MovieChat Forums > A Reflection of Fear (1973) Discussion > A question... (*MAJOR SPOILERS*)

A question... (MAJOR SPOILERS)

posted 18 years ago by BlimeyCharlie
11 replies | jump to latest

I've been looking for this film for a long time and have never been able to find it. I live in Australia, and as far as I've been able to determine, it has never seen a theatrical or video release in this country (and perhaps never even been shown on TV). And so, I would just like to ask a question about it.

While I haven't actually seen the film, I *have* read extensively on the net about it, and I am fully aware of the twist ending - that is, that the character of Marguerite (Sondra Locke) is really a boy raised as a girl, and not a girl at all. Since I've never been able to get a copy of the movie itself, I've been dying to find out just *how* this final twist is actually revealed to the characters played by Shaw and Kellerman. I've already read in another post on this message board that Marguerite reveals this him/herself by removing his/her clothes, but can anyone actually give me a detailed rundown of the scene in which this takes place (ie. dialogue from characters, their reactions, etc.)?

Also (minor questions):

1. How far into the film do Marguerite's mother and grandmother die?
2. Does anyone know just how much footage was actually cut from the final print?
3. Is there any online petition to get this film released on DVD?

I'm sorry if it seems particularly pedantic of me to ask all these questions, but I've been desperately trying to find it for a long time, and I'd really appreciate it if someone could help me out with the questions above. Thanks!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] BlimeyCharlie 18 years ago

Thanks very much, asherah-1! Sounds like poor old Sondra Locke had her work cut out for her, having to give a performance like that!

It seems you were definitely right about one thing - there never actually was a version released that had Marguerite revealing "herself" as described above. Interestingly, though, I did come across a review of the film on another website (http://www.metamorphose.org/entry/index.htp?&entid=1330&&o=G&letter=R) which says that Locke herself once stated (in her autobiography) that she DID actually shoot a final scene in which she takes off her clothes to reveal the underdeveloped body of a boy, but that the studio refused it, saying that "Sondra Locke cannot be presented with a penis"!

That WOULD have been (*shudder*) interesting, I guess...

[–] hayman42 18 years ago

I just saw the theatrical print of the movie last night at a film fest in Brooklyn and say that the earlier post is exactly how it's shown on screen. That wasn't a TV edit. Also, the editing in the film is horrible, so the posts about the movie being trimmed by the studio make a lot of sense.

[–] BlimeyCharlie 18 years ago

Since the theatrical print of the film is still being shown at festivals, it only makes sense that the distributors could make a nice DVD out of it, even if they didn't have all the original scenes that were cut to include! I sure wish they'd hurry up and release it in widescreen on DVD already.

[–] Doppelganger76 18 years ago

The film ends with Robert Shaw seeing the character lying on the floor and there's a slow pan to her/him, in whcih we can see that he's actually a boy because of torn cl;othing and sort of weird lighting. It's a fairly creepy ending, though the end is telegraphed. Still, the sight of Aaron is pretty disturbing, knowing that the boy is, in fact, the girl's male psychological sexuality escaping and making her personalty split. I've only seen this film once - late at night on TV - but I remember it quite well and thoiught it was a pretty good film that could have been better had it been left alone and not cut. There was a TV ripoff in the mid-70's with a girl who was really a boy - the shirt gets torn off and you see his chest (rubber glued on - and not very convincing.) I remembered THIS film where it was derived from - much better IMHO.

[–] BlimeyCharlie 18 years ago

Doppelganger76:-

Do you remember what the name of that other film you mentioned was (the rip-off)? I seem to remember reading something about that elsewhere, too.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] gizmosloth 17 years ago

theres a movie that has the same twist at the end of the movie it fits more into the slasher flick category but it sucks cause someone ruined it for me but i dont want to ruin it for you but if you really want to know what it is just say so and ill either post it on the board if noone else cares or i will contact you personally

[–] BlimeyCharlie 17 years ago

gizmosloth:-

Would that movie, by any chance, be this one?:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086320/

If so, yeah, I know about that movie, too, although I haven't seen it.

[–] gizmosloth 17 years ago

yea thats it

[–] 17 years ago

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