MovieChat Forums > On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) Discussion > HELP: do the cut scenes still exist?

HELP: do the cut scenes still exist?

posted 18 years ago by kitttenwithawhip
9 replies | jump to latest

hi, fellow Barbra/film buffs. if you visit the barbra streisand archive site,
they have done an excellent job of pasting many of the cut scences back by
using production stills and surviving audio material. it is a lot of fun to
hear the jack nicholson song. for years i have been hoping there would be a
restoration of the film along the same lines as took place with judy garland's
version of a star is born. the fact that no deleted scenes were included on the
dvd release makes me wonder if the cut scenes are, in fact, lost forever. any
paramount marketing person would have included the nicholson song as a deleted
scene feature in an attempt to increase sales if nothing else. i long to see the esp song restored! it contains more gorgeous cecil beaton costumes and was
meant to show you some of her other past incarnations, besides melinda. if anyone has any knowledge of whether the scenes may still exist, please reply.
many thanks to you all!

[–] MisterWhiplash 16 years ago

I'd want to see the deleted scene where Nicholson sings.

youtube.com/zackandmichael- No small roles, only small actors.

[–] ptb-8 16 years ago

In 1969 in advance publicity there was many scenes and photos from the 150 minute version in fan mags and even on Tv chat show glimpses. When the film opened and was obviously trimmed to 125 mins or so (deleting all the futuristic scenes and the Nicholson song..s) there was some obvious disappointment. In this fab new DVD age, incredibly Paramount hacks do not see the need for 'deleted scenes' or commentary, or extras on their sloppy DVD releases, we just get the shortest version of the film and nothing else. Hopefully one day Paramount DVD will see they are annoying their clients rather than properly serving them The deleted scenes would still exist and sit today ignored by Paramount because they seem not to care about them or their customers.

[–] Moonlighting 15 years ago

There's probably still a good chance the scenes exist- the audio of some cut songs made their way onto the internet. The problem is that for restoration projects people look through vaults full of reels and reels of film, doing alot of research (read the account of the "A Star is Born" restoration- very interesting). With ASIB,a Warner Bros film, alot of the old film archives were destroyed- this apparently has happened at several studios- alot of MGM's archives were burned in the 80's when Ted Turner bought it. Also, sometimes footage is just destroyed, depends on the film/director/year it was made. Made in the late 60's it's more likely the footage is there. The problem is that there probably aren't many film historians/researchers that consider the film that great to warrant a restoration, whereas the original cut of A Star is Born was legendary.

[–] cnicknz 14 years ago

A few years ago when I interviewed the producer Howard W. Koch for Streisand:Her Life by James Spada, he told me he had looked in every nook and cranny at Paramount for the cut footage. He was specifically looking for any Nicholson film to surprise Jack at his AFI tribute. Koch adored Barbra and knew she would love the lost stuff as would her fans, but according to him,it ain't at the studio, unless mislabeled--which is how they finally found the Garland footage from A Star is Born, so who knows? Koch believed that if anyone had a complete cut of the original road-show of Clear Day, it would be Minnelli, but if he did, he said so.

[–] jm31315 10 years ago

I'm guessing that a original release print of "On a Clear Day" will surface at some point. Another film of that era, Robert Wise's "Star!" was severely cut and the original edit not to be found for some years, but it was located in time. I think this is what will happen with the film.

[–] GMPasqua 13 years ago

A while back a friend of mine worked on a video restoration of the film and they couldn't find any cut footage.

The cut songs were issued on a promotional LP for radio stations in 1970 - that is where the deleted songs are coming from (SONY/Columbia does not have the rights to those songs)
When We're 65 - Streisand and Larry Blythen
She Isn't You - Montand's version
Love With All the Trimming reprise - Streisand
Who is There Among Who Knows - Jack's song

The full lenght film was screened for critics but the footage was cut before the film opened to the public

If the cuts exist - they are mis-labeled. If Minnelli or Streisand had a complete print it would have surfaced by now

[–] jackcarson 12 years ago

It's gone folks, unless bits of it ended up in stock footage departments.

[–] dogsandcats5 11 years ago

I have the duet on audio tape somewhere of Wait Till You're Sixty-Five. Someone out there must have that album with those cut songs.

[–] ChristmasStan 11 years ago

The footage could "Still" be around. There is always Alternat Takes and angels that every film has. The footage might not be at "Paramount" however if the post production and editing was done outside of "Paramount" then there is a great chance the footage is in a vault "Somewhere"