Possible Wilder commentary for "The Apartment" (1 Viewer)

[Eric Peterson]

I know that it sounds kind of crazy, but I found this tidbit on Cameron Crowes homepage. Scroll down to the September 17th news on the below link.
Link Removed
While interviewing Wilder for his book, Crowe recorded many hours of conversations with Wilder and according to Crowe, many of these ended up talking about "The Apartment" again and again. Crowe has shown interest in editing together these interviews to possibly develop a commentary track for a future re-release of "The Apartment". I hope that this is more than just a pipe-dream. I would pay just about anything to have this track or the raw-tapes for that matter.
If enough people show interest here, I'll forward this link to the person who maintains Crowe's webpge. Maybe, we can help spur him on.

 

[Paul_D]

That would be fantastic!

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I hope they redo the transfer. The current release looks pretty terrible.

 

[James David Walley]

Absolutely. That film needs a re-issue. Maybe next time, they can remember to set the "film" flag properly.

 

[oscar_merkx]

That would indeed be fantatstic news. I would buy it in a heartbeat.
thanks for the tip

 

[george kaplan]

The book is GREAT, and the idea of turning it into a commentary for my favorite film would be even better!

 

[Adam_S]

SOLD!

I'll double dip on this film in a heartbeat, especially for a new transfer and some special features! This would make it the perfect companion to my Some Like it Hot SE. And a commentary by Wilder would make me pay more, that's a truly unique extra!

Adam

 

[Robert Crawford]

Wouldn't they have to clear this with his estate? If so, there could be a problem due to Wilder's stance against doing any commentaries for his films previously released on dvd prior to his death. Just a word of caution, but perhaps his family won't mind.



Crawdaddy

 

[Eric Peterson]

Robert,

That was my one concern, but according to what I've read Crowe became quite friendly with the Wilder's and continued to visit them after the book was done & released. I also don't think that Wilder was specifically against commentaries, but he refused to do them because he didn't like talking about his movies in general. He did very few interviews after the mid-70s when several writers exaggerated things that he had told them. It took quite a while for Cameron to talk him into doing the book due to this. In general he was a very stubborn man and set in his ways. Hopefully, his widow wouldn't stand in the way of a project like this, but one can never tell. This may be nothing more than a pipe-dream, but I sure hope not. In my opinion Wilder was the greatest Writer/Director in the history of Hollywood and I would pay anything to hear his thoughts on one of the greatest movies ever made.

 

[Michael Boyd]

This would be a definite buy for me. I currently have all released Wilder films on DVD.

 

[Jussi Tarvainen]

I don't own the current release of The Apartment, but I'd buy this in an instant. Cameron Crowe is so cool for willing to do something like this.

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

I already own the current release of the apartment, but I'd happily rebuy it just for an improved transfer, needless to say, a commentary and other extras would really be great though!

 

[Nate Anderson]

It would be cool if this worked out. Hey, maybe Cameron would like to do a seperate track himself? The first fan commentary ON a DVD?

 

[Eric Peterson]

Nate,

I've been hoping for Crowe to do some commentary tracks on Wilder films also. Ever since I read his book on Wilder and heard his first commentary track, I've been drooling. Crowe's commentaries are consistently among the best there is and he almost always mentions Wilder and the tremendous influence that he had on his films. Crowe has mentioned him in "Jerry Maguire" & also on "Almost Famous" & "Vanilla Sky" - I don't remember if he mentioned him during the "Say Anything" track.

I'm crossing my fingers that this will happen as well as
"One Two Three"
"Kiss Me Stupid"
"Ace in the Hole"
etc... etc... etc...

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

That would be great. But I think that MGM ought to get One Two Three and the 200 minute version of The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes on DVD first. But a SE of The Apartment would be great!
Gordy

 

[Eric Peterson]

Gordon,

You don't happen to have the missing footage for Sherlock do you? I have the LD with what footage they've been able to find, but I think the search is pretty much over unless some collector or studio employee shows up with a few cans some time in the future. I suppose that they could get voice actors to dub the lines for the sequence where the picture exists, but I don't know what they would do with the rest.

This is truly one of the Holy Grails of the cinema.

 

[Kevin M]

Wow, if only Peter Bogdanovich could legally do this with his miles & miles of Orson Welles tapes!

 

[Greg Mariotti]

OK. I'm the guy who runs the Cameron Crowe site (www.theuncool.com). I will talk with Cameron about Wilder DVD releases, but I need some feedback from you guys:
1. What's wrong with the current transfer for The Apartment?
2. Please list in order what Wilder DVDs, you would like to see get released.
Once compiled, I'll talk with CC and share your desires.
thanks

 

[george kaplan]

My two most wanted unreleased:

1 - Kiss Me, Stupid
2 - Ace in the Hole

My two most wanted special editions (with new transfers):

1 - The Apartment
2 - Double Indemnity

 

[Scott Shanks]

Wilder DVD's (in order):
1. Double Indemnity
2. Some Like It Hot
3. The Apartment
Probably the biggest problem with
The Apartment's transfer is print flaws. They are numerous and distracting.