MovieChat Forums > 12 + 1 (1970) Discussion > How are the two U.S. Home Video versions...

How are the two U.S. Home Video versions and the Italian DVD different?


Does anyone know what's the difference between the two U.S. VHS releases (The Thirteen Chairs version from Force Video and the 12 + 1 version from Continental Video)?

Also, I checked out the details on the Italian DVD version, and noticed that it has a running time of 95 minutes. Is it possible that it's the "most complete" version of the film, but in PAL speed-up form? If so, what missing scenes does it have? The only thing I know is that the Italian DVD has no English audio track and no English subtitles. Also, it's in full-screen (which I doubt was its original aspect ratio).

Any help would be appreciated.

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I have both and as far as I can tell, the very final scene with Vittorio Gassman in the barber shop has been reedited to not include the freeze frame over the final credits ("The Thirteen Chairs" has this final image, "12+1" does not)

The running times that people have noted also may have something to do with whether they're timing the NTSC version of the movie or the PAL system version, which is sped up 4% faster.

There was a slightly racier version that was released in Europe (which would get a PG-13 in the US if it was released today), but it seems that this version of the movie is the basis of both versions of the movie available since it came out on video in the mid 80s.

The original aspect ratio was most likely be the same ratio as a 16x9 screen these days -- it wasn't a Cinemascope production, that's for sure. If you have the A&E Biography on Sharon from 2002, it includes the French language trailer for the film and it is letterboxed to the movie's original aspect ratio.

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Brimac98, do you know the reason why the Continental Video version of the film had the final scene reedited to not include the final image over the end credits?

Was it due to a number of people being crept out by Vittorio Gassman looking exactly like Charles Manson, because it gave them horrifying reminders of what happened to Sharon Tate months after production on the movie had ended?

And I've seen that A&E Biography on Sharon. They couldn't have been anymore wrong when they referred to the film as a "French-sex comedy". It was an "ITALIAN/FRENCH-sex comedy". Also, you mentioned that the additional racier content found in the European version would have gotten this film a PG-13 rating by today's standards, yet IMDB's U.S. certification on the film says "USA: R".

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You are absolutely right about the 'creep out' factor - the original end title may well have been from the version rushed into cinemas in October 1969 in Europe, and Charles Manson was arrested in November, the following month.

I think the film makers realized that what they had as a final image was certainly too close to home and wisely re-edited the end titles.

And certainly, many movies from the early days of the MPAA ratings system have been re-rated in recent years, especially movies that were rated G ("True Grit" is one) and some early R rated movies have been re-rated PG-13.

Would this movie be one? Possibly--when it is ever released officially in the US on dvd, it is sure to go through the Ratings Board again--other than some brief nudity and adult themes (and no bad language at all), it might lose the R rating.

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Is the italian dvd dubbed?

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