Caligula (1979) - OW declined offer to appear in

[Wellesnet]

Josh Karp (“Orson Welles’s Last Movie”) has written a fabulous piece on the Gore Vidal/Tinto Brass/Bob Guccione film collaboration, “Caligula,” which - as Josh puts it - “created its own cinematic genre by combining the sweeping historical epic with high-end pornography—not to mention incest, decapitation, castration, and necrophilia.”

“Newsweek described it as “a two-and-a-half-hour cavalcade of depravity.” Roger Ebert walked out, “disgusted and unspeakably depressed,” but not before overhearing a fellow moviegoer describe Caligula as “the worst piece of shit I’ve ever seen.” Not to be outdone, Variety called Caligula “a moral holocaust.”

Welles was offered a role in the film. He turned it down, he said, due to "moral reasons."

A Cavalcade of Depravity
Shakespearean actors, Penthouse Pets, 3,000 Roman costumes, 450 gallons of fake blood, and Gore Vidal. Was Caligula the most ambitious porno ever made—or the raunchiest historical epic?
by Josh Karp
https://airmail.news/issues/2023-5-20/a ... pBWRhr9Ayo

[tonyw]

Orson was right. Malcolm McDowell was enticed into doing the role due to Gore Vidal's screenplay but he and director Tinto Brass were soon sidelined by Guccione. I've read elsewhere that 8 hours of unedited footage exists that may be re-edited to reproduce the original idea of film, in other words another OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND project.

[Wich2]

As John Gielgud recalled ~

"A few acted - most just performed..."

[Wellesnet]

‘Caligula’ Director Tinto Brass Slams ‘Caligula – The Ultimate Cut’ Screening in Cannes, Says He Is Taking Legal Action Against Penthouse Films:
https://variety.com/2023/film/global/ca ... R8bQ4dc7u0

[tonyw]

Thanks for this information. This does show that footage does exist and, unlike TOSTW, the director is still around to complete it in the manner he intended. I seem to recall an earlier cut that eliminated Guccione's hard-core inserts, the first time a new version appeared with scenes deleted rather than added.