Frank Perry

[_shadow_]

I always thought that Play It As It Lays may have had legal issues like a number of other Universal films from that era. What a shame that the materials are not up to snuff. I’ve seen a beautiful archival 35mm print that was presumably struck after their vault fire, but that obviously doesn’t indicate what shape their OCN is in.

There was a recent museum exhibit on Joan Didion and how her works utilize California history at the Hammer Museum, and even the brief clips of the film looked like they were from a 4th generation VHS, and the film looks the same in her nephew Griffin Dunne’s documentary on her. I think the bootlegs of it out there hail from airings of it on the Independent Film Channel around 2000.

A 4K DCP of "Play It As It Lays" is now showing up at screenings - presumably somebody will be putting this on disc eventually...

[MichaelB]

I gather the early 1960s is the cut-off date for detailed records.

[LostReelsUK]

Hi this Geoff from Lost Reels (lostreels.co.uk) and I'm working with the BFI on the June 13 screening of "Last Summer" and will be introducing it on the night. I thought I'd add some information to this thread given the keen interest. The six prints listed in the BFI collections search is misleading. We were hopeful there were additional prints, but when we looked into it these were actually prints of a TV film by Stephen Frears with the same title. So the BFI has two prints of Perry's "Last Summer" - one on Eastman that is very faded to red (viewing copy), and one on Agfa that is turning blu-ish but actually has a lot of colour (master print). Needless to say it's the Agfa print that will be screened. Regarding the exact version, I received the same response from the BBFC as noted above on the UK cuts, but there is a difference between the BFI prints, where the Agfa print has 3 seconds of extra material (2 shots) in the controversial scene. This can be seen in the publicly viewable collections search notes. I will be looking at a digital scan of the Agfa print over the coming weeks to compare it to the R-rated US release among other things. Thanks for your interest and needless to say it's a real thrill to be screening this forgotten masterpiece! I'll update this forum after I've had chance to look at the print!

[frankperryauthor]

Yes, Geoff. Thanks for yet another confirmation. These edits were confirmed a few years ago. Frank is on the record about these cuts, and in my interviews for my upcoming book, for further confirmation, I not only spoke with the producer of Last Summer before he passed away, but also a couple of the actors involved in the scene in question, etc. I also have Frank's copy of the screenplay used during production, and I also have some of Frank's original editing notes for the film in my research which portions will be included in the upcoming official biography.

[beamish14]

Yes, Geoff. Thanks for yet another confirmation. These edits were confirmed a few years ago. Frank is on the record about these cuts, and in my interviews for my upcoming book, for further confirmation, I not only spoke with the producer of Last Summer before he passed away, but also a couple of the actors involved in the scene in question, etc. I also have Frank's copy of the screenplay used during production, and I also have some of Frank's original editing notes for the film in my research which portions will be included in the upcoming official biography.

Do you have a publication date for your book? I cannot wait for it

Geoff-I LOVE what you’ve programmed. I wish some theatres here in Los Angeles would take note of what you’re doing

[LostReelsUK]

This is Geoff from LostReels and I promised to report after I'd reviewed the 35mm LAST SUMMER print from the BFI to answer the question of what version is being shown. I compared the print to a copy of the US VHS tape and there are approximately 11.5 seconds cut from the final scene. These are the BBFC cuts for the UK as noted earlier. Although it's implied in the BBFC information that this involves only 3 shots, 7 shots are completely removed and 1 shot is shortened. These are almost all of the shots between the cuts mentioned, starting with the close-up of Rhoda's pants and ending with the back view of Dan going down. So no surprises really - it's a former UK distribution print and has all of the original UK BBFC cuts.

There's an unexpected difference in the very final scene which starts when Peter walks into close-up and then continues over the end credits. On the US versions I've seen, the "Last Summer theme" by John Simon plays, but on this print it's the same music but with a different musical arrangement and an added vocal track. An additional end-credit has been added to print stating lyrics by Robert Colby and vocals by Susan Shirley. It's an interesting anomaly, I wonder if anyone had heard of this before?

I don't know how many on this thread are London-based but it's really wonderful this print exists and a great opportunity to see the film in 35mm, so I hope some of you can make it!

[GaryC]

I wasn't going to say so unless I could book a ticket but as I have, I will be there. I'm not London-based and will be staying over for the festival, as I did in 2023.

[alacal2]

Sold out within minutes of going on sale. I'm praying they move it to a larger theatre or squeeze in another showing.

[beamish14]

God, I would love to do a comparison of the Australian 16mm, North American VHS, and BFI print.

[GaryC]

I was at the showing on Friday and I'm still processing it. A highlight, possibly the highlight of my Film on Film weekend (ten other features plus a double bill of shorts) and despite its being the fifth film I saw that day and at the (for me) late time of 8.40pm.

One thing that struck me about both Films on Films so far (2023 and this year) was that I got to see films I often had known about for years but I didn't remember when I'd last had the opportunity to see them, if ever in some cases, and now I could on 35mm. Aloha Bobby and Rose in 2023 started me off in investigating Floyd Mutrux (none of whose films as director I'd seen then - he only made five) and Last Summer may well do the same for Frank Perry. I have the Indicator Blu-rays of The Swimmer and Diary of a Mad Housewife so that would be a good start, though I've seen the former before - a long time ago on television, though.

The showing was introduced by Geoff, as he says above, and also by Mark Jenkin, who saw the film (presumably on TV, more of this in a moment) and it made an impact on him. As mentioned, this was an ex UK distribution print from the archive, with its late 60s X certificate at the start - white text on black, with the BBFC's president's signature and the initials of the examiners. ("KRP" was Ken Penry, who later was one of those who saw The Devils - he wanted it banned or at least cut more than it was - and became James Ferman's deputy for a while.)

Looking into this, as I was five when it had its UK cinema release, it turns out that I'd had just two opportunities to see the film before now - the BBC showings of 3 June 1994 and 3 October 1995. Presumably one of these was the one Mark Jenkin saw. He said "Thirty-five years ago" but I guess wasn't being too precise. It was shown on ITV, regionally rather than networked, in the 1970s. In my region, which was then Thames/London Weekend, it was shown on 8 February 1975, so no go for me as I was ten. Sheldon Hall, who was at the showing, told me he'd seen it in his ITV region (Tyne Tees) on 14 November 1977, when he (and I) were thirteen. That was an uncut showing, but he has a recording of the BBC showings which were cut.

FInally, there's a letter in the new Sight & Sound querying the magazine's claim that the film is not on a streaming service, pointing out that he had watched it on Dailymotion, where it still is. (Sight & Sound don't count sites which don't clear the rights to the films they show.) I took a quick look at that copy and it appears to be uncut, or at least doesn't have the cuts to the final scene, which the 35mm print did.

[frankperryauthor]

There is a recording of Last Summer from an Australian TV airing from 1989 that's "out there." I have a copy, it's a fun watch with all the original 1989 TV commercials.

[beamish14]

Was the print basically maude at this point? I imagine a nom-Technicolor copy from 55+ years ago retained very little color

I’m glad you mentioned Floyd Mutrux. A really fascinating director and writer-for-hire. I love Dusty and Sweets McGee and his work on the fraternal twin films of American Me/Blood In, Blood Out

[CSM126]

Was the print basically maude at this point?

[beamish14]

Haha!

[GaryC]

No, as Geoff said above it had a bluish cast to most of it, but had quite a bit of colour still. It was an Agfa print. Apparently the other print in the archive (Eastman) has completely faded to magenta.

I'm having to fit the Mutrux films (in chronological order) around other things, including a big pile of unwatched discs and stuff I need to review. But I'll get there!

[Stefan Andersson]

Play It As It Lays, 4K, credited to Universal and Park Circus, UK premiere in July:
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/133 ... as-it-lays

[Peacock]

Last Summer is officially being worked on by Warners. Although I suppose that doesn’t mean Criterion isn’t involved.

We tried for DVD as early as 2010, and ran into many problems. We finally have solutions, and work has already begun. Hopefully it will be available some time next year, but we don't want to jinx anything! Thanks.

[beamish14]

Last Summer is officially being worked on by Warners. Although I suppose that doesn’t mean Criterion isn’t involved.

We tried for DVD as early as 2010, and ran into many problems. We finally have solutions, and work has already begun. Hopefully it will be available some time next year, but we don't want to jinx anything! Thanks.

Jesus Christ. I remember asking them on FaceBook, and I closed my account over 12 years ago. I’m guessing they’ll digitize the existing prints and go through a painstaking and slow color correction process

[A man stayed-put]

Play It As It Lays, 4K, credited to Universal and Park Circus, UK premiere in July:
https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/133 ... as-it-lays

Attended this earlier today. The print looked great and really showed off the Cronenweth cinematography (I thought the film was pretty special too).
Amazing to have this circulating in such good quality now.

[LostReelsUK]

This is Geoff from LostReels and I promised to report after I'd reviewed the 35mm LAST SUMMER print from the BFI to answer the question of what version is being shown. I compared the print to a copy of the US VHS tape and there are approximately 11.5 seconds cut from the final scene. These are the BBFC cuts for the UK as noted earlier. Although it's implied in the BBFC information that this involves only 3 shots, 7 shots are completely removed and 1 shot is shortened. These are almost all of the shots between the cuts mentioned, starting with the close-up of Rhoda's pants and ending with the back view of Dan going down. So no surprises really - it's a former UK distribution print and has all of the original UK BBFC cuts.

There's an unexpected difference in the very final scene which starts when Peter walks into close-up and then continues over the end credits. On the US versions I've seen, the "Last Summer theme" by John Simon plays, but on this print it's the same music but with a different musical arrangement and an added vocal track. An additional end-credit has been added to print stating lyrics by Robert Colby and vocals by Susan Shirley. It's an interesting anomaly, I wonder if anyone had heard of this before?

I don't know how many on this thread are London-based but it's really wonderful this print exists and a great opportunity to see the film in 35mm, so I hope some of you can make it!

Hi this is Geoff from Lost Reels again and for anyone who's interested, I've just posted the "Ralph Waite scene" from my 16mm Lorimar TV print of LAST SUMMER on YouTube. I've discussed this in the blu-ray.com forum, I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here. It's an interesting addition to the whole "versions" discussion and involves a scene included in some TV versions of the film and not included in any of the video or theatrical versions.

In my opinion it's an unnecessary scene and easy to see why it was cut. It's slow, overlong, and also has the effect of breaking the 'spell' cast by the movie of the hermetic non-adult universe in which Peter, Dan, Sandy and Rhoda exist. But for what it's worth, take a look if you're interested. Link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oi6R_dYkrc

Or my channel as a whole: https://YouTube.com/@lostreelsuk