Comparison between the US version (Jabberwalk) and the Spanish DVD (La Locura Americana).

13 differences, including
* 11 cuts in the US version with a duration of 631.7 sec (= 10:32 min)
- 3 cuts in the Spanish DVD with a duration of 383.5 sec (= 6:24 min)

A few additional master errors with a duration of less than 0.5 sec each were not listed in the report.

The film

In 1962, Mondo Cane was a scandalous title that filmmakers continued to emulate for decades. Ever more absurd situations "from real life" were sometimes more and sometimes less obviously re-enacted or concocted from archival footage to offer shocking zingers for grindhouse cinemas and, of course, the video store market in the 80s. Romano Vanderbes' This Is America also falls into this category. While the Italians topped themselves in this genre, however, in always even more disgusting productions (see, for example, Shocking Africa), Vanderbes' approach is much more harmless.

Especially nowadays, you can't help but smile when the American filmmaker exaggerates the clichés one can have about his fellow countrymen. Electroshock therapies against fast food consumption, minutes of mud wrestling, a brothel ranch with its own airstrip, a drivethrough service - you can't really take it too seriously. Part 2, by the way, takes this a notch higher.

Different versions for the US and EU markets

In America, the pseudo-documentary was released in 1977 as Jabberwalk. However, the film probably became better known in Europe, because in the summer of 1978 it was first released in Finland, then in the Netherlands and also in Germany. Here it was retitled to This is America (or corresponding translations) and was apparently also shown in a modified film version.

It is no longer possible to reconstruct this with absolute certainty, but several sources list the runtime of the US release as 97-98 minutes and the European release as 105 minutes. In Spain, a DVD of about 102 minutes was released (unfortunately only with Spanish audio), which runs at NTSC speed despite PAL. Anyway, the following comparison reveals that you can actually discover about 10 exclusive minutes here compared to an old US VHS with the Jabberwalk title. Conversely, however, this US release also has three additional scenes to offer.

One of these three additional US scenes is included in its entirety and another is partially included with the specially shortened German VHS. This suggests that this material was subsequently lost on the Spanish DVD, and could thus explain the theatrical runtime of 105 minutes. The third scene is interesting because an alternate scene (church mass) is shown as a replacement at the said location. So here the US and European export versions were probably always structured differently and there is no film version that contains all available material. In any case, the additional scenes of the European version are not too spectacular, but still quite interesting here and there in terms of further exploited stereotypes. The US-exclusive scene with the clowns is again quite amusing as well.

Runtimes are ordered as follows: US version in NTSC speed / Spanish DVD in NTSC speed

The production company and the film title differ. By the way, the German VHS here corresponds to the Spanish DVD, which further indicates an export version for Europe.

US VHS (Jabberwalk)	Spanish DVD

06:04 / 06:03-06:38

More shots of the aftermath of the crash racing. Cranes pick up destroyed cars. The off-commentary babbles confusedly that this was financed by big car companies and that they would forge luxury cars from the wreckage again.

Note: This scene is included in the German VHS (minute 6).
Here is a transcript of the dub there: "These demolition derbies, which take place practically every day, are among the most popular American spectator sports and are comparable in their national symbolism to the exhibition fights of the ancient Romans. The automobile manufacturers in Detroit, who secretly finance these smash-and-grab derbies, remelt these grandiose wrecks and they become the glittering Ford, Chrysler, Buick or Cadillac in the next model years."

34,8 sec

10:10 / 10:44-14:31

Following this segment is a report from the All American Indian Days in Arizona. Indians drive through town in a parade of cars. In the evening, a dance is performed and Miss Indian America is crowned. All this is of course absurd and racist nonsense: Instead of "waging war with the white man", the tribes would nowadays only be interested in crowning their prettiest girls.

Note: This scene is included on the German VHS (minute 10).
Here is a transcript of the synchro there: "This is the American West. The prairie town of Sheridan in the state of Wyoming. Once a year, all the Indian tribes left in America come here to an old, once sacred, Indian meeting place to show off the prettiest of the Indian girls. There are the Navajos from Arizona, the Crow Indians from Montana, and the Sioux from the Dakotas. There are the Arapahos, the Apaches, Pawnees, Kiowas, Comanches. At the old gathering place, tribal elders once again smoke the peace pipe to welcome tribes from near and far. But these Indian gatherings no longer take place to hunt buffalo or make peace or wage war against the white man. No, today they bring their prettiest girls to a beauty pageant to choose their own Miss Indian America. This is a thoroughly serious matter, with the honor of the entire tribe at stake, and a ceremony to which no white man is admitted. Throughout the night, while the American girls wait patiently, the warriors of each tribe perform ancient ritual dances to win the favor of the gods so that their tribal girl will be chosen Miss Indian America. Finally, when the gods have been graciously appeased and the dancing stops, the moment comes when the tribal elders announce their final decision. And this one won second place. In the meantime, as in all beauty contests, the tension and uncertainty among the participants is evident. The winner is delighted. The prospect of reigning as beauty queen, even if it is only among Indians and for a short time, is far more exciting than living on a remote, barren reservation."

227,5 sec (= 3:47 min)

31:12 / 35:33-35:34

Censorship: when the camera pauses on the genital area, a few frames have been removed where the man is playing with his member a bit. In other scenes you can still see some private parts and general nudity even in the US version, but here it was probably a bit too crude.

1 sec

42:39 / 47:01-48:58

After the penis tattoo segment, there are a few bodybuilders to be seen during training. This scene is also missing in Germany, unfortunately we can't reproduce the Spanish dub of the off-commentator in detail. There is obviously some musing about the sense and nonsense of physical strengthening.

116,5 sec (= 1:57 min)

47:26 / 53:45-53:57

In the middle, two shots are missing during mud wrestling.

11,6 sec

47:51 / 54:22-54:41

A spectator cheers and more banter in the ring. The men are having fun.

18,7 sec

51:51 / 58:41-58:43

Master error: the camera is closer to the cross at the beginning and pulls back.

2,2 sec

Alternative / Additional material in the US version
55:18-57:36 / 62:10-65:23

The shot of the car outside the Community Church leads to an alternate scene inside said church.

In the US version, it is said that the church had realized that traditional services were often too boring. So they started the "Ministry of the Clown". In addition, we see that the pastor makes up a clown's face, colorful balloons are also ready. The narrator adds that simple actions like blowing up a balloon would have deeper, symbolic meaning here. A balloon bursts when the pastor, now standing on stage in full clown costume, blows it up. The audience applauds. The show continues with an illustration of a dilemma: a blond girl sucks on a lollipop, and the priest takes turns doing the same. Somehow this is meant to illustrate that one could free oneself from sins and share this freedom. There is a bit of dancing together.

The Spanish DVD instead softly fades over to a preacher announcing a young boy. This one then gives a blazing gospel speech about the presence of God in the room as the crowd enthusiastically celebrates him. He walks through the rows and lays his hands healingly on various people. Eventually, there is a soft fade to the follow-up scene.

Note: Comes in the German version at minute 52.
Here is a transcript of the synchro there: "Here in the deep south of the USA, religion is pursued with great passion. And for these people, God also speaks through the mouths of freaks and children. Today, 8-year-old Little Michael Lord's prayer and faith healing is the biggest attraction. A strangely compelling gospel singer, preacher and faith healer who fills churches every night. The sermon itself is unimportant. Fans wait for healings and good old-fashioned faith healing. After the sermon, which is somewhat theatrical, the sick and lame are asked to come forward. Then Little Michael says a few words of prayer, puts his hand on the forehead of the sick person and presses once hard to bring about the desired healing. He is said to have cured both diseases and cancer with his hands. Women are especially receptive to Michael's touch. They begin to speak with other tongues, break into wild dances of joy, or drop into the arms of the waiting church attendants."

Export version 53,6 sec longer



65:32 / 73:19-73:30

Soft fade and two more shots of the couples in little love capsules.

11,6 sec

Additional material in the US version
85:45-88:08 / 93:43

IIn the US version, after the segment about a drivethrough funeral home in Mississippi, comes another segment about dealing with death. We follow a van owned by Trans Time, Inc. as it handles the removal of the newly deceased. On board they have a mixture of liquid nitrogen with which the bodies are frozen and thus supposedly well preserved. The off-commentator also draws a link to Leonardo da Vinci and speculates that some famous personalities are already in this artificial state of suspension.

Note: Interestingly, this is also included in the shorter, German version (75th minute).
Again, here's the German dub for this feature, since the Spanish DVD, as mentioned, only has Spanish audio for it and we can't reproduce it in such detail: "Faced with death, few Americans are willing to admit that their time has indeed come. Now there is a service that offers an alternative. These days, special trucks from a company called Trans Time are on 24-hour call in quite a few major cities to pick up the bodies of their clients as soon as death occurs and store them in liquid nitrogen. Claiming that a just-deceased human body is only somewhat dead, Trans Time offers a freezing method that supposedly preserves the body indefinitely. The corpse is immediately frozen, the blood drawn off and flushed with chemicals. It is then transferred as quickly as possible to a three-meter thermos-like capsule, where it is kept in liquid nitrogen at -150° Celsius. The bodies in this suspended state remain indefinitely in the capsules, waiting for scientists of the future, not yet even born, who will be able to either find a cure or repair the damage that led to their death, thus giving them a longer, perhaps even eternal, life. It is a very expensive hobby. Many scientists are extremely skeptical about the future prospects for frozen cadavers. But the companies that advocate the freezing theory are as optimistic about resurrection as Leonardo da Vinci was in his day with his belief in man's ability to fly. Many prominent and wealthy Americans have secretly embraced the freezing method. And Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, the Kennedys, and Aristotle Onassis are said to be in this frozen limbo."

+ 142,1 sec (= 2:22 min)

90:06 / 95:41-95:49

Someone is being taken away by policemen.

7,4 sec

90:27 / 96:10-96:19

One shot is slightly longer as a man is pinned to the car by police officers and patted down.

9 sec

Additional material in the US version
95:08-96:51 / 101:00

In the US version, there is a soft fade from the billboard to the skyline. You hear a quiet song and see various shots from the film again. When the credits roll after a while, the Spanish DVD is back.

Note: At least the last two scenes of this are also included in the German VHS. So this, too, was probably actually included in the EU theatrical releases at the time.

+ 103,6 sec (= 1:44 min)