Books On Film
Book vs. Movie Five popular adaptations put to the test. BY ZACK RUSKIN
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S HOLLY WOOD CONTINUES to search far and wide for the fodder that will bring Oscar gold and box office blockbusters, the written word remains its most popular source for inspiration. Even cinema’s first “talkie” — the 1927 Al Jolson film The Jazz Singer — is based on a short story by the writer Samson Raphaelson. While many films have failed to surpass their literary counterparts, some have risen to the challenge. Few would claim Mario Puzo’s 1969 pulp mafia novel is superior to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece The Godfather, although James Franco’s 2013 take on William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying would arguably have been better left for dead. In some cases, like Jaws, entire subplots are eliminated to help the film swim along. Thank goodness — who would want to see Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) sleeping with police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider)’s wife when they have a shark to catch? If readers and film fans can agree on one thing, it’s that the debate over which is better — the book or the movie — will outlive us all. As we celebrate the annual return of the Mill Valley Film Festival, we’ve put five films with Bay Area ties to the test against their source material. May the best medium win.
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Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) vs. Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine Before Robin Williams donned oversize glasses and a blonde wig to win back the affections of his children, author Anne Fine first introduced British audiences to Madame
Doubtfire in her 1987 novel for young adults. While Fine’s work was short-listed for the Guardian Children’s Fiction and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award, it has largely been forgotten in favor of Williams’ iconic performance as a San Francisco father willing to go to any lengths to keep his kids by his side. Fine’s novel is no slouch, but it also doesn’t include a scene where Robin Williams plays two characters at once thanks to a face covered in frosting. If only because the phrase “Doubtfire” will forever conjure the visage of Williams, nose dripping with confection, boisterously greeting an unexpected guest (“Oh, hello!”), the movie version takes the cake here. Winner Movie
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The Maltese Falcon (1941) vs. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Hammett’s 1930 novel had already been adapted for the screen twice before Humphrey Bogart stepped into the shoes of private detective Sam Spade. Those earlier attempts — in 1931 and 1936, respectively — failed to capture the spirit of Hammett’s hard-drinking, eagled-eyed protagonist, but in 1941 Bogart made the role his own. Regarded today as a triumph of film noir and one of the best films ever set in the fair city of San Francisco, The Maltese Falcon is a rare bird indeed: both the novel and the 1941 film adaption are brilliant. To choose between them seems as foolish as trusting Miss Brigid O’Shaughnessy at her word, but any book that merits three adaptations in just over a decade is truly impressive stuff. Part of that is likely due to some overzealous filmmakers eager to make a buck, but it’s also thanks to Hammett’s impeccable knack for spinning a hard-boiled yarn like no other. Winner Book
The Maltese Falcon
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Vertigo (1958) vs. D’entre les Morts by Boileau-Narcejac As Vertigo continues to be hailed as perhaps the greatest film of all time, many remain unaware of the 1954 French crime novel upon which it was based. Written by Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud (aka Thomas Narcejac) and credited to the portmanteau Boileau-Narcejac, Among the Dead actually establishes many of the themes that so fascinated Hitchcock in Vertigo and other films, like doppelgangers and the madness that comes from guilt. Some critics have even begun to argue that this source material deserves more credit for the film it would ultimately inspire. Against a lesser opponent, Boileau-Narcejac’s novel would more than
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MARIN MAGAZINE 2018 MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE
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