In last week's news, it looks like Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America is going to be re-released with an additional forty minutes of footage restored.
I'm not sure what to think of this. On the one hand, I love the movie, I'm interested in seeing these scenes, and this seems to be Leone's approved cut. On the other, I think the film is good - and long - enough as it is, and the few problems I do have with it wouldn't be fixed with additional scenes.
Christopher Frayling's Leone biography, Something to Do With Death, has a rather detailed outline of the original screenplay, including scenes not present in the existing version. So far as I can remember, major scenes missing from the current 229-minute cut include:
- A flashback to Noodles's childhood during Noodles's first visit to the opium den.
- Young Noodles coming home to his parents and arguing with them over prayer.
- Bugsy's gang getting arrested by the cops, presumably tipped off by Noodles and Max.
- A scene with Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) as the caretaker of the cemetery Noodles visits in 1968.
- Several scenes with Darlanne Fluegel's Eve, first meeting a drunk Noodles in a bar and later revealing she wears "falsies."
- A scene in 1968 between "Secretary Bailey" and Jimmy O'Donnell arguing over the pension fund scandal.
There are a few other bits (especially scenes with Danny Aiello and Treat Williams) that probably weren't filmed, since they'd clash with the existing narrative.
Contrary to popular belief, there appear to be no further scenes with Joe Pesci's character; the enigmatic moment of him eyeing Noodles and Max in the hospital isn't part of a longer scene.
Will this additional footage make a great film even better, or will it just make a long film even longer? You be the judge. I'd be interested in seeing it, but frankly I'm fine with the 229-minute Cannes cut.
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