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Stefan Andersson · Guest

Dear Mr. Barnes,
would you care to release Sergio Leone´s DUCK YOU SUCKER on behalf of MGM/UA? With the imminent restoration of THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA plus the renewed interest in James Coburn this would be excellent timing.

A laserdisc release at 154 minutes was made nearly 10 years ago. This print should be augmented with a short sequence in the last flashback, allegedly incorporated into French and Italian VHS and DVD editions. This sequence allegedly does not have to be dubbed into English. More relevant info can be found at www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant - dvdsavant is an excellent collection of articles and reviews by Glenn Erickson, among which you will find pertinent info on DUCK YOU SUCKER.
Best,
S. Andersson
SWEDEN

KEN BARNES · Guest

Dear Stefan,
Thanks for your interesting message. I have not yet had any dealings with MGM-UA but I'm intending to contact them in the near future to see if there are any DVD projects that we can do for them. "Duck, You Sucker" was,of course, issued
in some territories as "A Fistful of Dynamite."

With the DVD market expanding even more rapidly that last year, I think there's a crying need to do the entire Sergio Leone canon.

At present, I'm up to my eyes in Citizen Kane ( which has now been exanded into a two disc set ) and after that, I hope to do some ducking and diving around other film companies. I'll certainly try to pursue this Coburn-Steiger
movie ( both of these great actors left us last year ).

Once again, thanks for your interest
Best
Ken Barnes

Stefan Andersson · Guest

Dear Mr. Barnes,
thank you for your speedy response re: DUCK YOU SUCKER.

This reminds me: Sergio Leone´s COLOSSUS OF RHODES, his
first solo directorial effort, if memory serves, is now
available on Italian DVD in a 142 minute original cut,
never seen in the US. This is Italian-language only.
There is also a French DVD, in French or Italian, about
120 minutes, with the remaining footage as deleted scenes,
possible to view integrated with the main feature.

This is supposedly owned by WB now. Would you care to
restore the Italian cut of this "peplum" or sword-and-
sandal movie, as these melodramas of ancient times were
called. They were the Italian equivalents of QUO VADIS,
BEN HUR, FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE and GLADIATOR. Famed
cowboy star Rory Calhoun plays the lead. I´m directing
this suggestion to you mainly because I believe WB would
have scarce interest in the movie themselves.

KEN BARNES · Guest

Thanks Stefan.

I think you're right when you say there would be scarce
interest in these kind of pictures today - although Leone does have a following and, because "Rhodes" was his first directing effort, it might have some appeal. But whether it would be of interest to a major distributor is debatable.

I'm up to my eyes in projects right now, but if I get a chance I'll mention it.

Best
Ken Barnes