story problems, 4) there were unsolvable problems due to lack of available time and money, or 5) the scene was made redundant by another scene.

    Sometimes, there are very good reasons to omit a sequence from a film. As one example: Jim Cameron is quick to say that the "director's cut" of his films are the versions actually released. A longer version is just longer. Sometimes, the shorter version is actually preferable, artistically and commercially.

    I agree, it's a different case when you have a film that's taken away from a director, and the studio recuts it (or even reshoots it). I've been part of a few of those, and they can get very ugly for all concerned. It's also a nightmare, because you wind up having two or three different versions of the movie lying around, and there's a terrible danger that the wrong version will get pulled and used in the post process, and then somebody sees it and goes berserk. (I know of one movie, Catwoman, that reportedly had about a half-dozen different versions all the way up to the release date.)

    BTW, one technical issue I see is that sometimes, when the deleted scenes are included on a DVD, all you get to see is the rough Avid edit, and the video quality is pretty stepped-on. Very few studios bother to go back and pull the original footage, color-correct it, and remix the soundtrack as required.

    Having said that, I have to confess, about a third of the time I see deleted scenes on DVD, I'll say, "hey! That's pretty good -- the should've used that." Another third of the time, I say, "that really sucks -- they were right to leave that out." And another third of the time, I say, "that makes no sense. What is that scene for?" Get five more film buffs in the room, they'll have five other opinions. Ultimately, only the director's opinion counts. (That's assuming the director controls the film.)
     
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  7. mannymarks

    mannymarks New Member

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    Vidiot: I have seen some films messed up when scenes that didn't really work were reinserted for home video release.
     
  8. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

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    Hollywood, USA
    Very good point. If you really wanna get a shock, get ahold of the original script for some finished films. I'm often blown away by what was originally written, vs. how the final movie eventually turned out. Often there's some pretty interesting stuff in the script that either couldn't be shot because of budgetary problems, or just plot complications that had to be simplified.

    As one example, I think Dan Aykroyd's original script to Blues Brothers was 180 pages long (3 hours). There are numerous other examples.

    If I were the exec producer in charge of putting together deluxe Blu-ray boxed sets, one of the extras I would include would be the entire script and storyboards, just to show the audience what the film was intended to be prior to making it. Criterion did this occasionally in the old Laserdisc days, and I thought it was an interesting concept -- and it took up very, very little disc space to hold 500 still frames.
     
  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Surprised that some deleted scenes were not used in Training Day.
     
  10. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

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    Marple, PA, USA
    Streisand's topless scene in The Owl and The Pussycat.
     
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  11. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I've seen nude scenes deleted from Boxing Helena because the Sheryl lynn Fenn's manager thought they showed too much.
     
  12. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

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    Hollywood, USA
    BTW, the script is all over the net. Do a Google search, and you'll find it. Read it and you'll find out why the movie never came out.
     
  13. Michelle66

    Michelle66 Senior Member

    How about these:

    Freaks (1932) - Taken from Wikipedia: "In the film's climax, the freaks attack Cleopatra and Hercules with guns, knives, and various sharp-edged weapons, hideously mutilating them during a bad storm. Though Hercules is never seen again, the original ending of the film had the freaks castrating him; the audience sees him later singing in falsetto. The film concludes with a revelation of Cleopatra's fate; she has become a grotesque, squawking "human duck". The flesh of her hands has been melted and deformed to look like duck feet and her lower half has been permanently tarred and feathered."

    This Is Spinal Tap (1984) - Although not originally in the film, it's been said that there is either a four or six hour version out there. Criterion released an hour of alternate footage, and the MGM DVD had some bonus outtakes as well. (This still leaves tons of unseen material.)

    Dazed and Confused (1993) - I once had a VHS tape (in abysmal quality) that had an alternate cut of the film - complete with a scene of the guys stealing the statues they later painted to look like Kiss. (The statues were part of a bicentennial promotion at a bank.)

    Later (towards the end of the film, when the police show up at the school's football field), the guys are questioned separately. Each tell the cops that they found the statues in a field. The cops ask if the staues had been found "face up" or "face down". Luckily, Pink and Don both say "face up", thereby corroborating each other.

    Hare-um Scare-um (1939) - The ending of this prototype Bugs Bunny cartoon is abrupt. The hunter offers to take on the rabbit and his whole family. Suddenly, tons of rabbits appear with their dukes up.

    The end.

    No iris out. No real punchline.

    There have been many theories as to what the original ending was and why it was cut. (Similar to the other infamous edited Avery cartoon "The Heckling Hare".)

    However, unlike "The Heckling Hare", I guess there *is* at least one print of this cartoon out there with the complete ending intact! This blog goes into more detail - complete with pictures of the missing scene!:
    http://ramapithblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/legendbreakers-hare-um-scare-um.html

    The Stupid Cupid (1944) - It's rumored that the film might have had a different ending - one that was cut from the "blue ribbon" reissue prints. From the "Censored Looney Tunes" page: In known prints of this cartoon, the last scene involves the rooster kissing the hen with Daffy quickly zooming in between the two lovers and kissing the hen himself. The hen taps on the rooster's shoulder to alert him of Daffy's presence. The rooster stops kissing and looks up shocked just before the scene abruptly fades to black. According to historian Greg Ford, the original ending involved Daffy saying "If you haven't tried it, don't knock it." It is uncertain whether this was excised from the original release print or from the Blue Ribbon reissue.
     
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  14. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

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    Hollywood, USA
    Well, we do get a good look at Cleopatra at the end, squawking like a Human Duck. Supposedly, the movie started out at 90 minutes, and eventually got chopped down to 64 minutes. I seem to recall that the studio heads were so offended by the film, they burned all the outtakes. Even worse, talented director Todd Browning basically never worked again (not on a major film, anyway).

    I think it's a given that the chances of getting back the trims from an 80-year-old nitrate film are pretty much nil at this point.

    I used to have a sign on the wall in one of my mastering rooms with this picture:

    [​IMG]

    "Our dedicated staff will be pleased to help you achieve your creative goals!"
     
  15. El Bacho

    El Bacho Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris, France
    There's no deleted scene in "Russian Ark".
     
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  16. minerwerks

    minerwerks Forum Resident

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    Atlanta, GA, USA
    I hate when I'm watching an actual finished film and think that.
     
  17. Spirit Crusher

    Spirit Crusher Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mad Town, WI
    John Carpenter's The Thing - I seem to remember a couple of cut scenes that were shown in the infamous TV version - have these been seen anywhere since then? The greenhouse scene, I'm thinking of. And I've seen stills of Fuchs' death - perhaps connected to the greenhouse scene, I can't remember.

    Good points by Vidiot, about "director's cuts" - not all of them are like Brazil or Blade Runner. Aliens, like he said - the released version, and the Abyss, were "director's cuts". The cinema release of Lethal Weapon was probably a "director's cut". Michael Mann's "director's cut" of Miami Vice is really misleading - on the commentary, he said he was asked to recut it! I wish I could find out more about that.
     
  18. Baba Oh Really

    Baba Oh Really Certified "Forum Favorite"

    Location:
    mid west, USA
    There were two extended scenes from BLUE VELVET that were cut (one of them where Frank takes Jeffery and the gang to a bar and shoots pool before going to Ben's), and the footage was lost forever. On the DVD extras, they have many "stills" from those scenes though.
     
  19. That depends. In the case of "The Abyss" Cameron was contractually obligated to provide a film of a certain length or he lost the final edit. The extended version also restores subplot elements that he liked and hated losing. There was one visual effect sequence with the huge wave that he wasn't happy with and because of that it was cut.

    In many respects the extended edits allows the director to try stuff that he or she might not have been able to do due to time constraints, contracts, money or other issues AND also allows them to revisit the material to see how they might have approached it today.
     
  20. Surprised no mentioned James Whales' "Frankenstein" (I'm old) The scene when the Monster sees a little girl throwing rocks into the river, he thinks he's playing by throwing her in! It was cut but restored for the latest dvd
     
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  21. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

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    What I was always told is that the main thing that got cut out was the tidal wave. Cameron elected to remove it because the effects house was never able to create a wave that looked good enough. Eventually, he had enough time to go back, redo the effect, and re-edit the movie. The rest of it is just little moments here and there.

    I think that goes without saying.

    Don't forget that the first cut of most movies starts off at least 50% longer than the final running time. Very few people can get away with releasing a 4-hour film. But in some cases, the longer version really is better. The classic example I often use is Dances with Wolves, where only in the 4-hour version, do you get all the Lakota Indians' dialog and reactions to Kevin Costner's character. In the 3-hour theatrical version, you never really understand what's going on with the natives.


    A-dat's a good one, a-boss!
     
  22. Jayce

    Jayce Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Not deleted but never filmed: Hitchcock's and screenwriter Evan Hunter's desired ending to "The Birds," in which the group are attacked inside the small car as they attempt to make it to San Francisco. They eventually make it there-- only to find the Golden Gate Bridge covered with birds.

    Or the duel scene in "Topaz" -- didn't appeal to American test audiences.
    Or in "Frenzy" -- the closeup of the murdered woman's tongue (did someone say this already?)
    Or the ending in "Vertigo" with the radio broadcasting that Gavin Elster has been found and arrested for murder.
    I believe that he filmed a scene in "Rebecca" that showed a giant "R" forming out of the billowing smoke as Manderlay goes up in flames.
    FInally, there is the whole rejected film "Kaleidoscope/Frenzy" -- there are some very intriguing stills and test scenes that have trickled out to the public. Seems like a radical departure for Hitchcock, and would have been quite different in 1967.
     
  23. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

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    Hollywood, USA
    Both in the script. I think in both cases, Hitch decided that it was better to just stop and let the audience fill in the blanks.

    I think in the case of The Birds, it was kind of a cheat, because there was no real ending there -- no apparent cause or reason (very much like M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening). In the case of Vertigo, it omitted the happy ending. I understand why he did it, but I think both movies might've benefitted from going with those original endings. But in the case of The Birds, they just ran out of time and money, and it couldn't be done (not in 1963, anyway).

    I don't think many trims exist of any unused Hitchcock footage nowadays. A few scraps here and there, some camera tests, but not much else.
     
  24. El Bacho

    El Bacho Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris, France
    The scene in Vertigo with the radio broadcasting was filmed and was featured in the international versions when the film was first released. It was a studio/censorship request that the bad guy should been arrested, Hitchcock was reluctant to shoot the scene and he managed to get rid of it afterwards. It's included in the recent DVD editions as an extra.

    And it's anything but an happy ending: Scottie is mute and stares by the window with an infinite sadness in his glance.
     
  25. Does anyone remember a sex scene in American Graffiti, with Cindy Williams topless in it? I just bought and watched The Collectors Edition on dvd for the first time, since watching the movie when it was actually playing in theatres, and was wondering what happened to the Cindy Williams topless scene. I had thought for sure I had watched a scene like that at the theatre. I can't even find a reference to it on the web. Am I remembering some other movie or is it a conspiracy to clean up Cindy Williams's image?
     
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