“Of Things Past” marries a film shot nearly 40 years ago with a new storyline, fresh scenes to make movie magic

By Valerie Milano

Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 1/7/24 – Filmmaker Eric Ibarra wasn’t even born when his latest film was shot.

Wait! What? The director of a film wasn’t born when the film was made. How is that even possible?

Well, in the case of Ibarra’s latest project, ”Of Things Past,” it works very well. And here’s how.

You take a film that was made in 1984 and due to various reasons, was never released. Then, you come back 37 years later and reimagine the film, shoot new footage to give it a fresh, new perspective, and there you have it … a film that is like much like a bride’s wedding-day wardrobe.

Something old, something new, something borrowed and something not blue. “Of Things Past” is a film that certainly will tug at the heartstrings, but it is far from something that will make you blue.

The original film stars Michael Moriarity and Louise Caire Clark, and tells the moving story of a young couple struggling to save their marriage after the tragic loss of their two-year-old son. Moriarity plays a physician’s assistant who saves the life of a young girl, seriously injured in an automobile accident. In saving her life, he begins to forgive himself for the death of his son, which helps him, and his wife (played by Clark) heal the rift in the marriage.

Here’s where the film’s “re-imagining” begins. Using 64 minutes of that original fil, Ibarra – who is 31 years old and was not born until eight years after those original 64 minutes were filmed – shot an additional 30 minutes of story to pick up the story 37 years later.
Ibarra, who also edited the final film into an 84-minute final version, sat down with “The Hollywood Times” recently to talk about this unique motion picture.

Click below to see our exclusive interview:

“Those 62 minutes of the original film are a beautiful piece on its own,” he said. “But for various reasons, some of them political, or distribution fell through, or whatever … it was never released.”

At the time of the original project, Moriarity, winner of a Tony Award three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. was a big name. He was fresh off his success as assistant DA Ben Stone in “Law and Order,” and had racked up some high-profile credits in movies such as “Bang the Drum Slowly,” “Who’ll Stop the Rain” “Courage Under Fire,” and “Pale Rider.”

For her part, Clark starred for three seasons as Maggie Scott in Disney Cable’s hit TV series “Five Mile Creek.” She has been in over 200 commercials, including the provocative “Harry and Louise” advertisements, and appeared in such shows as “Matlock,” “Hardcastle and McCormick,” “Helter Skelter,” and “She’s Dressed to Kill.” She reprises her role as the beleaguered wife in Ibarra’s re-imagining.

The original film certainly had star power at the time. Not to be outdone, Ibarra hired Tara Reid, best known for her comedic roles in the “American Pie” film series and “The Big Lebowski,” for one of her very first dramatic roles. He said he was perhaps a bit skeptical about Reid’s ability to do drama, but that disappeared when he interviewed her for the part of the adult version of the young girl saved by Moriarity’s character.

“I had an interview with her, and it was the randomness 5-minute interview,” he said, adding that had interviewed seven or eight actresses for the part. “I wasn’t sure she could carry this part, and immediately I was impressed. She asked pointed character questions and how would I achieve this (re-imagining), and I was like, ‘Yes, this is a professional actress. I can work with her.’ Tara came out of the blue.”

Ibarra said taking the project from a Movie of the Week-style film to its final version was truly a lot of fun.

“Putting the two storylines together has been a fascinating and challenging process.,” he said.” What fun it’s been working on this unique project—taking a movie filmed previously and adding to it an additional storyline.”

“Of Things Past” is co-directed by D. Paul Thomas, who also worked on the script with Frank Dent and Peter J Bollinger. The movie also stars Gary Bayer, Macon McCalman, Peter Von Berg, and the late Jack Nance. The film currently is available on Amazon Prime, Vudu and VOD on major cable systems.