HD version of Too Hot to Handle (1960), with 35ish minutes of HD. This includes some previously unseen / uncensored footage. One scene requires subtitles.
I will be tweaking the audio and subtitles a little today because the 4K version was hard to work with, so I'm "seeing" it for the first time. Might also make visual fixes but that would take days to render, again!
https://archive.org/details/too-hot-to-handle-1960-the-pink-flamingo-cut/
Too Hot to Handle (1960, UK)
The Pink Flamingo Cut in Colour (HD version)
AKA Playgirl After Dark (US), or La Blonde et les Nus de Soho (FR)
with Jayne Mansfield (The Girl Can't Help It) as Midnight Franklin
Leo Genn (Quo Vadis, Moby Dick) as Johnny Solo
Karlheinz Böhm (Peeping Tom, Sissi) as Robert Jouvel
Christopher Lee (Dracula series) as Novak
Kai Fischer as Cynthia
Danik Patisson as Lilliane Decker
Barbara Windsor (Carry On series) as Pony Tail
Directed by Terence Young (James Bond series)
Crime/Drama/Musical
cw: partial nudity, violence, offensive and stereotypical cultural depictions
A 1960 film with Jayne Mansfield and Christopher Lee, from the director of the first James Bond films. Three versions are circulating, from the US, Germany and France, none of which resemble the intended UK version. None are in color and in English and uncensored. Well, until now.
For this HD release, 37 minutes of film material (from the UK cuts) was scanned in 4K, and the rest of the film was upscaled. The color on these four half-reels had faded, but was restored as much as possible. These reels contain some uncensored material which has not previously been seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6DF7t5hNA
Jayne Mansfield got in trouble with the censors for this film, and the American release was delayed until 1961 while they figured out what to do about it - which included hiring animators to paint clothing on her during the title song number. Even the European releases show signs of censor trouble, as the rare German and French versions are different. (The US version was released by a small company, Topaz, rather than MGM or Warners, and may be public domain.)
It's easy to see what worried the censors. Although alternate takes were shot where the dancers wear more clothes, both versions have a lot of implied nudity for a 1960 film. There is also some violence (one scene in particular).
Prior to this restoration, this film has not been available in color in English, and it is currently unclear what the original UK release was actually like, in terms of cuts and takes used. My goal was to present a coherent version in color in English. I like a challenge, and this film was very challenging, with four sources that all needed a lot of work to be useable.
The problem is compounded by the fact that this is a rare film, not currently available on DVD in English. There is a German DVD release in color, which is often missing footage at random, due to the state of the single print used. (It only has German audio.)
The English releases are in black and white, and are based on a censored (presumably American) version using alternate takes where the dancers wear more clothing, although at times this has material missing from the German release.
There is an uncensored French color version which only circulates as a lower quality VHS rip, albeit in color. There's more nudity in it throughout. Some plot seems to be cut, although this could be print damage. The French version of "You Were Made For Me" is an extra on the German DVD.
For this HD release, 37 minutes of film material was scanned in 4K, and the rest of the film was upscaled. The color on these four half-reels had faded, but was restored as much as possible. I have not removed dirt and damage from these reels. Three of these reels are uncensored (UK cut), and contain previously unseen material. The final half-reel is a censored version, and I've used the German DVD version instead for some scenes here.
The DVD upscale is anamorphic, since the original DVD was.
Toward the end, one scene of plot (involving journalist Robert and dancer Lilliane) is in German with subtitles. I have subtitled the material to get the gist across. I could not find English audio for these scenes, which are cut from the US release but mostly present in the French. It is somewhat appropriate that these scenes are in German, as they involve a German playing a Frenchman and a French woman playing a German. (Although Robert claims to not speak German in the film.) Make sure the subtitles are on.
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HD VERSION EDITING NOTES:
Opening credits colorized from the US version, with a new color title for the lead cast. Some footage restored at 6:20 as Jayne walks. Colorized exterior at 10:24, and several colorized shots of Robert observing the dancers.
The true HD material starts at 15:34, with a backstage scene of Cynthia and Maureen, talking to Midnight and observing Arpels. This is the uncensored/less clothes variant. Color was very faded here and was restored as much as possible. Midnight then performs "Too Hot to Handle." This is the uncensored variant, with mostly wide shots of Jayne, where other versions cut to closeups and crowd shots. Some footage here is not in even the French version, like Jayne playing with the measuring tape and spinning around the poles at the end. The "Turkish Delight" striptease is also uncensored, which is heavily cut in the German and US versions (for obvious reasons). The German uses some closeup coverage during the opening check-in, and cuts most of the rest for nudity. The US has alternate clothed takes, and was colorized for a special feature here.
After the meeting with Dinelli, there is a half-reel splice at 25:09, with a few frames of material unseen elsewhere as Robert talks to the cigarette girls. Lilliane's train striptease is uncut here; this is censored in the German, but present in all other cuts. Afterward, Melody walks by Arpels in a bikini, then Lilliane is confronted by Arpels. This is actually the "more clothed" variant compared to the French cut, but it must be the preferred take since this is the UK cut.
After more HD scenes with Lilliane we return to the DVD source at 34:49, where Johnny receives an axe in his office, and a threat. The DVD continues to 42:15, then HD resumes and we see Jayne/Midnight (as Marilyn) perform "You Were Made For Me." This half-reel had better color but is a censored UK cut. A line was missing due to print damage before she sings "Porgy was made for Bess." This is restored via the DVD upscale. At 44:33 an old man touches Midnight's hips. This is briefly censored in this version, so I've used a lower quality source (a special feature on the German DVD) while attempting to match the color as much as possible. Half of this song is cut from the German DVD because Jayne is getting too close and personal with the audience.
Because this half-reel is the "more clothed" variant, we cut back to the DVD upscale at 45:26 for a less clothed shot of Cynthia discussing her bruises, then to the more clothed HD version as Terry's girls enter. (The less clothed variant of Cynthia standing up is only in the French VHS, so due to low quality I preferred the HD.) At 47:56, the "less clothed" DVD upscale is cut to during most of Lilliane's "Monsoon" performance. (You can see the HD "more clothed" variants in the special features.)
At 50:24, as Robert and Lilliane leave the club, we are back to SD upscales (and a colorized scene). HD material resumes at 1 hour 16 seconds, as Johnny finds that the nightclub has been trashed, and confronts Dinelli. This half-reel had slightly better color than the first HD segment had, but worse color than "You Were Made For Me." Robert does some painting with Lilliane and tries to find out who she really is. This sequence is cut entirely from the US version, so appears here in English for the first time. At 1:09:45, after Robert defaces "Lilliane's" photograph, we are back to SD upscales, and a partly colorized and restored scene. That's the last of the HD material, and the sources are a hodgepodge for awhile after this, because the SD sources are damaged and missing material at this point. Some French VHS after Lilliane smashes the mirror. (Note that everyone is dressed for a bullfight scene, with Ponytail as the bull, which was cut.) I've included some extra colorized crowd shots from the US version at this point, including one of Novak smoking, and a single HD shot.
As Jayne/Midnight finishes her song at 1:10:44, we are back to DVD/SD upscales for the rest of the film. There's some additional, gratuitous girl-fighting at 1:17:25 from the French VHS, and the uncensored murder at 1:24:32 which is cut from the German, and colorized here.
At 1:29:43, two scenes with Robert and Flash, and with Robert and Lilliane, have German audio. This is cut from the US version and I was unable to find English audio. Turn on the subtitles.
End credits are restored from the US version at 1:41:25.
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Video restoration by Garrett Gilchrist
4K Cintel Film Scan by Phil Clark
Produced by Timothy Finn
Upscale by Sam Gould
Thanks to Nicholas Dubreuil, Reinier Wels, The Cinema Museum London, and Knights of the Lost Media