Alec Baldwin wants to be removed from Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary

[moomies]

Nazi footage 'dismays' Alec Baldwin

Actor Alec Baldwin says he wants to be removed as narrator of an Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary, saying film-makers went too far by including images of Nazi rallies.

In a posting on The Huffington Post website, Baldwin wrote that he agreed to narrate the documentary, Running With Arnold, about the Terminator actor-turned-governor's political rise based on a reading of the script.

But he said that when he saw the film as he recorded the tracks, he was "somewhat dismayed by some of the images".

"The film-makers hammer Schwarzenegger over his private behaviour and his record as governor," Baldwin wrote, noting he was not a supporter of the governor. "But Schwarzenegger deserves to be treated fairly and the film's images of Nazi rallies were over the line.

The California governor's office would not comment.

Baldwin wrote that he asked that his voice be removed and said he returned payment. He also had his lawyer issue a cease-and-desist demand against the film-makers.

Producer Mike Gabrawy said Baldwin had the script for more than a month and that they tried several times to set up screenings with the actor, even delaying recording the narration to accommodate him.

The film includes a photograph of Kurt Waldheim, the former president of Austria, Schwarzenegger's native country, who was invited to Schwarzenegger's wedding but did not attend. In the photo, Waldheim is dressed in his Second World War Wehrmacht uniform. Another image in the documentary showed the Nazi party paperwork of Schwarzenegger's father, Gabrawy said. Other images of the Third Reich had been replaced.
Gabrawy said he learned Baldwin did not want to be associated with the film days after the narration was recorded.

"What's really shocking about this situation is that this is not really a critical look at Arnold -- there's a lot more we could have done to be critical," he said.

source:
http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.asp...e=windows-1252

[pacific breeze]

Baldwin slams Schwarzenegger film
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6105232.stm

Actor Alec Baldwin has requested that a voiceover he provided for a documentary on Arnold Schwarzenegger be removed over the film's references to Nazis.

He claims he was unaware of the content of the film when he recorded his part.

The documentary, focusing on Mr Schwarzenegger's career as governor of California, mentions his father's alleged links to the Nazi party.

Baldwin, 48, writing in a blog on the Huffington Post, says Mr Schwarzenegger has not been treated fairly.

He said that while he was not a supporter of the governor, the documentary, Running With Arnold, went too far.

"The film-makers hammer Schwarzenegger over his private behaviour and his record as governor," wrote Baldwin.

"But Schwarzenegger deserves to be treated fairly and the film's images of Nazi rallies were over the line."

Also mentioned in the documentary was his friendship with former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, who was discredited by allegations about his Nazi ties and refused entry to the US.

Returned fee

Mr Schwarzenegger has previously spoken out against the Nazi Party. His office declined to comment on the documentary on Tuesday.

Documentary producer Mike Gabrawy told the Associated Press that Baldwin received the script more than a month ahead of recording and had been invited to screenings of the film.

"What's really shocking about this situation is that this is not really a critical look at Arnold - there's a lot more we could've done to be critical," said Gabrawy. He said distribution for the film would continue.

Baldwin, who says he has returned his fee for the job and has consulted lawyers, says he was too busy to attend a screening and there was no mention of the Nazis in the script.