Jump to content


This is a read only archive of the old forums
The new CBn forums are located at https://quarterdeck.commanderbond.net/

 
Photo

OHMSS - Missing scenes?


21 replies to this topic

#1 Lektor

Lektor

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 26 posts
  • Location:Sweden

Posted 09 January 2013 - 02:57 AM

Ok,

We all know about the missing scenes but has anyone actually seen them? Why was these omitted (at least from the new dvd/blurays)? Is there any extended cut available where these scenes are included?

 

From MI6-hq.com it says:

"Most European non-English language prints and videos are cut and omit the scene where Bond is almost caught in the office of Blofeld's lawyer cracking a safe. The scene is now being included in the German TV version.

   Some versions include a scene where Bond's blonde colleague (the mountain climber who also appears before the office of Blofeld's lawyer in the above scene) tries to check out the valley station of the cableway to Piz Gloria, and gets thrown out by Blofeld's guards, who speak in an unsynchronised Swiss German dialect. This scene is apparently missing from either the German and English versions.

The original version edited for American Television was re-cut in several places. The film started "in medias res" with the escape from Piz Gloria, then flashing back to the beginning of the film. The entire film featured Bond's voice over (done by a different actor than Lazenby), and included a shot before the wedding in which Bond and Tracy buy her the wedding ring and Irma Bunt's reflection is seen in the window of the jeweler's.
"

 

I think the last one is most interesting, with Irma Bunt. Is that just exclusive to the ABC cut?

It's an discussion on the german board "Das James Bond Forum" about this scene with Bunt:

http://www.razyboard...-4970829-0.html

 

According to them this scene (where Irma Bunt can be seen) is a hoax. But I don't think they've seen the ABC cut.

 

Also, if you study the Run time of the german dvd (UE) and the british dvd (UE) it's a difference.

http://www.amazon.de...57701178&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.co...57701107&sr=1-5

German dvd run time: 136 min

British dvd run time: 127 min


Edited by Lektor, 09 January 2013 - 04:20 AM.


#2 graric

graric

    Sub-Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • Pip
  • 172 posts

Posted 09 January 2013 - 04:44 AM

Ok,

We all know about the missing scenes but has anyone actually seen them? Why was these omitted (at least from the new dvd/blurays)? Is there any extended cut available where these scenes are included?

 

From MI6-hq.com it says:

"Most European non-English language prints and videos are cut and omit the scene where Bond is almost caught in the office of Blofeld's lawyer cracking a safe. The scene is now being included in the German TV version.

   Some versions include a scene where Bond's blonde colleague (the mountain climber who also appears before the office of Blofeld's lawyer in the above scene) tries to check out the valley station of the cableway to Piz Gloria, and gets thrown out by Blofeld's guards, who speak in an unsynchronised Swiss German dialect. This scene is apparently missing from either the German and English versions.

The original version edited for American Television was re-cut in several places. The film started "in medias res" with the escape from Piz Gloria, then flashing back to the beginning of the film. The entire film featured Bond's voice over (done by a different actor than Lazenby), and included a shot before the wedding in which Bond and Tracy buy her the wedding ring and Irma Bunt's reflection is seen in the window of the jeweler's.
"

 

I think the last one is most interesting, with Irma Bunt. Is that just exclusive to the ABC cut?

It's an discussion on the german board "Das James Bond Forum" about this scene with Bunt:

http://www.razyboard...-4970829-0.html

 

According to them this scene (where Irma Bunt can be seen) is a hoax. But I don't think they've seen the ABC cut.

 

Also, if you study the Run time of the german dvd (UE) and the british dvd (UE) it's a difference.

http://www.amazon.de...57701178&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.co...57701107&sr=1-5

German dvd run time: 136 min

British dvd run time: 127 min

 

Both the scene with Bond nearly getting caught in Blofeld's lawyers office and the scene where the Blonde agent gets thrown out of the Valley Station by Blofeld's guards are in the English Ultimate Editions.

The Irma Bunt scene is not in the Ultimate Edition, however I have some memory of seeing it at some point (any chance anyone knows if it was on one of the early VHS releases of the film?)

The other scene I've heard about, but only ever scene a few stills from, is Bond taking part in a roof top chase following the scene with Hilary Bray.



#3 Odd Jobbies

Odd Jobbies

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1573 posts
  • Location:London

Posted 09 January 2013 - 09:27 AM

I had no idea about these cuts - very interesting thread. Hard to say if the Irma Bunt reflection scene adds or detracts until seeing it in context. A rooftop chase seems like a huge, expensive scene to drop from the movie! But the 9 min runtime difference between the German and UK release is huge, so there could be a lot missing; do the British and German versions have the same frame rate? This can make a big difference in the duration, despite the content being identical:

 

PAL's 4% SpeedUp

 

The difference in duration between 136 and 127 is approx. 4% i'm guessing, so although Amazon say that both dvds are PAL/Region 2, could they have got that wrong and the german one is NTSC, or at least a subregion of PAL that uses a different frame rate:

 

 

 

"....the German PAL standard is slightly different than the UK PAL format."

   From DVD Guide for German - German Movies

 

Pure speculation, so don't flame me if i'm wrong.


Edited by Odd Jobbies, 09 January 2013 - 09:29 AM.


#4 stromberg

stromberg

    Commander RNVR

  • The Admiralty
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 6841 posts
  • Location:Saarland / Germany

Posted 09 January 2013 - 10:27 AM

A pet peeve of mine (and many others around here). A detailed reply would currently waste too much of my employer's time, so you'll have to wait until this evening for it. Just grabbing the opportunity for a rather shameless plug to say that all information on this topic can be found in "The Making of OHMSS"  by CBn's own "doublenoughtspy" Charles Helfenstein (who recently published something similar for TLD with "The Making of TLD"). More later.



#5 Walecs

Walecs

    Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • PipPip
  • 789 posts
  • Location:Italy

Posted 09 January 2013 - 01:35 PM

I like the idea of the movie starting in medias res, but I think the movie works better this way. I have thought about OHMSS starting, similar to Gandhi's movie, with Tracy's death, the very last minutes, and then the whole movie started.
 

Anyway, I would like to watch a Bond movie starting in medias res, and then showing in flashbacks how he got there.



#6 Lektor

Lektor

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 26 posts
  • Location:Sweden

Posted 09 January 2013 - 03:16 PM

A pet peeve of mine (and many others around here). A detailed reply would currently waste too much of my employer's time, so you'll have to wait until this evening for it. Just grabbing the opportunity for a rather shameless plug to say that all information on this topic can be found in "The Making of OHMSS"  by CBn's own "doublenoughtspy" Charles Helfenstein (who recently published something similar for TLD with "The Making of TLD"). More later.

 

Yes, I've ordered the book, But haven't got it, yet.



#7 AMC Hornet

AMC Hornet

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 5857 posts

Posted 09 January 2013 - 05:58 PM

I like the idea of the movie starting in medias res, but I think the movie works better this way. I have thought about OHMSS starting, similar to Gandhi's movie, with Tracy's death, the very last minutes, and then the whole movie started.
 

Anyway, I would like to watch a Bond movie starting in medias res, and then showing in flashbacks how he got there.

So many films start with Bond already in action, and require no flashbacks for explanation (QoS and SF most recently).

 

But if you mean something like Mission Impossible 3, then I'd rather not. I saw the ABC two-night OHMSS disaster when it aired in 1976, and I never want to see anything like it again.

 

I like the way Richard Maibaum eliminated Fleming's back-and-forth flashing in the early scenes, while keeping the sequences in the same order. I hated the way the ABC editors jumped around like caffeine fiends in an effort to stretch out an already epic film, and make the first part more "interesting."

 

Michael G. Wilson may say that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a recipe for complacency, but what ABC did was to break something that didn't need fixing. Catching up with Bond while he's already in action is alright, but don't do anything that's going to remind me of MI3 - we already have comparisons to Bourne to contend with.



#8 col_007

col_007

    Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • PipPip
  • 556 posts
  • Location:Bladen Safe House

Posted 09 January 2013 - 09:18 PM

I am sure i read in one of the books that the rooftop chase scene wasn't finished as lazenby got hurt during the filiming of it or have i got that wrong


Edited by col_007, 09 January 2013 - 09:19 PM.


#9 stromberg

stromberg

    Commander RNVR

  • The Admiralty
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 6841 posts
  • Location:Saarland / Germany

Posted 09 January 2013 - 09:35 PM

- The Irma Bunt scene does not exist and never did. In no version. A renowned expert claims he saw it and mentioned this in a book from the 70s (sorry, can't remember who it was, right now) and that's where this urban legend has its origins. There is a scene like that in the novel, may be he just thought he saw it. Wishful thinking can be tricky. In DAD, after Jinx arrives in Iceland, I swear I saw a shot where you can see her from behind in that leather dress, walking up the stairs to the ice palace. I never saw it again, and no one else remembers it.

 

- about that discussion on the German board: they did see the ABC cut. I know exactly, because I took part in that discussion, and I saw it (reading that old thread now, I notice that I got a bit worked up about it, back then  :blush: ). 

 

- about the different German versions: the regular German version for years did not have the Gumboldt scene. Bond leaves Sir Hillary, and the next scene was the train entering Lauterbrunnen station. Also, the scene with Campbell and the guards at the cable car station was missing. I have no idea why this was done. They must have been missing from the cinema version as well, because they had to re-dub them for the Ultimate Edition. Those scenes are also missing from the Special Edition, hence the German SE DVD has no English version on it. Had to buy an English DVD separately.

There was a German TV version which had the safe cracking scene (could be done because it had no dialogue), but omits the discussion between Draco and Tracy in the car and the cable car station scene. From some TV version, the snow plough scene is cut, and sometimes, tiny bits are missing (ice race missing a few seconds, for example). Guess that (apart from the snow plough) was done to match a certain broadcast length. The German UE version now finally has the complete version. Interesting tidbit: in the scene in which Bond tries to escape from his room for he first time, but stops because he hears Irma Bunt and Grunter walking by and talking, the dialogue between them used to be different in the German and the English version. I have no idea why it was. The UE now has the original version.

 

- The simple reason why the rooftop chase wasn't shot is because they realized early enough that the movie would become too long, anyway, and that it would cost to much time, effort and money just to kill off a minor character.



#10 doublenoughtspy

doublenoughtspy

    Commander RNVR

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 4122 posts
  • Location:USA

Posted 09 January 2013 - 11:20 PM

Thanks Heiko.

 

The origin of the "Irma Bunt in the window" scene is this:

 

Bond author/expert John Griswold claimed he saw it, and mentioned it to Lee Pfeiffer, who put it in "The Incredible World of 007."

 

The material that I went through for The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service  included:

 

1) All kinds of drafts from 1964 up through 1969 including Maibaum's original scripts, crew scripts, director Peter Hunt's script, and the editing script (which listed what take #s to use).  No mention anywhere among any of that material of such a scene.

 

2) All 20,000 contact sheet photographs taken by set photographers George Whitear and Bob Penn. No photographic evidence of such a scene. Thousands upon thousands of photographs by visiting journalists from archives around the world.  Again, no photographic evidence of such a scene.

 

3) All Call Sheets for the film, which listed what was to filmed on what day, what props were to be used, who was to be on set, when they were required on set, what journalists would be there that day, etc.  The scene is not on any OHMSS call sheet.

 

4) Interview with Director Peter Hunt. Answer: Scene wasn't shot.  Interview with Cinematographer Michael Reed. Answer: Scene wasn't shot.  Interview with Cameraman Alec Mills.  Answer: Scene wasn't shot.

 

Would I love for the scene to exist?  Of course.  But the "evidence" that it exists comes from the word of one person, while the photographic, call sheet, script, and interview evidence says otherwise.

 

As for the Phidian rooftop chase - there are over 30 photographs and 11 storyboards, and a significant part of the England chapter in The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service that give the reader a complete informational and visual understanding of the scene.

 

Re: Lazenby hurting his arm was the cause for the scene being cut.  Peter Hunt laughed about this story in a Dutch interview.  He said George was always claiming he was hurt.

 

Photographic evidence proves Peter was right and Lazenby was feigning injury, if it indeed happened.  Because the very next day (After the rooftop chase) there are dozens of photographs of him practicing the Che Che fight and he has full use of both arms.

 

Please stop spreading these Bond myths.  I went to considerable effort and expense to document what really happened. 



#11 Lektor

Lektor

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 26 posts
  • Location:Sweden

Posted 09 January 2013 - 11:42 PM

- The Irma Bunt scene does not exist and never did. In no version. A renowned expert claims he saw it and mentioned this in a book from the 70s (sorry, can't remember who it was, right now) and that's where this urban legend has its origins. There is a scene like that in the novel, may be he just thought he saw it. Wishful thinking can be tricky. In DAD, after Jinx arrives in Iceland, I swear I saw a shot where you can see her from behind in that leather dress, walking up the stairs to the ice palace. I never saw it again, and no one else remembers it.

 

- about that discussion on the German board: they did see the ABC cut. I know exactly, because I took part in that discussion, and I saw it (reading that old thread now, I notice that I got a bit worked up about it, back then  :blush: ). 

 

- about the different German versions: the regular German version for years did not have the Gumboldt scene. Bond leaves Sir Hillary, and the next scene was the train entering Lauterbrunnen station. Also, the scene with Campbell and the guards at the cable car station was missing. I have no idea why this was done. They must have been missing from the cinema version as well, because they had to re-dub them for the Ultimate Edition. Those scenes are also missing from the Special Edition, hence the German SE DVD has no English version on it. Had to buy an English DVD separately.

There was a German TV version which had the safe cracking scene (could be done because it had no dialogue), but omits the discussion between Draco and Tracy in the car and the cable car station scene. From some TV version, the snow plough scene is cut, and sometimes, tiny bits are missing (ice race missing a few seconds, for example). Guess that (apart from the snow plough) was done to match a certain broadcast length. The German UE version now finally has the complete version. Interesting tidbit: in the scene in which Bond tries to escape from his room for he first time, but stops because he hears Irma Bunt and Grunter walking by and talking, the dialogue between them used to be different in the German and the English version. I have no idea why it was. The UE now has the original version.

 

- The simple reason why the rooftop chase wasn't shot is because they realized early enough that the movie would become too long, anyway, and that it would cost to much time, effort and money just to kill off a minor character.

 

Thanks Heiko.

 

The origin of the "Irma Bunt in the window" scene is this:

 

Bond author/expert John Griswold claimed he saw it, and mentioned it to Lee Pfeiffer, who put it in "The Incredible World of 007."

 

The material that I went through for The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service  included:

 

1) All kinds of drafts from 1964 up through 1969 including Maibaum's original scripts, crew scripts, director Peter Hunt's script, and the editing script (which listed what take #s to use).  No mention anywhere among any of that material of such a scene.

 

2) All 20,000 contact sheet photographs taken by set photographers George Whitear and Bob Penn. No photographic evidence of such a scene. Thousands upon thousands of photographs by visiting journalists from archives around the world.  Again, no photographic evidence of such a scene.

 

3) All Call Sheets for the film, which listed what was to filmed on what day, what props were to be used, who was to be on set, when they were required on set, what journalists would be there that day, etc.  The scene is not on any OHMSS call sheet.

 

4) Interview with Director Peter Hunt. Answer: Scene wasn't shot.  Interview with Cinematographer Michael Reed. Answer: Scene wasn't shot.  Interview with Cameraman Alec Mills.  Answer: Scene wasn't shot.

 

Would I love for the scene to exist?  Of course.  But the "evidence" that it exists comes from the word of one person, while the photographic, call sheet, script, and interview evidence says otherwise.

 

As for the Phidian rooftop chase - there are over 30 photographs and 11 storyboards, and a significant part of the England chapter in The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service that give the reader a complete informational and visual understanding of the scene.

 

Re: Lazenby hurting his arm was the cause for the scene being cut.  Peter Hunt laughed about this story in a Dutch interview.  He said George was always claiming he was hurt.

 

Photographic evidence proves Peter was right and Lazenby was feigning injury, if it indeed happened.  Because the very next day (After the rooftop chase) there are dozens of photographs of him practicing the Che Che fight and he has full use of both arms.

 

Please stop spreading these Bond myths.  I went to considerable effort and expense to document what really happened. 

 

Thanks for making things clear.

I was not trying to spread any myths around, just asking about scenes claimed to be missing!
Maybe the information on sites like imdb.com should be changed then?


Edited by Lektor, 09 January 2013 - 11:48 PM.


#12 lazenbyland

lazenbyland

    Sub-Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • Pip
  • 199 posts

Posted 10 January 2013 - 12:31 AM

 about the different German versions: the regular German version for years did not have the Gumboldt scene. Bond leaves Sir Hillary, and the next scene was the train entering Lauterbrunnen station. Also, the scene with Campbell and the guards at the cable car station was missing. I have no idea why this was done.

 

This was the case with the UK version for many years until they released the 25 year anniversary edition box set in 1994.

 

The reason as far as I am aware is that TV systems outside the US/Canada run a PAL/SECAM system wihich speeds the film up for TV by a few percent. American (NTSC) standard tapes were long enough to include the whole film.

 

As OHMSS was the longest movie this wouldn't fit onto a standard PAL/SECAM video tape used for the films, by a few minutes. So to fit, they had to make a cut and this was the Gumbold office scene. All about saving money!

 

The Gumbold scene usually appeared on TV  up to 1994 though not always. TV versions were very hit and miss and still are to this day.

 

There was also a lousy cut at the end of the gunbarrel that missed the Universal Exports plaque and went straight to Q.

 

The scene at the cable car station with Campbell had been missing in europe and the UK for many years and I had never seen it on TV until the 1994 copy came out. Additional scenes on the 1994 tape included an extended stock car chase and Blofeld's line "His brotherhood also have unique ways of keeping a closed chop"


Edited by lazenbyland, 10 January 2013 - 12:31 AM.


#13 stromberg

stromberg

    Commander RNVR

  • The Admiralty
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 6841 posts
  • Location:Saarland / Germany

Posted 10 January 2013 - 01:21 AM

The reason as far as I am aware is that TV systems outside the US/Canada run a PAL/SECAM system wihich speeds the film up for TV by a few percent. American (NTSC) standard tapes were long enough to include the whole film. 


 

As OHMSS was the longest movie this wouldn't fit onto a standard PAL/SECAM video tape used for the films, by a few minutes. So to fit, they had to make a cut and this was the Gumbold office scene. All about saving money!

Could be a reason. But these cuts seem to have been made before the days of videotape, as there didn't exist a dubbed German version of them at all. As I said, they had to be re-dubbed for the German UE version (and they could have done a better job with that). Not sure if this had to be done with other foreign language versions, as well. Of curse, it's still possible that the original German language track was simply lost whereas the, say, French one survived.

 

There's a German websites that compares the original German video release to the uncut UK VHS tape:

http://www.schnittbe...icht.php?ID=176

 

and the German SE to the UE version:

http://www.schnittbe...cht.php?ID=3687

 

Unfortunately, the site's in German, but there are pics and time codes, so you can (literally) get the picture. Any questions on the German text, just ask (too much to translate it all).



#14 nickjb007

nickjb007

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 80 posts
  • Location:NC

Posted 10 January 2013 - 04:37 PM

Stromburg, great posts, I understand where you believe you saw a scene in a film. I swear when TWINE was released there was a scene in the film between cigar girl and renard. But I think I imagined this scene due to the book and one of the trading cards. Doublenoughtspy I purchased the making of OHMSS received my copy yesterday evening. Really looking forward to this book.

Does anyone think the ABC editing a impacted the way the film was perceived?

#15 lazenbyland

lazenbyland

    Sub-Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • Pip
  • 199 posts

Posted 10 January 2013 - 08:16 PM

"Does anyone think the ABC editing a impacted the way the film was perceived?"

 

 

Well,here's an interview with someone who was around at the time of the first ABC broadcast... Charles Helfenstein's book has since answered some of the questions at the time.

 

 

http://www.angelfire..._Interview.html


Edited by lazenbyland, 10 January 2013 - 08:32 PM.


#16 doublenoughtspy

doublenoughtspy

    Commander RNVR

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 4122 posts
  • Location:USA

Posted 10 January 2013 - 09:26 PM

Stromburg, great posts, I understand where you believe you saw a scene in a film. I swear when TWINE was released there was a scene in the film between cigar girl and renard. But I think I imagined this scene due to the book and one of the trading cards. Doublenoughtspy I purchased the making of OHMSS received my copy yesterday evening. Really looking forward to this book.

Does anyone think the ABC editing a impacted the way the film was perceived?

 

Thanks for buying my OHMSS book - I'll be interested to hear your thoughts once you've read it.

 

Re: the ABC edit impacting the film's perception.

 

I think it did.  How could it not? 

 

In the days before home video - films on TV were a big deal.  It was record news when ABC paid Eon a million dollars per film for the rights to air the first 8 films.

 

For millions of Americans - it was their first, or perhaps 2nd, or perhaps only exposure to the film.

 

They were "treated" to a butchered, re-edited version of the film, voiced over by an American attempting an English accent, spread across multiple nights.

 

Despite the absolute travesty of what they did to it, there is a certain charm to it, in a "I can't look away from this train wreck" sort of way.

 

Starting with the ski chase is exciting, and the voice overs emphasize how Bond is falling in love with Tracy.



#17 Yellow Pinky

Yellow Pinky

    Sub-Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • Pip
  • 338 posts
  • Location:Atlanta, GA - USA

Posted 10 January 2013 - 09:39 PM

I remember watching the 2-part ABC version when it aired.  It was only my second time seeing the movie, having seen it in the theater opening weekend with my dad at the age of 7.  I was 14 when I saw the re-edited version and I remember thinking something was very off about it, but nevertheless absolutely loving it all over again. 

 

My third viewing wouldn't come until years later when I experienced a Bond rebirth and bought a VHS copy.  That's when it became my personal all time favorite 007 adventure.

 

For years I had this hazy memory of something being different in that '76 broadcast and never knew what it was until finding information about it online years later.  It's all so fascinating!



#18 Turn

Turn

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 6837 posts
  • Location:Ohio

Posted 10 January 2013 - 11:01 PM

I also saw OHMSS when I was 7 on a rerelease double feature with DAF. My family regularly went to Bond movies, especially the double features and such. I knew DAF well, but nothing about OHMSS. It was weird to see the actor who played Kojak and some other guy as Bond. But that ending stuck with me even at that age.

 

I also saw the 1976 ABC broadcast and didn't recall if it was actually part of the film or not. It wasn't until a later rebroadcast of OHMSS I realized that one-off was an isolated thing. What all of those experiences did was help me realize OHMSS was a very different Bond movie and one of the most interesting, which I continue to believe to this day.



#19 marktmurphy

marktmurphy

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 9055 posts
  • Location:London

Posted 11 January 2013 - 12:22 AM


I like the way Richard Maibaum eliminated Fleming's back-and-forth flashing in the early scenes, while keeping the sequences in the same order. 

 

 

Yes, that is very clever, isn't it? It's a very good adaptation- tidies up a lot of Fleming. I think in the book the Tracy and Blofeld plots don't even link up, do they? I forget completely  but I feel like I remember Bond asking Draco about Blofeld's whereabouts is something added to the script. 

 

 

Regarding these missing scenes, why were they gone for so long?



#20 Royal Dalton

Royal Dalton

    Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 4542 posts

Posted 11 January 2013 - 03:46 AM

It's a version of the film that was shown in some Central European countries, isn't it? They showed the same version at the NFT back in the 1990s, which caused the audience to let out a loud collective groan when the safe cracking scene was skipped over.

 

Most likely Warner Home Video were given that version for their transfer and they just kept using the same master tape until the widescreen version was issued.

 

It wasn't to do with videotape lengths, anyway. Warners were issuing films on 150-minute tapes as far back as 1981.



#21 lazenbyland

lazenbyland

    Sub-Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • Pip
  • 199 posts

Posted 11 January 2013 - 11:52 PM

It wasn't to do with videotape lengths, anyway. Warners were issuing films on 150-minute tapes as far back as 1981

 

Agreed. But with the Bond releases on PAL/SECAM VHS up to that point, all the other films in the series fitted onto the same length tape....except the full version of OHMSS. This would have required a longer tape.

 

They could have just got a longer tape for that one film but OHMSS was treated very badly in those days; so it is more likely that they just took a hatchet and found a scene they could cut out so they could fit the film onto the same length tape as the rest of the series.



#22 FlemingBond

FlemingBond

    Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • PipPip
  • 610 posts
  • Location:Phoenix, Az U.S.

Posted 13 January 2013 - 03:09 AM

i want to think at one point i read that the rooftop scene didn't exist anymore, just some still photos.