Don's Plum: DVD Vs. Workprint - Bootleg Comparisons

In 1996, producer Dale Wheatley and his friends had created an indie film called “Don’s Plum” in six days. The movie was mostly improvised. The film had a turbulent history between the producers and the actors, as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire had attempted to block it’s release, which resulted in the producer, David Stutman suing Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. They agreed that the film will not be released in the United States and Canada. Producer Dale Wheatley is currently trying to fight for the release of Don’s Plum at freedonsplum.com. However, another cut of this film exists. The original cut, which is in workprint form, had some footage that was cut from the DVD releases. I was able to interview Dale Wheatley through email, about this specific cut. He had told me he had lost this cut after he gave his only copy away back in the 1990’s and had never received it back.

Questions:

When was this cut made? Was this ever screened?

This was the first cut we came out with in Hollywood. The first time it was screened was for Leonardo DiCaprio on June 21, 1996 at MGM studios. He loved it. We screened this same cut for is agents and managers shorty afterward.

Why was some of the footage cut? Was it for time, pacing?

The cut you see now includes scenes and bits cut at the behest of Leo and Tobey and as required in the lawsuit settlement. I refer to the released cut as the Berlin cut, because we accepted into the festival. We finished the Berlin cut in Denmark at the famed Zentropa Studios

How much footage was filmed?

In the first three days we shot over 300,000 feet. I’m not sure what the total was after the second shoot, but we burned through a lot of film.

Is there another rough cut?

There is not.

Why was the soundtrack different?

The soundtrack on the bootleg was our temp track. Before the dispute broke out there were serious talks about having the Beastie Boys score the film. Of course the lawsuit and Leo killed that.

Are the original reels lost or stored away in the vault?

I don’t know for sure – my guess is they are vaulted. There is a lot of stuff missing from this film. Their goal was to destroy it and they may have succeeded – I don’t know.

Do you have fun stories while making the film?

Tons. Here’s one for you. We had shot out Leo and his car had arrived to take him from shooting all night with us to the airport to fly to NY to begin Marvin’s Room. Leo had this friend who was sort of his little buddy that went everywhere with him and he wanted to do a scene with him in the film – but we had gone over on the day and the crew was overworked and underpaid (we had such a tiny budget) so we called the day without shooting Leo’s scene with his friend. Leo basically begged the crew to stay for one more scene, but it was about getting grace from a very tired crew that had to go home and get a quick sleep before beginning our final day of shooting–anyway, Leo won them over and RD and I scratched together a little scene, we dropped the camera in front of a short hallway – our DP lit the scene in a hurry and we rolled the camera. It was, in my opinion, the funniest scene we shot, it’s the scene between Derek and Leon where Leon is incessantly jabbering to Derek while Derek is on Leon’s mobile phone trying to find a chick for the night.

Difference Report:

0:00

The workprint contains a different sequence of opening credits, with the text placement being in a different order.

Workprint:

DVD:

4:42

The workprint contains some additional footage of the band and the dancers.

Workprint:

5:23

The workprint contains a longer shot of the singer and a shorter and alternate shot of the dancers.

Workprint:

DVD:

6:03

The workprint contains additional footage of the band, the dancers and Ian.

9:25

The workprint contains two additional shots of the dancers.

10:42

The workprint contains a longer shot of Derek and more footage of the dancers.

Workprint:

12:21

The workprint contains some additional footage of one of the dancers dancing on the counter.

Workprint:

17:42

The workprint contains an alternate and slightly longer shot of the chef.

Workprint:

DVD:

19:17

The workprint contains an alternate and shorter shot of the patron and contains an additional shot of Sara and Brad.

Workprint:

DVD:

24:22

The workprint contains an extra scene with the group talking about Ian’s method of masturbation, which he states that he likes to put his pinky near the rim of his anus.

Workprint:

34:35

The workprint contains a longer shot of the group.

Workprint:

37:10

The workprint contains a slightly longer shot of Flo and Don.

Workprint:

39:18

The workprint contains a longer shot of Jeremy talking and trying to be nice to the patron.

Workprint:

45:04

The workprint contains an additional scene where Ian talks about never licking his fingers after touching his butt. Brad asks Ian if it’s true that he never licked his fingers, and Ian responds that he’s not so sure.

Workprint:

45:44

The workprint contains a longer shot of Derek talking about the G-spots and how they make men have sex “like rabbits”.

Workprint:

59:08

The workprint shortens a shot of Jeremy going into the washroom.

DVD:

1:11:10

The workprint contains a longer shot of Jeremy and Ian.

Workprint:

1:11:42

The workprint contains alternate shots when the group ask what’s wrong with Derek.

Workprint:

DVD:

1:12:35

The workprint shortens a shot of Derek smoking a cigar and contains an alternate pan shot of the group.

Workprint:

DVD:

1:12:44

The workprint contains a deleted scene, where Derek explains the reason his father committed suicide. He reveals his mother had an affair with her friend during a trip to Las Vegas, which drove his father to commit suicide.