Dawn Of The Dead Deleted scene?

[scotty Boy]

After reading through some of "Knight of the living dead" by Tony Williams a while back i read that in the original script of Dawn both Peter and Francine commit suicide. And then last night i watched Documentary of the dead again and i remeber GAR or anther member of staff saying they filmed both endings. Is this true? and if so is it anywhere to be found? My guess is that it was filmed but not edited as they had come to a comclusion that they wanted the happier ending. Any Info?

[Philly_SWAT]

I am glad that I am the first to reply to you scotty_Boy! First of all, let me say welcome to the board. I will tell you that this is a topic that has been brought up many times in the past, and there is conflicting information about it. I for one like when new members revisit old topics, some members get all exasperated when a topic comes up again. Dont let any negative replies of this type type dampen your enthusiasm for the topics. Anyway, if my memory is correct, it is GAR himself in Document of the Dead who says they filmed the ending. But Tom Savini says they never filmed it. They got some stuff ready to film it, but never did. Maybe you already know this, but if not, here is some info for you. They made a plastic replica of Gaylon Ross's head (Fran) for the suicide scene where she was supposed to stand up in the helicopter blades. But they didnt film it, so the black guy in the beginning of the movie who gets his head blown away by Woolie in the tenement raid, that was the mold of Fran's head. More info.....they actually shot the head with a shotgun to get the effect that you see on screen. And also for future reference, if you hear Romero and Savini both say different things, or remember things differently, I suggest that you give more weight to what Savini says, he seems to have a better memory. He is also quite a fan boy, he probably has half the sets and props from the movies that he and Romero worked on together at his house!

[scotty Boy]

Thank you very much Philly, that has been more than helpful to me and i do appologise to those who find it annoying or in some way disrespectful to the board for repeating a thread. Once again Philly thanks for your reply at least now i wont get my hopes up on being able to find a scene which was never made.

[kortick]

hey welcome aboard scotty like philly said dont let others tell you to search thru the archives for old posts if you wanna ask a question about something go ahead and do it the other members who have already particpated in the discusion dont have to join in hope you have a good time visiting us here and i am in the chat room a lot at night with a bunch of us regs ( a lot of members here dont use the chat) you are welcome to come on in and get to know everyone be cool guy

[coma]

GAR has gone back and forth. He used to say he didn't film it. Now he does. Go figure.

[_liam_]

Wasn't there a tale of a flood or something that destroyed loads of cans of film, and somebody (savini i think) reckons that's where the alternate ending was held. but then they go back on themselves so many times, it is pretty confusing.

[capncnut]

But Tom Savini says they never filmed it. They got some stuff ready to film it, but never did. Maybe you already know this, but if not, here is some info for you. They made a plastic replica of Gaylon Ross's head (Fran) for the suicide scene where she was supposed to stand up in the helicopter blades. In the Tom Savini and Chris Stavrakis UK Dawn commentary, Savini says that Francine's death was partly filmed and that he was present for the filming of Francine's body falling away from the chopper.

[scotty Boy]

why is it they say so many differnt things? surly they can remeber what was filmed at what wasnt. Oh well at least i know i will never get to see an alternate ending

[capncnut]

There was a lot of footage filmed Scotty. GAR once claimed that the original cut of Dawn once ran for 170+ minutes and he trimmed a good 10-15 minutes from that! The chances of this footage materialisng is pretty much close to zero. The German cut of Dawn runs for 156 minutes and is probably the closest you will find to that original cut. I'm hoping to recieve this through the mail from a good friend in Sweden soon, so fingers crossed!

[MikePizzoff]

Wasn't there a tale of a flood or something that destroyed loads of cans of film, and somebody (savini i think) reckons that's where the alternate ending was held. Yes sir. It's talked about in one of the commentaries (can't remember which). Scotty, if you search around the internet you can find pictures of the fake bust they made of Fran to be used in that scene. I'm sure someone on here has them and is more than willing to post them!

[Tied2thetracks]

Is that the same accident that got the NOTLD cuts?