Rip Torn attempts to Kill Norman Mailer

Yes, it happened. Sort of. This clip is from an 'outtake' from Norman Mailer's 1968 film Maidstone. Mailer in his usual bravura declared the film a radical breakthrough in cinema where reality and fiction blur. It doesn't sound that novel to me. And I think the rest of them realized as much because I've never heard of Mailer's filmic endeavors until now.

Here, Rip Torn tries to brain Mailer with a hammer, prompting Mailer to nearly bite off Torn's ear. Yummy.