MovieChat Forums > Night of the Eagle (1962) Discussion > Running Time

Running Time

posted 16 years ago by jemkat
4 replies | jump to latest

The Optimum UK DVD release of this film runs 84 mins. Allowing for the PAL speed-up, this gives an original running time of 87 minutes. Why is the running time on IMDB 90 mins? Also I have another old reference which gives a running time of 93 min. Was the American version Burn Witch Burn longer?

Why I ask is that when I watched the DVD I found that (to me at least) the last 10 minutes or so suffered a little in terms of explanatory continuity, a feature which I did not notice when I saw this film on Australian television some years ago. I am not saying that the DVD version has been cut, because my memory is not that good, but the running time discrepancies do make me wonder.

[–] PBear_SF 14 years ago

The US laserdisc edition I have of the movie runs 89:15, with the approx 2:20 minute voice-over introduction by Paul Frees that is not in the UK version - so the British version should come in at almost exactly 87 minutes.

The 90 minutes posted here could have come from the American pressbook or an AIP spec sheet (AIP being a studio who were never known for their attention to detail) or it could be the time copied off the outside cover of the American laserdisc or videotape release (the times on which are often rounded off).

If there's a lack of continuity in the final scenes, it would more likely be the result of last-minute editing prior to release rather than after. Back in those days, studios liked to keep low-budget genre movies down to less than 90 minutes (since they always ran on double-bills, usually with cartoons, trailers and newsreels, and the theatres wanted to get in as many showings per day as possible) and head offices were notorious for hacking away at these kinds of movies after the director had turned in what he thought was a finished product.

[–] robertkerber 14 years ago

The British Board for Film Classification (BBFC) passed the film uncut with a running time of 87 minutes. This is most likely the version which still circulates nowadays.

[–] jemkat 14 years ago

Thanks for your reply. I am happy to accept the BBFC running time as an authoritative statement on the matter.

[–] sdiner82 12 years ago

I just taped BURN, WITCH, BURN on its premiere showing on Turner Classic Movies. The running time (including the voice-only prologue) was a bit over 89 minutes. The movie is just as astounding as it was 50 years ago when I saw it at my local theater in suburban New Jersey. It was at the bottom end of a double bill. I have no idea what the main feature was but BURN, WITCH, BURN scared the daylights out of the unsuspecting audience (who, myself included, expected a schlock American-International quickie). I met the director Sidney Hayers in 1980 when an actor friend of mine brought me to the set of a pilot for a TV series he was filming on the Burbank lot. My friend said the director was a terrific guy and when he introduced me to him, I told Mr. Hayers, a lovely, unassuming, modest man, that his BURN, WITCH, BURN was one of my favorite movies of all time. He seemed quite flattered, and told me it was his favorite of all of his work.