MovieChat Forums > Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978) Discussion > Somebody Lost Her Movie

Somebody Lost Her Movie

posted 15 years ago by HarlowMGM
20 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen this movie since the one time it appeared on CBS in 1979. Admittedly it's not a good movie but it's hard to believe it has completely disappeared given the ton of unbelievably bad, flop movies that are all over the place via DVD, VHS, and tv reruns. I don't think I've ever even seen it listed for television broadcast beyond that 1979 airing. I would like to see it again even though I know it wasn't much but Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges are very likable performers even if neither of them looked their best in this movie (Farrah's looks were played down perhaps to seperate her from her CHARLIE'S ANGELS image and handsome Jeff was not very good looking with a full beard).

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Somebody likes making movie puns.

I regret that I've never seen this film -- I only remember it airing on network and cable in the late '70s and early '80s. But surely there's interest in this to merit a legitimate DVD release, particularly with Farrah's passing last year. I'd love to see this in a package with "Sunburn," Farrah's flop that followed this. They worked together a decade later in "See You in the Morning," another film that's sadly obscure.

And who knows -- I might like it more than you did. I think Jeff Bridges looks great in a beard, so what do I know?

[–] Selish70 14 years ago

I saw this on a plane to Denver when I was a kid. Not seen nor heard of since outside of IMDB.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Interesting. I've never watched a movie on a plane; I would think it would be hard to concentrate on the small picture.

I remember Siskel and Ebert reviewing this when it was released, and not very kindly.

[–] Selish70 14 years ago

Warped: I used to LOVE watching the in-flight movie when I was a kid. Whatever crap it was didn't matter, it was an event for me. Of course, I used to love flying then, too. As an adult, I hate to watch movies that way and I don't do it. If I look up now and then and the flick looks like it would be interesting, I make a mental note to check it out later.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Hello, Selish70:

Thanks for the reply! So when you watched the inflight movie as a child, where was the screen? Was it one of those bigger screens that they had every 10 rows or so? I take it this was before those little "personal" screens that are above every other row or so. And did you need special headphones that plugged in to the jack by the armrest?

I used to love flying also, but it's just plain grueling in the post-9/11 world and with all the airline cutbacks. I wouldn't mind watching an inflight movie sometimes, but it seems like the selection is usually very bland, and the films are edited for content. A lot of times I find myself "watching" the movie without sound anyway. A few recent ones that I've seen but not heard: "Salt," "Date Night" (both of which looked OK) and "Leap Year" (which looked predictable, even though I love Amy Adams). Bear in mind that I can't judge them fairly without the sound.

When I flew a couple weeks ago, I brought my own headphones to plug in to the jack (I never wanted to pay $2 for the airline's cheapos), but sadly, they didn't offer a movie on either the destination or return trips.

[–] Selish70 14 years ago

Well, I seem to recall the screens were in the center of the plane and yes, about every 10 rows or so. Relatively large, too, although not to the point where anyone could hit his head or anything. Yup, the headphones were yours upon request and they plugged into the armrest. Along with the movie sound there were also a few channels of other audio content - some music, tame stand-up and the like. Pretty sure these were mostly 707's.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Thanks for the recollections. These days, of course, people carry their own devices to entertain them when they fly, and many airlines offer Wi-Fi for a portion of the trip. I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with people using those devices in midair (even though cell phones are still banned so as not to interfere with navigation equipment). As for me, I use flight time to catch up on my reading — in print.

[–] HarlowMGM 14 years ago

I haven't either but I was fascinated to learn a few yeas ago that movies shown on airplanes (at least back in the late 70s/early 80s) were in Super 8mm !!! The only difference between them and the traditional Super 8 films of Blackhawk, Ken Films, etc. of the era is that they and their projectors were Super 8 Optical Sound as opposed to Super 8 Magnetic sound like those old 20 min. digests of films released by Ken Films. I guess they were in Super 8 as opposed to 16mm because the format is more more lightweight - films and the projectors. I wonder if the Optical vs. Magnetic was to insure the public at large didn't get ahold of these prints (made especially for the airlines) on the blackmarket (although you will see them now on occasion on ebay).

I would love to read more about this but there's not much on the net- could these projectors show more than 20 mins. at a time, unlike the home ones that could only hold a 400' reel (there were pricier Super 8 projectors for enthusiasts with the cash that could hold a 800' or 1200' reel but given how fragile Super 8 film was that could be a mess to repair.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

My HarlowMGM, you are a real fount of information! The thought of someone in an airplane running a Super 8 projector on a screen and changing the reels is mind-blowing – as is the idea of passengers and stewards/stewardesses (<---- that's what flight attendants were called then) having to crouch when they get in the way of the image.

If these reels only showed only 20 minutes at a time, I wonder if they showed full-length feature films (edited for content, of course) or newsreel-type programming? And I assume that the volume was on for all to hear whether they were interested or not – instead of using the plug-in head phones. I also wonder if this was available to folks in coach or if it was strictly for the first-class/business cabin?

I had a small Super 8 viewer in the mid-'70s that my parents bought for me from K-mart (yes, K-mart) for Christmas. As I recall, I had to rotate the reels with a handle to advance the image, and it had no sound – just subtitles. I looked that the image through a viewfinder, not on a screen. The selection of titles was very limited – things like "Little Rascals" episodes and movies in the public domain – and I was fond of splicing different titles together to make my own movies. Such low-tech delights.

[–] HarlowMGM 14 years ago

I just looked up Super 8 optical films online re airlines and apparently they were in a projector that had the whole movie in a cartridge so there was no reel changing. Must have been some big cartridges as a 400" reel could hold only 20 minutes, they would have to have been the size of at least a 1600" reel. Reportedly on at least some prints, the movies were tweaked on racier shots or language not unlike network tv broadcasts. They were still being used into the 1980's but apparently videocassettes with a projecting screen were used a few years later.

I think I recall those handheld viewers you mentioned; there were a lot of cheapie ones somewhat similar to that sold in ads in the back of movie magazines in the 70's. Super 8 projectors were pretty expensive for the era; my parents never let me touch ours until I was a teenager. I always had "projector" type toys for Christmas presents whether it's a viewmaster projector or Kenner's "Easy Show projector" which I found out used Super 8 film when I found a WACKY RACES reel years after the the projector had been trashed and was able to put it on a Super 8 reel and play it on the family projector. (By the way, I had a little 2 min. Little Rascals Super 8 film as well on a 50' reel that I bought in advance of the family getting the projector). I always wanted to see a "full length" movie on a Super 8 projector and a decade ago finally got my wish when I bought a half-dozen titles off ebay of full-length silent movies like WAY DOWN EAST and THE MARK OF ZORRO.)

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Thanks for the info, HarlowMGM! I'm surprised that a Super 8 reel could contain a whole film. I''m sure theatrical films were edited substantially for content, and possibly for length, but they still had to run a substantial amount of time. Still, it's much easier for the flight crew not to have to worry about changing reels.

So your family had a full-size Super 8 projector? Does it still work? That must have been a real treat to watch movies at home as a child. It seems that until pay cable came along, home entertainment options were pretty limited for most folks.

I had a weird deja vu moment earlier this week when I watched an old Bette Davis film on VHS: "Marked Woman," (which is excellent, by the way). There are two scenes from that film that I had on one of those Super 8 reels we bought from Kmart: One where her character gets slapped by a thug, and another where she talks about "living on easy street for the rest of my life." It's strange how those little tidbits stick with me.

[–] John-367 11 years ago

There indeed were, and still are, airline versions of films - often cut to ribbons and censored far more than most broadcast TV companies would require.

As far as optical and magnetic sound is concerned, magnetic was cheaper if you were only making a handful of prints but for any more than that optical was cheaper. The airlines in any case might have preferred an optical track as a magnetic track would tend to "shed oxide" with repeated playing, the sound heads would need cleaning often and the soundtrack would become unusable sooner. Magnetic tracks had to slide over a metal sound head, albeit highly polished, under tension so took a fair bit of wear.
Optical tracks on the other hand only had to have light pass through them, would need less tending and would probably last for as long as the picture was playable.

[–] HarlowMGM 14 years ago

SUNBURN actually was not bad; I think Leonard Maltin gives it two and a half stars in his book, an "average" movie. It played on cable several times during the 80s/90s but I haven't seen it anywhere on television lately.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Yes, the Leonard Maltin book gives "Sunburn" 2 1/2 stars and "Somebody Killed Her Husband" 1 1/2 stars. The Video Hound guide gives "Sunburn" 1 1/2 stars; no entry for "Somebody Killed Her Husband." Video Hound guide describes "Sunburn" as a TV movie, which I don't think is accurate.

I'd still love to see both. I remember them on cable and network television, but I never caught either. There was a lot of interest in these films because they marked Farrah's break with "Charlie's Angels," but it seems like that the films were forgotten rather quickly. She made some very good movies in the '80s: "The Burning Bed" and "Extremities."

[–] HarlowMGM 14 years ago

No, SUNBURN wasn't a tv movie, it was released theatrically. One thing that's interesting about SOMEBODY and SUNBURN is the difference in time between network broadcasts, although both failed at the box office. SOMEBODY was on CBS in 1979, just a year after the movie's release, an unusually "early" window from release to tv for a movie of that period. I seem to recall SUNBURN not playing on a network (CBS again, I think) until 1983 or so. And as I mentioned, SUNBURN has played several times on cable over the years but I can't recall ever seeing SOMEBODY listed in tv airings again.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Thanks for the details. I vaguely remember "Somebody Killed Her Husband" playing on TV shortly after the film's release. I don't remember "Sunburn" on network or cable, but I wasn't watching a lot of television in the early '80s.

[–] msdemos 14 years ago

It CAN be had......for a price:

http://www.ioffer.com/search/items/somebody%20killed%20her%20husband

SAVE FERRIS

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

I guess $15 isn't too much for this film plus "Sunburn" on the same disc. But of course, it's a bootleg, so let the buyer beware. Still, I'll keep searching the thrift stores for a VHS copy.

[–] John-367 11 years ago

For anyone in the UK the film has just started screening on the movies4men (sic) channel.
It's letter-boxed to what looks like its full anamorphic width which suggests that it's a relatively recent remaster.
I mention this because if someone has gone to the trouble and cost of remastering then it's more likely that the film will re-emerge elsewhere, as opposed to if it was just an ancient pan and scan telecine pulled off a dusty shelf.

[–] Luxn 10 years ago

They've shown it on More>Movies in the last couple of months. I watched because I am a huge Bridges fan but I did not enjoy this movie. I don't think even Jeff could save it.