"No!Stop it!Is anybody hearing me back there? DO NOT RUN THE TAPE UNTIL I TELL YOU!.He practically spelled out the words.

Going back to his introduction, he was then interrupted by a strange, garbled sound coming over the PA. Apparently the hapless technician had managed to pause the footage, but was still playing the soundtrack. At the wrong speed.

Though clearly exasperated at this slapstick unveiling of such a long-awaited, epic project, a glint appeared in Marty's eye. He pointed to the projection booth and, in his most menacing Goodfellas schtick, warned the guy; "Don't do it,don't do it,don't make me come back there" You could almost imagine De Niro whispering,"You gonna let him get away with that?" in his ear,

It was a funny moment and the New Yorker's home supporters were appreciative, particularly after learning that Scorsese and Miramax had just decided to postpone the US release of Gangs of New York-taking it out of the running for an Oscar. The director explained that there are aspects to the movie-which depicts the conflict between American and Irish gangs in 19th century New York-which may be a little tough to stomach in the present climate.

"What the picture really deals with is who is American; who has the right to be here" he said. "I just came from the editing room and,at this point, I gotta tell you, I look at the picture and things seem different to me. That doesn't mean things are going to be edited in terms of the political climate. What I'm saying is, I really have to take a hard look at this because some of it is very tough. And not just the violence.I'm talking about the attitude and use of racial swear words"

His lecture included an exhaustive plot synopsis, a detailed account of the making of the film, and characteristic Scorsese anecdotes."My grandmother would send me out to pick up a poulet, a chicken," he said while discussing locations."She'd say,'go get one and make sure it's a frying chicken' She was Sicilian and she was very tough so I really had to make sure that I got that chicken. And the funny thing was, this was a live chicken market and they'd take the bird and they would kill it in front of you. They'd put it in a barrel, this little bird that's screeching and screeching with feathers flying... Anyway that's building...it's in the film"

The clips he eventually managed to screen immediately conveyed the film's epic scale; one showed Leo DiCaprio wandering through the old Five Points district, and another depicting an attack on a church, led by Daniel Day-Lewis' character, Bill the Butcher. Pointing out that he'd deliberately refrained from using lots of quick cuts and close-ups, Scorsese said "The life around the characters was so interesting to me that sweeping camera moves were more useful". But he promised that the battle scenes would utilise some of his trademark fast tracking shots.

Announced in 1977, changes in the studio system in the late Seventies/early Eighties are the main reason for the film's protracted development. "The atmosphere had changed by that point." Scorsese explained, "ET and Star Wars had come out and no one was going to pay to build these sets."

So the irony wasn't lost on him when, after Miramax finally agreed to bankroll set construction at the Cinecitta studios in Rome, Scorsese was paid a visit by a friend who was particularly interested in his elaborate recreation of old New York.

Four weeks before filming began George Lucas arrived at Scorsese's Italian office and insisted on photographing the set. "It was just George and myself. George was on the left of the frame and I remember thinking, he's the new and I'm the old, because he said; 'These sets will never be built again Marty, nobody's going to spend this kind of money, that's the end of it.'

"And George was telling me about Star Wars, how he was going down to Caserta in Southern Italy, which is the home of mozzarella... Very important, I was jealous because I wanted to go down there. He was like, 'come down for the day.' And I was like, 'George, I have to shoot in four weeks, I can't. Send me back some mozzarella, what can I say?'

"But he's doing everything on blue screen. His production is all computerised. I have seven,maybe eight shots with a blue screen. So it was a very interesting moment, the old and the new, and I don't think it will ever happen again".