What were they thinking?!

[Brian Hendel]

If you could give awards to the Top Five worst edited super 8mm cutdowns, which titles would win? Mostly for not what they included, but for what they cut out... For what it's worth - here are my picks.


1) Barbarella - Marketing films opted to leave out Jane Fonda's opening credit gravity-free strip-tease on ALL their digests... even the 3 X 400' mini feature.
2) Plan 9 From Outer Space - The film was made by Ed Wood because of some footage he had of Bela Lugosi smelling roses outside his home... the last film ever captured of Bela... but Mountain Films cut it out of their 4 X 400' abridged feature. Borderline criminal.
3) Plague of the Zombies - The dream sequence of the dead rising from their graves was groundbreaking and inspired an entire genre... just don't look for it in Derann's 400'er.
4) Witchfinder General - The pre-credit opening sequence sets the tone for the whole film... the quiet English country side shattered by a woman's screams as she is lead by a gang to be hanged as a witch. Walton Film's editor chose to lose the entire thing and cut to the rolling credits from the end of the film instead.... a mess!
5) Love At First Bite - George Hamilton and Susan St James clearing the dance floor to "I Love the Nighlife" was the clear highlight...not for Ken Films! It's entirely left out of the 400' digest.

What are your picks?

[Oliver Feld]

Brian
What a great thread!

To me it would be the following:
1) „Once Upon A Time In The West“ by marketing-Film: the 3-parter is missing the famous opening sequence at the train station & the first appearance of Henry Fonda on the farm! Everyone was waiting for (maybe a digest bit of) it.
2) „Carrie“ by marketing-film. The very good edited 2-parter did not use the shocking final dream (Carries hand reaches out of the grave for Sue) everyone was talking of by thinking of that masterpiece. (Derann used this scene in their 2-parter!)
3) „Psycho“ by U8/piccolo film. Thanks to the cover You can read that Marion stole the 40.000 Dollars, but the cutdown starts with her arrival at the Motel. All the great scenes (the steal, meeting the boss after that on the street, the policeman, the car seller) are gone. In the piccolo version the death of Arbogast is missing, too. It could have been a perfect 2-parter!
4) „Alien“ the 1-parter by Ken/ufa-films. After all a very good digest, but where is the original ending? The digests final is the destruction of the „Nostromo“ although the alien is still on board of the rescue ship with Ripley...
5) „The Sting“ by U8/piccolo-film. What is the reason for all the things that happen? The complete intro and the reason for the story is missing. If You don’t know the complete feature (which is highly impossible...) You are a little confused.

[Osi Osgood]

Great idea for a post! My pick would be the digest for Force 10 from Navarone, terribly edited. The abridged feature, My Name is Nobody, the whole "shave and a haircut" sequence that begins the film. Personally, that alone would make a nice 200ft digest, as it runs approximately seven minutes.

[Steve Klare]

Derann's 2x400' "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" deleted Ethel Merman and the Banana Peel!

Given the way her character acted, I'd say the entire movie was building up to that one moment!

"NOW SEE HERE, YOU IDIOTS!...."

[Oliver Feld]

Steve
Do You know That this beloved scene is included in the marketing film cutdown?
It’s in letterbox and the cut is different to the Derann cut, but the banana gag is included.

[Steve Klare]

You need the Banana!

I do love this about my Derann print: it has that crazy driving up on twisty mountain roads near the beginning of the film in glorious 'Scope. (You start to wish your couch had seatbelts and an airbag!)

-it's like the worst driver-education film ever made!

https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-b...c;f=4;t=000585

[Paul Suchy]

Hey Brian, I feel your pain; I've seen my share of badly edited digests. I seem to remember that there was some sort of contractual thing that forbade Marketing from using original credits on their digests (so the Barbarella issue was not their choice).

[John Armer]

Plague of the Zombies - The dream sequence of the dead rising from their graves was groundbreaking and inspired an entire genre... just don't look for it in Derann's 400'er.

Totally agree with you on this one Brian - it's THE scene in any Zombie movie ever - period. Les Halliwell, who wrote Halliwell's Film guide over here in the UK wrote that the scene "in which the half-rotted undead scrabble their way out of graves in an English churchard is still spoken of in hushed whispers by connoisseurs of the genre". It's only about 30 seconds, a real shame it never made it into the cut down!

[Melvin England]

Although I would have to sit down and think of a "Top 5" worst edits, there are a couple that come to mind.

This evening I have just projected both 400' extracts of "Angels With Dirty Faces" and, although both reels are separate stories from the film, not a 30 odd minute digest, and both portray the fact that Rocky Sullivan was to be executed, NEITHER portrayed him being a coward and screaming at the end. A little disappointing from what are two generally very good extracts.

And the other one?

1x 400' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother. I could not make head or tail of that one, so it got sold.....quickly!

[Brian Fretwell]

I also quickly sold the 1 x400ft version of Force 10 from Navarone for the same reason, it just didn't work at all for me.

[Osi Osgood]

All of those yellow boxed Columbia 400ft digests, with that rediculous narration! I mean, if you're buying the digest, you pretty much know the film, right?

[Oliver Feld]

„Force 10 from Navarone“ is a quite good cutdown 2-reeler from piccolo film, it is letterboxed and has a booming soundtrack. But although she is on the cover, Barbara Bach doesn’t appear in this version. Did she appear in the Columbia 1-reeler?

[Osi Osgood]

I have the optical feature of "Force 10", which amazingly still has good color, but I would love to see that 2x400ft "Force 10" digest someday.

[Brian Fretwell]

„Force 10 from Navarone“ is a quite good cutdown 2-reeler from piccolo film, it is letterboxed and has a booming soundtrack. But although she is on the cover, Barbara Bach doesn’t appear in this version. Did she appear in the Columbia 1-reeler?

Well I did get rid of it on the Bring and Buy at the BFCC when it was still in the Holborn Library so that must make it 40 odd years ago so I don't remember who was in it just that the Columbia edit wasn't good at all.

[Lee Mannering]

Probably just go for the cuts to beloved PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE as Mountain didn't have much idea of editing or yielding the scissors.
If you cant find the full feature the little S8 200ft is nice souvenir or try and find the Red Fox 5X400 release.

If you cant find anything the Blu-Ray is superb quality as well, but as its now out of print going to £50 to £100. Thank you Legend for making that happen.

Force 10 from Navarone did suffer but it would have been difficult cutting a 2 hour movie to 17 minutes. Had the great Alberto's colour treatment on mine as well.

Oh I'll also mention Derann's excessive cuts to dear old George in NO LIMIT and SPARE A COPPER abridged features.