From One Author to Another: Adapted Screenplay, 1964

Let us begin our journey the way all movies begin: with a script. Let us, specifically, focus on the scripts inspired by other tales, taking as their inspiration novels, plays, musicals and children's books. The year 1964 was a year of consensus: not only were Best Picture and Best Director five for five, but Adapted Screenplay was drinking the Kool-Aid as well. All five of the Best Picture nominees were adapted, and all five found themselves up against each other in yet another category. From the dramatic to the comedic, the historic to the fantastic, here are your Best Adapted Screenplays of 1964:

Edward Anhalt for Becket, from the play by Jean Anouilh

****

It works so smoothly as cinema that it's hard to believe this was a play...in French! The action is opened up seamlessly, allowing for a great use of horses (horses!), coronations, discovery of dead bodies...you know, stuff that is probably only discussed on stage. It's wickedly funny, too.

Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern for Dr. Strangelove, from the novel Red Alert by George

****

Strangelove's strength is in taking a very serious book on a very serious subject and playing it for sardonic laughs. You're giggling at the absurdity of the American President and the Russian Premier discussing how little or often the other calls just to chat, and before you know it you realize that the world really does rest on the shoulders of people who are just as insecure and fallible as any of us. It tells a joke to tell the truth.

Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi for Mary Poppins, based on the books by P.L. Travers

*****

This could have been just a series of vignettes, but the creation of Bert, the emphasis on Mr. Banks, and the development of that moderation/balance theme make the story flow more naturally. They've done a swell job making Mary both stern and kind, Mr. Banks strict and loving, and Bert just the coolest guy on Earth. And it cannot be stressed enough how great it is that they wrote kids who act like kids.

Alan Jay Lerner for My Fair Lady, based on the musical by Lerner and Loewe and the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

**

As much as I love the movie, I can't really award its screenplay in good conscience. It's the full libretto for the stage version, but instead of "ACT ONE - SCENE 3: HIGGINS' STUDY" we get "INT. HIGGINS' STUDY - DAY". Hardly a challenge. Give it a Tony, but not an Oscar.

Michael Cacoyannis for Zorba the Greek, based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis

***

Zorba has a lot of interesting things to say about life, love, humanity, war, sex, etc. The characters are strongly developed and consistent. There's some subtle work here -- look at the silent characters of the widow and her admirer's father. Good stuff, though I will ding it points when it comes to Basil. I don't get his romance with the widow or his laughter at Madame Hortense or his behavior at all. 

----------------------------

Oscar gave Becket its only win in this category, and while that screenplay is certainly high-fiveable, there can be only one...

WALSH & DAGRADI

for

MARY POPPINS

a spoonful of talent helps the competition GO DOWN

Swingin' Hips, Flyin' Nannies, Bette Davis

Status reports I've promised, and status reports I'm delivering.  I started my own journey through the films of 1964 Monday, and am already up to ten. I had hoped to be closer to twelve, but patience, folks, patience!

"HAHAHA WE'RE SO BAD-ASS"

BECKET

Synopsis: An adaptation of Jean Anouilh's play, depicting the love/hate relationship between King Henry II and Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Capsule: Great start to this project. Burton and O'Toole deliver great performances, certainly one the best of the former's that I've had the pleasure of seeing. Costumes and art direction wow, and I swear I got goosebumps more than once, so awestruck was I by Peter Glenville's directorial choices. The Rome scene is a little out-of-place, both tonally and pacing-wise, but is immediately followed by a first-class scene featuring our leading men and the best horse actors in cinema.

Best in Show: Richard Burton as Thomas a Becket

For Your Consideration: All categories, except for Best Actress and Best Original Song.

Elvis films, horror flicks, and Oscar winners after the cut....

Tinker Tailor, Movie Trailer

Do you remember when, in my Top 25 Most Anticipated post, I put Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy at number nine? Well, it just leap-frogged over everything else to become my Number Two.



This trailer makes me swoon. Thanks to Kristopher Tapley for pointing this out. I mean, how many times can one watch a trailer in a single day before labeling oneself obsessed? Good Lord, this is right up my alley.

Out with the Old, In with the Older

As you can see on the right, the poll is closed and the people have spoken. But before I officially unveil what you can already see, one last mention of 1974: my Top Ten of the Year.

POLL: Tie-Breaker!!!

So...

Because the poll ended in a four-way tie, I had to get a tie-breaker. And I did, in the form of one of my friends from film school, a man whose taste in films is almost on par with my own. This guy introduced me to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was among a group of us that saw Burlesque, and watched Angels in America with me (the first part, anyway). I gave him the years y'all were most interested in -- 1951, 1957, 1964, 1980 -- and asked him to choose. And the year he chose is...

1957!!!

But wait! Just as the polls closed, a tweeter tweeted me their choice, claiming that the poll should have stayed open until midnight instead of midday. You may know her as Concrete Jane, and she demands her vote be counted. So she went with...

1964!!!

Which means I need yet another tie-breaker before deciding once and for all what film year to do (sorry, 1980 champions -- you were loud and proud, but people adore the classic classics). Open for approximatey twenty-four hours:

poll by twiigs.com

Remember to Vote! Last Day!

Today is the final day for voting for the decade you want me to guide us through next. The 1980 fans are loud and proud, both on the actual poll and in the comments, but that year is currently tied (!!!) with 1957.

Once again, that poll is on the right. Or, hell, right below!

poll by twiigs.com

Freeky Fridays: Eine Kleine Joymusik

Taking a brief break from film to take part in a grand blog party called Freeky Fridays. Started by two sisters who are very near and dear to me, Freeky Fridays is a weekly prompt focused on positivity, good vibes, balloonity, named Freekware, a clothing line whose proceeds benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And for why that is...well, that's not my story to tell. You can learn all about Freeky Fridays, Freekware, and its origins at Concrete Jane or Dr. Princess, sister bloggers and keepers of the flame. I really do ask that you read both sisters' posts so that you have a full appreciation of the legacy they're keeping.

Anyway. This week's prompt: If you were making a positivity playlist, what three feel good songs would you include?

It's a difficult question for me, really, since no matter how amped the disco beat may be, most of the songs I listen to are not uplifting. I'm not depressed all the time or anything, but some of the best songs are about longing and love lost and mistakes. I don't write the songs, I just listen to them. "Born to Run" came to mind, but I have a problem with categorizing "someday we'll escape this hell-hole" as feel-good. Goal-oriented, maybe, but not feel-good. My recent Roy Orbison kick offers nothing ("Only the Lonely", "It's Over", "Crying"...good God, and this before his wife and kids were killed). My favorite musicals are about sadness and regret: Follies, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd. And, of course, it would be difficult to place my favorite song of all time, the apologetic disco number "Everlasting Love", on a feel-good playlist, despite its upbeat tempo. Pledge that eternal love all you want, Carl Carlton, she still hasn't said she'll come back to you.

Then there's the fact that most of the music I listen to is by Philip Glass, John Adams, Alexandre Desplat; in other words, instrumental. Do these count as songs? Because I listen to them a lot more than I do anything with lyrics.

And only three? If I'm making a playlist, it's got to at least last me the twenty minute walk to Dunkin' Donuts and back. So, yes, I went for more than three. Indeed, I went and made the playlist:

1. Opening from Mishima - Philip Glass

You know, I've never seen this biopic, and I know the guy ritualistically killed himself or something. But this music feels like you've achieved the unachievable. The music reminds me of riding the monorail at Disney: those chimes of excitement when you catch a glimpse of the park, building up as it comes further into view, and that huge rush of bells when you see that EPCOT ball and the World Showcase, before calming down so you can disembark.

Eleven other tracks after the cut, including Hollmann Award winners, ELO and a very special final track...