J.D. Salinger and the Movies
Upon learning of author J.D. Salinger’s death at the age of 91, I immediately thought of Phil Alden Robinson’s Academy Award-nominated 1989 drama Field of Dreams, in which Kevin Costner’s character sets out to find a reclusive writer played by James Earl Jones.
In W.P Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe, the character is Salinger himself, but not surprisingly, the reclusive real-life Salinger refused to allow the use of his name in the film. Hence, Robinson and Universal were able to cast a black actor in the role of "Terence Mann."
According to the IMDb, the only feature based on a work by Salinger — in this case the short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" — is Mark Robson’s 1949 melodrama My Foolish [...]
by Andre Soares | January 28, 2010
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Tags: Classic Movies, Field of Dreams, J.D. Salinger, James Earl Jones, Joan Caulfield, Jodie Foster, Julius J. Epstein, Mark Robson, My Foolish Heart, Phil Alden Robinson, Philip G. Epstein, Samuel Goldwyn, Susan Hayward, William Holden
Best Films – 1938
Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold in You Can’t Take It with You
FILM
The Adventures of Robin Hood
d: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley; scr: Seton I. Miller, Norman Reilly Raine
Bringing Up Baby
d: Howard Hawks; scr: Dudley Nichols, Hagar Wilde
Dramatic School
d: Robert B. Sinclair; scr: Ernest Vajda, Mary McCall Jr.
L’Etrange Monsieur Victor
d: Jean Grémillon; scr: Albert Valentin, Charles Spaak, Marcel Achard
Four Daughters
d: Michael Curtiz; scr: Lenore J. Coffee, Julius J. Epstein
If I Were King
d: Frank Lloyd; scr: Preston Sturges
The Lady Vanishes
d: Alfred Hitchcock; scr: Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder
Marie Antoinette
d: W. S. Van Dyke; scr: Claudine West, Donald Ogden Stewart, Ernest Vajda
Vivacious Lady
d: George Stevens; scr: P. J. Wolfson, Ernest Pagano
You Can’t Take It with You
d: Frank Capra; scr: Robert Riskin
[...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
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Tags: A Night in May, Abem Finkel, Akim Tamiroff, Albert Valentin, Alfred Hitchcock, Anatole Litvak, Basil Radford, Basil Rathbone, Best Films, Bette Davis, Beulah Bondi, Billy Wilder, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Bringing Up Baby, Cameron Rogers, Cary Grant, Charles Brackett, Charles Coburn, Charles Spaak, Classic Movies, Claude Rains, Claudette Colbert, Claudine West, Clements Ripley, Dame May Whitty, Dmitri Tiomkin, Donald Ogden Stewart, Dramatic School, Dudley Nichols, Edmund Goulding, Edward Arnold, Eine Nacht in Mai, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Ernest Haller, Ernest Pagano, Ernest Vajda, Ernst Lubitsch, Errol Flynn, Fay Bainter, Four Daughters, Frank Capra, Frank Launder, Frank Lloyd, Franz Waxman, Gale Sondergaard, Gary Cooper, Georg Jacoby, George Stevens, Ginger Rogers, Gladys George, Hagar Wilde, Hans Fritz Beckmann, Harry Stradling, Herbert Stothart, Howard Hawks, If I Were King, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Jean Grémillon, Jezebel, John Huston, Joseph Ruttenberg, Joseph Schildkraut, Julien Duvivier, Julius J. Epstein, Katharine Hepburn, L'Etrange Monsieur Victor, Le Quais des brumes, Lenore J. Coffee, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore, Luise Rainer, Madeleine Rénaud, Marcel Achard, Margaret Lockwood, Marie Antoinette, Marika Rökk, Mary Forbes, Mary McCall Jr., Max Steiner, May Robson, Michael Curtiz, Michael Redgrave, Michèle Morgan, Milton Krims, Norma Shearer, Norman Reilly Raine, Of Human Hearts, Oliver T. Marsh, P. J. Wolfson, Paul Lukas, Peverell Marley, Port of Shadows, Preston Sturges, Pygmalion, Raimu, Robert B. Sinclair, Robert Morley, Robert Riskin, Ronald Colman, Rudolph Maté, Samuel Hoffenstein, Seton I. Miller, Sidney Gilliat, Sol Polito, Spawn of the North, Spring Byington, Suez, Sweethearts, The Adventures of Marco Polo, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Citadel, The Great Waltz, The Lady Vanishes, The Sisters, Three Comrades, Tony Gaudio, Una O'Connor, Vivacious Lady, W. Howard Greene, W. S. Van Dyke, Walter Reisch, Wendy Hiller, White Banners, William H. Daniels, William Keighley, William Wyler, Willy Clever, You Can't Take It with You
CASABLANCA Vs. EVERYBODY COMES TO RICK’S
Worth checking out:
Martin N. Kriegl’s brief 2004 essay on the differences (in html) between Murray Burnett and Joan Alison’s "Everybody Comes to Rick’s," the unproduced play that was the basis for Casablanca, and the film’s screenplay credited to Philip G. Epstein, Julius J. Epstein, and Howard Koch.
Here are a couple of snippets from Kriegl’s text:
"Upon first reading both stage play and screenplay, one is tempted to jump to the conclusion that Casablanca is one of the rare occasions where a story, through adaptation from one medium to another, is elevated from a mediocre (if promising) source material to a gem of rare beauty. …
"The character Rick, a former rebel with apparently inviolable values and principles, who has lost [...]
by Andre Soares | December 22, 2008
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Tags: Casablanca, Classic Movies, Everybody Comes to Rick's, Howard Koch, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Alison, Julius J. Epstein, Murray Burnett, Philip G. Epstein
CASABLANCA V d: Michael Curtiz
CASABLANCA IV – Ingrid Bergman
Casablanca is part of a two-disc DVD package, put out by Warner Bros. Disc one has the film in a transfer (1.33:1 aspect ratio) stunningly free of blemishes. The disc also has two theatrical trailers (the original and re-release trailers); an introduction by Bogart’s widow, Lauren Bacall; and two commentaries. The lesser one is by film historian Rudy Behlmer. It’s loaded with information on the making of the film, but Behlmer is just reading from a script of Warner Bros. inter-office memos about the film, and few of the facts are scene-specific. Behlmer’s monotone is also rather off-putting, and he rarely ventures an idea or [...]
by Dan Schneider | December 22, 2008
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Tags: Casablanca, Classic Movies, DVDs, Film Reviews, Howard Koch, Julius J. Epstein, Michael Curtiz, Phillip G. Epstein
Best Films – 1944
John Hodiak, Tallulah Bankhead in Lifeboat
FILM
I Bambini ci guardano / The Children Are Watching Us
d: Vittorio De Sica; scr: Cesare Zavattini, Vittorio De Sica, Cesare Giulio Viola, Adolfo Franci, Margherita Maglione, Gherardo Gherardi
Crime by Night
d: William Clemens; scr: Joel Malone, Richard Weil
Dragon Seed
d: Harold S. Bucquet, Jack Conway; scr: Jane Murfin, Marguerite Roberts
Laura
d: Otto Preminger; scr: Jay Dratter, Samuel Hoffenstein, Betty Reinhardt
Lifeboat
d: Alfred Hitchcock; scr: Jo Swerling
Mr. Skeffington
d: Vincent Sherman; scr: Julius J. Epstein, Phillip G. Epstein
This Happy Breed
d: David Lean; scr: Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Ronald Neame
The Uninvited
d: Lewis Allen; scr: Dodie Smith
Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker, Joseph Cotten in Since You Went Away
CHECK THESE OUT
Arsenic and Old Lace
d: Frank Capra; scr: Julius J. Epstein, Phillip G. Epstein
Home in [...]
by Andre Soares | August 31, 2004
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Tags: Adolfo Franci, Alfred Hitchcock, Alison Leggart, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Arsenic and Old Lace, Barry Fitzgerald, Best Films, Bette Davis, Betty Reinhardt, Carmen Miranda, Celia Johnson, Cesare Giulio Viola, Cesare Zavattini, Claire Trevor, Classic Movies, Claude Rains, Claudette Colbert, Crime by Night, Dame May Whitty, David Lean, David Raksin, Dodie Smith, Double Indemnity, Dragon Seed, Edward G. Robinson, Emilio Fernandez, Ernest Haller, Faye Emerson, Francisco Dominguez, Gabriel Figueroa, Gary Cooper, Gaslight, Gene Tierney, George Barnes, George J. Folsey, Gherardo Gherardi, Going My Way, Henry Daniell, Henry Hathaway, Home in Indiana, I Bambini ci guardano, Irving Brecher, Jane Eyre, Jane Murfin, Jay Dratter, Jean Adair, Jeanne Crain, Jerome Cowan, Jo Swerling, John Cromwell, Joseph LaShelle, Joseph Ruttenberg, Josephine Hull, Judy Garland, Julius J. Epstein, Laird Cregar, Laura, Lee Garmes, Leon Ames, Lewis Allen, Lifeboat, Lucien Ballard, Maria Candelaria, Marjorie Main, Meet Me in St. Louis, Mr. Skeffington, Mrs. Parkington, Murder My Sweet, Otto Preminger, Peter Lorre, Phantom Lady, Phillip G. Epstein, Portrait of Maria, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Renzo Rossellini, Robert Siodmak, Samuel Hoffenstein, Since You Went Away, Something for the Boys, Stanley Cortez, Tallulah Bankhead, The Children Are Watching Us, The Keys of the Kingdom, The Lodger, The Suspect, The Uninvited, The White Cliffs of Dover, This Happy Breed, Victor Young, Vincent Sherman, Vincente Minnelli, Vittorio De Sica, Vivian Blaine, Walter Slezak, Winston Miller
