Coffee Break from How to Suceed

[darpierce]

Posted: 9/7/15 at 12:29am

Watching the DVD of Gypsy tonight and seeing the lost Together Wherever We Go was quite exciting. It was only the Master shot and Malden slips at one point. (it looked accidental but who knows?). In any case, any news on the lost Coffee Break number in How to Succeed?? They clearly had filmed it and SOMEONE has to have it. I would truly love to see it make its way onto the next DVD of How to...

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 9/7/15 at 12:53am

I'd love to see it as well as the Stereo mix for the film see the light of day again. I find it hard to believe such materials could have been lost, they just are being kept in a closet by some old miser. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/7/15 at 3:33pm

Though the "Coffee Break" musical number was indeed filmed, sadly the footage still remains lost. The film company is and was known to not archive their material so we may never see this. All that survives is the pre-recording that was included on the soundtrack release. Also, known at the time of the filming, Cary Grant filmed a cameo in the "I Believe in You" Executive Washroom sequence. No one knows why this was cut as well.

Updated On: 9/7/15 at 03:33 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/7/15 at 11:02pm

I hate that they didn't take better care of cut footage back in the day. The fact that we will never see the Jitterbug number from The Wizard of Oz that audiences allegedly saw incorporated into the completed film at the first screening still breaks my heart. How does that footage just disappear?!? 

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/7/15 at 11:23pm

This thread made me think of an old Norm MacDonald clip on Letterman, which I eventually found on YouTube:

 

 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/7/15 at 11:31pm

Back then there was little incentive to save that kind of stuff. The idea of a home video market and people wanting to see cut footage was undreamed of. Then you add in the logistics of cataloging and storing it, not to mention keeping it from deteriorating while in storage, and the idea of saving cut footage had even less merit. Hollywood used a cellulose nitrate film until sometime in the late 40s, which was extremely flammable and deteriorated fairly rapidly if not stored properly, which also increased the flammability. And even the less flammable cellulose acetate that they switched to still did not do well in long-term storage unless it was in ideal conditions.

Many of the movies that are considered lost are lost due to fire or decay, as studios at the time really had no way in knowing how the film stock would actually age.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 9/8/15 at 1:13pm

Movie was on THIS network this morning as I was getting ready for work.  Yes, it's dated, yes, it's sexist and decidedly un-PC and depicts a late '60s NYC that is somehow all white, but it's still funny, tuneful and oh-so enjoyable. Robert Morse and the rest of the cast are impeccable. You can see how much fun Morse and Rudy Vallee, stage vets reunited, are having in "Grand Old Ivy."  

I, too, look forward to the day when (I hope) that missing "Coffee Break" footage is found. 

Updated On: 9/8/15 at 01:13 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/8/15 at 5:34pm

At least some stills exist from the filmed number: 

[M60TankDriver]

Posted: 10/9/15 at 1:09am

Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee are a joy to watch in "How To Succeed".   Check out the "Night Gallery" 1971 episode "Marmalade Wine" to see them re-teamed (14th episode, 2nd Season).   While not a particularly great story, it is enjoyable to watch Morse and Vallee again.  Interestingly, the episode has a surreal, almost "stage" look to it, as well! 

[bk]

Posted: 10/9/15 at 1:14am

First of all, the film was not shown anywhere in stereo.  I am one of the few who DID hear the mag tracks when it was previewed many months before the release, but there were no stereo release prints.  I also saw Cabaret at an early sneak and that, too, had the mag tracks in interlock.  As to Coffee Break, never say never.  These things show up magically when someone actually bothers to look for them.

[seahag2]

Posted: 10/9/15 at 1:28am

Coffee Break is the epitome of filler song. But it is quite unfortunate that the footage is forever lost.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/9/15 at 8:20am

I am more sorry about the 3 or 4 other numbers that were cut from the Broadway score .

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/9/15 at 11:39am

But Coffee Break has that brilliant Fosse choreo.

 

 

my holy grail would be the cut 1930s Show Boat stuff -- mostly that complex finale sequence. Maybe it's among all the rumoured film stuff Miles Kreuger is hoarding ??

[M60TankDriver]

Posted: 10/10/15 at 12:12am

Another "holy grail" of missing footage is from 1963's "Cleopatra" starring Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.   20th Century-Fox originally envisioned two complete movies, one centering on Cleopatra and Caesar (Rex Harrison), and a sequel detailing Cleopatra and Marc Antony.    Apparently they not only scripted them out, but did much filming on location in Italy.   Fox, which was breaking under the financial weight of "Cleopatra," finally put their foot down and demanded the project be wrapped up.   Joseph L. Mankiewicz, brought in to salvage the project, put together something like a 6-hour "director's cut", but naturally Fox wouldn't consider releasing one movie at that length, and ordered massive cuts to pare it down to about 4 hours.   Yet so far (and despite some effort by Fox and other interested parties), the missing footage has never been located.   From what documentation is available, and the recollections of surviving cast and crew (such as Martin Landau), there's at least a couple hours worth of film missing, and probably much more.   We can only hope Fox didn't destroy it at some point, and it turns up!    

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/10/15 at 12:31am

The funny thing is that the movie suffered after Rex Harrison's exit. He held the picture together. Burton was competent but Harrison and Taylor were electric in their scenes.