Jumping back a bit to Casino Royale, it's a mess of a film, but I do love that theme song. The vocal version played over the end credits is a hoot. So much 60s cheese. As for Tiger Lily, is this the first time anyone did something like this? There are plenty of examples of redubbing a film with silly dialogue after, but I don't know of any before. Take the Money and Run I first saw as a child, and the scene that always stuck with me was when he carves the gun out of soap and it's raining as he walks the guards out. There's a lot of silent film technique like that in the early movies, clever stuff.
It's not quite the same thing, but I have seen (don't ask me the year, or whether it was a movie or TV program) something vaguely similar done with silent movie clips. The premise being that silent movies are silly, overacted embarrassments from a time gone by, so the narrator would mock the film and people would occasionally provide voices when the characters were seen speaking. Actually pretty depressing stuff for a silent film fan to watch. I would think if Woody had seen the program I'm vaguely remembering, he would have been appalled rather than inspired. But it's the only thing that comes to mind. I took a look at the Wikipedia entry for "mockumentary" wondering if "Take the Money and Run" could qualify as the first. The entry mentions "A Hard Day's Night" (which, to me, doesn't really qualify), and a film made before, but released long after, TTMAR ("David Holzman's Diary"). Here's a bit of TV movie that could rightly qualify: Henry Fonda narrating no less!
Reading about the original "Bonnie and Clyde" ending shot for the film (Virgil dying in a hail of bullets), makes me wonder if Woody, given his disdain for DVD bonus feature and ever "looking back", has destroyed alternate footage of this sort ... or if maybe, someday ...
I seriously doubt any of that stuff exists, sadly. And I don't think I knew about that original ending, either! I remember reading that Ralph Rosenblum said that Woody really had no idea how to assemble the film once they were done shooting. I think he said that once the love interest appeared, the film just ground to a halt. He was certainly right about that bit. I threw it on last night and gave it about 85% of my attention (while paying some bills and going through some paperwork). Indeed, when Woody has the first extended scene with the girl, the energy just drains... It still holds up reasonably well - the funny stuff is hysterical - but it's clearly the work of a (very talented) beginner. Interestingly, I discovered the trailer after watching the film and there were a couple small bits in it that I didn't recall in the film (the scene at the altar?) - although, as I said above, I wasn't giving it 100% of my attention. There is one later film of Woody's that shows a scene in the trailer that was cut from the film - details when we get to that one!
I find it interesting that Woody would later comment that "TTMAR" was something of a dry run for "Zelig", where he "got it right" (or something to that effect). "TTMAR" is definitely a funnier film, but "Zelig" is more cohesive. I think that's in part because it manages to maintain the documentary conceit throughout the film, where "TTMAR" is forced to abandon it. The narrator tries to provide some justification as to why the documentary audience can see the "domestic bliss" scenes, but of course it doesn't add up (Who shot them? Why?)
I've always heard that Woody destroyed all of his outtakes/trims. Of course, it was once said that Brian Wilson burned the "Smile" tapes too, so there's always hope something exists, but I'm afraid there's little chance of it seeing the light of day while he's still alive at least.
Woody doesn't watch his movies after he's arrived at the final cut and has no interest to go back and watch any of them so I wouldn't be surprised if any extra footage is lost.
I've got the book Woody Allen On Woody Allen. He mentions editing TTMAR and thinking the material was not funny and so was cutting a lot of good stuff out. This led to hiring Ralph Rosenblum, who set him straight and showed him to edit with sound effects and music included and the scene would come to life.
So what is the single, surefire, know-it's-coming-but-laugh-every-single-time-anyway gag in the film???
Some of the little, subtler jokes kill me. The psychiatrist who casually insults the patient on his couch while talking about Virgil. The way Virgil's father says he was "RRRRottten!" (Louis Nye, playing Jeff Garlin's father on "Curb Your Enthusiasm", used the same word the same way to describe Larry David). The meathead fellow prisoner who laughs about not remembering why they forgot to tell Virgil that the jailbreak was off.
The switchblade. Cracks me up everytime. Love this movie. All of the cello gags are a scream. The interviews with Virgil's cello teacher ("He had no inclination of the instrument, he was blowing in it.") and his psychiatrist describing Virgil's "conflict" with his choice of a musical instrument are hilarious. Not to mention the cello itself flying through the window onto the street below. But what is Abt?
Watching the film it occurred to me that while Woody generally likes to use the standard "triple" (two anticipated items setting up the punch line of third - like two typical signs of miracles followed by the punchline - "My Uncle Sasha picking up a check"), the switchblade joke is a "quadruple" - three set-ups then Woody's punchline .
Great observation. Woody definitely established his signature "flow" in Money; which would blossom even more in his next film Bananas.
"Small Time Crooks" is about 30 films away but you might want to check out the Jon Lovitz interview about working with Woody that is on YouTube. Lovitz didn't want to use his natural "Tarzana accent" so he tried a New York accent that Woody quickly vetoed.
Can't have just one... - Gonna see Miss Liza, gonna go to Mississippi... - Fritz "I was also batboy for ze YANKEES!" - and his accomplice who was wanted for "dancing with a mailman"
"Is Kowalski a midget?!" Job Interviewer: Name, please? Virgil: John Q. Public.. that's P-U-B-L-I-C JI - You said you worked in an office. What kind of office was it? V - Rectanglar