# infamous movies, never to be seen again **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264 "2006-04-26T06:39:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/41 "2006-04-26T21:18:38Z")
[QUOTE=Rube E. Tewesday] . . . Another incredibly racist but beautifully drawn cartoon –_Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat_ . [/QUOTE] _Rubbly-ubb-duuuubb!_ ---
**Author:** ![Iris\_Rings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d78d45/32.png) [@Iris\_Rings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iris_Rings)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/42 "2006-04-26T21:27:47Z")
“Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969)” All-star cast Anthony Newley, Joan Collins, Milton Berle, George Jessel, Stubby Kaye … This was Anthony Newley’s masterful semi-autobiographical movie of a movie, comparable to Fellini’s “8-1/2” But it first appeared rated X, to mediocre reviews, was re-cut to become rated R, and got more mediocre reviews. I’ve read many people have searched for it and it was never on VHS or DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/43 "2006-04-26T21:33:05Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] For racial sensitivity reasons, you’ll never see any of Chuck Jones great “[Inki and the Minah Bird](http://www.toonopedia.com/inki.htm)” cartoons. [/QUOTE] I have this on a dollar store compilation cartoon DVD. Possibly not a legal copy, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/44 "2006-04-26T22:11:50Z")
It’s not infamous, but Jonathan Demme’s director’s cut of _Swing Shift_ will probably not see the light of day. The film was recut, apparently because Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell didn’t care for the original storyline where she wasn’t as predominant. Pauline Kael and other critics saw the original and said it was wonderful, whereas the released version, while not awful, was nothing special. I’d love to see the original, since Demme turned out excellent movies throughout the '70s and '80s. But I’ve heard there’s no way it’ll happen – too much bad blood. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/45 "2006-04-26T22:25:48Z")
[QUOTE=Iris Rings] “Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969)” All-star cast Anthony Newley, Joan Collins, Milton Berle, George Jessel, Stubby Kaye … This was Anthony Newley’s masterful semi-autobiographical movie of a movie, comparable to Fellini’s “8-1/2” But it first appeared rated X, to mediocre reviews, was re-cut to become rated R, and got more mediocre reviews. I’ve read many people have searched for it and it was never on VHS or DVD. [/QUOTE] [Here](http://www.cinemasirens.com/merkin_find_happiness.html) ya go. (warning, nudity in link) Slee ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/46 "2006-04-26T23:05:20Z")
[Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story](http://imdb.com/title/tt0094075/) - Todd Haynes’ student film that got an unexpected (though deserved) cult following via arthouse theaters and video. Karen’s brother (who reportedly does not come off very well in this treatment of the story) sued to have all copies of this project destroyed. He won because Haynes had not gotten the rights to use the Carpenters’ music. (It was never actually supposed to be shown outside of Haynes’ film class anyway). I saw a bootlegged copy of it back in the early 90s. It was pretty bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/47 "2006-04-27T00:50:51Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I have this on a dollar store compilation cartoon DVD. Possibly not a legal copy, I guess. [/QUOTE] There are a bunch of old racist cartoons in the public domain that end up on compilations such as this. Presumably, this is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/48 "2006-04-27T03:59:54Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] Not necessarily infamous, but Matthew Barney’s _The Cremaster Cycle_ series of silms will never be released on DVD [/QUOTE] I was under the impression that they have been released, just in exceedingly small quantities (as in, half a dozen or so). And of course, the last segment of _Cremaster 3_ was widely released; of course, it makes even less sense out of context. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/49 "2006-04-27T04:21:34Z")
There are some people who think that the original version of the movie _I’ll Do Anything_ is better than the version currently available. It was shot as a musical, but after the previews all the musical numbers were cut out. The original version exists in a film vault, but it hasn’t been seen since those previews. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/50 "2006-04-27T07:57:03Z")
[QUOTE=Hunter Hawk] I was under the impression that they have been released, just in exceedingly small quantities (as in, half a dozen or so). And of course, the last segment of _Cremaster 3_ was widely released; of course, it makes even less sense out of context. [/QUOTE] Well, “released” implies manufactured and sold - Barney has had a few DVD copies made, which were sold as “art objects” to a museum for millions. It was actually the museum’s complaints that kept the Cremaster Cycle boxed set from being released; the whole point of releasing the ending of 3 on DVD was to drum up interest for the boxed set. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/51 "2006-04-28T01:02:18Z")
In it’s article about the original [King Kong](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_%281933_film%29),Wikipedia mentions (but doesn’t currently have a separate article for) a movie called Ingagi (1930) and describes it thusly: “(…) Ingagi was an unabashed black exploitation film, immediately running afoul of the Hollywood code of ethics - it depicted black women having sex with monkeys and baby off-spring that looked more monkey than human, some of the most despicable scenes in American movie history. The movie was an immediate hit, and by some estimates it was one of the highest grossing movies of the 1930s at over $4 million.” ---
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/52 "2006-04-28T01:24:26Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] In it’s article about the original [King Kong](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_%281933_film%29),Wikipedia mentions (but doesn’t currently have a separate article for) a movie called Ingagi (1930) and describes it thusly: “(…) Ingagi was an unabashed black exploitation film, immediately running afoul of the Hollywood code of ethics - it depicted black women having sex with monkeys and baby off-spring that looked more monkey than human, some of the most despicable scenes in American movie history. The movie was an immediate hit, and by some estimates it was one of the highest grossing movies of the 1930s at over $4 million.” [/QUOTE] [Quick little blurb on Ingagi](http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=96552) ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/53 "2006-04-28T02:59:57Z")
Otto Preminger’s film version of _Porgy and Bess_ is _extremely_ difficult to find, as the Gershwin family snatched it out of distribution at some point (possibly in the late 1970s/early 1980s). I remember watching this on the Channel 7 late night movie here in NYC some time in the late '70s and watching Sammy Davis Jr.'s hilarious version of “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” Though I was a fan of the music, I was waaay too young at the time to understand the storyline. So that song is the only part I’ve retained in my memory, except for a dim recollection of Sidney Poitier as Porgy crawling/pulling himself along somewhere… Since now I totally crush on Sidney Poitier, and admire Dorothy Dandridge (who played Bess) and Brock Peters (as bastardly Crown), I would love to see this someday. So, one may well ask, what’s the Gershwins’ issue with the flick? The family allegedly hated the adaptation, and withheld the musical rights; rather oddly, the dramatic rights were not a problem. They might dislike it because Preminger changed it from an opera to a musical, or 'cause almost no one uses his or her own voice (except for Sammy Davis Jr. and Pearl Bailey). But for whatever reason, it’s been almost non-existant until very recently, when apparently the family has allowed one or two film revival/festival showings. Sigh. It’s even listed on Amazon as a DVD, but it’s actually not in production. Not _yet_, anyway. Here’s hoping! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/54 "2006-04-28T03:33:04Z")
The 1951 Joseph Losey remake of _M_. OK, maybe it wasn’t a great idea to take one of the most darkly German of Fritz Lang’s classics, set it in glaring daylight in working class LA, and cast David Wayne as Peter Lorre’s craven, baby-killing creep. But it’s a damn good film, stands up well to the original, and it ought to be available in some form other than super-grainy nth-generation VHS [dub](http://robertsvideos.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/55 "2006-04-28T04:12:50Z")
_Porgy and Bess_ was last distributed to television in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/56 "2006-04-28T04:22:37Z")
_Spaceship Zero_. Oh wait, I guess it has to be seen by someone once before it can qualify. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/57 "2006-04-28T04:46:11Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] **Coal Black** is on YouTube, although it’s not the best print. The sad thing is, it’s really not all that offensive as you’d think. I mean, it’s certainly not a modern cartoon, but the characters seem to actually be voiced by black actors, and the animation is really good and original. It might make you a little uncomfortable, but it’s not the huge shocker I was expecting. [/QUOTE] [Checks YouTube..] Besides seeing how So-white managed to get her life spared from the gangsters at Murder inc, I find it curious that I found the ad in the truck of Murder Inc to be the most shocking item: WE RUB OUT ANYBODY $1.00 Midgets – ½ price Japs - _FREE_ :eek: 😃 :eek: (The smile is when I think of the context of the era it was made) ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/58 "2006-04-28T05:16:38Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] _Porgy and Bess_ was last distributed to television in 1972. [/QUOTE] Cool, thanks! But holy crap, this means my bizarrely vivid memory of Sammy Davis Jr.'s rendition and Sidney Poitier’s crawling dates back to when I was _six_. Dang, now that’s a performance that made an impact. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/59 "2006-04-28T15:17:10Z")
[QUOTE=JPen] [Quick little blurb on Ingagi](http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=96552) [/QUOTE] **Untamed Mistress** , from about the same time and from (I think) the same outfit, shares the same theme (Gorilla-human miscegenation). Its only redeeming feature is the lead actress, yummy Jacqueline Fontaine. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264/60 "2006-04-28T20:26:27Z")
I doubt we’ll ever see _The Gong Show Movie_ on DVD (legitimately, that is). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-movies-never-to-be-seen-again/354264.md?page=4)