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Post by georgelytton on Aug 30, 2006 10:39:17 GMT
There is a great history involved in ROMANCE. Sellers was supposed to have gone an open heart surgery, one that would supposedly "healed" him, somewhat. Now, Sellers died, and this project died. But it wasn't Edwards who wanted Moore to play the role, it was the studio. The studio pressured Edwards to come and re-write Sellers' script and have someone else play Clouseau, but Edwards refused. Then UA talked with Dudley Moore who said he'd do it only if Edwards did and for one time only. Edwards didn't want to do it, for the same reason he did TRAIL - he KNEW nobody else could play Clouseau. Not even play him well, play him in general. You either are Clouseau, or aren't! And Edwards knew, both from Sellers' frustration over Arkin's INSPECTOR and his own conviction that Sellers was irreplaceable, he eventually decided to hand the franchise over to a new character. And then there is the TRAIL and CURSE hstory, which can be discussed in another time...
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Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 21:23:11 GMT
There were two Sellers-Moloney drafts for Romance. The first from December 1979 and the rewrite from July 1980. The differences were chiefly in their conclusions. The first draft would have seen Clouseau promoted to Commissioner--a surprise ending for Dreyfus who, after acting as a private investigator in this film rejoins the Surete as Chief Inspector at the end only to find Clouseau as his boss. The rewrite has Clouseau retire from the Surete. He marries Anastasia. Cato attacks from the choir loft after they exchange vows and walk down the aisle. Dreyfus does not rejoin the force, but is headed for another relapse as the script concludes with him hurling voodoo darts at a photo of Clouseau. Interestingly, the good cop gone bad aspect of Curse originated here with Clouseau marrying Anastasia knowing she will not repent from her life of crime as The Frog or Froog as Clouseau would have said.
While Sidney Poitier was attached to direct the film first, he backed out before the first draft was completed. Clive Donner signed on in December 1979 and was preparing to discuss further rewrites with Sellers at the time of his death in July 1980. The production was to have been based entirely at Studio de Boulogne in Paris where Sellers shot his Fu Manchu spoof. Donner's wife, Jocelyn Rickards was already working on production designs and costume designs when the project was cancelled. Danny Rissner, a United Artists executive throughout the 70s and early 80s would have produced with Sellers' wife, Lynne Frederick as Executive Producer (as she was on the Fu Manchu comedy). Mr. Rissner told me he was opposed to the idea of replacing Sellers and would not have produced the film without him. He stated the Dudley Moore decision and the later choice to hand the series over for Edwards to refashion for a new character came after his departure. Honorary Goon, Max Geldray would have co-starred in the film as the Shah of Iran-like Mahuma of Alfatoon. Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, Graham Stark, Andre Maranne, Douglas Wilmer, Danny Schiller, and composer Henry Mancini would have returned. The script notes Richard Williams would design the titles. According to Michael Sellers, Pamela Stephenson would have played the love interest. Following her role in History of the World, Part One, this might have given her a fighting chance in Hollywood. A great loss and a treasure that exists only as a screenplay circulating among collectors today.
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Post by ben on Nov 22, 2006 3:53:35 GMT
Where have you got this info from.. that is outstanding I will quote it on my under development website and give you all the credit though, if that's OK i meant to start on the site back in July but i havent been able to get around to it..thats another story
thanks for all this info.
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Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 22, 2006 15:08:18 GMT
I own both drafts of the screenplay for starters and I spent time researching microfiche files of The New York Times, The LA Times, and The Hollywood Reporter to see what was reported at the time of the film's development. You are welcome to use the information. As a courtesy mention this board as your source. I try to mention when I'm using content I first posted at ezboard's Panther site or on the now-defunct BlakeEdwards.com.
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Post by ben on Nov 23, 2006 2:28:10 GMT
I own both drafts of the screenplay for starters and I spent time researching microfiche files of The New York Times, The LA Times, and The Hollywood Reporter to see what was reported at the time of the film's development. You are welcome to use the information. As a courtesy mention this board as your source. I try to mention when I'm using content I first posted at ezboard's Panther site or on the now-defunct BlakeEdwards.com. That's amazing. Thank you for the information, of course I will credit this source, but I thank you for your contributions as well that is great. Is there any way I can get a copy of the draft screenplays? If you use paypal, maybe I can send you some money to cover postage etc? And all this research you've done.. Is it part of a job you do? Do you have a website or something? Are you compiling this for a project?? Sorry for all the questions, you've just put so much work into it that's all
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Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 24, 2006 14:27:46 GMT
If you do a Google search for screenplays, you will find sites that sell scripts including ROMANCE. The revised draft is more common, but the first draft is in circulation, too. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but as far as I know the scripts are the property of the studio. Whether the sites that sell them have made some arrangement, I cannot say, but I can't sell them if I have no means of paying the authors, their estates, or the rightful owners some sort of royalty. Glad you found the information I supplied helpful.
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Post by yannickthejoker on Dec 11, 2006 0:12:47 GMT
If you do a Google search for screenplays, you will find sites that sell scripts including ROMANCE. The revised draft is more common, but the first draft is in circulation, too. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but as far as I know the scripts are the property of the studio. Whether the sites that sell them have made some arrangement, I cannot say, but I can't sell them if I have no means of paying the authors, their estates, or the rightful owners some sort of royalty. Glad you found the information I supplied helpful. Ah, the great Colonel! Also on this board? Great to see you here. I also own the 1979 draft of ROMANCE. It's quite an interesting read. Very different from the other Panthers. What it could have been isn't very diverse: It would have been OR the best Panther OR the worst, since the stories about the rewrite tell us that it was a crappy one.
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Post by georgelytton on Feb 8, 2007 12:54:17 GMT
Colonel, I forgot - good to see you around here! I rememebr when I was clouseau1983 in the old Panther forums that I read your posts with outmost interest and passion, as -and I am not ashamed to admit it- I learned a lot about Panther's history from the Colonel himself.
Now, I am interested in a photocopy of the first draft... Can I contact either of you?
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