Uploaded 30 June 2000

Robert Aldrich is among the most important Hollywood filmmakers. His uncompromising assaults on the America of McCarthy and Nixon, while hardly endearing him to the Academy, give his work an integrity and relevance such overtly ‘political’ directors as Stanley Kramer could only dream of. World for Ransom (USA 1954) was the first in a series of films that provided a thoroughgoing critique first of the heroic individual (Kiss Me Deadly, USA 1955, is only the most extreme example), then, in the masterpieces of the 70s, of the system that supported and reinforced such individuals. Aldrich intuitively grasped the connection between America’s obsessions with masculine potency and nuclear capacity: in a world where the fascination with phallic power had led to the construction of a weapon capable of causing massive, indiscriminate and impersonal destruction, the assertive individualism that was the hero’s traditional prerogative began to lose its positive connotations, becoming increasingly redefined as psychotic (the road from Sam Spade’s office to Norman Bates’ motel – both destinations for transgressive women seeking redemption – is not a long one).

Ulzana’s Raid (USA 1972) brilliantly extends the project of these films by deconstructing the glorious image of the Cavalry, but it is important to note that Aldrich rigorously resists falling into the Soldier Blue (USA 1970) trap of surreptitously maintaining the value system that pits Good against Evil by simply switching labels; instead, Aldrich presents the Indian/Cavalry conflict in terms of mutual incomprehension and hostility. If this is an attack on the imperialist mentality, it is far from a simplistic one, and hardly the kind that audiences flocking to see Braveheart (USA 1995) will be willing to countenance. Unfortunately, such iconoclasm inevitably resulted in films that were ripe for interference and reediting by studios, producers, distributors, censors and, in one case, the lead actor.

There can be no responsible film criticism unless the films themselves are available for analysis, yet all too often those cinematic texts (even of such acknowledged classics as Carl Dreyer’s Vampyr, Germany/France 1931) are corrupt, the intentions of their makers distorted. What follows is a series of notes detailing how Aldrich’s oeuvre has been mistreated (there is, inevitably, a British bias), presented in the form of a complete directorial filmography (I have excluded films on which Aldrich was only assistant director, producer or production manager).

The Doctor (USA 1952-1953). A TV series for which Aldrich directed 17 episodes.

The Big Leaguer (USA 1953, 71 minutes). The version originally released to British cinemas reportedly ran only 53 minutes.

Four Star Playhouse (USA 1953). A TV series for which Aldrich directed the following episodes:

The Hard Way (starring Dick Powell as Willy Dante)

The Squeeze. (starring Powell as Dante)

The Witness (starring Charles Bronson, then credited as Buchinsky)

The Gift (starring Charles Boyer)

China Smith (USA 1953). A TV series for which Aldrich directed 4 episodes.

World for Ransom (USA 1954, 82 minutes) .The first part of Aldrich’s nuclear trilogy (completed by Kiss Me Deadly and Twilight’s Last Gleaming, USA 1977) contains a scene in which Frennessy (Marian Carr) performs a night club act dressed as a man. The producers insisted on removing the scene’s climax (borrowed from von Sternberg’s Morocco ,USA 1930), in which Frennessey kisses a woman in the audience. Curiously, the film has no director credit. During a break in the filming, Aldrich directed two television advertisements.

Apache (USA 1954, 87 minutes). Aldrich planned to end the film with Massai (Burt Lancaster) being shot in the back, but was overruled by United Artists, who insisted on a happy ending.

Vera Cruz (USA 1954, 92 minutes). Though often praised for its inventive use of widescreen imagery, this was actually filmed in the standard ratio in order to provide screenable prints for cinemas that had not yet converted to CinemaScope projection [the film’s credits list it as being photographed in “Superscope”, an anamorphic process introduced in 1954–ed.]. This unmasked version is the one usually screened on television, though the transfer shown most recently on BBC2 was masked to 2.10:1, eliminating significant amounts of picture area at the top and bottom of the frame (it was also missing a single shot of a horse leaping over a chasm). It is worth noting that Aldrich must be one of the few directors of his generation never to have made a genuine widescreen film.

Kiss Me Deadly (USA 1955, 105 minutes). It is now well known that circulating versions of this film contain two different endings: the one preferred by Aldrich, in which Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) and Velda (Maxine Cooper) escape from the beach house and watch it explode from a safe distance; and one that has been reedited in order to make it appear that both characters die in the explosion. Nobody has been able to find out why this second ending exists (Aldrich claimed to know nothing about it), but it is still the one most commonly encountered – in England, it can be seen on the video release and Channel 4 prints, and it was included in Martin Scorsese’s documentary on the American cinema (for more information, seehttp://www.imagesjournal.com/issue02/infocus/kissdead.htmandhttp://www.imagesjournal.com/issue03/features/kmd1.htm).

Less generally known is the fact that a version which occasionally turns up in parts of Europe (on BBC2 in England and sometimes on German television) contains many more differences. It seems that America’s Legion of Decency insisted on eliminating certain ‘questionable’ scenes, but this footage remained in the prints sent abroad. Thus, although both the European prints I encountered suffered (different) censorship cuts of their own in order to eliminate violent material (and even dialogue) that apparently caused no problems in America, they also contained the following unique shots:

1. As Hammer attacks a thug who has been following him, the European print includes an additional shot. The man’s head is beaten against a wall six times in the European print, four times in the American.
2. The scene in which Hammer finds Velda practicing ballet in her apartment is preceded by a shot of Hammer’s hand as he opens her door. This shot is noticeably longer in the European print, which allows us to see the key he is holding.
3. The American print dissolves from the discovery of Nick’s corpse (“No more va-va-voom”) to Hammer approaching Velda’s bed. The European print interjects an additional shot: a close-up of Hammer’s hand turning a key in the door.
4. In the European print, the scene in which Hammer drowns his sorrows in a bar begins with a medium close-up of a singer before cutting to a shot of Hammer. The American print has exactly the same soundtrack, but divides the shot of the singer in two: the first shot is identical to that in the European version, but only lasts for half as long; the second shot is a more distant view of the singer surrounded by drinkers. An explanation for these changes was given by Aldrich: [1] (1)”There’s a scene in the picture of a Negro songstress in downtown Los Angeles, an actress by the name of Maddie Comfort, singing a song. She’s singing into a white microphone and handling the microphone in an – I guess – overtly suggestive fashion…the Legion of Decency – with whom I’ve had a lot of trouble – just screamed. Bill Heinman, who was vice-president in charge of distribution for United Artists, willy nilly made all the cuts that the Legion insisted on”.
5. The scene in which Hammer enters Velda’s apartment to search for Christina’s letter is preceded in the European print by another close-up of his hand turning a key in the lock. I would guess that all these shots were deleted from the American print because the Legion of Decency objected to Aldrich’s emphasis on the fact that Hammer is in possession of a key to an unmarried woman’s apartment.
6. During the scene in which Hammer is drugged, the line “She wrote you a letter. In it were two words. ‘Remember me'” appears in the American print over a shot of Hammer tied to a bed. In the European print, only the final words appear over this shot, the rest of the dialogue being heard over a close-up of a hypodermic being filled. Perhaps it was felt that this image was overly sadistic in its implications.
7. Hammer’s walk through Mist’s art gallery is differently edited in each print, with shots run in a different order and the European edition containing one additional image – a single close-up of Hammer’s hand flicking on a light switch. I can think of no reason why this shot should have been deleted. Did the Legion think that Hammer was handling the light switch in a suggestive manner?
8. The European print contains Aldrich’s preferred ending, with Hammer and Velda escaping from the beach house. However, this ending has also been seen in many prints that are otherwise identical to the American edition.

The Big Knife (USA1955, 112 minutes). The original UK theatrical release was cut to 104 minutes (eliminating much of Jean Hagen’s role) by the British censor, and cut prints continue to play on British television (they have been shown by both Channel 4 and BBC2, though Sky’s transfer is uncut).

Attack! (USA1956, 107 minutes). Once again the British censor cut this film to 104 minutes (the cuts included most of the scene in which Eddie Albert tormented a dying Jack Palance by continually pushing a gun just out of his reach). A cut print used to turn up on BBC2, though the subsequent Channel 4 screenings and UK video release are uncut.

Autumn Leaves (USA 1956, 107 minutes).

The Garment Jungle (USA 1957, 87 minutes). Although Aldrich was fired towards the end of shooting and replaced by Vincent Sherman, who receives sole directing credit, the released film apparently includes a great deal of Aldrich’s work.

Ten Seconds to Hell (Great Britain/USA 1958, 94 minutes). Though apparently butchered by the studio (Aldrich says [2] (2), “They chopped it to pieces. I think everybody had a hand in the reediting”), the film is excellent and, barring the opening and closing voiceover, shows no obvious signs of interference. Aka The Phoenix.

The Angry Hills (Great Britain 1959, 119 minutes). The film was cut to 105 minutes before release, and no prints of the complete version have survived. However, the film’s trailer, which bears a 1958 copyright date and sometimes turns up on TNT, contains a number of images from the missing sequences.

Adventures in Paradise (USA 1959). Aldrich directed the pilot episode of this TV series.

The Sundance Kid (USA 1959). Another Aldrich-directed television pilot, broadcast under the title Hotel de Paree.

The Last Sunset (USA 1961, 112 minutes).

Sodom and Gomorrah (Italy/France 1962). Aldrich’s original 171 minute cut was reduced to 154 minutes by US censors, who insisted on removing all the scenes involving a sadistic fire wheel. It is this cut version that is now available on laserdisc in America. In the UK, the only version released on video is a heavily truncated 115 minute print. This version has also been shown on British television (usually cut even further in order to make it suitable for children) under the title The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Several of the battle scenes were directed by Sergio Leone. Aka Sodoma e Gomorra.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (USA 1962, 133 minutes).

4 For Texas (USA 1963, 115 minutes). Many reference books claim that 4 For Texas has a running time of 124 minutes, but I have never come across a print of this length.

Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (USA 1964, 133 minutes). The British censor deleted approximately a minute of footage (notably shots of Bruce Dern’s gory pre-credits demise) from the original theatrical release, and cut prints continue to play on Channel 4, though the British video is uncut.

The Flight of the Phoenix (USA 1965, 142 minutes). Screenwriter Lukas Heller recalls, [3] (3) “On Flight of the Phoenix, Aldrich was very conscious that there were no women in the film, and very anxious about whether anyone would go to see it. So he concocted a trailer – which cost $150,000 but was never shown – which featured a leading lady from each of the countries represented by the actors in the film. He had Sonja Ziemann for the German, Sylvia Syms I think for the English, Anouk Aimee for the French. It was all shot on location in Yuma, with the actress in the usual sort of Hollywood hotel room, walking up to a desk, glancing at a picture and – in Sonja Ziemann’s case, for instance – saying, ‘the last time I saw my friend Hardy Kruger he was working on a film in Yuma, Arizona…'”

The Dirty Dozen (USA 1967, 149 minutes). Some US prints were cut to 137 minutes, and one of these was released on video in America by MGM during the ’80s. The missing footage reportedly occurred during the climactic chateau assault. Peter Whitehead’s 1967 film Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London includes an interview with Lee Marvin conducted on the set of The Dirty Dozen.

The Legend of Lylah Clare (USA 1968, 130 minutes).

The Killing of Sister George (USA 1968, 139 minutes). The British censor removed most of the lesbian lovemaking from the original theatrical release, and this cut version continues to be screened on Channel 4. The British video release (on a number of different labels) is complete.

The Greatest Mother of Them All (USA 1968). Aldrich shot a thirty minute show reel for this never-completed film. The stars were Peter Finch, Alexandra Hay and Ann Southern.

Too Late the Hero (USA1969, 133 minutes). Most reference books claim that this film lasts 144 minutes, a running time that would seem to include an overture, play-out music and possibly an intermission. It has been shown on American TV under the title Survival run.

The Grissom Gang (USA 1971, 128 minutes).

Ulzana’s Raid (USA 1972).Aldrich’s preferred cut of this film ran 103 minutes and was released to US cinemas. However, the European version was completely reedited by Burt Lancaster (Aldrich says, [4] (4) “Lancaster changed the foreign version of Ulzana’s Raid, for what reason I don’t know, but not the American version”), who cut a number of scenes, restored material that Aldrich had shot but decided not to use, ran several sequences in a different order, used some alternate takes and made some minor changes to the music (Trevor Willsmer, who interviewed the film’s screenwriter Allan Sharp a few years ago, tells me that Sharp reluctantly agreed to assist Lancaster with the rediting). This version has virtually the same running time as Aldrich’s but is obviously completely different. The scenes that Lancaster cut include a pre-credits sequence showing Ulzana and his men leaving the reservation in the middle of the night, a sequence showing DeBuin (Bruce Davison) cleaning his teeth, and much of Mrs Riordan’s suicide attempt (“I have to wash it off”). The major deletions relate to the character of McIntosh (Lancaster)’s Indian lover, played by Aimee Eccles, who has been completely removed from the European edition (Lancaster even took out all the dialogue relating to the character, notably a lengthy section from McIntosh and DeBuin’s campfire discussion). Curiously, Eccles is still prominently credited on this print. Scenes restored by Lancaster include the following:

1. Cartwright (Douglass Watson) asks Captain Gates (Lloyd Bochner) to lead the detail pursuing Ulzana, but Gates, who is expecting to be sent back East, asks to be relieved, mentioning his connections in Washington (Cartwright: “What is it you’ve got back there in Washington, an uncle is it?” Gates: “The Under Secretary is my mother’s brother, sir.” Cartwright: “Out here that’s what we call an uncle.”). The subsequent scene in which Gates congratulates DeBuin on being given the command thus has an irony missing from Aldrich’s cut.
2. The scene in which Cartwright gives DeBuin advice is considerably longer, and includes a section in which McIntosh is present (“We don’t have the initiative, and ‘less he gets awful foolish we ain’t about to get it”).
3. A brief sequence in which the soldiers arrive at Rukeyser’s farm (DeBuin: “Maybe they rode straight through.” McIntosh “Maybe.” DeBuin “A whim. You said they had whims.” McIntosh: “So I did.”).
4. DeBuin enters Rukeyser’s cabin and finds McIntosh reading the family Bible (“Came from Holland. Appears they were married on the boat. Her maiden name was Van Hannigan. Hannah Van Hannigan.”).
5. After this scene we see Ulzana waking up, waking his men and throwing a rock at his sleeping son.
6. Burns (Richard Jaeckel) and Miller (Richard Farnsworth) are ambushed by the Indian they have been pursuing. Miller dies, but Burns escapes.
7. Shortly after Mrs Riordan’s suicide attempt, there is more dialogue between DeBuin and McIntosh (DeBuin: “You suggested that we leave them to their own devices and they’ll go back to the agency, but how many innocent people are they going to butcher on the way? No, killing Ulzana now is no more than justice.” McIntosh: “Don’t be confused, Lieutenant. We’re not in the justice business.”)The UK video release is of Lancaster’s European version, though the British censor insisted on removing all shots of horses falling headfirst (a banned stunt practice). The BBC regularly screens Aldrich’s US edition, but with even more censorship cuts. A dubbed transfer sometimes shown on German television makes an attempt to combine all the footage from both versions. A fairly thorough, though unfortunately error-ridden, account of the differences between the two versions appeared in Monthly Film Bulletin 582 and 583 (July and August 1982).

The Emperor of the North Pole (USA 1973, 121 minutes). Retitled Emperor of the North for its UK release (the film sometimes turns up in America under this title). The British video has lost 3 seconds at the hands of the censor.

The Longest Yard (USA 1974, 122 minutes). Retitled Mean Machine for its British release. Aldrich claimed that this film was slightly cut “because of ego problems – not my ego, somebody else’s”. [5] (5) Although the version available on tape in the early ’80s was identical to the theatrical edition, subsequent video releases ran into problems when the distributor discovered that music rights had only been negotiated for theatrical and television use, meaning that most of the source music had to be removed from the soundtrack of the video (this was a recurrent problem with Universal and Paramount films released by MCA in America, CIC in the UK – notable examples include The Warriors [USA 1979], 48 HRS [USA 1982], American Gigolo [USA 1980], and John Carpenter’s The Thing [USA 1982]): thus there is no longer any music coming from Burt Reynolds’ radio during the opening car chase, and the brief scene in which some cheerleaders sing ‘Born Free’ has been removed. However, the end credits remain intact, meaning that they contain the titles of several now-absent songs.

Hustle (1975, 118 minutes).

Twilight’s Last Gleaming (USA1977, 146 minutes). Aldrich’s original cut was already missing a couple of scenes in which Vera Miles played the president’s wife. After this version flopped in America, the film was cut to 122 minutes by its UK distributor. This cut version has also turned up in other parts of Europe (some of the UK theatrical prints, as well as the first British video release, were retitled Nuclear Countdown– rumours that prints bearing this title have been shortened even further prove to be incorrect). The long version is perhaps Aldrich’s masterpiece, while the short version, which removes every reference to the contents of the document that Burt Lancaster’s character is determined to make public (it reveals that Vietnam was fought purely as an exercise in limited warfare, a “theatrical holocaust” that would demonstrate America’s “brutal national will” to the Russians), is bad beyond belief. Thankfully, the uncut version was recently released on video in the UK (under the original title) by Warners.

The Choirboys (USA 1977). After unsuccessful previews, Aldrich shortened this film from 136 minutes to 120 minutes, something he later regretted.

The Frisco Kid (USA 1979, 119 minutes).

All the Marbles… (1981, 113 minutes) Retitled The California Dolls for its British cinema and video release.

Footnotes:

[1] Charles Higham and Joel Greenberg, The Celluloid Muse: Hollywood Directors Speak (Chicago: Regnery, 1969) 28.

[2] Ian Cameron and Mark Shivas, “Interview with Robert Aldrich,” Movie 8 (1963): 10.
[3] “Lukas Heller interviewed,” Monthly Film Bulletin 615 (1985): 132.
[4] Pierre Sauvage, “Aldrich Interview,” Movie 23 (1976/1977): 61.
[5] Pierre Sauvage, “Aldrich Interview,” Movie 23 (1976/1977): 61.