This is a German/French co-production adapted from a D.H. Lawrence novella called The Fox. The story of the film is essentially Lawrence’s, and the film retained the World War One time frame, but changed the locale. The original was set in Berkshire, England. This version was set in Alsace, an area which both France and Germany have controlled at various times in the past three or four centuries. Those two countries fought WW1 battles there, so the change of locales really brought the war into focus.
In this update: another version of the sex scene from The Imperial Edition, and a link to Gore Vidal’s original script.
There’s a new “Caligula: The Ultimate Cut” with previously unviewed scenes of Helen Mirren (and others). Mirren even offers a Full Heche and a spread-legged shot as she rolls over. What I find intriguing about this is that the new cut allegedly consists entirely of footage never seen before: alternate takes, alternate angles, deleted scenes, etc.
UPDATE: Helen Mirren – open leg shot as she rolls over.
Captures:
Film clips here. The top one is the one with the open-leg shots.
UPDATE:
About 15 years ago, a very poor quality alternate cut of this scene appeared in the extras of the three-disk issue called The Imperial Edition. Yes, that was yet another cut from completely different angles. Obviously, they shot a ton of coverage for this film. God knows how many more versions can be milked out of this.
Gore Vidal wrote the first draft of this screenplay, but the film bore little or no resemblance to his script, so he sued to have his name removed from the film and its publicity. You may remember all of that, but you might not remember that there was a novelization of Vidal’s original script. I have that paperback somewhere in the chaos that is my book collection. It originally sold for $2.25, but is now going for eighty bucks on Amazon Marketplace (even more elsewhere!) Instead of buying a crappy eighty-dollar paperback, you can read Vidal’s actual script for free.
That clip left out some of my favorite parts, like when Alec Baldwin is visited by the ghosts of Leap Day Past, Present and Future. The dyed-in-the-wool Republican is horrified to see what happens in a future created by his parental neglect. Because he tried to make more money on Leap Day instead of spending time with his daughter, he must face his worst nightmare: she grows up to work for Habitat for Humanity!
I have a real soft spot for this episode of 30 Rock, which I would rank among the top twenty sitcom episodes of all time. (Where is Chuckles the Clown now that we really need him?)
In addition to Leap Day and Chuckles, some of my other nominees:
The series finale of Blackadder. Funny and touching.
The “Communication Problems” episode of Fawlty Towers.
“The Contest” on Seinfeld.
“Flowers For Charlie” on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
“The Spanish Inquisition” on Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
“The Doll” on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
“Turkeys Away” and “Commercial Break” (the Mr. Ferryman episode) on WKRP in Cincinnati.
“Arthur After Hours” on The Larry Sanders Show.
“Kissing Your Sister” on Veep.
“Louie Goes Too Far” on Taxi.
My lowbrow darkhorse: “Castaways Pictures Presents” on Gilligan’s Island. The castaways find a camera and film, so they make a zero-budget movie and send it off on a raft or something. It is discovered, but does not help them get rescued. Their consolation prize: The French love their chaotic, incomprehensible gibberish, and it wins the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
No special episode, but any MASH appearance by Colonel Flagg. (I just never found MASH to be that funny, although it occasionally tugged at my heartstrings.)
I’m sure that I must be forgetting many. “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” isn’t a traditional sitcom. It’s an afternoon kiddie show from Nickelodeon, but I’d probably nominate at least three episodes from that show, which may be my favorite comedy of all time. I’d mention some episodes of Arrested Development and the underrated Go On (which one of you turned me on to), but I can’t immediately separate the episodes in my head.
Kelly Rowland may also be naked in this flick, but there’s no satisfying exposure. She’s either covered by paint or photographed in an out-of-focus butt shot. I can’t see any nipples, even in 4K resolution
She is a beauty. Fiorenza D’Antonio was the runner-up in the Miss Italia contest in 2018, and was selected as Miss Congeniality. She is from Naples, and her fellow Neapolitans felt she got hosed out of the winner’s sash, but they graciously accepted the result and drowned their sorrows in three-flavor ice cream.
