The Big Red 1

[David]

Watched Samuel Fuller's The Big Red 1 Reconstruction last night. At over three hours, a lot of film left on the cutting room floor was added back to good effect. I have to say, it's almost a different movie. The "coward" Griff is a much more complex character, for example, and the additional footage gives a tremendous feel for some of the banality of war. Fuller apparently wasn't consulted about the original cut, which, having seen some of what was removed, bordered on criminal. It's worth a watch.

I know this film isn't "noir," but, well, one of the subplots is about a character who has written a pulp novel. So that makes it sorta relevant. ;-)

[Jim]

This is the one with Lee Marvin? I saw the original version a year or so ago. Good movie.

[David]

Jim wrote: "This is the one with Lee Marvin? I saw the original version a year or so ago. Good movie."

Yes, that's the one. I saw it first when it came out in the 80s. This "reconstruction" isn't a director's cut because Fuller didn't really make one and he died before this edition was made. Again, at 3+ hours it's a serious commitment of time, but I thought it was worth it. It's one of Marvin's finer performances.

[Jim]

That would be interesting to see, although 3+ hours is probably too long for me. It often takes me a week to watch a 2 hour movie.

[Still]

I'm curious about this "reconstruction". Who oversaw this project? How was this pulled off? Did they rely on Fuller's original notes or screenplay?

I think I could manage to find 3 hours to view such a great movie in an expanded version.
I might not be happy about it, but I'm intrigued enough.

My notions about the "noir" genre are not fixed.
In fact, they are loose enough to consider almost anything with Lee Marvin (with the exception of Cat Ballou or Paint Your Wagon or maybe Ship Of Fools) "noir" simply because Lee Marvin is in it.

[David]

Mantan wrote: "I'm curious about this "reconstruction". Who oversaw this project? How was this pulled off? Did they rely on Fuller's original notes or screenplay?

I think I could manage to find 3 hours to view s..."

Apparently the restorers had boxes of footage and a shooting script and little more. Fuller's version was apparently 4 1/2 hours that the production company cut to 113 minutes. Apparently a film historian and critic Richard Schickel is responsible for getting a team interested in reconstructing as much as possible of the original film. It's available on DVD.

[Toby]

I second this motion, I never saw the theatrical release but the reconstructed version is a truly incredible experience tied together by the sheer presence of Lee Marvin. War movies like this really show up Saving Private Ryan for the flashy melodramatic nonsense it really is.