TWELFTH NIGHT (1996)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 14)

Twelfth Night directed by Trevor Nunn
or
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Trevor Nunn is a renowned name to many in Shakespeare adaptationland. His version of Macbeth from the 70’s (actually just a filmed version of the stage play with Ian McKellan and Judi Dench) is a bare-bones production favorite of mine. His cinematic version of Twelfth Night goes the opposite way with its elaborate costumes and settings and the casting of several stars including Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley.

I know a Shakespeare teacher who prefers the filmed stage adaptation of Twelfth Night with Helen Hunt, though that wasn’t available on video last time I checked. Of course, through the magic of YouTube, it probably is now.

Play or movie? Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most endearing comedies. Read the text and find a version you like. There are certainly a lot of them out there.

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993), AS YOU LIKE IT (2006)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 13)

Much Ado About Nothing & As You Like It directed by Kenneth Branagh
or
Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It by William Shakespeare

I have a friend that says I have a “man crush” on actor, director and modern Shakespeare popularizer Kenneth Branagh. I certainly wouldn’t put it that way, but I am a fan of his creative and accessible adaptations. Much Ado About Nothing (1993) is certainly an entertaining film and I don’t see many others trying to do what Branagh does with Shakespeare. The cast of Much Ado is very high profile and features Branagh, Denzel Washington, Emma Thompson, and Michael Keaton, who is quite funny as Dogberry. I even give Keanau Reeves points for trying as the evil Don John. Also in the cast are Branagh regulars Brian Blessed and Richard Briers.

Branagh’s As You Like It from 2007 was not as critically applauded as the Much Ado About Nothing, but I find the transfer of the story to feudal Japan successful and confess to liking this one as well. It also has interesting supporting performances from Alfred Molina, Kevin Kline, Richard Briers and Brian Blessed.

Movies or Play? I think it would be okay to just see the adaptations on this one, but I would never try to discourage the reading of the plays as well. But I don’t have a man crush on Kenneth Branagh! But see Dead Again, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets if you get the chance anyway. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 12)

Masque of the Red Death directed by Roger Corman
or
Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

Roger Corman and American International Pictures made several low budget versions of Edgar Allen Poe’s works during the 60’s (mostly starring Vincent Price). I wouldn’t say they were exactly faithful, but don’t forget that many of Poe’s original stories, including Masque of the Red Death, were under twenty pages long, so obvious embellishments were needed. I like the old American International movies overall and it was the first introduction for some of us to the works of Mr. Poe.

Book or Movie? I would still read the original story over the movie here. But since the original story is eighteen pages long and the Corman movie is 89 minutes long, I think you can make time in your schedule to see both.

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THE THIN MAN (1934)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 11)

The Thin Man directed by W. S. Van Dyke
or
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

If this had been between Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon against John Huston’s film of the same name, I would have gone for the movie.

Book or Movie? In the case of The Thin Man, I’m going to give the nod to Hammett’s original source over the film. It’s not an easy choice. I don’t think there has ever been a screen couple as engaging as William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles and the banter between the two of them is the best part of their Thin Man movies.

But here are some sample quotes from Hammett’s The Thin Man:

“Tall-over six feet-and one of the thinnest men I’ve ever seen. He must be about fifty now and his hair was almost white when I knew him.Usually needs a haircut, ragged brindle mustache, bites his fingernails.” I pushed the dog away to reach for my drink. (Nick Charles)

“You got types?”
“Only you, darling-lanky brunettes with wicked jaws.” (Nora & Nick)

“A lot of fancier yarns come from people trying to tell the truth. It’s not easy once you’re out of the habit.” (Nick Charles)

“How do you feel?”
“Terrible. I must have gone to bed sober.” (Nora & Nick)

“That’s why I don’t very often drink, or even smoke. I want to try cocaine, though
because that’s suppose to sharpen the brain, isn’t it?” (Gilbert Wynant)

“She keeps trying and you’ve got to be careful or you’ll find yourself believing her, not because she seems to be telling the truth, but simply because you’re tired of disbelieving her.” (Nick Charles)

I love the quote with the description of “a lanky brunette with wicked jaws,” though I can’t read it without picturing William Powell saying it to a smirking Myrna Loy.

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THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 10)

The Grapes of Wrath directed by John Ford
or
The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck

This seems to be a case where the book and the movie are held in equally high esteem. The film is ranked #21 in the American Film Institute top 1001 list and the book is in the top ten of the Modern Library’s list of top English language novels of the century.

I’m guessing that more school age students over the last few decades have read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men than The Grapes of Wrath because it is shorter and probably easier to grasp. But I think Steinbeck’s tale of the Oakies traveling West during the depression looking for a pot o’ gold or at least a roof over their heads is a highly worthy journey to take even if it might take you a little longer to get there.

Book or Movie? Even though I’m picking the book over the movie this time, you got to at least see the scene where Henry (should have won the Oscar that year) Fonda gives his speech to his Ma before heading down that Golden Highway.

I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be ever'-where - wherever you can look. Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad - I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise, and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too.

I can hear Woody Guthrie singing in the background now.

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LOLITA (1962)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 9)

Lolita directed by Stanley Kubrick
or
Lolita written by Vladamir Nabakov

I hesitated many months before choosing Lolita for my reading group due to the controversial subject matter of a middle-aged man’s first person narrative about his infatuation with an under-aged girl. But after skimming the book, Reading Lolita in Tehran, I figured that if these sheltered Iranian girls weren’t traumatized by it, I figured my book group could take it without much fuss.

I was wrong.

One member of my book group kept asking “Who wanted us to read this? Who wanted us to read this filth? I stopped after page 25!” Another member said that in his determination that Nabakov had to be a… "purrr-vert"

Wow! I’m just glad I didn’t choose to read Portnoy’s Complaint!

I did point out to my group that the book is listed on many top ten lists of best English language novels of the twentieth century, but there was no convincing the nay-sayers on the evil of this work.

As far as Stanley Kubrick’s movie version of Lolita, it is in the 1001 Movie book. Now I’m a big Kubrick fan and I think any list of essential movies should have every Kubrick listed since there are so few. (All his major movies are listed in one edition of the book or the other except The Killing, which really should be listed.) However, if I were to leave one of his films out, it would be Lolita. Not that I don’t like it, as it has James Mason and Peter Sellers perfectly cast in their respective roles and is as faithful to this controversial work as a 1962 movie was allowed to be. I’m only saying, I’d put The Killing in the book and remove Lolita if I had to choose between them.

Book or Movie? Obviously I’m picking the book here. If you don’t mind getting in the head of a "purrr-vert," it’s really a substantial piece of literature.

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GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1946, GREAT BRITAIN)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 8)

Great Expectations directed by David Lean
or
Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens

I counted fifty entries on my list of books/plays I’ve done for my Classics Revisited book group and I finished all but four. Unfortunately, Great Expectations was one of them. I liked the story of young Pip, Herbert Pocket, Estella and the mysterious Ms. Havisham; I just kept getting bogged down while reading it and wasn’t able to finish it.

David Lean’s 1948 film version with John Mills and Alec Guinness I did get through and thought was quite good, so I did get the whole story that way. There is also a BBC version I saw starring the guy that was in those Fantastic Four movies, though I am still partial to Lean’s version.

Book or Movie? Since I didn’t go with the David Lean movie for my Doctor Zhivago post, this time I’m choosing the 1946 movie over the book without guilt.

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