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| Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 03:35 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| So I've been watching way too much TV with a bad shoulder. Just finished the 1976 BBC series, THE GLITTERING PRIZES, by Frederic Raphael, adapted from his novel. It's the story of a group of friends at Cambridge in the early 50's, and how their lives unfolded and intertwined up to the present day. Tom Conti, in a virtuoso performance, played Adam Morris--a character clearly modeled on Raphael himself: a Jew who studied classics and became a writer of both novels and award-winning screenplays. In the final episode, Adam's friend, Mike Clode (Mark Wing-Davey, playing a fairly unpleasant fellow), promises he'll consider making a movie of Adam's latest novel "after 'Home, Sweet Homer.'" Adam says, incredulously, "Home, Sweet Homer?" "it's a working title," Mike reassures him. "What?" says I from the couch. Because to all us theatre nerds, that means only one thing: the Mitch Leigh flop with Yul Brenner that opened and closed on January 4, 1976 after a lengthy tour (I saw it myself). So how on earth did that title end up in Raphael's book (published Jan-Feb 1976) and then the later teleplay? The ill-fated musical had been called ODYSSEY through the summer of 1975; earliest mention of the rename I found in cursory poking in the NYT archives is September 24, 1975. I don't know at what point Raphael had to finish his manuscript and approve proofs for a Jan-Feb publication, but I'm guessing it was around the time of the name change of the show. And there could be another link between Raphael and the famous flop. The original lyricist-librettist of ODYSSEY was Erich Segal--best known for LOVE STORY. Segal wisely jumped ship, taking his name off the credits of the show when it hit the west coast (I think late spring 1975)...but retained a percentage interest in the production. And Segal was a Jewish classicist who also wrote novels and screenplays, as well as Latin and Greek translations and studies of the ancient world. I have no proof that they knew each other, but given my own knowledge of academia--people often know the others in their field. And these two had their whole exra-curricular writing careers in common as well. So I'm guessing Raphael knew Segal, was aware of what was happening with the show, and deliberately slipped in that infamously idiotic title in the novel's final pages. Because I just can't imagine Raphael coming up with that on his own at the exact time a show with that name was limping to New York. Laura |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: SRMHAYES 03:04 am EST 01/15/18 | |
| In reply to: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - showtunetrivia 03:35 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Brynner | |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: MFeingold 08:08 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - showtunetrivia 03:35 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Segal seems to have liked this kind of wince-worthy pun. His 1961 Off-Broadway musical SING MUSE! features a song, sung by Helen of Troy, titled "Your Name May Be Paris (But I'll Call You Gay Paree)." | |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: scoot1er 05:12 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - showtunetrivia 03:35 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| The Glittering Prizes is one of the best written and acted series I have ever seen. Thanks to your discussion, I went to Amazon and ordered the last DVD on offer. I can’t wait to watch it again. Thanks for the memory. | |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: Ann 09:02 am EST 01/15/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - scoot1er 05:12 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Just in case people are disappointed ... there are several listings for the DVD set on Amazon and at least one is still in stock. Maybe you were talking about a particular region. | |
| Link | The Glittering Prizes on DVD |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: scoot1er 10:18 am EST 01/15/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - Ann 09:02 am EST 01/15/18 | |
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| When I ordered it, there was a note that said “only one left” or words to that effect. | |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: garyd 05:07 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - showtunetrivia 03:35 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Is it actually in the novel or just the teleplay? | |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 05:18 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - garyd 05:07 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Both. And the novel was published Jan-Feb 1976. Laura |
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| Hmm... | |
| Posted by: garyd 05:23 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - showtunetrivia 05:18 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Well, your Segal connection makes sense. | |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 04:51 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - showtunetrivia 03:35 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Oh, I don't know. I think that "Home, Sweet Homer" is just the kind of jokey title that might occur to two classicists simultaneously, if they happened to be in need of a jokey title for some reason. Maybe they published novels faster in the 1970s than they do now, but my sister is a novelist, and I know that she signed off on the final page proofs for her latest book some months ago, and on the final edit of the manuscript some months before that (early in 2017), and her publication date still isn't until July 10 of this year. But you remind me of how much I loved The Glittering Prizes when I saw the original American broadcast in what must have been 1977. I'd love to see it again. |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 05:27 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - keikekaze 04:51 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| The publishing biz has gotten much, much slower. My husband sold his first novels in 1978. Everything was faster: editorial responses (across the board!), the time for the creation of first copy-edited MSS and then unrproofed galleys, the time between galleys and publication, and yes, of course, payment. (rueful laugh) I agree, it's a classicist's joke (for my doctoral exams, I did a minor in classics). But I can't get over the coincidence of that title and the timing. Laura |
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| re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! | |
| Posted by: garyd 05:45 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Home, Sweet Homer....in British literature! - showtunetrivia 05:27 pm EST 01/14/18 | |
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| Gussow was still referring to it as Odyssey in an August column. The next mention I can find is Sept 14 and it is referred to as Home, Sweet Homer. (by another columnist). | |
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