Book Vs Movie: Little Women
The Louisa May Alcott Classic Novel Vs. the 1994 Winona Ryder-Starring Film
The Margos take a trip back to mid-19th century America with the Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 & 1869 and became a smash hit. To describe the life story of Alcott as fascinating does not do it justice. Hers was a life filled with riches and poverty, with humiliation and joy, with love and hate, with incredible access to the best writers in the world and the worst images of the Civil War and the damage it did to humanity.
Alcott’s father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was a transcendentalist and educator who belonged with the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in the Concord area of Massachusettes. She was raised to be an abolitionist and feminist and was raised to be independent. In her peripatetic life, she moved over 20 times in 30 years before becoming a successful writer and the highest-earning author in her generation.
Little Women is loosely based on her own family story of the protagonist, Jo, being a substitute to Alcott. In the novel we have Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March who are being raised by their mother “Marmee” and their father is serving as a chaplain during the civil war. The sisters are poor but smart and kind. They all have special talents and want to live life to the fullest.
Jo is the most modern with a lack of concern for marriage and society’s expectation of women. She is spunky and whip-smart. A hero to generations of girls, she had been played by Saoirse Ronan, Katharine Hepburn, Maya Hawke, and in the 1994 Gillian Armstrong-directed film Winona Ryder.
Released on Christmas Day 1994, it became an instant classic.
In this episode, the Margos talk about Alcott’s life, the original novels, and how they differ from the 1994 adaptation. So which did they like better? Have a listen and find out!
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- The incredible life of Louisa May Alcott
- The success of Little Women and how it changed publishing
- Key differences in the most popular adaptations
- The cast: Winona Ryder (Jo March,) Trini Alvarado (Meg March,) Samantha Mathis (Older Amy March,) Kirsten Dunst (Younger Amy March,) Claire Danes (Beth March,) Christian Bale (Laurie,) Eric Stoltz (John Brooke,) Gabriel Byrne (Friedrich Bhaer,) Susan Sarandon, (Marmee,) and Mary Wickes (Aunt March.)
Clips used:
- Little Women trailer
- Jo declines Laurie's proposal
- Amy declines Laurie's sorta proposal
- Beth gets a piano for Christmas
- Music by Thomas Newman
Join our Patreon page to help support the show! https://www.patreon.com/bookversusmovie
Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/
Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com
Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com
Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R
Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/
Book Vs Movie: His Girl Friday
The 1928 Play (The Front Page) Vs the 1940 Howard Hawks Film
Writers Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur changed Broadway (and later Hollywood) forever when they created The Front Page, a comedy about irascible, mean reporters in Chicago who are waiting for the hanging of Earl Williams--a communist who killed an African American policeman which makes him a pariah in Cook County.
The reporters who hang around the jail to write about his fate couldn’t care less about justice--they just want a story. Our lead, Hildy Johnson, is ready to leave the newspaper business for good and marry a New York City gal. He claims to be eager for more money and respectability--but his cohorts in reporting know better.
As does his boss, Walter Burns, he schemes to keep him on duty and in Chicago. (Even “kidnapping” Hildy’s mother in law!)
Earl Williams escapes jail and manages to find Hildy alone in the press room. Realizing that Williams is innocent of the charges, Hildy hides him in the company desk and comedy ensues.
The “rat-a-tat” style dialog was a revelation at the time which may explain why it had been adapted several times for film, TV, radio, and on Broadway several times.
The 1940 adaptation from Howard Hawks is titled His Girl Friday switches genders for Hildy with Rosalind Russell playing the part against Cary Grant as Walter Burns. The script was credited to Charles Lederer but Ben Hecht most certainly had a hand in the dialog. (He would later be credited as one of the most successful screenwriters in history with Scarface, Spellbound, and Wuthering Heights in his official credits.)
The Margos talk about the original play and the most successful movie adaptation and decide which we like better.
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- How The Front Page changed Broadway
- Ben Hecht and Herman Mankowitz in Hollywood
- The biggest changes between the original text and the 1940 script
- The many problematic themes of the original material
- The cast: Cary Grant (Walter Burns,) Rosalind Russell (Hildy Johnson,) Ralph Bellamy (Bruce Baldwin,) and John Qualen (Earl Williams)
Clips used:
- His Girl Friday trailer
- Walter Burns, Hildy Johnson, and Bruce Baldwin have lunch
- Hildy returns to quit
- Walter convinces Hildy to stay
Join our Patreon page to help support the show! https://www.patreon.com/bookversusmovie
Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/
Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com
Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com
Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R
Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/
Book Vs Movie: Harold and Maude
The Colin Higgins Story & the Direction of Hal Ashby
The Margos want to sing out! Today’s special episode is based on the novelization of a screenplay by the talented Colin Higgins who manages to good luck his way into having his first attempt at a screenplay produced by Paramount in 1971. Before that, he was an American-Australian who traveled around the globe trying to figure out how to turn his passion for writing into a career. (He would go on to write & direct 9 to 5!)
Harold and Maude became the second film of legendary director Hal Ashby who won an Oscar for editing In The Heat of the Night in 1967 and was eager for the challenge of creating a movie about peace and love.
The film stars Bud Cort as Harold Chason, a young, lonely man obsessed with death and pranks his stiff, upper-crust mother (played by Vivian Pickles) by staging phony suicides. (This is a very dark comedy, by the way!)
One of his hobbies is attending funerals for strangers where he meets his soulmate--Maude Chardin. Maude is 79 years old and lives her life to the fullest. Together they discover the glories of planting trees, stealing cars, music, and fighting the good fight.
Academy Award-winning actress Ruth Gordon plays Maude and this ultimately uplifting film has been a cult favorite since its release in 1971 (though it was trashed by the critics at the time.)
We talk about the journey of Harold and Maude from the script stage to the inclusion of Cat Stevens’s music which makes the whole movie feel like a wonderful daydream.
We also want to give a special shout-out to the Hal documentary directed by Amy Scott and the book Hal Ashby and the Making of Harold and Maude by James A. Davidson which were essential to our research.
Listen to this episode to hear us talk about the book & movie and decide which we like better.
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- The intriguing lives of Colin Higgins and Hal Ashby
- Behind the scenes trivia about the filming of the movie in the Bay Area
- How the music of Cat Stevens is its own character in the story
- The controversial nature of the May December romance between the leads
- The cast: Bud Cort (Harold,) Ruth Gordon (Maude,) Vivian Pickles (Mrs. Chasen,) Cyril Cusack (Glaucus,) Charles Tyner (Uncle Victor,) Eric Christmas (Priest,) George Wood (Psychiatrist,) Ellen Geer (Sunshine Dore,) Judy Engles (Candy,) Tom Skerritt (credited as “M. Borman”) as the cop.
Clips used:
- Maude encourages Harold to LIVE
- Maude steals a car
- Mrs. Chasen applies for computer dating for Harold
- Harold’s Date, Sunshine Dore, and her scene as Juliette
- Tom Skerrit as the police officer
- Music by Cat Stevens
Join our Patreon page to help support the show! https://www.patreon.com/bookversusmovie
Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/
Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com
Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com
Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R
Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/