See how a disgruntled screenwriter got his way at Friese-Greene

In a world where even romantic comedies see “director’s cuts” released for cynically commercial purposes, a box-office bomb featuring the last leading performance of Katharine Hepburn famously was recut in a “writer’s cut.”

The Friese-Greene Club will screen “The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley” for the first time in Asia on Tuesday night with writer Martin Zweiback present to discuss how he was given a chance to salvage his work after it was spoiled by the Hollywood machinery back in 1985.

“It was financed by the Cannon Group, run by the famous go-go boys, Golan and Globus. In between making cheesy action films with van Damme, Chuck Norris and Michael Dudikoff, they would every now and again put their money into something ‘quality,’” explains the film club’s announcement. “A few decent films like “Runaway Train” resulted, but mostly Cannon proved that they didn’t have the creative instincts for anything other than B-movies.”

The film tells of an aging Manhattan woman (Hepburn) who hires a hitman (Nick Nolte) to perform mercy killings on the elderly.

After it bombed, Zweiback won the right to recut the film, cutting material added by the director and restoring scenes which had been cut.

The screening starts at 8pm at the a private club for filmmakers, film students and anyone with a passion for cinema.

FIND IT:

The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley
8pm, Tuesday, Jan. 20
The Friese-Greene Club
Soi Sukhumvit 22, 400 meters down after the Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel



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