MovieChat Forums > L.A. Story (1991) Discussion > i wonder what happened to HARRY ZELL? .....

i wonder what happened to HARRY ZELL? ...

posted 21 years ago by linusmoke-dot-com
9 replies | jump to latest

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0102250/fullcredits

i have seen this movie a ton of times, and i always thought it was interesting that several characters in the film repeatedly refer to the LA agent "harry zell," although this character is never seen in the film. Harris says, "maybe i should get a *real* agent, somebody like harry zell."

well recently i was watching what little extra content is on my _LA story_ dvd, and i noticed at the end of the trailer when it lists the cast, the words: "and john lithgow as harry zell." !!!! if you check the full cast and crew credits above, you *will* see john lithgow listed as "scenes deleted."

so now i am very curious about what happened that they would delete an entire character from a film, one played by such a prominent actor and one important enough that many references to him remained in the final cut of the film. do you think there was some kind of dispute or disagreement?

just wondering if there is anyone out there with the inside scoop? i'm just being a curious movie geek. :P

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[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] linusmoke-dot-com 20 years ago

sure i realize *why* scenes are often cut from a movie. i just thought it was odd that they would work the deleted scenes in such a way as to completely remove one character from the film. if they wanted, they could have cut the rick moranis scene or the dumb l`idiot scene, but to cut out a character/actor that is important enough that he made the bill of the movie, to me seems quite odd. it is my hunch that it had to do with something other than the length of the film. just mho.

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STUDIO42 FILM SCHOOL http://p082.ezboard.com/fforum42film

[–] freudified_n_funkified 20 years ago

In the script (published by Grove Press with Martin's ROXANNE) Harris has a power lunch with agent Harry Zell where they discuss some potential showbiz projects for Harris. In the trailer there are two images cut from the film that relate to Zell - the one with Harris calling him from his car (hanging out his window at a payphone) and a shot of a few guys in suits skipping, which Zell suggests is "the perfect compromise between walking and running." I have no idea why the character was cut (he's mentioned at the lunch scene early in the movie) but I would love to see the deleted scenes with Lithgow flying around in a jet pack.

[–] m0uth 20 years ago

John saw how dumb this movie really is so he told them to cut his scenes off and save him from the embarassement. It's the official statement, not mine.

[–] smriley1 20 years ago

When LA Story first aired on Showtime, it was introduced by a monologue from John Lithgow about his deleted scenes. After the film, they showed the scenes which included the pay-phone-phone-call from Steve Martin, and the Harry Zell scene in which Steve goes to meet him. Zell comes up with several story ideas that Harris would be good in. They are not very strong scenes, and the jet-pack special effect is pretty cheesy. It was fun to see these scenes but they really added nothing to the movie, and personally, I'm glad they were cut. (No offense, Mr. Lithgow) I kinda think it's more fun to have a mysterious character referenced, but never seen. Like in Frasier, you never saw Marris. Or Norm's wife on Cheers.

[–] zachdms 20 years ago

I would love to see those scenes. =(

The LaserDisc has a 'making of' featurette which shows a couple of the deleted scenes in part - I don't recall if it covers the Zell scenes. But as noted above, the scriptbook at least shows how they were supposed to go. :)

[–] jtpaladin 19 years ago

You are absolutley correct. I thought I was one of the only people who ever saw that Showtime segment. It's true that the whole scene was unfunny and did nothing for the film in general. I'm glad it was cut but I wish it were in a deleted scenes section.

[–] macarecords 19 years ago

Yep, I saw the Showtime thing as well, but it was YEARS ago. I distinctly remember Lithgow coming in on the jet pack, however... Some images stay with you. They really should be on the DVD, though, if for no other reason then just to make up for a disappointingly empty DVD.

[–] forpetesake 19 years ago

Hopefully they will re-release this one with the deleted scenes....I also noticed in the "special features" under "play featurette" the deleted scenes are played (snippets of them anyway). The featurette is way better then the easter eggs anyway, and I noticed an extended bit when Martin laughs about walking in LA. The scene apparently called for him to try it, but he falls on the ground in "agony" and begs her (sara) to let him drive.