WB - Please consider a MIKE'S MURDER director's cut DVD! (1 Viewer)

[Mark Edward Heuck]

A few months ago, I had chance to talk to Jack Larson, immortalized as Jimmy Olsen in the "SUPERMAN" TV series, but also the longtime companion of the late filmmaker James Bridges (THE PAPER CHASE, THE CHINA SYNDROME). Since I have always been curious about Bridges' original edit of MIKE'S MURDER, which had an unsuual flashback structure that was scrapped in favor of a linear construction upon its actual release, I asked Mr. Larson if Bridges had managed to save any vestige of that original cut. To my pleasant surprise, Larson replied that yes, Bridges did save a print of his original edit of the film, which also contained some sexual material that reportedly made the studio brass quite nervous, and that moreover, to the best of his knowledge, all that rough footage still existed in the Warner vaults.

MIKE'S MURDER has frequently been mentioned by film buffs as one of the more intriguing "lost" films of modern times, and with the excellent track record WB has of restoring films like THE BIG RED ONE and CRUISING, I eagerly urge that this opportunity be taken to rescue another film from the clutches of an inferior release version. And I think it should be done very soon to take advantage of Jack Larson's life experience with Bridges, especially since WB DVD (albeit the TV division) has already had much contact with Larson during their production of the "SUPERMAN" series on DVD.

(moderators: could this thread be merged with this earlier thread to save space? http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...+james+bridges )

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Absolutely, this needs to be done. I forget what the deal is with the musical score, though. The soundtrack album is marvelous but very little of it seems to have ended up in the movie itself in the theatrical cut. Does the director's cut have the score too?

 

[WaveCrest]

I only found out about the film Mike's Murder (which also stars Debra Winger) recently, when looking at the Screen Archives listing page for it's CD soundtrack. Is there any chance of this film getting a DVD release?

 

[Jeff Newcomb]

The theatrical cut is available via Warner Archive.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Asked Warner Archive about the possibility of releasing the original cut of MIKE'S MURDER. Here is their response via Facebook:

Our inventory is not clear as to whether an alternate cut has indeed survived or not. While it is unlikely that we would pursue this in the near-term, we would not entirely rule this out as something that could be pursued in the future.

 

[cineMANIAC]

I love this film - one of the best blind buys I've ever made. I hate finding out about alternate cuts to movies I know have little to no chance of ever getting re-released. Hopefully the cuts weren't too drastic.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

I love this film - one of the best blind buys I've ever made. I hate finding out about alternate cuts to movies I know have little to no chance of ever getting re-released. Hopefully the cuts weren't too drastic.

The film was originally conceived and edited in a non-linear format similar to what was done 15 years later with MEMENTO. It didn't test well and the studio wanted changes...the film was subsequently trimmed of some more extreme violence and sex, edited into chronological / linear form, and most of Joe Jackson's original song score was replaced with a more traditional score by John Barry.