Padded Television Version
In 1968, when the film was sold to ABC-TV for television airings, the network noted that the film was too short to fill the desired two-hour time slot. They requested that AIP pad the film out. Approximately five minutes of additional footage were subsequently shot by Corman's production assistant Tamara Asseyev.
Of the original cast members, only Luana Anders was available at the time, and the new sequence featured her character, Catherine Medina, confined to a lunatic asylum. After much screaming and hair pulling, Catherine reveals the details of her horrific story to her fellow inmates, at which point the film itself follows as a flashback. This shot-for-television footage has been made available as an extra on the MGM Midnite Movies DVD release of the film, but was erroneously advertised as being the "Original theatrical prologue".
Read more about this topic: The Pit And The Pendulum (1961 Film)
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