Quentin Tarantino is one of the most famous directors in Hollywood. He’s the man behind ‘Pulp Fiction,’ ‘Kill Bill,’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’ But before all the fame came, Tarantino made a small movie with his friends called ‘My Best Friend’s Birthday.’
Shot in fits and starts during the mid-1980s, it was Tarantino’s first step. But unfortunately, the movie was never released. In fact, it wasn’t even finished. Yet, it became the foundation of what Tarantino achieved going ahead. Fans often wonder why this film didn’t make it to the end, and the truth is just as interesting as the legend.
Quentin Tarantino’s Debut Movie Was About A Birthday Party Gone Off The Rails
In the early 1980s, Quentin Tarantino was living behind the counter of a video rental store. It was like a paradise for Tarantino. He treated it like film school, renting everything he could, memorizing scenes, and soaking up cinema in its purest form. It was here that he met Craig Hamann, another geek who shared his love of movies.
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Together, the two friends came up with the idea that would become ‘My Best Friend’s Birthday’. If you have seen other Tarantino movies, this one is very different. It was a screwball comedy about Clarence (played by Tarantino himself), who wants to surprise his buddy Mickey (played by Hamann) on his birthday. Of course, nothing goes to plan. Every attempt Clarence makes to give his friend the perfect day goes sideways, and one mishap happens after another. Still, his voice was there.
What Happened To The Movie?
The long conversations, the humor that comes from banter, and the sense that trouble could arrive at any moment. But you’ll be surprised to know that the movie was filmed with almost no money. The budget was around $5,000, and production stretched out for three years. Friends stepped in as crew, props came from wherever they could be found, and locations were borrowed. Some scenes were filmed in living rooms, while others were shot in backyards.
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But the movie never got the chance to see the light of day. For a long time, the rumor was that the movie was destroyed in a lab fire. But that was not the truth at all. According to Andrew Rausch’s 2019 book ‘My Best Friend’s Birthday: The Making of a Quentin Tarantino Film,’ no fire ever happened. A few reels were lost by accident, but most of the footage survived. The “lab fire” tale simply sounded better, and Tarantino didn’t correct it. In fact, the real reason the movie wasn’t finished came down to Tarantino himself.
The Legacy Of Tarantino’s Unfinished First Film
As Tarantino kept shooting, he noticed something. The later scenes were stronger than the earlier ones. His directing improved quickly, and suddenly the first parts looked weak compared to what followed. Instead of trying to fix the uneven quality, he decided to stop. The film wasn’t going to be great, but it had already served its purpose.
In later interviews, Tarantino called ‘My Best Friend’s Birthday‘ his true film school. It taught him how to direct, shape scenes, and handle mistakes. Even if the film was never completed, it gave him the lesson he needed before stepping into the spotlight. Though the movie never made it to theaters, there are still 36 to 40 minutes of footage, and they’ve been cut together into a rough version that fans can watch online. Sure, it’s a bit grainy and incomplete, but it’s undoubtedly fascinating.
Some ideas from the film carried over into Tarantino’s later work. The character Clarence reappeared in his script for ‘True Romance,’ and the use of colorful language for characters chatting in scenes became the backbone of ‘Reservoir Dogs‘ and ‘Pulp Fiction.’
Tarantino has admitted he still owns the original reels. At times, he’s even teased into restoring or completing the movie for his own satisfaction. Whether that ever happens is still a dilemma, but the idea alone has kept the film alive as part of his legend.
