Special Features: |
- Booklet (40 pages) offers essays by Quatoyiah Murry and Kate Hagen, and a comic strip by Nicole Testa LaLiberty.
- Commentary #1 features director Ron Maxwell.
- Commentary #2 features podcaster Millie De Chirico.
- "Art and Business" (54:33, HD) is an interview with director Ron Maxwell. The interviewee shares his career opportunities in the 1970s, going from work as Charlton Heston's assistant to time with theatrical productions turned into public television specials. In 1978, Maxwell was put in charge of "Verna: USO Girl," a television production starring Sissy Spacek and William Hurt. Dealing with Hollywood "false starts" on a number of follow-up projects, the helmer landed "Little Darlings," newly tasked with maintaining a seriocomic approach to the material, with the studio wanting another "Meatballs." Maxwell does a deep dive into casting, dealing with two talented but different performers in McNichol and O'Neal, who were able to communicate the delicate ideas in the screenplay. Technical goals are analyzed, including the use of widescreen cinematography, while Maxwell was very careful with his close-ups, always attentive to character. Director cut blues are shared, with executive Don Simpson demanding a more mainstream picture, but a test screening managed to change the fate of Maxwell's cut. Soundtrack and scoring highlights are noted, along with complications involved in the rights to these songs, taking "Little Darling" out of home video circulation for decades. The conversation closes with an overview of the television cut that was prepared without Maxwell's involvement.
- T.V. Version Intro (11:14) is an audio discussion of the network version of "Little Darlings," with director Ron Maxwell providing some insight into its origin, which was assembled without him. Trying to right a wrong, Maxwell supplies fresh notes on the creation, looking back on scenes that were deleted for pacing and technical reasons. Character beats are revisited, and the general sloppiness of the T.V. cut is identified, including its pan & scan presentation and the crude removal of all references to virginity.
- Alternate Scenes (5:53, HD) are provided.
- "Don't Let the Title Fool You: 'Little Darlings' Beyond the Teen Sex Comedy" (19:47, HD) is a video essay by Samm Deighan.
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