Something has been driving me crazy. I have a pretty clear childhood memory of a scene in the movie IT (1990) where Pennywise the clown says “Beat it, Audra! Beat it! Beat it!†in a mocking fashion and laughs scarily. But I’ve watched the movie a few times in the last couple years and the scene is mysteriously nowhere to be found. Google is no help and it’s making me BONKERS. Is this just something I hallucinated as a child? The only thing I’ve found that remotely corroborates my memory is this meme:
I know in the final scene Bill says “Beat it, Audra, beat it†while he’s trying to wake her up on the bike, but I swear I remember the clown saying it too. Does anyone else have this memory/can anyone produce a clip? Thank you!
Sophia, I don’t know if this will help BUT I remember reading that the DVD version of IT is slightly edited. The longest version is on the double VHS tape release and I think it’s about 5 minutes longer. (double tape is listed as 192 minutes on ebay- DVD=187). I wonder if the scene you are looking for is in that missing 5 minutes? I wish I could check for you but I only have the DVD.
BTW I had a similar experience. I remember seeing THE BLACK HOLE in the theater and there being a scene where Yvette Milieux says to Maximilian Schell “If there is any justice, you will burn in hell”. It stuck in my head very clearly but somehow when I went to watch it years later it was gone and I have no idea what happened. Did I make it up? was it altered/edited out? Did I read it somewhere else, maybe the comic book/movie tie-in? Or maybe we’re just stuck in the wrong timeline? Is it like that Mandela Effect/ Sinbad Shazaaam movie?
Okay, so this is not definitive of anything, but it might bring you some peace, if not satisfaction. According to this not at all vetted transcript of the original screenplay, that line only happens at the end, when Bill is saying it. However, I can’t find anything else on it. If it helps at all, I had this exact same issue with “Big Trouble in Little China.” For years, I was certain that Kurt Russel said, “Chinese have a lot of Hells,” only to watch it years later and it was the character Eddie.
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/s/stephen-king-it-script-transcript.html
Could it have been in a tv spot or trailer? Sometimes they have stuff in the trailers and whatnot that don’t make it into the final film.
No idea if this will include the scene you’re looking for, but the longest commercially available cut of IT seems to be the Japanese VCD 3-disc set which clocks in at 195 minutes… Also, it’s almost unwatchably compressed, so keep your expectations in check.
I know when Pennywise shows the deadlights to Audra he says, “Don’tcha want it?…..Don’tcha want it….Don’tcha want it….”
Is it possible you misremembered?
As a die hard Tim Curry fan who has watched IT way more times than humanly possible since it’s original airing, I can confirm Pennywise never says “Beat It, Audra”. He only appears to her when she stops at gas station on way to Derry, and he asks her “Don’t You Want It?” repeatedly.
And the only glaring edits I remember from original broadcast to the DVD is when Bill returns to Derry in part 2, the DVD omits his check in at the local hotel where his novels are on display at the check in desk as he’s a local celebrity now, and there is a conversation between him and the desk clerk woman. Also, the ride to the cemetery to visit Georgie’s grave. The second half on the DVD opens with the cab pulling up to the cemetery
I remember Pennywise saying “Beep beep, Ritchie!”…maybe you got that mixed up with “Doncha want it?”