Official OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND Thread - All things OSotW he

[RayKelly]

I'll feel a lot more comfortable when Showtime issues a formal statement. The NY Sun gor MUCH farther than I ever did with Showtime. I could not even get them to confirm they were in negotiations when I checked with their publicity department months ago.

[Glenn Anders]

Studio Briefing, on the IMDb for this day, is carrying the following item:

Welles's Final Film May Soon See Light of Day

The Other Side of the Wind, Orson Welles's final, uncompleted film, which has languished in a cold-storage vault in Paris for more than 30 years, may finally arrive in theaters next year, director Peter Bogdanovich said at the Florida Film Festival in Orlando on Friday, the New York Sun reported. The newspaper said that Bogdanovich had told the Florida gathering, where he received the American Visionary Award, that he has reached an agreement to complete the film with a "well-known cable network," presumably Showtime, which has long expressed interest in the project. Welles died before completing the editing of the film, and the negatives have been at the center of legal wrangling between the film's backers and the Welles estate. "It's like Bleak House," Bogdanovich told the Orlando Sentinel last week, referring to Charles Dickens's 900-plus page masterpiece. "It just went on and on and on."

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That's a small substantiation, but remember, we heard it on Wellesnet . . . FIRST!

Glenn

[Tony]

The article says: "A spokesman for Showtime said it was "still in negotiations" over the movie."

Maybe Boggo's just trying to up the ante: announce that a deal has been made, and Showtime will be embarrassed into actually finalizing the deal.

:laugh:

[Store Hadji]

Boggo was Tor Johnson's largest speaking role, in the Ed Wood-scripted The Night the Dead Undead Nudie Corporate Grey-Flannels Destroyed America. The script was open-ended, designed to finish with a series of Hollywood trailers, whatever was current whenever the film was exhibited, up to today and beyond. Wood's last attempt at commercial huckstering was an unmitigated disaster.

[ToddBaesen]

While it's obvious that OSOTW has faced many unforseen obstacles, there's absolutely no reason to doubt Peter Bogdanovich's statement about Showtime stepping in to complete the movie, since he's always been very careful never even to mention Showtime in all previous interviews he has done. When the contract was actually signed, he said in Florida, for the first time, that it was Showtime. What is interesting is that due to the speed of the internet, Showtime has not yet been able to yet prepare a press release annoucing this news, since like everying to do with OSOTW, it will have to be "approved" by many parties.

Also, The New York Sun article is based on information from a few weeks ago, before the Showtime deal had actually been finalized. This means that the Showtime money is indeed finally in place, and all the parties who have been fighting with each other will presumably be paid off. The problem now is trying to get the film into a shape where it can be shown and where it will be seen as what a reading of the script indicates: ORSON WELLES final masterpiece.

[chipm]

Can't tell you how exciting this is. Will SHOWTIME even put out a press release until it is ready to roll?

[ToddBaesen]

Here's what George Hickenlooper reports about the news that Bogdanovich will finish OSOTW... Which means Showtime had been involved in trying to finish the film for ten years...


About ten years ago, I entered discussions with Showtime to finish THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. This was based on the fact that I had dealt with Oja Kodar when I optioned and then adapted Welles' last screenplay THE BIG BRASS RING. I am delighted that Peter Bogdanovich, whom I consider my mentor, is finally bringing this to fruition. I believe he is the only one qualified to do so. As one of the greatest and most underrated directors of the 70s, he has the aesthetic werewithall to fulfill what Welles' had intended. If anyone else were to do it, or if I were to have done it, I would have approached it more from a documentary angle and intercut interviews with those who knew Welles with fully completed scenes. To actually finish it as a feature is task I only think Bogdanovich is capable.

[Harvey Chartrand]

Yes, Peter Bogdanovich is the man for the job. The only American actor/director of his generation who can rise to the challenge of assembling THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND properly.
But let's get on with it. Time and tide wait for no man. Bogdanovich will be 68 years old in July (although he looks great for his age and is as articulate and erudite as ever).

[RayKelly]

Vidamonte,
Right before the "break," you posted some interesting information -- based from a conversation with Oja Kodar -- about Showtime having a 2 1/2 month option on OSOTW and the plans for the finished film. Would you mind restating it.
Thanks

[Vidamonte]

Hi Ray,

I talked with Oja Kodar few weeks ago and she told me that Showtime has an option for 2 1/2 months and they want to check the material: the negative in Paris and other material in LA, before closing the deal.
And they are going to make it as an documentary, because they feel that it would be impossible to make it as Welles would have done.
Peter Bogdanovich filmed the opening of the vault in LA (27th April) for the documentary.

[RayKelly]

Thanks for the update.
Your posting explains why PB says a deal was signed and Showtime says it is under negotiation. If the option is for 2 1/2 months, there might be a formal announcement in July. Of course, nothing is simple with OSOTW.
I will have to get used to "Filming OSOTW" as opposed to a completed feature film.

[The Night Man]

Vidamonte said:

Peter Bogdanovich filmed the opening of the vault in LA (27th April) for the documentary.

Then RayKelly said:

I will have to get used to "Filming OSOTW" as opposed to a completed feature film.

Indeed, it sounds likely that we will be seeing "Filming TOSOTW" - a film by Peter Bogdanovich, rather than "TOSOTW" - a film by Orson Welles. Bogdanovich surely is the one to helm such a project, but I do hope some attempt will be made to assemble Orson's material into a coherent narrative apart from, or in addition to, the documentary aspect.

[Michael O'Hara]

I was hoping for the film itself. I thought it was in a near enough to finished state that such a thing could be attempted. Perhaps they will bookend the film with documentary but let the vintage material run uninterrupted in the middle. Surely they can show us the full 40 odd minutes of footage edited by Orson's own hand.

[Jeff Wilson]

In one respect it's disappointing, as an informed version of the finished film would be better than nothing, but I imagine it's an immensely daunting project, even for someone who was there for much of it. At the same time, a well-made documentary that includes as much finished material as possible could be interesting also. Hopefully any potential DVD release will include as much additional footage as possible. Given the availability of the script, I'm surprised they didn't at least try to put something together approximating that.

[RayKelly]

Let's put this on the DVD bonus material wish list (if OSOTW sees the light of day and if there is an eventual DVD release)... How about the rough cut from the work print assembled by Gary Graver, Joe McBride and company that was shown to Showtime in the 1990s. I'd settle for that.