Would you buy a Cleopatra: Director's Cut? (2 Viewers)

[Steve Phillips]

Yes, I would!

 

[Brian W.]

Hell, yeah, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Thomas T

It's a myth, Ed.

No, I've seen stills of the aforementioned scene.

It was do to appease/tease the European market.

As if it would not of worked here!

However, it would 'never' have been accepted in the good old U.S. of A..

 

[Eric Paddon]

What scene are you talking about? It never happened and there is no way that La Liz would ever have done a topless scene. She is almost nude from behind in one scene where she's being given a rub but that is as far as she ever went in "Cleopatra". If there was any such "European tease" sequence I seriously doubt it would have gone unmentioned in the documentary or unrecalled by any of the participants.

 

[Jenna]

Love the movie and would DEFINITELY purchase a Director's Cut, althought I don't think it will see the light of day.

 

[Thomas T]

Ed, if you've seen "stills" then they are unauthorized photos taken on the set of Cleopatra during Liz' massage scene where we only see her bare back and a smidgen of breast. I'm sure most of the HTF European contingent will verify that no topless scene ever existed in any European showing of Cleopatra.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I am still hopefull that this six hour masterpiece will see the light of day.

Andy

 

[Eric Paddon]

Are there any outlets to try and find new information on the ongoing search for footage?

There is however one thing we have to remember that is going to prohibit a true restoration from taking place even if all the lost footage surfaced. Most of it I'll wager will have no soundtrack elements available so that means it will either have unacceptable natural sound or no sound at all. Plus, Alex North wrote no score for any of the scenes that were not used so that would also present problems.

The best we can hope for is a new supplement laded DVD with all the missing scenes edited together in a rough format one day. As far as seeing the six hour cut in full splendour, alas that is lost to us as Cleopatra herself.

 

[Jake Johnson]

I don't know, guys. The added footage in the American Pie dvd's didn't add much to the film.

...ha

 

[Jeff_HR]

The added footage in the American Pie dvd's didn't add much to the film.

How can anyone compare "American Pie" to "Cleopatra"??????????

 

[David_Blackwell]

Exactly. You can't compare the two at all. I may have never seen Cleopatra in it's full glory as it exists now (I have seen parts while surfing the channels), but I did watch the AMC documentary.

I hope the missing footage is found.

Be Seeing You,

David Blackwell

 

[Jason_Els]

I would buy it! In fact the reason I don't have it now is because it's not a good movie. Certainly a spectacle, but not a good movie.
Lost footage reappears from time to time, occasionally spectacularly, ala The Passion of Joan of Arc so I can't say miracles don't occur. I don't know if the footage would add anything to the story without subtitles but then again, the new production-still version of Greed really helps the story and gives us a glimpse into what might have been.
Cleopatra could be a lot of things. Given that the director was so passionate about keeping the length I think the chances of finding "lost" footage might be good. There's just no way to tell until everything has been searched and every person who might have the footage has been checked. We might not know who or where that is for a long time. Any effort to recover this footage has to be made public with a reward offered.

 

[Michael Osadciw]

New cut of the film? Absolutely! I'd buy it in no time!

Michael

 

[David_Blackwell]

Did't they find some fo the lost footage that was shown in the documentary on disc three? Any news on their search for the missing footage?

Also, does anyone know of any good sites or articles for info on the search for the missing footage?

Be Seeing You,

David Blackwell

 

[Eric Paddon]

I've been wanting to find info on the search for more footage for two years, but there doesn't seem to be any location to check out info on that.

The documentary reveals that what has mostly been found is the footage shot for the aborted Peter Finch-Stephen Boyd version which was halted when Liz got sick and production shut down. The only footage found for the movie itself is Taylor's first scene in the shooting script with her troops and more scenes from her procession into Rome. Not that promising overall.

There is one Liz Taylor site I recall that had a number of stills and descriptions from scenes that were cut from the film but I can't remember where it was at this point.

 

[Joe Caps]

I would love to see the long Cleopatra. I'm afraid that the chance of it existing is very small. Remember that Cleo ended up being a big power play between Mankiewicz(sp) and Zanuck. I'm sure that Zanuck would destroy Manks version just to cover his butt so that no one could go back to it.

Varese brought out the complete Cleo score with only one short cue missing. Fantastic!!

However, a friend of mine in early 93-94 was trying to get a cleo restoration off the ground, found memos and letterfs of protest from Cleo composer Alex North to lionel Newman, head of Fox Music. Alex was complaining that he had already scored the long version of Cleo and was not being paid an extra nickel to rescore the short version!! Where did the tracks for this long version go?

Remember, Mank brought his long 6and1/2 hour print to show to Zanuck in Paris. Man did NOT get to keep that print( I had asked him about this at the Directors Guild once).

In those days, if a powerful ehough star got a print from a studio, it was usually a 16mm print down. But Cleo long version never got out of the 70mm stage, so it's doubtful that anyone involved with the film got any of this long footage.

Things that ARE out there and do exist in some form we should be looking for

1. The long version of Sand pebbles.

2. The long version of South Pacific.

 

[JPCinema]

Ah yes, The Uncut SAND PEBBLES. I saw it at the Cinema 21 in San Diego many times when it was a reserved seat attraction.

About 6 months later I was in New Haven, Ct and took my cousins to see it...and I was shocked that the movie had been cut!!!

Sadly all the sequences that showed Frenchie and Mai Li trying to get married and being denied were gone!

Towards the end when the San Pablo is trying to get past the boat blockade there wewre actually two attempts and in the cut version there were two.

I sure wish the original version still existed!

PS-- I'd love a Directors cut of "Cleopatra".

 

[Andrew Budgell]

There is one Liz Taylor site I recall that had a number of stills and descriptions from scenes that were cut from the film but I can't remember where it was at this point.

I'm sure you are thinking of Trivette's Tribute to Taylor.The photographs are located in the Cleopatra section. It truly is a wonderful site from a devoted Taylor fan.
Even if they can not find the missing footage, which would be devistation, Fox should really think about revisiting this film in the next couple of years. It would be great to have the original opening scene as a bonus feature, not just snippets of it in the documentary. It would be great to have the scenes from the aborted Mamoulian (sp?) production to be viewed in their entirety, as they exist today. There is also a number of screen tests that were seen briefly in the ending credits of the documentary that could be seen in their entirety. Maybe the rest of you feel these artifacts aren't neccesary in their full form, but I guess I'm just a completist when it comes to this film, and felt a little dissapointed by the current, 3 year old DVD.
Andy

 

[Daniel`D]

I've never seen the film and only found out it while reading an Elizabeth Taylor bio for school. I would love having the full film on dvd even thought it'd be a blind buy for me.

 

[oscar_merkx]

just buy the current version as the docu is worth it alone