the scene. It’s possible that the re-editing of the picture neces- sitated that this scene be rewrit- ten, and that the references to Mirakle were added in post-pro- duction reshoots. If this is truly the case, it’s possible that a true reassembly of Florey’s director’s cut might not be possible, armed only with the footage that’s in general release.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE ORGASMATRON
Stephen Lloyd’s intricate
deconstruction of the many dif- ferent edits on ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST [VW 110:22] was able to do what I thought was near-impossible: tell me some- thing new about the history of a movie that I thought all had been revealed on. I hope everyone at Paramount’s DVD department received a copy of this article. In a perfect world, not only would Paramount make the corrections to the disc Lloyd suggests, but his essay should be included in- side the package as a booklet. (I may just have to format one myself for my copy.) An additional interesting and
somewhat nitpicky detail is that both OUATITW and BARBARELLA exist in a sort of revisionist history, in that late ’70s-era Paramount logos (moving blue sky dissolves into dark blue graphic) seem to be a permanent part of their nega- tives, instead of the late ’60s era logo they would have previously sported (moving blue sky, “A Gulf+Western Company” meeting in the center like linking train cars). All theatrical and video prints since the ’70s have always sported those then-new logos, likely arising from the reissues both enjoyed theatri- cally, and they also do not bear a closing repeat Paramount logo, which is otherwise standard on all their releases.
80
BARBARELLA, for example,
had been reissued with a PG rating, with the now-infamous “QUEEN OF THE GALAXY” sub- title added to the poster art, fea- turing additional letters in the opening credits to cover Jane Fonda’s naughty bits to achieve the PG rating, and a modern MPAA card and black screen where the closing Paramount logo had likely been as the exit music played. Reportedly, the original nipples- and-all sequence has been re- stored without need of losing the PG, but all other changes remain. Ironic, that BARBARELLA gets to keep exit music over black screen but OUATITW does not. As for the disc’s special fea-
tures, I suspect the documentary is broken up into 3 segments for the same reason almost all DVD documentaries now are split up so: the vagaries of talent and union contracts dictate that anything running longer than a half hour constitutes a higher rate of residual payment and/or participation fees. By splitting it into segments, it can be argued that in the letter of the law, they are three short segments that pay less to all involved than a feature length documentary. A cheapskate move on all studios’ behalf, but better small bites than none at all. I suspect the “MTV” trailer may
have been intended for a UK reis- sue. Paramount reissued the origi- nal THE ITALIAN JOB in England in the early 00’s, to cash in on its constant popularity among Brits in general and among gangster groupies and soccer hooligans in particular, and a new trailer was prepared for the revival. This was included in similar fashion as an Easter Egg in both the US and UK DVDs of the film. I don’t know that a reissue for OUATITW ultimately occurred, but it certainly fits the pattern. I too was initially put off by the incongrous and anachronous style, but just like
Morricone’s theme being looped for the hip-hop ballad “Once Upon a Time” by Down Low, I must admit it’s rather grown on me. Perhaps it makes the movie look more swift and action- packed than it really is, but re- member, movie fans are a touch more savvy now, thanks to the internet and hip direc- tors and, well, magazines like VW, and they now know that Sergio Leone is synonymous with cool, so why not link him up in their mind with some modern salesmanship? If it gets a few newbies to watch, albeit under false pacing pretenses, what’s the harm? It’s just as innovative to me as running ads for CITY OF GOD during WWE SMACKDOWN. Marc Edward Heuck Los Angeles CA
A GOOD SHOT
IS WORTH REPEATING That was a wonderful collec-
tion of stills you assembled for the Universal feature in VW 111! Some I’d never seen before, like the jokey WEREWOLF OF LONDON still and some of the production shots, while others (the Elsa Lanchester BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN por- trait and the Carlos Villarias DRACULA picture) are just great photos. And was that a real color still from SON OF FRANKEN- STEIN or a tinted B&W? I’d love to know what happened to that test footage! Universal found it and then it vanished? Very strange. Mark Young
West Midlands, England
Our best guess is that it’s a tinted shot, but in an age when Universal was picturing the Monster on their one-sheets with skin as green as a kosher dill, the pale gray-green is surprisingly accurate.
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