Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. If you even have a passing interest in the films and filmmaking this is going to be the coolest thing you watch this weekend (which also includes the fantastic X-Men: First Class, so that's saying a lot).
Sam Fuller was an amazing filmmaker. Steel Helmet, Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss, Verboten, China Gate, Pickup on South Street, The Big Red One... all must sees. He wasn't really an actor, though after this screentest he popped up in a few films and TV shows in front of the camera... I guess Francis Ford Coppola was a big fan and had Fuller audition for the role of Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II, a part that eventually won Lee Strasberg a Supporting Actor nom (which he lost to De Niro for the same movie).
Today you can see that audition. Not only did the screentest happen with Fuller, they also brought in Pacino to read against him.
This is the holy-shit-I-can't-believe-I-just-watched-that of the day for cinephiles. Check it out:
Fuller_Pacino_Screentest from Heiko van der Scherm on Vimeo.
I first saw this via the good folks at Trailers From Hell, so thanks to them for bringing this bit of "what if?" coolness to my world.
Hope you guys dug it. Fuller was actually pretty damn good, right?
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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