Why Martin Scorsese was fired from directing the cult classic ‘The Honeymoon Killers’
During the 1960s, there was a dramatic shift in people’s attitudes. The civil rights movement and second-wave feminism gained steam. Young people began further distancing themselves from the traditional beliefs of their parents, and the hippie movement (and an increase in LSD use) emerged, changing the cultural climate.
As music, fashion and art started to become more experimental and innovative, so did cinema. Before the ‘60s, most of Hollywood’s output was tightly studio-bound, with big-budget musicals, comedies and noirs filling cinema screens. There was a desire for something more down-to-earth – films that would mirror the kind of realistic, politically charged and experimental movies which defined Europe and arthouse cinema.
Martin Scorsese was a budding filmmaker during the ‘60s, witnessing the landscape of cinema and popular culture change. He made several short films during the decade, such as What’s a Nice Girl like You Doing in a Place like This? and The Big Shave, before making his directorial debut with Who’s That Knocking at My Door in 1967.
His next release ended up being 1972’s Boxcar Bertha, yet he almost directed another film first – one which ended up becoming a cult classic. Scorsese was hired as a director by producer Warren Steibel and composer Leonard Kastle, both of whom were working together on an idea for a movie based on the real-life murders committed by Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck. The duo were active serial killers in the ‘40s, choosing their victims by arranging meet-ups with people advertising themselves in the ‘Lonely Hearts’ column of a local newspaper.
The movie was The Honeymoon Killers, with Shirley Stoler performing stunningly as Martha and Tony Lo Bianco starring as her partner in crime, Raymond. Stoler had never acted on the big screen before, having made a career for herself out of theatre performances. Yet, as the cold-hearted killer, she excelled, earning widespread acclaim.
As the years have gone by, the film has only become more revered, acting as the perfect companion watch for 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde by standing in opposition to Faye Dunaway’s glamour and the film’s tendency to romanticise tragedy. While Bonnie and Clyde was a landmark of the New Hollywood era, The Honeymoon Killers was much more true to the indie cinema ethos, made with less technical prowess or established actors. Yet, the latter is a terrific work of cinema, too, laden with humour and grit.
Scorsese’s attempt to direct the film was short-lived. He worked on the movie for three weeks before being inevitably fired due to the slow pace with which he worked. He was yet to become the established filmmaker we now know, clearly still getting to grips with such a challenging and demanding role.
According to Kastle (via The New York Times), “The problem with him was that everything took very long. There was a scene in which Ray takes the train to see Martha, and on the train he picks up a woman. We started with that, and I can’t tell you how long and involved that thing became. We realised we’d have a film about the train and nothing else.”
Scorsese was replaced by Donald Volkman, but he, too, was fired. Still, a few of Scorsese’s initial shots made it into the film. In the end, Kastle, who penned the screenplay, decided to direct it himself. He’d never directed a movie before, and he never would again, but the brilliance of The Honeymoon Killers suggests that he should’ve given it another go.
