$^%$%^%$^, but it's up for auction on e-bay!

This is Joyce DeWitt's first movie. "Obscure" is not the word.

Here are a few stills. Amazing.

God she was young there!!!:eek:

What a gem! That is really incredible, I wish I could see it. I love the picture of her on the bike. Any idea what year this is from? The only information I can find on the net says it was from 1981 but she doesn't look like she did on TC at all. Maybe there was another movie with the same name.

What a gem! That is really incredible, I wish I could see it. I love the picture of her on the bike. Any idea what year this is from? The only information I can find on the net says it was from 1981 but there's no way. Maybe there was another movie with the same name.

The IMDB stats are totally off. The movie won the top prize at the 1975 American International Amateur Film Festival for its director, Elodie Keene. It was screened in the theatres, together with other shorts from the festival, in NYC in fall 1975, and again in very early 1976 (I'm quoting from memory what I looked up a few months ago, so the dates may be off).

So I would guess that it's 1974 or 1975 we're looking it. The blurb on e-bay had this to say:


Here’s your chance to rewrite a bit of (mistaken) internet film history. If you pop this title into the web, you’ll only come across a few hits (including IMDb) – and all of them say this film is from 1981. There are several compelling reasons why I believe this to be wrong. First of all, the film stars Joyce DeWitt, and in 1981 Three’s Company would’ve been in its fourth season. Take a look at some of the screen shots. Does this look like Joyce during her fourth season? Another clue comes in some of the dialogue in the film. At one point, a co-worker tells her not to “take on the establishment.” My guess is this film was made in the early to mid 1970s.

This USC student film stars Joyce DeWitt, and she is in nearly every scene. Fans won’t be disappointed. The story revolves around an office girl whose life is anything but exciting. Her job is boring, she lives alone with a cat, and she rides the (Santa Monica) bus to work every day. She gets hassled for not remembering to punch in, can’t get much cooperation from fellow employees, and is sexually harassed by a creepy dude with a beard. When she gets home she drinks to forget her troubles. This is a very well made short film with lots of on-screen dialogue and a great soundtrack. For example, in the morning before she goes to work, you’ll hear Cat Stevens’ The Wind. It appears this is merely underscoring, until Joyce leaves her apartment only to return a few moments later to turn off the stereo (and the recording of The Wind that is playing on the stereo). By the way, this film ends with about a 30-second shot of Joyce staring into the camera. Her expression changes from bewilderment to happiness to (as one of my friends would say) "cruising the camera."

This film was created by an all female crew – including its director Elodie Keene. This was Elodie’s first film and from here she has hit the heights. She has directed episodes of: LA Law, Saving Grace, The Closer, Nip/Tuck, Medium, Joan of Arcadia, Judging Amy, Family Law, NYPD Blue, ER, and about fifty other TV shows. Her first directorial job for TV was an episode of Hart to Hart in 1979.

Needless to say, this is an exceptionally rare film with quite an interesting history. It is probably Joyce DeWitt’s first screen appearance.


As far as I know, this IS Joyce DeWitt's first film appearance.

These are very good pictures of Joyce. She was young! And she looks so different with long hair.:wave:

These are very good pictures of Joyce. She was young! And she looks so different with long hair.:wave:

Somewhere in Mann's TC book she says that she changed hairstyles just before being signed onto Three's Company --- "it took me into the category of the short, jerky girl." I guess this is what she looked like before. I wonder if that was her look when she was passed over in favour of Valerie Curtin for the first unaired pilot?

Actually, this may not be her first screen appearance. Apparently she was also in an informational short, "Unemployment Insurance: The Working Man's Servant" (love the incorrect sexist subtitle!), made some time in the early to mid seventies by the industrial films division of Universal Studios. (Look up "tomorrow is only tuesday" in Google news and click "all dates" to get a reference from 1978 for that one).

Thanks a lot for posting the photos and all of the info. It would be great to have this film released for sale on DVD.

Thanks a lot for posting the photos and all of the info. It would be great to have this film released for sale on DVD.

I wonder what the copyright status is???