Tony Head in Sweeney Todd

[NileQT87]

back when it was in production, tony head was hired to be a singing ballad ghost during the "ballad of sweeney todd" (a victim). well, it was decided to cut that number to debroadwayize the film and make it more intimate between the principle cast (and it happened right when johnny depp's daughter got sick and was hospitalized, so it got cut before it was filmed).

anyway, tony head did record for the film, but it wasn't released nor did it make the film. but they still gave him an uncredited cameo and a line of dialog after the contest with pirelli. he asks sweeney and mrs. lovett where he can find the barber shop.

he's actually the only extra to have a line of dialog, as far as i am aware.

[SaltyGoodness]

Interesting, Nile! What a shame he got cut in the end. Where did you get this info from? Any chance of a link?

[NileQT87]

it's been discussed to death on the sweeney imdb boards. mostly because of theater fans who wanted to know why the ballad (the most popular song from the play) was cut.

basically, it came down to the ballad ghosts being something that burton thought was way too theatrical (and he's right--just imagine everybody coming back from the dead at the end of the movie for a song--it would turn into the beetlejuice waiting room rather than the deliciously tragic scene we are left with).

another reason was to enhance the intimacy between the principal cast rather than have christopher lee and anthony stewart head breaking into song from beyond the grave every few scenes. it is the same reason that all of the choruses were deleted--to cut down on the imagery of londoners singing and dancing down the street. sondheim, himself, hates most musicals, including those that were made from his own work--west side story among them. sondheim actually did the majority of the song hacking, himself, and burton actually was putting stuff back in including "by the sea". though it was burton who brought up the idea of getting rid of the ballad's vocals altogether and sondheim realized it was the right thing to do. it was only something that worked on stage.

instead, the ballad's orchestration is heard consistently through the film--most notably the booming organ at the beginning and while sweeney is constructing the chair.

also the fact that the ballad of sweeney todd does a lot of telling the audience what is going on in the story and tells the moral at the end rather than just letting the story speak for itself. letting the bloody "piet?" symbol speak for itself was probably the most memorable part of the film. anything more would take the focus off of sweeney and lucy. same with why the fates of toby, johanna and anthony are left up to the imagination. it's not their stories... and burton already put in the line that hints that johanna is not as innocent as anthony ("i've never had dreams. only nightmares."). toby's makeup change into being like sweeney and mrs. lovett (the corrupted) spoke for itself. a lot of the cuts were done for a reason.

but yes, they were recorded. just didn't make it into the released soundtrack. though, the beggar woman's "alms!" is lengthened on the soundtrack to include a bit of her propositioning and insanity ("do you want to push me parsley?"). there's a lot of people who would love to hear christopher lee and tony head's track, though!

tony head remained the only extra to have a line. so, good for him!

Tony Head: Congratulations, Mr. Todd. May I ask you, sir, do you have your own establishment?
Nellie Lovett: He certainly does. Sweeney Todd's Tonsorial Parlor, above my Meat Pie Emporium in Fleet Street.

this also marks the second jossverse alumni to have a role in a tim burton/johnny depp film. the other being juliet landau in ed wood. juliet's father, martin landau, plays bela lugosi in the film.

[Phoenix]

I saw this movie today, loved it! And I didnt even know he was in it, nice surprise though

[sherrilina]

Okay, I do remember that line, but sadly I did not notice it was Tony Head (unlike in Scoop, when I immediately squeed "Giles!").....now I want to see it again to see ASH!

[NileQT87]

glad you liked it. (i'm turning into such a shill for this movie. lol. "ladies and gentlemen, may i have your attention, perlease!")

you only see him for barely a few seconds, but it's a nice cameo. probably a good thing tony didn't get included in the johanna sequence. i imagine a lot of people would be 'you can't kill giles!' about that scene if they had shown him.

it would be cool if the sweeney dvd maybe gives us a clip of the audio of the cut ballad ghosts, just for the sake of hearing head and lee.



i have a better screencap.

[Elsa]

The second I saw this thread I was hoping someone had posted a pic - thank you!

I went to Sweeney about 2 weeks ago and I have to say I did like seeing Tony there. Though I do wish we could've gotten to hear him sing again. And I second that hope for the scene being on the DVD - it's just cruel to have him in a musical where we don't get to hear him sing

[basakbangel]

wow!

I really want to go and see Sweeney Todd, and when I read people go, I got more curious I didn't know that Antony Head stared in the film, when I see the movie I'll try to be more carefull about it, since you guys said that its a small line role.

[Ahm Shere]

I went to see Sweeney Todd two or three weeks ago, and I seriously can't remember Tony Head being in it. I remember that line being said, but I had spilled my popcorn on the floor, and I was trying to clean it up...then I realised I was missing the movie, so I watched it again. I must have missed ASH when I was looking at my popcorn Now I wanna go see it again!

(Hey, at least it *gives* me an excuse to see it again! )

[Phoenix]

Ive seen this movie 4 times Any excuse to see it is good enough ;D

[DigitalLeonardo]

I saw it (and was the only moment of enjoyment... sorry for the bashing) and I was surprised to see him only have a camero, I thought it was weird but reading this thread makes more sense.

I was just thinking "is this what he is reduced too? one liners in movies? well at least he's getting work..."

[vampmogs]

I saw it (and was the only moment of enjoyment... sorry for the bashing) and I was surprised to see him only have a camero, I thought it was weird but reading this thread makes more sense.

I was just thinking "is this what he is reduced too? one liners in movies? well at least he's getting work..."

From what I've heard it was something of an honour he got one line at all. Wasn't he the only extra to get a line? And the only extra planned to sing?

[Elsa]

From what I've heard it was something of an honour he got one line at all. Wasn't he the only extra to get a line? And the only extra planned to sing?

As far as I know that's true - and a really impressive thing.

Though at the same time I know what DL means. His cameo in Scoop sort of left me wondering the same

[sherrilina]

As far as I know that's true - and a really impressive thing.

Though at the same time I know what DL means. His cameo in Scoop sort of left me wondering the same

Hey, I think he might have gotten two lines there! But yeah, that is definitely the highlight of the mediocre Scoop for me--that time I DEFINITELY noticed him, squeeing "Giles!" as soon as I saw him!

[Amber]

It was really random. I had read on here he had a very small part and completely forgot. When I heard his voice, I was like *GASP GILES! Then I felt like an ass because I realized I already knew he had a couple lines. heh. He looked very dashing though.