MovieChat Forums > Romeo, Julie a tma (1960) Discussion > US version is missing the shocking endi...

US version is missing the shocking ending

posted 17 years ago by sashairk
10 replies | jump to latest

When I saw the US version of this great and often painfully to watch movie, I was surprised to discover that the most shocking moment of the movie, at its end, was deleted by the unknown censor. The US version shows that Hana was forced out of the premises and then there was a single shot heard coming from the street which made a viewer to assume that she had been killed.

The real ending is much more revealing and shocking: Hana was taken to the nearby concentration camp. Pavel managed to sneak with her. He watched how she was subjected to abuse, along with other Jewish women, by forcing them to dance swing with SS officers. Pavel managed to roam in the camp unnoticed; I cannot recall how: either he managed to steal the German uniform or the Germans took for the the local worker. Then there was a terrible moment when a Nazi driver of the covered pickup car offered to the group of children a ride. They gladly agreed, but when the door was closed and car started to move, Pavel noticed, to his horror, a gas canister attached to the bottom of the car...

He then found Hana and said that they have to escape at night, when someone will through herself at the fence that was under current and the current and light would be temporary off. Indeed, when the darkness fell, one woman committed suicide by throwing herself at the fence, with a blood-chilling scream. The power was turned off and Pavel tried to help Hana to climb over the fence. He almost made it, but she did not have the strength to follow him. He tried to help her, but then the power was suddenly restored and the searchlight was again on, shining on their lifeless bodies...

I don't know who decides what people in the country may see and not see, perhaps that final scenes was deemed to strong and the censorship was imposed. I wish I can get an original copy of this movie. Perhaps someone traveling to the Czech Republic will be able to find it in some store. If I find it myself, I'll post a note about it and share it with those who want to have it.

[–] kerchable 10 years ago

Thank you filling me in on this apparent abridged ending. I ran to IMDB to find out what the hell happened and saw your post. It's fantastically absurd that someone somewhere sometime, deleted the REAL end to this 10 star film....unbelievable! I downloaded it off a torrent and now I will pursue the original. Still more in question is why are we the only 2 people to have noted this golden film? cheers.

what ails most madmen is realitys grasp or escape, a paralysis of analysis

[–] sashairk 10 years ago

Hi, I was surprised that somebody noticed my note that I posted a while ago. Be careful with mentioning the 't'- word on this board, as your post might be removed by the administrator.

Ironically, I saw the full version of that film back in the 60s when I was living in the then-Soviet Union. So the irony is in that that the Soviets with all their general censorship and stifling of freedoms allowed the full version of this film while in the US it had been censored. Perhaps a distributor in the US at that time thought that the ending was too shocking. I hope you will manage to get the complete version of it, and I will try to do the same.

I see you like rare movies. Feel free to PM me if you like.

Regards,
A.

[–] darknsouless 8 years ago

How can we know you are not lying?
No offense, just because i'm really intrigued by this. I wanna see this ending!

[–] sashairk 8 years ago

How can you know if I'm not lying? You cannot. As a small note - I won't be wasting my time writing false stories in forums. Perhaps some other people get a 'kick' out of it, but not me.

Speaking about the ending: I recently ordered a copy of this film directly from the Czech seller assuming that they should have the complete version. Alas, I was very disappointed that the ending turned out to be exactly the same as in the version in the US distribution. So I think that there might be two reasons for the discrepancy in the endings between what I saw many years ago and what exist in the current version:

1. Because the ending was so shocking, the original distributor decided to remove it from all the copies of the film.

or

2. I might be mistakenly attributing the ending from another film to this movie. If this assumption is correct, I hope that some of the movie buffs or experts that happen to see my post would correct my mistake and point me to the movie where that scene actually takes place, because I wanna see it myself, too.

[–] dnjegac 8 years ago

Hello, the ending you talk about is from Croatian (ex-Yu) film Deveti krug (1960), one of the best films ever made in Croatia, directed by Slovenian director France Štiglic.

[–] sashairk 8 years ago

Thank you VERY MUCH for this information! I've been trying to solve this 'puzzle' for a very long time.

With much appreciation and greetings from Texas,
Sasha

[–] dnjegac 8 years ago

You are welcome! I am glad that I could help.
Greetings from Zagreb,
Dražen

[–] Pencho15 9 years ago

Wow, I just saw this on a DVD at my university in Spain, and the ending you describe is also missing. That's a shame.

My travel blog http://www.caminossellados.com

[–] sashairk 8 years ago

Hi Pencho15,

In case you did not notice a reply I received from another group member, this ending belongs to another movie (my bad for thinking it's from 'Romeo, Juliet and Darkness). The correct movie is The Ninth Circle

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053764/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1

Regards,
SashaIrk

[–] 8 years ago

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