My Best Friend's Birthday (lost full cut of Quentin Tarantino film; existence unconfirmed; 1987): Difference between revisions

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{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6MUbRZSg80|320x240|right|1st Half of ''My Best Friend's Birthday''.}}
{{InfoboxLost
Between the years 1984 and 1987, Quentin Tarantino co-wrote (with Craig Hamann), directed (in his first ever directorial role) and starred in a black and white film titled '''''My Best Friend's Birthday'''''. It was created while Tarantino was working at the now shuttered Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, California.
|title=<center>My Best Friend's Birthday</center>
|image=Mybestfriendsbirthdayposter.jpg
|imagecaption=Poster made for a bootleg release of the surviving footage.
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Lost'''</span>
}}


The project began as a 30-40 page script written by Hamann. The plot involved a man trying to do something nice on his best friend's birthday, only to have his efforts backfire on him. After Tarantino became attached to the project, he and Hamann extended the script to 80 pages in length, and, on a budget of $5000, shot the film on 16mm reels over the next few years.
'''''My Best Friend's Birthday''''' is a black and white comedy film co-written by Craif Hamann and co-written, directed by, and starring Quentin Tarantino that was developed between 1984 to 1987. It was created while Tarantino was working at Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, California.


The completed cut ran for 70 minutes, however before it was ever released, it was destroyed in a fire at the processing lab, with only 36 minutes of the film surviving. The surviving 36 minutes has been shown at several film festivals, though has never received an official release (despite this, however, bootleg copies have surfaced). Quentin Tarantino has himself admitted the the direction of the film was not great, and refers to the project as his "film school", as he gained experience over the production over the film that would later him direct his future works. The plot of the film was later adapted into the 1993 film ''True Romance'', for which Tarantino wrote the screenplay.
The project began as a 30-40 page script by Hamann. The plot involved a man trying to do something nice on his best friend's birthday, only to have his efforts backfire on him. After Tarantino became attached to the project, he and Hamann extended the script to 80 pages in length, and, on a budget of $5000, shot the film on 16mm reels over the next few years.
 
The completed cut originally ran for about 70 minutes.<ref>[http://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php/My_Best_Friend's_Birthday Quentin Tarantino archives.] Retrieved 25 Mar '16</ref> However, before it was ever released, it was destroyed in a fire at the processing lab, with only 36 minutes of the film surviving. The surviving 36 minutes has been shown at several film festivals, but has never received an official release (only bootleg copies have surfaced). Quentin Tarantino has himself admitted that the direction of the film was not great, and refers to the project as his "film school", as he gained experience that would help him during his future work. The film was also adapted into the 1993 film ''True Romance'', for which Tarantino wrote the screenplay.
 
==Gallery==
{{Video|perrow  =1
  |service1    =youtube
  |id1          =X6MUbRZSg80
  |description1 =First Half of ''My Best Friend's Birthday''
}}
==External Links==
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359715/ IMDb page for the film.] Retrieved 07 Jun '19
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Best_Friend%27s_Birthday Wikipedia page for the film.] Retrieved 07 Jun '19
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Partially lost media]]
[[Category:Lost films]]

Revision as of 19:25, 7 June 2019

Poster made for a bootleg release of the surviving footage.

Status: Partially Lost


My Best Friend's Birthday is a black and white comedy film co-written by Craif Hamann and co-written, directed by, and starring Quentin Tarantino that was developed between 1984 to 1987. It was created while Tarantino was working at Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, California.

The project began as a 30-40 page script by Hamann. The plot involved a man trying to do something nice on his best friend's birthday, only to have his efforts backfire on him. After Tarantino became attached to the project, he and Hamann extended the script to 80 pages in length, and, on a budget of $5000, shot the film on 16mm reels over the next few years.

The completed cut originally ran for about 70 minutes.[1] However, before it was ever released, it was destroyed in a fire at the processing lab, with only 36 minutes of the film surviving. The surviving 36 minutes has been shown at several film festivals, but has never received an official release (only bootleg copies have surfaced). Quentin Tarantino has himself admitted that the direction of the film was not great, and refers to the project as his "film school", as he gained experience that would help him during his future work. The film was also adapted into the 1993 film True Romance, for which Tarantino wrote the screenplay.

Gallery

First Half of My Best Friend's Birthday

External Links

References

  1. Quentin Tarantino archives. Retrieved 25 Mar '16