Did you happen to record Monty Python’s Flying Circus when it was shown on PBS back in the 1970s? Do you still have the tapes? Is there a TIME LIFE logo at the end? If so, please write to me. Thank you!

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THE WORKS OF TINTO BRASS

Big Budgets and Big Headaches—Continued

Punch

(1974)

In 1974, when L’urlo was finally cleared and released to critical accolades, Brass began negotiations to collaborate with L’urlo’s star, Gigi Proietti, on a film called Punch, which was based on the Punch-and-Judy shows. This never got off the ground. But in 1976 Proietti appeared in a gigantic theatre for a one-man show called A me gli occhi, written by Brass’s frequent collaborator Roberto Lerici. Fortunately some producer was foresighted enough to film the event, and a friend of mine taped it when it played on Italian television. He sent me the tape, and my jaw dropped toward the end of the program when I saw Proietti put on puppet-like make-up, squeeze into a Punch-and-Judy stage, and do a solo show as Punch.

Here is the reference:

Variety (28 August 1974), p. 30:

Luigi Proietti is set for male lead in “Punch”—marking re-emergence of helmer Giovanni Tinto Brass.

There’s more beginning in 1977, when Brass tried to revive this project with Malcolm McDowell in the lead.

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