We’ve discussed this a lot and now it has happened. Note: It is a condensed 31 minute version, but this is certainly a lot more than we had ever seen.
It appears to be legal since it is on Vimeo, so I will post a link to it. If it turns out to be otherwise, please remove.
I just saw the whole thing (it’s also on YouTube). Some thoughts…
–It’s much better than I though it would be, but it still doesn’t look very good. Jerry thankfully doesn’t do any comedy routines, but it’s still clear he’s been miscast. It reminds me of a lazily done Lifetime film. Considering that the handful of people who claim to have seen the film all have mentioned how awful movie was, it seems like a very oversized overreaction.
–The film does look way too cheap for something intended for theatrical release. The circus and bar scenes are way too empty looking, and the death camps look more like poorly run summer camps than factories of murder. A lot of the scenes seem to be shot the way they are to save money more than anything else.
–We’ll need to see the rest of the movie to give a good opinion on it. (For example, what’s with those elderly guys sitting on a bench in an empty room?).
No waiting for Godot’s exit?
It’s presumably all actually a seriously cut-down version of a recent, much longer German TV documentary on the film. From Wikipedia:
Though to be strictly accurate, some of the re-staged scenes also seem to involve the actors filling in for Lewis and some deceased colleagues.
But this is significantly much more footage than has previously seen the light of day.
I don’t think we can judge properly what the finished film would have looked like. The scenes shown seem to be rough cuts; the circus scene, for instance with the ringmaster is played to empty seats. Still, from what I’ve seen here I think Lewis did wisely to abandon the project.
BTW good to see Anton Diffring in a scene. He was the go-to guy for sneering Nazi officers in the 60s and 70s.
The ironic thing about Diffring is that he was Jewish. His real surname was Pollack.
Did he pray to C*d?
I am so going to Hell.
For that matter, both Werner Klemperer and John Banner (Col. Klink and Sgt. Schultz) of “Hogan’s Heroes” fame were Jewish refugees from occupied Europe; Banner lost most of his family in the death camps.
In 2025, I think we’ll get a copy of the whole thing.
We’ll have to meet back in this thread to discuss a comparison to this chopped version.
One fish, two fish, red fish, Jew fish.
Looks like I’m joining you in Hell, running coach.