For decades, fans of George A. Romero mourned the loss of the black and white, three and a half hour director’s cut of his film Martin. On an audio commentary, Romero once said something along the lines of the “greatest tragedy of his career” was that the film reels containing his Martin director’s cut went missing. Romero passed away in 2017, but then the director’s cut film reels were somehow finally been located in 2021 and went up for auction at Julien’s. Martin cinematographer Michael Gornick said this director’s cut “was always Romero’s preferred version. May it soon return safely to the custody of Richard Rubinstein and Braddock Associates for digital revitalization and distribution to the world.” Sadly, producer Richard Rubinstein made it clear that he did not want the 3-hour version of the movie making its way out into the world, for whatever reason. The starting bid in the Julien’s auction was $500, and the Martin director’s cut was expected to go for a price somewhere in the range of $2000 to $3000. It actually ended up selling for $51,200… and if you’ve ever wondered what happened to the film print that Rubinstein didn’t want to be shown, we now have an answer, thanks to Living Dead Museum tour guide Lawrence DeVincentz! DeVincentz posted on Facebook, “It’s currently held by the George Romero archive at the University of Pittsburgh. It was donated to the archive by its buyer, Greg Nicotero.“
Since Rubinstein won’t allow the print to be shown, this is the second best thing that could have happened to it. It’s good to hear that’s being safely housed at the University of Pittsburgh. Buyer Greg Nicotero is a special effects artist best known for his work on The Walking Dead, where he was also a director and executive producer. Nicotero worked with Romero on Day of the Dead, Tales from the Darkside, Creepshow 2, Monkey Shines, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead. As a teenager, he visited the set of the first Creepshow, and he went on to become showrunner on the Shudder Creepshow TV series.
Written and directed by Romero, Martin has the following synopsis: Young Martin is entirely convinced that he is an 84-year-old blood-sucking vampire. Without fangs or mystical powers, Martin injects women with sedatives and drinks their blood through wounds inflicted with razor blades. After moving to Braddock, Pennsylvania to live with his superstitious uncle, who also believes Martin is a vampire, Martin tries to prey exclusively on criminals and thugs but stumbles when he falls for a housewife. The film stars John Amplas, Lincoln Maazel, Christine Forrest, Elayne Nadeau, and Tom Savini, with Romero himself making a cameo as a priest.
Martin is one of my favorite movies, so I am really happy to hear that the director’s cut is in safe hands, and thank Greg Nicotero for donating it to the University of Pittsburgh. Are you a fan of Martin? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
