Martin Scorsese was apparently considering taking a page from Travis Bickle’s playbook in order to save Taxi Driver (one of WTW's 100 best movies of all time)from being scrapped by the studio. That’s the fascinating takeaway from the first look at Mr. Scorsese, a five-part documentary series about the legendary Oscar-winning director premiering on Apple TV Plus on October 17.
In the clip, we see Steven Spielberg and Scorsese talking about the frantic state that Scorsese was in when the studio demanded that Scorsese remove much of the violent climax of the movie when Bickle (played by Robert De Niro) shoots up a brothel. Spielberg said that Scorsese was “very upset” and called him in a panic over the situation, while another interviewee said there were stories Scorsese wanted to kill the head of the studio.
It’s important to remember at the time that Scorsese was still a young director. While he had made well regarded movies like Mean Streets and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Scorsese was not the revered figure that movie fans know him as today; one who gets Emmy-nominated cameos in The Studio. So these suggested cuts weren’t things that could just be ignored because he’s Martin Scorsese. But would Scorsese have resorted to violence or criminal acts to try and save Taxi Driver?
As he tells it, he was in such a state that he at least threatened it.
In the clip, Scorsese was asked if he had a gun during this situation? He says that “I was going to get one,” but he quickly admits that he was unlikely to actually ever get one. He says “I was angry, I said I’m going to threaten them, or maybe just shoot. I had no idea. I mean I was threatening.”
So the gun was an empty threat, but as Scorsese elaborates he did have a plan to steal the rough cut of Taxi Driver from the studio. “They’re going to destroy the film anyway,” he explained, “so let me destroy it. I’ll destroy it. But before destroying it I’m going to steal it.”
However, as we know Taxi Driver was not destroyed. Instead, a workaround was reached that allowed for Scorsese to keep the shootout scene mostly intact. While Spielberg doesn’t remember exactly who had the idea, but says it may have been Scorsese, the plan was to tone the color down of the entire sequence, from red to a brownish color, and “make it grainy,” This was enough to get the seal of approval from the MPAA and the studio, and, as Spielberg says “saved the movie.”
Watch the full clip right here:
That’s just one of many likely great stories from the career of Martin Scorsese that we’re going to get from Mr. Scorsese.
Per the description from Apple TV Plus, Mr. Scorsese offers exclusive, unrestricted access to Scorsese’s private archives and features extensive conversations with Scorsese and never-before-seen interviews with friends, family and creative collaborators, including Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Robbie Robertson, Thelma Schoonmaker, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Jodie Foster, Paul Schrader, Margot Robbie, Cate Blanchett, Jay Cocks and Rodrigo Prieto, along with his children, wife Helen Morris and close childhood friends. The five-episode docuseries is directed by Rebecca Miller.
Again, Mr. Scorsese premieres exclusively on Apple TV Plus on October 17. A subscription to the streaming service is required to watch.
