The Film Buff Blog: Lost Kubrick Film Dr. Zero Revealed as Elaborate Hoax!

4.05.2010

Lost Kubrick Film Dr. Zero Revealed as Elaborate Hoax!

15 comments:

the coelacanth said...: i did not in any way feel shortchanged by eyes wide shut. in fact, i think it is one of kubrick's best films, and champion it at the shop as such (often accompanied by the scoffs of customers). i love that film, and think it is so, so underrated...

looking forward to checking this out though...; 4/6/10, 12:18 AM
Britarded said...: I found mention of it here from 2006 but it says they were going to reshoot it. I suppose they meant the final 10%? Or did they just edit as is since it would never fit properly anyway?
Pretty cool to come across something so obscure. 6 foot letters in the window claiming "Kubrik's lost film is here!" might mean it rents a couple of times down Roncy. There's some pretty obscure lifeforms out the east-end though.; 4/6/10, 11:26 AM
Britarded said...: Just noticed you said "nearly complete form" so I guess it was edited as they found it.; 4/6/10, 11:44 AM
the coelacanth said...: well, i think this post is a good place to start in terms of capitalizing on the film's sudden availability.

perhaps have a colour poster printed up (doesn't have to be big, 8 1/2x11 would do) of the pic you've included with your post, or the dvd cover - whichever is more striking - and display it on the counter, with some explanatory text? a mention in the next review will definitely garner it some attention...or you could dress up like orson welles (not much makeup required really, just stuff a couple pillow under your shirt) as dr. zero and parade around the store, quoting lines from the film in an overly dramatic fashion. you'll either be arrested or the film will rent a couple times.

the sad thing is, as amazing a find as this is, it'll likely only rent a handful of times, and be dwarfed by the latest week's new releases. that's ok, though - the people that want and need to see this will now be able to, and even if it is a small group (consisting mostly of staff), it is a group nonetheless, and speaking for that group, i want to applaud your efforts for bringing this in. nice work!

any region code on the disc, sporge?; 4/6/10, 12:10 PM
the coelacanth said...: tom, your link is broken. here's the fixed link.; 4/6/10, 12:14 PM
Dropkick said...: incroyable!; 4/6/10, 12:58 PM
La Sporgenza said...: Nothing is quite so sweet as exposing a few young turks to be the wankers they truly are. While there's no sport in pulling off a well-executed hornswoggle on stupid people, great satisfaction can be had getting normally-intelligent ones to completely buy into a ludicrous fabrication... hook, line and sinker.

A proper con needs a few grains of truth. In this case, Kubrick's son-in-law is indeed named Philip Hobbs and he did discover a partly completed script in Stanley's possessions and it is called Lunatic at Large. There was no film of course, but a quick search online gives the story some distant plausibility. The fabrication needs to stand up to a slight amount of scrutiny, hence the need to seed the story with elements of truthiness. Jeffrey Hunter, for example, did actually die of a stroke in 1969 so you need to have a few dates that make sense too. The story then needs to be exaggerated, enough to insure that the wanker recipients feel suitably embarrassed (and stupid) once the reveal is made, but not so outlandish that the entire story is called into question out of the gates. Don Knotts costarring with Orson Welles in a lost Stanley Kubrick film that I discovered is a tough sell to anyone with even a modest handle on film history, so in addition to all this, a convincing prop comes in handy to help sell the lie. A photoshopped poster from the same era (in this case from some long-forgotten Italian spy caper), a plausible, but slightly ridiculous title (like “Dr. Zero”) lends both credibility and a bit of additional squirm-factor for the wankers once the scam is exposed.

Lastly, you can't reasonably pull off a proper goldbrick on April Fools Day, but I think we've proven that anytime before or after, provided you have a few susceptible dupes from the “information generation” is entirely feasible.

Wankers.... you have been had. I particularly enjoyed Joe correcting Tom's link to Philip Hobb's IMDb page. That was a nice touch. Good one staying light on the comments there Kris. Unlike the wanker king and his blonde queen, you ended up with some plausible deniability about belonging to their club.

I nervously await a suitably nasty comeuppance.; 4/6/10, 5:32 PM
Britarded said...: Hang on, who's the wanker here?; 4/6/10, 6:19 PM
Dropkick said...: c'est terrible!; 4/6/10, 6:41 PM
Chandles said...: Rude.
But hilarious.; 4/6/10, 9:19 PM
the coelacanth said...: not sure if you saw my query above scott, but still wondering: is this disc region free?; 4/6/10, 10:52 PM
La Sporgenza said...: Yes, Dr. Zero is region (and for that matter "movie") free.; 4/7/10, 12:01 AM
the coelacanth said...: excellent! cant wait to check this one out. i'll look for it at the fbw on friday.; 4/7/10, 11:46 AM
La Sporgenza said...: Done... It'll be there Joe.; 4/7/10, 3:31 PM
Britarded said...: Hay, look what I found...

http://denofgeek.com/movies/462837/stanley_kubricks_lost_film_being_made_casting_announced.html; 4/17/10, 8:59 PM

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