THE SPOILERS (1942)

Posted on March 30, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Ray Enright

SCREENWRITER: Lawrence Hazard, Tom Reed

FILM STARS: Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Margaret Lindsay, Harry Carey, Richard Barthelmess, William Farnum

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Rex Beach

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Grosset & Dunlap

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1942

COUNTRY: USA

COVER: Hardcover

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1905

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Western

WORDS: An action western (for all intents and purposes) film, which is not short on action. There is no subtlety but a lot of fun with two icons of cowboy cinema and a gorgeous Marlene in the middle. Rex Beach’s book was a best seller in 1906 and was subsequently filmed, often … in  1914 with William Farnum, Kathlyn Williams, and Tom Santschi, 1923  with Noah Beery, Sr., Anna Q. Nilsson  and Milton Sills, 1930 with Gary Cooper, Betty Compson and William “Stage” Boyd, in 1942 (this tie-in), and in 1955 with Anne Baxter, Jeff Chandler, and Rory Calhoun. The book, set in Alaska at the turn of the last century during the Gold Rush (like many of Beach’s novels), is a potboiler with a lot of action (yes, I repeated that because there is a lot of action) … perfect for filming, and overdue for another version.

LINKS

TRAILER

MUSIC

The title/end title theme by Hans J. Salter

Posted in Adventure, Novel, Western | Tagged | 2 Comments

AMERICA AMERICA (1963)

Posted on March 27, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Elia Kazan

SCREENWRITER: Elia Kazan

FILM STARS: Stathis Giallelis, Frank Wolff, Harry Davis, Elena Karam, Estelle Hemsley, Gregory Rozakis, Lou Antonio, Salem Ludwig, John Marley

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Elia Kazan

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Fontana

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1964

COUNTRY: Great Britain

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1963 (though apparently based on an unpublished work by Kazan called “Hamal” from 1961)

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Adventure, Drama

WORDS: A short book about director Elia Kazan’s Greek uncle, Joe Kazan, and his struggle to escape the Turks in Anatolia and voyage to America becomes a three hour film, both epic and personal. The book reads like a synopsis of the film, and that is nothing against Kazan who proved he could write long novels (The Arrangement). It seems it may have been a screenplay. In Richard Schickel’s book on Kazan, “Elia Kazan: A Biography” he says “It was not a “novelization” of a screenplay, nor was it simply a published screenplay. It was rawer, more immediate than that” (Harper, 2005, P391). But Kazan himself says in his interview book with Michel Ciment, “Kazan on Kazan”, “I had a lot of notes, but I wrote the screenplay in one burst, over four months, a few pages a day. I think it was 1961. Hamal was the first name of the screenplay, the second The Anatolian Smile (the film’s title in England – typical), and the third America America” (Secker & Warburg, 1973, p146). Kazan took family stories about his uncle, his parents and family friends and wrote a book about migration that, as Kazan says in the book “An American Journey”, appealed to all migrants, especially from the continent. The film is a beautiful marriage of John Ford and Italian neo-realism. A poetic reality which is rough and documentary like around the edges.

Incidentally, and not part of of the film, after Uncle Joe made it to America he saved enough money to bring his extended family over … including Elia’s family.

LINKS

TRAILER

Kazan

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THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS (1970)

Posted on March 23, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Vittorio De Sica

SCREENWRITER: Ugo Pirro, Vittorio Bonicelli and uncredited (in typical Italian fashion) … Vittorio De Sica, Franco Brusati, Alain Katz, Tullio Pinelli, Cesare Zavattini, Valerio Zurlini

FILM STARS: Dominique Sanda, Fabio Testi, Lino Capolicchio, Helmut Berger

COUNTRY: Italy

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Giorgio Bassani

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Quartet

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1974

COUNTRY: Great Britain

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1962

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Drama

WORDS: I love de Sica but I haven’t seen the film nor read this book it is based on.

LINKS

TRAILER

Posted in Drama, Novel | Tagged | Leave a comment

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961)

Posted on March 20, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: J. Lee Thompson

SCREENWRITER: Carl Foreman

FILM STARS: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, Irene Papas, Gia Scala, James Darren, Richard Harris, Bryan Forbes.

COUNTRY: Great Britain / USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Alistair Maclean

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Fontana

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1961

COUNTRY: Great Britain

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1957

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: War

WORDS: Which male didn’t like this book and film? One of the great war films. A great cast combined with action, adventure and a literate script of twists and turns. It’s been a long while since I read the novel but I suspect there was a lot of it in the film … Maclean writes so “film-ably”. Producer / screenwriter Carl Foreman displays his philosophical leaning on the back cover quote.

LINKS

TRAILER

MUSIC

The great Dimitri Tiomkin

Posted in Novel, War, WITH MUSIC | Tagged | 4 Comments

THE YOUNG LIONS (1958)

Posted on March 16, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Edward Dmytryk

SCREENWRITER: Edward Anhalt

FILM STARS: Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Hope Lange, Barbara Rush, May Britt, Maximilian Schell, Lee Van Cleef, Liliane Montevecchi, Arthur Franz

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Irwin Shaw

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Signet

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1958

COUNTRY: USA

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1948

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: War

WORDS: Great film (with that cast how can’t it be?) … with much war and philosophising. I’m sad to say I haven’t read the book yet.

LINKS

TRAILER

ALTERNATIVE VERSION

PUBLISHER: Pan
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1958
COUNTRY: Great Britain
COVER: Paperback

Posted in Novel, War | Tagged | Leave a comment

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962)

Posted on March 13, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: John Ford

SCREENWRITER: James Warner Bellah, Willis Goldbeck

FILM STARS: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Woody Strode, Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, Ken Murray, John Carradine, Jeanette Nolan, John Qualen, Willis Bouchey, Carleton Young, Denver Pyle, Strother Martin, Lee Van Cleef

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: James Warner Bellah

TYPE: Novelization

PUBLISHER: Pocket Books

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1962

COUNTRY: USA

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: Dorothy M. Johnson

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1953

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Western

WORDS: One of my favourite three films of all time (the other two – The Searchers, Rio Bravo). The short story by Dorothy M. Johnson is excellent but, errrr, short, with little of the subplots in the film and many different character names. The film fleshes out all the ideas and puts a level of “John Ford” over the top through the scriptwriters Golbeck and Bellah, both who worked with Ford before. The movement of time, the fluidity of history, and people that come and go, make this a wonderful film. And, what a cast! The novelisation (inevitable as the original short story is quite different in characters) follows the original script. The completed film is a little different to the novelisation … not so much in plot or tone though in some of the lines delivered. Ford wasn’t adverse to playing around with the written script. I have seen this film many times and, like all good films, even though you know where the film is going, the ride is the reward. And, even so, I still get emotional at the start, even if I have seen it a dozen times before. A beautiful, haunting, and occasionally dark film.

Interestingly, there was a stage play (!) from 2014 by British writer, director and theatre producer, Jethro Compton, which is more closely based on the Dorothy Johnson story. See, the internet is useful.

LINKS

TRAILER

MUSIC

Contrary too popular belief the hit song by Gene Pitney was not used in the film (it was based on the title and story and released after the film’s release).

The Cyril J. Mockridge title music

Posted in Novelization, Western, WITH MUSIC | Tagged | Leave a comment

DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)

Posted on March 9, 2022 by velebit2

 THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Kevin Costner

SCREENWRITER: Michael Blake

FILM STARS: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Tantoo Cardinal, Jimmy Herman, Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, Robert Pastorelli, Wes Studi.

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Michael Blake

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Penguin

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1991

COUNTRY: Great Britain

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1988

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Western

WORDS: Michael Blake’s novel, which he adapted into a screenplay, became the hugely successful film directed and starring Kevin Costner. Costner had known Blake from early 80s Hollywood where Blake was writing unsuccessful screenplays (only one was filmed at the time “Stacy’s Knights” starring a young pre-fame Costner). Dances with Wolves reads like a novelization but the original novel was , perhaps, Blake’s trojan horse aimed at getting the already written screenplay made into a film.

The film, and its tales of the west and native Americans I have reservations (sic) with. Putting aside his black and white approach to native American’s and the military, there is also a black and white approach to the different tribes of native Americans. here, the Sioux are heroic, while the Pawnees are portrayed as stereotypical villains. The film also has more than a passing resemblance the 1970 film A Man Called Horse (based on the short story by the Western writer Dorothy M. Johnson). Having said all that it almost kick started a western film revival, and it has its heart, if not mind, in the right place. And, it is quite panoramically epic.

LINKS

TRAILERS

Posted in Novel, Western | Tagged | Leave a comment

THE BACHELOR PARTY (1957)

Posted on March 6, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Delbert Mann

SCREENWRITER: Paddy Chayefsky

FILM STARS: Don Murray, E. G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Philip Abbott, Larry Blyden, Patricia Smith, Carolyn Jones, Nancy Marchand

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Paddy Chayefsky

TYPE: Play

PUBLISHER: Signet

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1957

COUNTRY: USA

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1955

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Drama

WORDS: The Bachelor Party is a 1953 television play by Paddy Chayefsky which was adapted by Chayefsky for this 1957 film. Don Murray played the lead in both, and he is perfect. Don Murray could do little wrong in the late 1950s. The play, like all Chayefsky’s work (and there is a passing resemblance to Marty here (in characters rejecting the behaviour of the pack)), is a “slice of life” drama. The two new literary “movements” in the US in the early to mid-5os were the “slice of life” and “rat race” plays and novels. Both transferred easily to film and television. Coincidentally, a few later, the not dissimilar “kitchen sink dramas” and “angry young men” novels would emerge in England both in literature and film.

Co-workers out for a bachelor party and a night on the town stumble into situations that will test them and their resolve to marriage and relationships. I recall watching this many years ago (and then reading the play some time later) and what struck me was, social mores and fashion aside, how the issues were still relevant at the time of my watching / reading in the 80s, which was reinforced by what I saw when I started working in an office in the 90s. Don Murray’s character, Charlie Samson, is tested and tempted through the night by another woman … just like the other “Samson”?

LINKS

from the documentary retrospective “Don Murray: Unsung hero” (2014) …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V3Vvb5BPno&t=6s

Posted in Drama, Play | Tagged | Leave a comment

JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1975)

Posted on March 3, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Daniel Mann

SCREENWRITER: Trevor Wallace, Eric Ambler

FILM STARS: Sam Waterston, Zero Mostel, Yvette Mimieux, Shelley Winters, Stanley Holloway, Donald Pleasence, Vincent Price, Ian McShane.

COUNTRY: Canada

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: Eric Ambler

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Fontana

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1975

COUNTRY: Great Britain

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1940

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Espionage

WORDS: Eric Ambler wrote many solid espionage and action thrillers. This is one of his most famous. Filmed nicely before in 1943 with Orson Welles (and co-directed by Welles) this new version, despite it’s cast, doesn’t match (an obvious statement) though there is a clunky fun to the film. The book is set in the 1930s and is a solid read though this film version has been updated to 1975. That would have confused any of the punters wishing to read the book of the 1975 film … if there were any.

Poor Donald … a corpse on the cover.

LINKS

TRAILER

Posted in Action, Novel | Tagged | 6 Comments

DARKER THAN AMBER (1970)

Posted on February 27, 2022 by velebit2

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Robert Clouse

SCREENWRITER: John D. MacDonald, Ed Waters

FILM STARS: Rod Taylor, Theodore Bikel, Suzy Kendall, Jane Russell, William Smith

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: John D. MacDonald

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Pan

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1970

COUNTRY: Great Britain

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1966

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Crime

WORDS: I’m a Rod Taylor fan, so, of course I have seen this film (albeit many years ago) but I recall loving its in your face violence. Oddly, though I have read many (and I mean many) John D. MacDonald books, I haven’t read this yet. All John D MacDonald books are readable and he has that knack of creating time and place that create movie images in your head, even if there wasn’t a film made from the novel. Taylor is perfect as “salvage consultant” Travis McGee (who was in a series of MacDonald books). I’m sure this film (and writer) would be a Tarantino favourite.

Posted in Crime, Novel | Tagged | 2 Comments