Between the Covers

Softcover. Screenplay. Quarto. 70pp. Screwbound in black Studio Duplicating Service wrappers with gilt lettering. Near fine with some light wear and rubbing on the wrappers. The screenplay for the unreleased cult film by Tom Schiller, an original *Saturday Night Live* writer responsible for many of its early taped segments, including "Java Junkie" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" (notable for an aged John Belushi as the last surviving *SNL* alumnus dancing on the graves of fellow cast members). This surreal film follows a young artist returning to New York, now run by the Port Authority, and his subsequent recruitment by an underground tramp community that secretly rules the world. The picture starred Zach Galligan as the artist with appearances by Dan Akroyd, Imogene Coca, Mort Sahl, Eddie Fisher, and Bill Murray in an early film role as a "menacingly-friendly" lunar bus host. According to Schiller, the film was made to get *SNL* producer Lorne Michaels out of an MGM development deal: "I think they thought it was low budget or something to get off the hook of their contract, but I had total freedom. No one was watching hardly and I got to make a personal film with a studio crew." The film was at first accepted for entry at Cannes but a poor test screening and the film's own quirky style, which interspersed black and white stock footage of New York with new color scenes of the underground, ultimately doomed the film's release. Aside from an appearance on late night TV in Europe, the film was not released theatrically or to home video. The film was rediscovered by audiences after Murray insisted it be included in a retrospective of his work, creating a demand for its release on DVD for which MGM has so far not responded. *OCLC* locates no copies.

Item #142049