The Hummingbird Doctrine

"You've heard about it for years...now, see it for yourself!"

That was the marketing hook for the 25th anniversary re-release of "The Hummingbird Doctrine," the legal thriller that grossed $125 million and made household names out of Trevor Hamilton and Claire Hewitt. Back then, Trevor and Claire were just 27 and 22, respectively; he was in his first major film after gaining fame as medical student Jerome Harris on the ABS drama "No Harm Done," while she was appearing in her first American movie after winning praise for her performance as heroin-addicted prostitute Lizzy Crowley on the Australian miniseries "The Women of Kings Cross." "The Hummingbird Doctrine," based on the bestselling novel by Jacob Gerson, starred Trevor and Claire as Harvard Law School students Luther Hayes and Melissa O'Donovan, who stumble upon evidence that the United States government was directly involved in a violent coup against a popularly elected Latin American leader a decade earlier-and are targeted by government officials desperate to prevent details of the plot from being revealed to the public.

In the book, Luther and Melissa fell for each other while on the run from the feds, and the book featured numerous passages describing in graphic detail the passion with which they made love. However, when the film was originally released, Luther and Melissa were depicted as just good friends; they didn't even share a kiss in the film.

For years, there were rumors that an explicit love scene was indeed filmed for "The Hummingbird Doctrine," but that director Albert Krazinski and editor Francisco Molinaro removed the scene from the version released to theatres, at the behest of either Maybach Pictures (which allegedly feared that an interracial love scene would be box-office poison) or Trevor (who was supposedly worried that his African-American female fans wouldn't appreciate him being in bed with a white woman onscreen). The love scene became a legendary story, and the success Trevor and Claire enjoyed in the years following its release-including four Oscars between them (Best Supporting Actor for "Escape from Pelican Bay," Best Actor for "Jamal's Roses," Best Supporting Actress for "Gough and Margaret," Best Actress for "The Wolves of Scorn")-only enhanced the public's fascination with the scene.

It was a young Maybach intern, Billy Twohey, who found the lost footage in the Maybach archives; Billy told People Magazine that the footage was "exciting" and a "real turn-on." When Maybach announced that it would re-release the "lost" version of "The Hummingbird Doctrine," Trevor and Claire refused to do any publicity for the new edition of the old hit, and repeatedly turned down requests for interviews related to the discovery. They had both moved on with their lives; Trevor had married R & B singer Ella Houghton in 1998 and was now the father of three children, while Claire had given birth to two children with her husband, songwriter and producer Kevin Clougherty, whom she married in 2004. Yet both Trevor and Claire knew that one day, they would have to see the full "lost" version for themselves.

And so, just a week before the US re-release of "The Hummingbird Doctrine," Trevor flew from New York City to the Burbank, California headquarters of Maybach Pictures, where for the first time since filming their last scene together a quarter-century earlier, he met Claire, who had flown in from Melbourne. Brian Walsh, the current CEO of Maybach Pictures, had arranged a private screening for both stars.

The old memories came back as they watched their scenes; Claire remembered how many times it took to film the scene in which an armed would-be assassin chases Melissa near a raging river, while Trevor smiled as he recalled how soaked he was in a scene where Luther flees another hitman in the midst of a rainstorm.

Then, an hour into the new version, came The Scene. Luther and Melissa were in an abandoned house, having escaped yet another attempt on their lives, when Melissa tells Luther how afraid she is of dying. Luther promises that he will do everything in his power to protect her. They embrace and then kiss passionately before removing each other's clothes and making love.

Watching their younger selves onscreen, Trevor and Claire remembered the very day the scene was filmed...how exciting it was to feel their bodies next to each other...how Albert became so lost in the moment himself he almost forgot to yell "Cut" at the end of the scene. Trevor recalled how horny he became when he saw Claire's pale-white, lightly-freckled complexion, the soft pink of her nipples, the loveliness of her stomach and navel. Claire likewise recalled the vision of Trevor's fully erect penis as they filmed the scene, the sensation of his smooth brown skin, the ridges of his muscular chest. The full scene was hot, far hotter than Trevor had remembered when Albert and Francisco had shown him a few clips all those years ago, when the director and editor were trying to figure out a way to keep his erection from being visible onscreen before the decision was made to cut the scene.

Suddenly, Trevor felt Claire's fingers on his right hand. Her fingers were just as pale as they were twenty-five years ago. He looked at her in the darkened screening room, and she seemed even lovelier now at 47 than she had been at 22.

"Trevor," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can I do something, and you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Sure."

"I promise I won't tell either."

"OK."

Claire leaned over and kissed Trevor full on the lips, and in that kiss, they felt the very same passion that went through their bodies when filming the scene now playing out in front of them. It lasted just a moment, and as she pulled away they smiled at each other in shock.

"Not a word, Trevor," she whispered again.

"Not a word."

An hour later, the film finally ended, still with no kiss at the end. Before the credits began to roll, Trevor and Claire held hands for a brief moment, exchanged one last look, and quietly exited the theatre together.

One week later, in a cover story on the re-release topping the American box-office charts, Variety magazine declared, "The Hummingbird Flies Again!"