Bruce Lee missing footage

[Jason Hart]

It's the 30th anniversary of the death of the late great Bruce Lee, and I have a couple of queries regarding missing footage.

Firstly, Bruce had a cameo role in an episode of the late 1960's US TV series Blondie, which was based on the comic strip and films. The episode was called 'Pick On A Bully Your Own Size', and has proved very elusive for Bruce Lee fans and collectors. Does anybody know if this still exists?

Secondly, Bruce Lee's first kung-fu film was The Big Boss. The original 35mm Chinese version of this film from 1971 was several minutes longer than all the versions that are currently available on the market. The last time the original full-length version was seen was at a Bruce Lee Film Festival in London in 1979, and incredibly hasn't been seen since.
Apparently it still exists though, and is in the hands of private collectors who unfortunately seem reluctant to let the fans see it. If anybody reading this knows of the whereabouts of such a copy, I would love to hear from you, and I would also be interested to hear from those who may have seen it in 1979 at the Film Festival.

Thanks.

[Jason Hart]

Forgot to add that an extensive article on the missing Big Boss scenes can be found at:

www.bruceleedivinewind.cjb.net/

when in the site, click on 'Big Boss Tribute'.

If anybody would like to contact me privately about this then please feel free to do so; my email address is at the end of the article.

Cheers.

[Ash]

Take a look at the second page of the board, and you will find the answers you seek...

[Jason]

Hi Ash. I didn't realise anybody had seen my original post as the old board changed just after I posted it, and I didn't realise you had replied either.

Blondie - as far as I know, nobody has this, not even Eastern Heroes (I think that's the club your friend meant) or the Bruce & Brandon Lee Association. In fact, I've never even come across a photo from the episode in question, I've seen the script but that's about it.

Big Boss - there are a few seconds of some of the missing scenes in the old trailer. Apparently full-length copies of the film still do exist but are in the hands of private collectors. Still, I suppose that's better than nothing, as there is a hope one of these collectors will come forward one day with the goods.

[Ash]

I'll check back with him and see what he says; but he is quite knowledgable on such matters. He did also mention the name "Rick Baker", apparently he'd know about such things. Name means nothing to me, though!

May take a week or so for him to reply, though, so be patient!

[Jason]

Ah yes, Rick Baker, who co-hosted that martial arts series with Jonathan Ross a couple of years or so ago.
I spoke to Rick briefly years ago about the full-length 'Big Boss' and he didn't seem to think it existed. I would be interested to hear if he has come across a copy of either this or the Blondie episode since then. Please keep me posted.
Thanks.

[William Martin]

was that "lost" interview on ch5 the other night from a domestic video recording?