Access Atlanta > Movies > Blog > Archives > 2005 > August > 11 > Entry
A Film Musical That’s Definitely Not So Loverly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I read your bit on “plays turned into movies” and was surprised in the lengthy list that some of my favorite films were not mentioned.
1) The Bible begat Passion Plays, which begat “Jesus Christ Superstar” on Broadway, which begat the movie. (Musical.) I thought it well-done but I suppose it can’t be shown at school because of religion being involved.
2) Shakespeare wrote “Romeo & Juliet,” which begat the stage musical “West Side Story,” which begat the movie. (Musical.) I thought it well-presented for the time.
3) George Bernard Shaw presented “Pygmalion,” which became a Broadway hit as “My Fair Lady” and was made into quite a reasonable film presentation of fluff rather than the stern view taken in the play - and leaves out the ending. (Musical.)
4) Shakespeare had fun with farce! “The Taming of the Shrew” was well-done by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The lines were not altered but the area of the stage was magnified to hold the movie.
5) Are you not enchanted with musicals or not enchanted with Shakespeare?
J.B. Batchelor III, Loganville
Dear Mr. Broadway,
Perhaps your favorite films weren’t necessarily mentioned in my list because - let’s be frank here - you are not me.
Perhaps it was a trick by the kind high school teacher who originally posed the question, but the wording was “plays into films,” not “plays into stage musicals into film musicals.”
I did think of “The Taming of the Shrew.” Briefly.
I like musicals just fine, even some that you mentioned. But not “My Fair Lady.” I’d have to be trussed up like Malcolm McDowell’s Alex de Large with my eyes propped open and physically force-fed a very dead horse like “My Nose-in-the-Air Lady.”
Do I like Shakespeare?
Sure. It’s why I mentioned four of his plays turned into high-quality films. Maybe, since I also like Kenneth Branagh’s “Henry V” and Roman Polanski’s “Macbeth,” I could have added them.
But I didn’t.
And, sadly, or perhaps not, I must admit I have never, ever been enchanted.
My loss, I know.
Alan
P.S. You get “The Dukes of Hazzard” shorts and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
[Regarding the recent column about movie stunts and action scenes:] How can anyone forget the granddaddy of them all? Steve McQueen in “Bullitt.”
Joel Gerard, Lake Worth, Fla.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I know this is late, but I never forget the stunt in either “Rio Grande” or “Fort Apache” when a soldier rides “in the manner of the Romans” and stands on two horses when he jumps over a rail.
Bill Wesley, Atlanta
Dear J&B,
Oh, you guys.
First, I did not forget Mr. McQueen in “Bullitt.” And I very distinctly recall, when I first saw the film on the big screen, looking across the row in which I was seated and seeing my fellow moviegoers bobbing up and down like they were riding a roller coaster.
But my all-time favorite car sequence is in “Ronin.” It’s so good, there is no second place.
Secondly, if “B” will never forget the horse stunt, how did you forget which movie it’s in?
Roman riding (standing atop two horses going full gallop) is in “Rio Grande” and the stunts were reportedly performed by actors Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Claude Jarman Jr.
Alan
P.S. “J” and “B” each get a “Cinderella Man” T-shirt and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I enjoy your column very much. I have a question. Recently, an article was written [in the AJC’s Movies & More] about the new “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Eleanor Ringel Gillespie.
One line struck my curiosity - “{Tim] Burton and [Johnny] Depp, collaborating on their fifth movie … “
I have searched imdb.com and can come up with only four - “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
What is the fifth movie? This has been driving me crazy.
Elizabeth Dew, Atlanta
Dear Little Girl Lost,
The animated “Corpse Bride.” Depp provides the voice of Victor Van Dort. Burton co-directs. The movie arrives in September.
Production began on “Corpse Bride” about five months before “Charlie.”
Alan
P.S. You get a “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” toy and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Have a question for Mr. Smithee?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Alan Smithee
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Answergrape
August 16, 2005 12:12 PM | Link to this
When / where will “Pretty Pursuasion ” show in the Metro Atlanta market?