Mafia on the Bounty (lost comedy film; 1980)
Mafia on the Bounty is an independent 1980 comedy/gangster spoof written and directed by Joseph Van Winkle. It starred several well known actors such as Jackie Vernon, Vic Tayback, and Jackie Gayle.
The film concerned a mob boss, wishing to take advantage of Atlantic City's recently legalized gambling laws by organizing a supposedly friendly meeting with many of the top Mafia Dons in the country on a luxury yacht off the coast of San Francisco, while actually planning to rub them all out with a bomb he has planted aboard the ship, therefore giving him sole control over the territory. However, matters are complicated when the yacht comes in contact with another ship, "The Pinky Bee", filled with gay liberationists, one of whom has suffered a seizure, giving him the delusion that he is the historical Captain Bligh, causing him to rally his crewmen against the mobsters. Also along on this voyage is a young aspiring actress who mistakes the Mafia Dons for movie executives casting a film, and attempts to audition for them.
Production on the film took place in the summer of 1977, and near the end of the year, it was submitted to the MPAA ratings board, where it received a PG certification. However, the film was then shelved for three years until the spring of 1980, when a sneak preview was screened at California's Fallbrook theater. However, no records of the film's run after that seem to indicate that it was presumably met with a negative reception, which caused the studio to permanently shelve it.
To this day, the film's current whereabouts are unknown, and it is a mystery if it even exists any longer. No footage or even on set photographs have even surfaced. The only items that are available to a degree are posters, promotional fliers, and a soundtrack single entitled Big Boss Man available in a standard and disco beat version, and performed by actor/singer Eddie Mika, most recognizable as Carmine "The Big Ragu" Ragusa on the 70's sitcom, Laverne and Shirley.
References
http://templeofschlock.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-endangered-list-case-file-136.html Information on the film.