When I was young and stupid, the terms “Director’s Cut” and “Extended Edition” were music to my ears for they represented the almighty grail for cinephiles like myself…LOST FOOTAGE. These used to be rare versions and cuts of films that you had never seen and that had been cut AGAINST the director’s will by the studios. Two excellent examples would be Sam Peckinpah’s real cut of The Wild Bunch and Paul Verhoeven’s cut of Robocop.
Normally, I would say to avoid double dipping but if you’re a true fan of this film and want to get an even greater appreciation for it, I highly recommended picking up the Extended Cut of Bugsy.
Both films, among the most violent of all time, had been trimmed to avoid the dreaded X rating. Another example is Ridley Scott’s director’s cut of Blade Runner that was released in 1992 - which was what he had originally intended for the 1982 release. Even though he said he rushed through that cut and is in fact preparing his Final Cut for the 25th Anniversary of the film in 2007, that ‘92 version completely changed the ultimate resolution of the film as Scott had intended. Those versions were worth putting a few extra sheckles out for.
As I’ve gotten older and the DVD market has flourished, just about every film released comes in a separate “Unrated” or “Director’s Cut” version that is nothing more than some worthless extra footage that was edited for a reason being thrown together in order to scam the public into buying a second, third sometimes even fourth version of a film you already own. Quite frequently these “Director’s Cuts” are NOT approved by the director and the “Unrated” versions are simply more sex with body doubles thrown in. Now if the “Unrated” version of The Girl Next Door had Elisha Cuthbert really getting naked…that’s a solid buy.
It was with great trepidation that I approached the Two Disc Bugsy: Extended Cut in the wake of past "extended edition" DVD releases that did not involve the directors of the films. This version of Bugsy, which was originally released in 1991 with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening and directed by Barry Levinson, came with an added 15 minutes of footage. To my great surprise, most of the footage actually does enhance the film and seems to have come with the involvement of director and star, although there is no mention from Levinson or Beatty as to whether or not this is the version that they had intended.
Having always been fascinated by the history of the mob, this film was always intriguing to me as it mostly follows the true to life events surrounding Ben Siegel. While minimally comparable to Coppola’s and Scorsese’s past mob works, Bugsy deals not with Italian mobsters but with Jewish gangsters. Warren Beatty portrays smooth real-life gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel with a real master’s touch here. No doubt playing off his own legendary off-screen persona, Beatty portrays Bugsy as a man who had two entirely different sides to him. He could be a smooth, charming, lovable, patriotic (his plans for Benito Mussolini are priceless) guy while also being a cold-blooded, unstable mob killer. It’s fascinating to see him in both worlds; loving father to his wife and children in one moment, an adulterer who deals in death and dirty money in the next. Don’t call him Bugsy to his face either. During WWII, he is sent from New York to Los Angeles to take care of some mob business and get in and out with no publicity.
Instead, he hangs out with his movie star buddy George Raft (Joe Mantegna), who in real life did pal around with mob tough guys to perfect his on-screen gangster persona, and “buys” a mansion in Beverly Hills by making the owner a true offer he can’t refuse. He loves the bright lights of the city and starts going through women, restaurants and newspaper front pages. People know him by name and reputation and he even managed to get himself a screen test. He then meets leggy B-movie actress Virginia Hill (Annette Bening) and it is here where Bugsy meets his match.
Hill is a no bullshit broad used to playing hard-to-get that is attracted to the danger inherent in Bugsy’s personality. Bugsy, in turn, becomes obsessed with her. His true moment in history would come standing out in the middle of the Las Vegas desert. He had a vision of the future of Las Vegas that didn’t have it being a layover waste station but a town with big, flashy casinos with top name performers and entertainers. Everyone thought he was crazy but he was obsessed by it. So much so that he convinced the mob to make a million dollar investment so that he could build the Flamingo Casino named after Virginia Hill’s legs, thus intertwining his two obsessions in life. Before he knew it that million had turned into six million and the casino was an initial disaster. Before he could see the modern Las Vegas grow from that casino, he was murdered by the mob.
Everyone involved here is at the top of their game. This would be one of Warren Beatty’s last great roles, he was nominated for Best Actor that year, and he plays it with an assurance like no one else could. This was Annette Bening’s coming out party and not just because of the off-screen relationship with Beatty but because of her heat on-screen. She is a revelation as the wild, hot-blooded and just downright HOT Hill. She is able to match and one-up Beatty in the swagger and bravado department. In many ways they remind you of Bogie and Bacall in To Have and Have Not.
As the film progresses there develops a fascinating side story to the main story involving Hill’s own motives for being with Bugsy. At one point, even she is unsure. The supporting cast including acting legends like Ben Kingsley as Meyer Lansky, the only Mob leader who knew Bugsy well and perhaps even understood him, and Harvey Keitel as L.A. gangster Mickey Cohen were both nominated for Supporting Actor that year. Joe Mantegna is perfectly suave as movie tough-guy George Raft and Elliot Gould delivers one of his best performances as Harry Greenberg, the dim-witted friend of Bugsy who will haunt you.
The screenplay, written by James Toback, reminds one of his previous screenplay for the underrated The Gambler (1976) with James Caan as a gambling addict and his own underrated film Fingers (1978) with Harvey Keitel as a low level gangster. All three deal with men that are conflicted by two extremely different sides of their personality that puts them in severe financial and physical danger. Bugsy’s response whenever someone mentions that the casino is going to cost millions more than the original budget,” No problem.” Barry Levinson as in his films like Diner and Avalon is a master of creating eras of old.
The Los Angeles of the 1940s looks big and the homes and automobiles look plush and extravagant. It is visually as stunning a film in its recreation of an era as you will ever see. The film deservedly won two Oscars for its Art Direction and Costume Design. Levinson would also be nominated for Best Director and the film was nominated for Best Picture. Alas, it lost to the landslide that was Silence of the Lambs that year. Ennio Morricone’s brooding, lush, bittersweet score brings to mind some of the legendary composer’s best work in Once Upon A Time In America, The Untouchables, State of Grace and the Spaghetti Western Trio.
The bonus features come on the second disk. The main feature is the entertaining 90-minute documentary “The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel.” Shot earlier in the year, it features a three-way sit-down over drinks between director Barry Levinson, writer James Toback and Warren Beatty. It is one of the more fascinating, candid documentaries you’ll see about the making of a film as all three share their memories of how the film got made.
Interspersed throughout are interviews with Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, critic Richard Schickel and other members of the production crew. They do mention some of the scenes that were cut originally that are now in this extended cut in particular the suicide attempt by Bugsy that was seen in the theatrical trailer but cut out of the original release. That was the one scene I had been hoping to see here in this cut and I was not disappointed.
No one actually mentions the extended cut so one is not sure whether this got the okay from Beatty and Levinson but considering that the documentary is here and was shot recently I would expect they signed off on it.
The other extras include two brief deleted scenes including the scripted version of Beatty and Bening making love on the stairwell after she hears him make gangster Jack Dragna bark like a dog. They reference this scene in the documentary and it is fascinating to learn that instead of using it, they went with an improvised idea that led to the classic scene of Beatty sitting down and eating voraciously while Bening kisses him. The only other extra is the humorous, full-length Bugsy Siegel screen test that is seen running several times in the film.
Normally, I would say to avoid double dipping but if you’re a true fan of this film and want to get an even greater appreciation for it, I highly recommended picking up the Extended Cut of Bugsy. The extra footage is fascinating to watch, especially the aforementioned suicide attempt, and the documentary is a wise investment of your time.
Bugsy (Extended Cut) is now available for pre-order at Amazon for a Dec. 12th release. As of yet, this version of the DVD is not available in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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