i have been a fan of the Original cut of The Fantasticks..so much so..that I even petitioned to get the film released in 1999 when i was working at an art house movie theatre in the Berkshires..got 368 sigs,helped Chris Willman,one of the commentators on the Blu ray on a follow up article for EW,got Jean Louisa Kelly and her husbands support,and two copies of the original cut..the second one i got directly from MGM's archive dept,and also the movie posters-they only made 500-i gave away about 150-200 of them-still have a bunch left!!...i was disappointed with the new cut EXCEPT for the deletion of Plant a Radish-that decision made sense..but to shorten and abbreviate the film..it feels rushed..i think different cut decisions could have been made..trims here and there-less of the carnival folk..i loved the opening!! i was bummed they cut all that out..glad they were able to get a copy of the longer cut for the Blu-ray!!!! it will look a LOT better than the copy i have..
I attended The University of Texas at Austin department of drama, the alma mater of Jones and Schmidt. Sometime in the 1960's, I think, there was a television production that featured John Davidson as The Boy and Bert Lahr as one of the fathers. Can't remember, but perhaps it was on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Anyway, I'd like to see that version and wonder if it survives somewhere.
I think this is my favorite existing version of the show. Montalban proves an ideal "El Gallo," bringing the same mysteriousness and charisma to it that he did to "Mr. Rourke" years later. It's an unbeatable cast all around, and the trimmed-down running time presents the bare essentials of the stage production in a tightly-paced, smooth staging ideal for the format.
Not to spoil the mood on The Fantasticks, but I have to do a shout out to Firewalker. It may be a terrible film, but it was a minor hit at the video store I worked at in the 80's. Gone every weekend - just because of Chuck Norris, Lou Gossett, and the Indiana Jones knockoff poster.
Yes, action movies ruled at my video store - even Action Jackson flew off the shelves for years after it's release. (Ok, we only had a couple copies, but still....)
I attended The University of Texas at Austin department of drama, the alma mater of Jones and Schmidt. Sometime in the 1960's, I think, there was a television production that featured John Davidson as The Boy and Bert Lahr as one of the fathers. Can't remember, but perhaps it was on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Anyway, I'd like to see that version and wonder if it survives somewhere.
The Paley Center in NYC has a tape of the TV version -- I watched it not too long ago. It's very truncated (just an hour long) but well cast, sung, and acted.
I attended The University of Texas at Austin department of drama, the alma mater of Jones and Schmidt. Sometime in the 1960's, I think, there was a television production that featured John Davidson as The Boy and Bert Lahr as one of the fathers. Can't remember, but perhaps it was on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Anyway, I'd like to see that version and wonder if it survives somewhere.
The Paley Center in NYC has a tape of the TV version -- I watched it not too long ago. It's very truncated (just an hour long) but well cast, sung, and acted.
