Minnesota Clay (Sergio Corbucci, 1964)

[Novecento]

Copying these from the ¿Quién sabe? thread:

@Novecento

Actually I was just thinking about the “sad ending” to Minnesota Clay which is in many ways preferable to the the longer “happy ending” (although it misses that great final close-up of his glasses). Is the consensus that the “sad ending” was not the original one?

@stanton

I don’t know, but the happy ending looks like it was a “producer’s idea” after he checked his bank account.

And it feels as wrong as the alternative ending from The Great Silence.

@Novecento

True, but the “happy” ending to The Great Silence doesn’t look like it had much effort put into it. I’d say the same about “happy” ending to Minnesota Clay except for that iconic shot of the glasses which shows at least some effort on Corbucci’s part. Maybe Corbucci wasn’t quite as cynical at this point so was more amenable to this “producer’s idea” as you say.

When I get a chance, I’ll take a look through some of my Corbucci interviews to see if he ever spoke about it.

Does anyone have any knowledge about this?