Prompted by the publication of a new
monograph on
Philip Kaufman by
Annette Insdorf, the Film Society of Lincoln Center recently presented a 35mm
print of Kaufman's
The Wanderers. FSLC dubbed the screening a "Director's Cut," and the print, indeed, came from Kaufman's private collection, but after watching it, it
seemed to me to be a pre-release version of the film, perhaps shown to test audiences or exhibitors before the actual release date and before final editing tweaks took place. This "director's cut" contains numerous scene extensions and 1 or 2 other entirely new scenes. While they were fascinating to see, especially for someone like me who knows the film backwards and forwards, none of them improved the film to any appreciable degree. On the contrary, most of these bits highlighted either some shaky acting or
over-writing or a little bit of both. The release version, which is perhaps 5 minutes shorter, is tighter,
obviously,
and more effective, a case of the old "less is more" school of
thought. All that said, it would be wonderful to see this extra
material as a supplement on a future Blu-ray release (we can dream,
can't we?).
As an example of what I'm talking about, in the theatrical release version, Turkey (Alan Rosenberg) is slashed by a Ducky Boy after he puts his hand on the gang member's shoulder and propositions him with an invitation to a go somewhere like a park. A frightened, bleeding Turkey then runs and climbs from an ever-expanding phalanx of Ducky Boys before falling to his death.
The "director's cut," has Turkey explicitly ask the Ducky Boy if he wants a "blow job," to which the Ducky Boy responds with "Blow job?" and then viciously knifes Turkey. Turkey is then surrounded by a group of angry Ducky Boys to whom he pleads that he is "not a faggot!" and, in fact, a Marine (this coming after Turkey and a group of Fordham Baldies drunkenly sign up for Marine service). After this, the film transitions to what we see in the "regular" version of the film as Turkey is chased and terrorized to his death.
One of the most effective aspects of the release version of
The Wanderers was that the utterly frightening Ducky Boys remain silent throughout; having the Ducky Boy verbally respond to Turkey's blow job offer, however, weakens the overall cinematic presentation of the Ducky Boys. Further, having Turkey more explicitly express his sexual desires and then loudly proclaim his heterosexuality is unnecessary; the writing is too on the nose.
There is another example later, in the "director's cut," of a character (
John Friedrich's Joey) telling another (Tony Ganios' Perry) that he is, in fact, straight, not a "fag." If it was, in fact, truly Kaufman's desire to have this dialogue be as direct as it is in this alternate version of the film, I'd be curious to know what the motivation was and why it was cut. It may have been deemed to risque for 1979 audiences by the studio, but as the film stands now, in its shorter theatrical release length, the handling of this homoerotic material (which appears throughout the film and Richard Price novel) is more deft, more sophisticated, and smarter than what I saw the other night at the Walter Reade. Where the "director's cut" spells things out for the audience, the theatrical release version,
shows us all we need to see.
Even with all of this additional material, one scene I've always been curious about remained m.i.a. It is illustrated in this lobby card and German still depicting a post-coital Ken Wahl and Karen Allen. The banjo Nina (Allen) strums is a tantalizing link to the later scene in which an out-of-place Richie (Wahl) spots her entering
Folk City to see a young Bob Dylan perform "The Times They Are A- Changin'":
that what screened at FSLC the other night was, indeed, a true "Director's Cut." Even with that knowledge, I must remain partial to the theatrical release.
