Grindhouse Releasing has detailed the Blu-ray release of director Duke Mitchell's Gone with the Pope, which stars Duke Mitchell, Peter Milo, Jim LoBianco and Giorgio Tavolieri. The 1976 independent film sat uncompleted for decades, until the film negative and a work print were discovered in 1995, years after Mitchell's death. The completed film arrives on Blu-ray on March 24th.
Lost for over 30 years, Gone with the Pope stars famed nightclub performer Duke Mitchell as Paul, a paroled gangster with an unholy scheme: to kidnap the Pope and charge "a dollar from every Catholic in the world as the ransom. Shot in 1975, Gone with the Pope was unfinished at the time of Duke Mitchell's death in 1981. Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski of Grindhouse Releasing rediscovered the film in 1995 and vowed to save it from obscurity. Academy Award-winning film editor Murawski (The Hurt Locker, Spider-Man, Army of Darkness) spent 15 years completing Gone with the Pope from the surviving film elements.
The film features a 2K digital restoration from the original 35mm camera negative (presented in 1080p at 1.85:1), offers three lossless audio options (mono, stereo and 5.1 mixed by Emmy Award-winning mixer Marti Humphrey), and the following extras:
In-depth interviews with stars Jim LoBianco and John Murgia, cinematographer Peter Santoro, editors Bob Leighton and Robert Florio, and legendary exploitation producer/director Matt Cimber
Footage from the 2010 Hollywood World Premiere
Deleted scenes and bloopers
Liner notes by acclaimed horror novelist John Skipp