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| This is a comments thread about FSM CD: The Swimmer |
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Did 'The Swimmer' ever go through a phase as a stage-play?
It'd be brilliant. One set, one pool, with different set design for each 'baptism', each stripping of an illusion.
Somebody ought to do that.
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Nice to see this bumped again.
THE SWIMMER is now available on BluRay. Extras include a documentary on the film. Haven't seen it yet, but it can't possibly be definitive -- they didn't talk to me.
(For the record, re: stuff discussed above. Pollack re-cast and re-directed more than just the Loden/Rule scene. That's why, among other things, the climax that's in the final version of the film was not shot on location in Connecticut.)
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Nice to see this bumped again.
THE SWIMMER is now available on BluRay. Extras include a documentary on the film. Haven't seen it yet, but it can't possibly be definitive -- they didn't talk to me.
(For the record, re: stuff discussed above. Pollack re-cast and re-directed more than just the Loden/Rule scene. That's why, among other things, the climax that's in the final version of the film was not shot on location in Connecticut.)
Wouldn't it be nice to see Perry's original version? I love the film as it is, warts and all, but I believe in Mr. Perry and would just like to see how he handled the Loden scene and the finale. As to someone paying a lot of money - did this really sell 3000 copies - I would find that VERY hard to believe.
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Well, I for one would like to see the Perrys' original version, for personally nostalgic as well as cinematic reasons. Eleanor's screenplay was published in both hardbound and paperback. Reading it cannot, of course, enable one to experience the original performances and cinematography, but at least the film's original contours are perceptible, since all the added shots and scenes found in the Pollack version are conspicuous by their absence.
If any of you took up my suggestion to seek out my SWIMMER anecdotage in previous FSM posts, you now know that the scene between Ned and his old girlfriend, as originally conceived, was to be a more sexually violent affair than the one in the film, with underwater camerawork to intercut with Ned's crude attempt to rekindle the old passion. (I was disappointed when I learned that the Barbara Loden footage would not be used. I had been looking forward to taking friends to see the movie and pointing out to them, "See there where Lancaster is tearing off her bathing suit? Right before that, I gave her a Coke.")
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Nice to see this bumped again.
THE SWIMMER is now available on BluRay. Extras include a documentary on the film. Haven't seen it yet, but it can't possibly be definitive -- they didn't talk to me.
(For the record, re: stuff discussed above. Pollack re-cast and re-directed more than just the Loden/Rule scene. That's why, among other things, the climax that's in the final version of the film was not shot on location in Connecticut.)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RG11IKB9TOCG3/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00HRISNPM
brm
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The blu-ray is stunning.
I was just going to type the same thing, and the extras are what make it such a fine Blu-ray. Everything about why the film is what it is in its final version is very well explained, and if you're disappointed that the movie isn't what it should be, there's just one person to blame....
Burt Lancaster.
Explain, please
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.... (I was disappointed when I learned that the Barbara Loden footage would not be used. I had been looking forward to taking friends to see the movie and pointing out to them, "See there where Lancaster is tearing off her bathing suit? Right before that, I gave her a coke.")
Boy Preston, I always thought you were one of the few intellectual, mature, cultured members of this board.
Now, I see you're just like the rest of us Neandrathals (sp.)!!!
LOL!
bruce
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You weren't wrong. I'm an intellectual, mature, cultured Neanderthal.
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Posted: |
Jul 9, 2016 - 4:10 PM
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By: |
RoryR
(Member)
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The blu-ray is stunning.
I was just going to type the same thing, and the extras are what make it such a fine Blu-ray. Everything about why the film is what it is in its final version is very well explained, and if you're disappointed that the movie isn't what it should be, there's just one person to blame....
Burt Lancaster.
Explain, please
OK, it's been about two years since I watched the 5-part documentary on the Blu-ray that's called The Story of The Swimmer but I recall it does a very good job of detailing the production. This is what I took away from it -- but I may be misremembering details.
Burt Lancaster had opinions on how things should be. He was a very strong-willed guy and difficult to deal with if he thought he was right.
Lancaster and director Frank Perry did not get along. I can only recall the disagreements were mostly about the script and things Lancaster wasn't happy with. Lancaster pretty much bullied Perry. Eventually, Lancaster pressured the producer, Sam Spiegel, to fire Perry after seeing an early cut, and so Perry was fired.
Lancaster had just worked with Sydney Pollack on The Scalpthunters and they had gotten along, so Lancaster suggested he be brought in to do some reshoots, which Spiegel agreed to, and later Lancaster paid $10,000 out of his own pocket for an additional day of shooting. I can't recall if another writer was brought in, or if Pollack did the re-writing, but essentially Lancaster used his star power to take over the movie. Both of the Perry's, who I think either had or were splitting up at this time, were pretty unhappy about the end result.
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I'd say that there was more re-shooting than re-writing, per se. (Again, the published screenplay clarifies this point.) The two major scenes that were re-shot with different actresses -- Kim Hunter and Janice Rule, respectively -- entailed different staging and obviously different performances, but very little if any re-working of the dialogue. Only one scene was created out of whole cloth for the new version: the horse race. Aside from all that, the rest of the new footage consisted of brief inserts for the existing scenes, and, as mentioned earlier, the re-shooting of most of the final sequence.
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When is your book due to be published, Preston?
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Looking forward to Preston's book on The Swimmer. .
It better include quotes from my brilliant analysis of the film as published in Amazon
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