SWEET CHARITY DVD - MISSING OVER A MINUTE

Chuck Pennington · 10-01-2006, 10:30 PM

Hey guys,

Well, I'm ashamed I didn't notice this earlier, but it appears the SWEET CHARITY DVD is missing a little over a minute of footage! I was busy making a DVD hybrid using the anamorphic widescreen DVD transfer and the PCM digital sound from the Laserdisc (it's superior to the DVD), and I noticed over a minute of footage is missing.

It appears that the DVD is not only missing the exit music at the end that was on the Laserdisc (but not the VHS). It is also missing this scene:

After Charity says: "We'll talk about your fixation, okay?" at 2:21:33, the following is cut on the DVD:

OSCAR: It wouldn't do any good. It's all those other men.

CHARITY: Huh?

OSCAR: The other men.

CHARITY: Oh, Oscar, you said that didn't matter. You said that didn't make any difference.

OSCAR: I thought if I said it enough I could convince myself it didn't matter, but... It does.

CHARITY: (giggles nervously) Oh, you know, Oscar, you're just making a mountain out of a couple a guys.

OSCAR: How many?

CHARITY: Huh?

OSCAR: HOW MANY? I want to know exactly how many!

CHARITY: Oh, Oscar, don't talk like that in that tone of voice because I can't think.

OSCAR: How many?

CHARITY: (suppressing tears) How far back do you want me to go?

OSCAR: Oh, God, I'm a terrible person. I have no right asking you things like that.

CHARITY: Oh, Oscar, you can ask me any question you want. I won't hide a thing.

OSCAR: No, don't you understand? I don't want to know. I don't want to know anything!

CHARITY: Okay, then you get nothin' outta me, nothin' outta me. I'm very flexible, you know? I can go either way.

This is at 2:22:38 on the VHS, meaning just over a minute is cut. On the DVD, the scene cuts to:

OSCAR: You're better off without me, Charity. I'm doing you a favor.

Is there someone at Universal I can write to about this???

Chuck

Joe Lugoff · 10-01-2006, 11:59 PM

That's amazing ... that's a major scene; isn't it what the whole story was building up to? I don't get how that can be cut out and no one noticed.

MatthewA · 10-02-2006, 12:19 AM

If they could see me now...

they would see me trying to hold back rage. Seriously, a key scene vanishes into thin air without a trace.

JohnMor · 10-02-2006, 01:15 AM

I can't believe I didn't catch that before, but I just popped in the DVD and SOAB... I missed it! MAJOR cut! I am really pissed at Uni now.

Chuck Pennington · 10-02-2006, 01:37 AM

We need to write to Universal. Hell, while we're at it, we can also write to Paramount about GREASE's botched remixed soundtrack and MGM about the cropped and squished GUYS AND DOLLS release. I read somewhere online that only physical letters do any good at all, so I'm gonna track down the proper addresses.

It's amazing I encountered these three issues all in the same week. Oh, but wait - I forgot SHOCK TREATMENT and how the end of "Denton, U.S.A." is messed up with the center channel going to the surrounds and the front channels taking the surround channel info - and the center channel seems to have the sound effects mixed loudly above all else. Oh, and they messed up the closing credit music from the original version. I just finished fixing that one as well as GREASE, but I can't fix GUYS AND DOLLS or SWEET CHARITY. Isn't there a quality control department, or some group of people who actually KNOW these films in control of their DVD releases? :-(

-Chuck

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Brian W. · 10-02-2006, 06:14 PM

I've never seen Sweet Charity, but a minute missing from a classic musical is inexcusable. If you find the addresses, I'll write a letter as well.

Greg_M · 10-02-2006, 10:27 PM

Wow that's amazing. That is an important scene. I bought the DVD but haven't watched the whole film yet. Universal should fix this problem. They won't they don't care. They don't read the forum. I'll write a letter. Please post who we should write to and the address etc.

Too bad we keep getting bad remasters (Aren't remastered DVD suppose to be improvements "Oklahoma!" what a mess). Didn't buy "Guys and Dolls" or the pan and scanned "Annie". I'm on the fence about "Grease" I would like the commentary (I hear the picture is improved even thought the sound isn't) Who's gonna get the next sloppy remaster treatment?

Mark B · 10-03-2006, 12:21 AM

Damn! That's a very important bit of dialogue missing. I'm glad I have a TCM letterbox stereo copy with the scene intact.

The film was released in several versions at varying lengths. I wonder if there's a connection...

Tucker J · 10-03-2006, 12:53 PM

Hi Chuck
I have a few questions please,
How do you go about putting a different soundtrack onto a dvd(what equipment etc)?

Which soundtrack did you use to replace the one on the current GREASE dvd?

Is there anyway I could put the original stereo soundtrack of Grease from a vhs tape onto the new dvd.

Thanks.

Garysb · 10-03-2006, 03:15 PM

TCM has also broadcast an alternate ending which was basically the opposite of what happened in the released version. Neat stuff. I will not say exactly what happened so as to not spoil it for those who have not seen the movie and may want to in the future.

Chuck Pennington · 10-03-2006, 03:35 PM

Actually, they quietly remastered the widescreen ANNIE and fixed the panned-and-scanned but still widescreen transfer. I bought it 2 yrs ago and it was fixed! But there is no way to tell from the packaging which one is inside. Of course, I then took the fixed anamorphic widescreen transfer and synched up the Dolby Digital 5.1 remix from the P/S only "anniversary DVD" to make my hybrid for the best picture and sound quality. :-)