‘Dune II: The Re-edit’
Somewhere between its 1984 theatrical release and its broadcast premiere on KTLA, Channel 5 the other night, the sci-fi epic “Dune” picked up about 50 minutes in running time. And lost writer-director David Lynch’s name!
The opening credit: “An Alan Smithee Film.” Smithee being the pseudonym that the Director’s Guild attaches to a film from which the original director wants his name removed.
The TV version’s screenplay was credited to “Judas Booth”--a composite of betrayer Judas Iscariot and assassin John Wilkes Booth?
Through a rep, Lynch acknowledged only that “I was given permission to remove my name from the TV version.”
MCA TV’s Harry Tatelman, special projects veep, did the overhaul, assembling all the original raw footage and starting from scratch--using the original editor’s script as a guideline. Thus, virtually every scene is different (in most cases longer), not to mention many scenes never before seen.
Tatelman usually works with the director and/or producer when making such massive changes, but was told Lynch was unavailable.
His praise for Lynch was high: “The guy did a monumental job, no question. He’s a visionary. I thought it was an honor to work on his film.”
“Dune” will be shown again next Saturday and Sunday.
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