A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : THE LASER ‘PLAYER’ : Hey! All You Live Screenwriters! You Can Sit and Hate Hollywood for 12 Solid Hours

We thought 65 cameo appearances in “The Player” was a lot. It now turns out there were easily a handful of others in scenes excised from the final cut of Robert Altman’s scathing insiders’ look into the movie biz.

Found on the cutting-room floor, but soon to be seen as humorous add-ons to the Criterion Collection laser disc version of the movie to be released in late March, is one with Patrick Swayze, playing himself, sparring with security man Fred Ward on the studio lot where Tim Robbins is the chief production executive. Also cut was Jeff Daniels’ 15 seconds of fame swinging a golf club somewhere else on the lot.

An entire scene in which Robbins works the tables at Hollywood’s Columbia Bar and Grill before sitting down to lunch to talk deals with hard-charging rival Peter Gallagher was considered superfluous, depriving industry insiders of the chance to--quick--catch the likes of producer David Brown, director Charles Burnett, Jim Jarmusch cast regular Richard Edson and character actor Seymour Cassel, among others, lunching in the crowd. (There was already one “doing-lunch” scene in the movie.)

Lily Tomlin and Scott Glenn had such a hard time keeping a straight face reciting certain lines in “Lonely Room,” the film noir-movie-within-a-movie take-off, it became an outtake.

For content, rather than strictly for length purposes, Altman also chose to cut a confusing scene in which Robbins, in his tryst at the desert hideaway Two Bunch Palms with new amour Greta Scacchi, discovers a gun in her purse, throwing into question whether he should trust her.

For the dyed-in-the-wool “Player” aficionado, the disc adds a separate audio track of color commentary by Altman and cinematographer Jean Lepine that runs the entire length of the 128-minute picture. Along with screenwriter Michael Tolkin, they also appear subsequently in separate interviews.

Following them, 20 screenwriters, including cast members Buck Henry and Joan Tewkesbury, get a chance to comment on the state of the industry.

The disc ends with an analysis of the opening eight-minute tracking shot.

Viewing time is estimated to last “a dozen hours,” said laser disc producer Michael Kurcfeld.

“You’d be amazed how many cinephiles there are who eat up this stuff,” he added.

Cinephiles who’d have to be employed--the two-disc set retails for $99.95.