MovieChat Forums > The Cyclops (1957) Discussion > Violent footage missing from TCM broadca...

Violent footage missing from TCM broadcast of June 16 2011


Having first seen the Elvira broadcast of THE CYCLOPS, I was definitely disappointed to find TCM's June 16 2011 showing missing the more violent scenes. The hawk attack on the rodent was quite graphic for its time, some of the cave footage, as the Cyclops was reaching for Lon Chaney, the bloody aftermath of the battle with the python, the impressive gouging of its lone eye, and the extraction of the protruding spear were all cut, leaving the film two minutes shorter than the uncut version. TCM even listed the long incorrect 75 minute running time, but wound up with a 64 minute print of a 66 minute feature. At least the week before, they showed all the violence intact for THE COSMIC MONSTER, which was only missing one two minute sequence in a pub from the first reel. Sadly lacking for both features though was the sound quality, inferior to the DVDs.

"I take pleasure in great beauty" - James Bond

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...yeah, missing in today's broadcast as well... A shame.

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That's such a shame. TCM always presents their films uncut. It's not like them to broadcast an edited version of a film. I suppose maybe they don't have the rights to the unedited print or are for some reason unaware of its existence?

It still wouldn't have been a great film either way, but I hate to know that I'm missing out on content like that.

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I'm watching it right now.They just killed off Lon Chaney Jr. I actually missed that part while reading the post here. I'm thinking they may have cut that part too because I did not hear the musical score pick up like it normally does in most films when somebody gets killed in a dramatic fashion.

I just saw the part where the cyclops gets it. They did not show him actually getting stabbed in the eye and it's obvious by the music that there has been a section cut from the film. I am a bit surprised they did this because in this day and age we have all become less sensitive to violence.

They did show the thing standing there trying to pull the spear out of it's eye and you can see a little blood.

I did have to smile a bit at the snake fight. It looked to me like all the snake really wanted to do was get away from the monster. Perhaps it was more comfortable with it's handler. I've seen those pet pythons that when handled, appear to be very comfortable with the person who picked them up.

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Just saw it tonight (March 2015) on TCM, and yes, I remember distinctly seeing (when I was about 9) the gouging of the eye and pulling the spear out...I was waiting for that part and then thought, what happened? Lol. Funny that could pass in the 1960s and now it's cut, I'm surprised too. Glad to see that I wasn't imagining things. All in all, a really scary movie for a kid and it was nice to see it again now, I've got lots of nostalgia for these types of movies and this was one of the most memorable of my childhood.

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