E.T. Cameo in 1941!

[AndyDursin]

Had a great time watching 1941 with Theo last night -- and just seeing it again for the first time in years too. It was highly enjoyable not just revisiting it but having Theo laugh at most of the same things I always found funny about this movie as a kid. (He said it was in the "top 10" of "movies I've shown him").

And not only that -- I still like it! Anyone who thinks this is Spielberg's worst movie is (sorry) out to lunch and/or has never seen it. It successfully maintains a level of "comic paranoia" that's seldom laugh out loud funny but is always amusing, with every scene packed with some production detail and/or performance that I find entertaining every time. The score is phenomenal too, and the Jitterbug sequence can hold its own with the best of Spielberg's standalone set pieces.

Anyway, I was posting this because we were watching the original 146 minute cut of the movie, which had been (re) assembled for ABC back in the early '80s. I'm sure someone, somewhere along the line has mentioned this before, but I noticed for the first time an E.T. cameo -- that had to have been an insert shot specifically FOR ABC, obviously (I assume the movie premiered on network TV in late '82 or early '83?). It's still there too, plain as day when you watch it (the previously discarded bit where Wally stages a fake air raid in a department store early in the movie):

[Chris Shaneyfelt]

Very cool, Andy! Thank you for sharing! I also thoroughly enjoy 1941. I'm happy to hear your son really enjoyed the movie, too.

[Paul MacLean]

Anyone who thinks this is Spielberg's worst movie is (sorry) out to lunch and/or has never seen it. It successfully maintains a level of "comic paranoia" that's seldom laugh out loud funny but is always amusing, with every scene packed with some production detail and/or performance that I find entertaining every time. The score is phenomenal too, and the Jitterbug sequence can hold its own with the best of Spielberg's standalone set pieces.

It's definitely clunky in place but overall a highly entertaining flick. Not his worst by a long shot.

By the way's here's an old new story from 1979 where Spielberg is interviewed about his latest picture...

[AndyDursin]

I emailed Mike Matessino who never noticed it!

He told me the 1941 TV premiere was in May of '83 opposite the 1st part of V...damn what a night that was!

It's definitely clunky in place but overall a highly entertaining flick. Not his worst by a long shot.

I think the pacing and structure work so much better in the longer version. The character introductions work better and the story flows much more smoothly. You can see the Wally character is supposed to be more of the "main character" at least in this version though it's still an ensemble, MAD WORLD like affair obviously.

[Monterey Jack]

The TV premiere was in May of '83 opposite the 1st part of V...damn what a night that was!

That's how long it used to take for a movie to "come home"...now we have people spoiling the last scene of Nosferatu with GIFs on Twitter because it's already on VOD less than a month after opening in theaters.

[AndyDursin]

Inevitable result of studios no longer needing a middle man -- the video store of the '80s, the movie theater of today. Plus if you didn't have cable, we had 3 networks back then and when a studio movie made network TV it was a BIG deal. Throwing in extra footage was a nice sweetener.

As were May sweeps. I remember watching V, my mom let me stay up late and watch it. My dad must've been taping 1941 in the other room.

I'm just excited I stumbled upon something nobody has apparently noticed before

[Monterey Jack]

Inevitable result of studios no longer needing a middle man -- the video store of the '80s, the movie theater of today. Plus if you didn't have cable, we had 3 networks back then and when a studio movie made network TV it was a BIG deal. Throwing in extra footage was a nice sweetener.

And studios are wondering why audiences just wait it out, when a $20 VOD rental two weeks after opening day is less than half of a pair of adult tickets and concessions. Inside Out 2 became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in large part BECAUSE Disney announced it wouldn't be available to watch on D+ for 100 days. Studios think that the rush to streaming is a good thing, but gutting the physical media template and giving even hIt movies the bum's rush to VOD is killing the business. Nosferatu had a shot at hitting $200 million worldwide, but now that it's been on VOD for almost two weeks (with people pirating it and throwing lengthy clips on social media), that's gonna kill any potential repeat business, or people just getting around to it now because it received some (well-deserved) tech nominations at the Oscars.

[Eric W.]

Nice catch!