It hurt that gate was in the title. Watergate. Heaven's Gate. Billy Bathgate. As the production of E.L. Doctorow's best seller went over budget and reportedly out of whack, bathgate is what Hollywood figured the Disney studio would take -- in red ink -- when the film finally opened. Its summer premiere was postponed; last month a new ending was shot (then discarded); stories surfaced of clashes between director Robert Benton and his star, Dustin Hoffman. Oh, and Bruce Willis was in it, so it must be a dog.
Quite a few locals took pleasure in the rancorous rumors. For years...
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