"Away from it all" a.k.a."more f*cking gongolas"

[RWels]

Sorry if i always ask for the unanswerable; but does anyone have a clue where I could get to see "Away from it all"? This is the mock travelogue that used to precede Life of Brian in cinemas that ended in a rant on gondolas.

Obviously, there's the really low quality version on the internet. But I (and several others) would really like just to see a better copy. Or even just to know it has not been destroyed completely when Handmade Films was sold. Once again, all information is welcome.

[lpmoderator]

I very much doubt it has been destroyed! The production company will have it somewhere. I have a feeling it was included on some Python release or other, although I could be wrong.

[RWels]

lpmoderator said:

I very much doubt it has been destroyed! The production company will have it somewhere. I have a feeling it was included on some Python release or other, although I could be wrong.

Well, I fear you may be wrong, unless it is on some very obscure release. By the way, this is it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQrYlM_w8BM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1DK5uNOuhQ

Too low quality to really enjoy... Hence my quest(ion).

[lpmoderator]

Well, it doesn't have to logically follow that it has been junked just because a copy isn't on sale officially. Film material is usually kept anyway so I reckon it'll turn up eventually.

[RWels]

lpmoderator said:

Well, it doesn't have to logically follow that it has been junked just because a copy isn't on sale officially. Film material is usually kept anyway so I reckon it'll turn up eventually.

Well, yes, that's true. But the underlying thought was that I and several others would like to see it. It would have been nice if it had been included with the new Life of Brian release.

[sleazymartinez]

It may still exist, but don't forget that all the rushes and outtakes from Life Of Brian were trashed when Handmade Films went under... the deleted scenes on the DVD are from a VHS dub of the original 2-hour cut. One would presume that "Away From It All" was produced by Handmade, but as it was a finished product, it still could be out there somewhere in perfect quality.

[RWels]

The deleted scenes were available ever since criterion company released LoB on laserdisc and later on DVD. That's at least 15 years. They are as far as I know not related to the tape recently discovered by David M..

[sleazymartinez]

Indeed, those are the ones I was talking about. Which appear to be from a video dub, presumably of the original cut. What's this about another recently-discovered tape? Do tell.

[RWels]

I think the deleted scenes came from Terry Jones?
Actually I thought we were talking about the same tape. David rediscovered an edition with the deleted scenes, nice, but not really a miracle.
Now a 2 hour rough cut, that is new. Where did this turn up?

[sleazymartinez]

Hmm, I think we are talking about the same tape here. Yes, I meant the stuff like Otto that appeared on the Criterion edition years back and is still available on the new DVD. Don't know about the tape David Morgan found, but I am assuming it's a version with the deleted scenes still included in the main film?

Chinese whispers here - I was *presuming* that the deleted scenes sourced by Terry Jones would have possibly come from a copy of the original two-hour cut that was previewed then trimmed down to a more manageable length. But then, one should never assume anything! He might have just had the rushes on tape.

Have we seen all the scenes that were cut? For instance, was "Solly & Sarah" (reproduced in the book) ever actually filmed or cut at script stage?

[RWels]

I'd guess the 5 known surviving deleted scenes were removed in the final stage.
If anything was filmed but cut before that, I doubt anyone involved would remember it. There's always a lot more raw material then ends up in a film, but most of it is meaningless or uninteresting.
(I have this DVD of "Robin of Sherwood" which includes all the unused material shot for the music video and the interviews. That is a good example of completely useless bonus material.)

[garrettgilchrist]

Hi. My name is Garrett Gilchrist, I used to run the site called PythoNET. It seems now like I'm the only one anywhere who had a copy of Away From It All on VHS, and I've lost it in the years since.

The copy you see on the internet is my copy, which I did up in Realplayer format. That's my copy on Youtube, I see.

People write me every week it seems looking for a copy of the film. Well, I've lost mine.

I was given a copy of Away From It All as well as lots of other obscure things on VHS by a collector. I've now forgotten his name. It was, after all, nearly a decade ago. He had lots of Python things no one else seemed to have, and that they still don't have. I think he was the one who sent me the Brian and Meaning of Life deleted scenes long before you could see them on DVD. He sent me some early film appearances by the Pythons, lots of unusual rare clips, Terry Gilliam short films .... the sort of thing that made my website interesting, back in the day. I still have most of that obscure stuff, but no one asks about it.

People do ask me about Away From It All.

[RWels]

No worries mate. My constant nagging (I've asked in every place I could think of) has finally paid off - I have been promissed a very decent NTSC tape with Away from it all and possibly other treasures.
In any case, it isn't lost - it's just very unavailable.

[RWels]

He claims he got it with three VHS tapes on ebay about ten years ago...
I'm still waiting for him to return from a holiday, but I'll keep you posted about AFIA and other missing stuff that might turn up on these tapes.