Don't press "Play" just yet.

Quick promises are the least fulfilled. In previous posts I declared that the premiere of my little movie would occur within x days, and that certainly seemed likely to me at the time. Forgive my wild optimism. As they say in show biz, the project was fraught with complications.

So here now is "Health Care in Black & White" Part 1. Yes, you read correctly. Part 1 only. But hey, it's nearly 10 minutes long. When the final two parts are complete, sometime in x days, the entire film should run about half an hour, far longer than anticipated when I began. But I'll explain later.

Part 1 of "Health Care in Black & White" introduces George Bailey as a man confronting a series of family health care crises. The succeeding two parts mix current events with old footage to build an exciting narrative relevant to our times and unflinching in its convictions. I dedicate it to all who strive for universal health care and a public option.

Be prepared to be impressed. Or not. What you will see in Part 1 sets up the film and is basically the first 30 minutes of Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" radically re-cut to under 9 minutes. There are reasons for this. But I'll explain later.

Okay, I'll explain now. At first, I had a few funny little scenes in mind. The raw material would be old films, current YouTube video and other easily obtainable footage: a mashup to end all mashups. Sort of a stream-of-consciousness enterprise, built on the rough idea of good vs evil and set against the background of the health care debate. For a number of reasons, that rudimentary concept changed along the way. I discovered I wanted to tell a real story, with characters that would require our sympathies and a plot that makes a point--a very pointed point, in point of fact.

Several films are represented in the final work. But why build my little movie's foundation on "It's a Wonderful Life"? Four main reasons. First, it's in the public domain. If I was going to borrow heavily from one film, it made sense to borrow from something in the public domain. A second reason was the framework of the original story, which exactly suited my purpose. I can't say more without spoiling it for you. Third is the remarkable talent that penetrates every frame of Capra's work. The writing, acting, set design, cinematography and direction are magnificent. Jimmy Stewart is the perfect "every man" through whom to relate a morality play to an audience. The other leading stars and supporting actors all turned in pristine performances in the original films, too.

The fourth and final reason for using Capra's films so extensively is this: I want you to care about the characters in this film. Yes, there's humor, drama, action and more. But it is primarily a film that I hope you will take something from to love and remember. Mr. Capra and Mr. Stewart were good enough to bequeath us the essential makings. Those unfamiliar with the original films will not know what has been omitted for the sake of brevity or shifted to drive the story. And I would lay odds that even those who are devoted holiday viewers of "It's a Wonderful Life" won't be able to identify all the hundreds of cuts large and small that I tried to make as seamlessly as possible. Fewer still will note the dozens of audio segments I have cleaned up or time-shifted. What is lost in the changes, while integral to Capra's original film, is extraneous to this short movie and so, I believe, will not be missed in this new context.

Fans of the original films may wonder what monstrosity will come of all this or may even marvel at the gall it takes to rework a Capra film. To them I can only say this: My goal is to entertain viewers, lighten the hearts of all who've worked in the trenches of health care reform and plant an idea or two in the minds of those who now sit on the sidelines of momentous social change. I am an ardent fan of Capra, Kubrick and the other directors whose works have outlasted their initial audience. Admiring their motion pictures as I do, my aim has been to blend their film legacies into something relevant to our health care debate and do it in a manner that pays homage to their various visions. Hence, a longer labor of love than I had expected. By intensively re-editing and restructuring this old footage, I have tried to imbue the result with something of my own sensibilities.

Please understand the delay in getting this out to you. Not only was I faced with re-imagining the story many times as I went, but there also were technical difficulties galore. A third of my keyboard's keys quit working about two weeks ago and still don't work. I spent tedious days searching through sound waves at extreme magnification for annoying micro-seconds of clicks and pops generated by my obsolete version of iMovie. File corruption led to loss of my film's final cut, etc. Several ambitious special effects shots also added to the delay. These shots don't show up until Parts II and III.

A few last notes. The quality of the normal version isn't on par with what I uploaded, though its streams faster. For better quality, press the HQ button at the bottom of the video player. But be warned that you may want to press play and THEN hit pause until the red bar loads completely. This will ensure a smoother playback.

If you like Part 1, rec it so others may see it. You might also send a link on to your friends and to other blogs. And please don't miss the remaining parts of "HCinB&W." With any luck, you might see the whole film by week's end. Then again, I've been known to be overly optimistic.