from the mundane to the mundane and back again

Bound For Glory (1976), Dir. Hal Ashby/Starring: David Carradine
Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection once again dusts off an underappreciated gem. This time it’s Bound For Glory, Hal Ashby’s biopic of folk singer Woody Guthrie from 1976 with David Carradine as Guthrie. The movie has been cleaned up considerably and the new 5.1 surround sound is a revelation but the best part of the package is found on disc two. Disc two features a short behind the scenes feature as well as a rollicking interview between Ashby and Carradine. The surprise is a few rough cut scenes from from Ashby’s proposed follow up, another Guthrie movie but one with a sci-fi bent entitled This Time Machine Kills Fascists. The title comes from the phrase Guthrie had painted on his guitar “This Machine Kills Fascists” and it tells the story of an unlikely meeting between Guthrie and Science Fiction writer H.G. Wells. In the film treatment (a replica is included with the booklet) Wells travels thru time to 1944 and has a chance meeting with Woody Guthrie at a roadside diner. The two men get to talking and soon Guthrie has convinced Wells to let him go back in time and kill Hitler using a rifle disguised as a guitar (much like the one used in 1968’s Fastest Guitar Alive starring Roy Orbison). The fifteen minutes of rough footage mainly show Guthrie once again played by David Carradine working on the time machine with H.G. Wells who was portrayed by Ray Walston. While the scenes are interesting it’s clear why it was never made. Instead of This Time Machine Kills Fascists Ashby went on to make the Oscar winning Viet Nam drama Coming Home.