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| Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| I just realized that, other than The Picture of Dorian Gray, I've never seen a film adaptation of one of his works. Are there any worth seeking out? Incidentally, the reason I was prompted to ask this was the YouTube algorithm gods (rightly) decided to serve me this video tonight -- what is likely Angela Lansbury's final curtain call from her benefit reading of The Importance of Being Earnest. Love that raised cane at the end! |
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| Link | Angela Lansbury's (likely) final Broadway curtain call |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: jero 07:56 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| I wonder what you'd think of Matthew Bourne's take on Dorian Gray. | |
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| This. | |
| Posted by: Alcindoro 05:04 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| But try to watch it with a sound set up that allows you to appreciate Richard Strauss' score. Not mention Teresa Stratas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ1kHi1HjQE |
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| re: This. | |
| Posted by: larry13 05:20 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: This. - Alcindoro 05:04 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| Stratas told a great story about the making of this film. Originally it was supposed to have been conducted by Herbert von Karajan and(at least she thought)was only to be a film. Then Karajan told her he would conduct it fully staged afterwards, as he frequently did then. She voiced overwhelming doubts as to her ability to do Salome onstage. He told her not to worry; there would be a ballerina to do the Dance of the 7 Veils. Stratas replied, "the Dance is the only thing I know I can do!" When she didn't budge, Karajan dropped the whole project. Later she was approached about doing the film with Karl Bohm conducting. She immediately agreed. |
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| "An Ideal Husband" and "Wilde" | |
| Posted by: Vivian 03:04 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| Two very special movies I've watched many times are An Ideal Husband and the biopic Wilde. "An Ideal Husband" is a wonderful, dry comedy starring Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Jeremy Northam and Julianne Moore as the villain. It's sublime. "Wilde" is NOT AN ADAPTATION OF A WILDE WORK BUT an Oscar Wilde biopic with Stephen Fry and Jude Law in the story of Wilde and Bosie. It's such a lovely, sensitive film. ("The Judas Kiss" by David Hare is another retelling of that fascinating saga. It's a play and I don't know if it was filmed, but it's a great play and I'm sure you can find it in print.) These are three I highly recommend if you're on a Wilde trip... Vivian |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: shaggyhair 11:05 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| Not mentioned yet is A Good Woman (2004), based on Lady Windermere's Fan, with Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson. I believe there are other film versions of LWF as well. | |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: portenopete 09:54 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| Thank you for alerting us to that clip- even though Black Jeopardy! wasn't what you were intending!- and allowing us to share in Dame Angela's moment of glory. What a gift we have gotten, those of us lucky enough to see her onstage these past 15 years. Having grown up resigned to never seeing her live, I got to see four of her stage appearances live (Deuce, A Little Night Music, The Best Man and Blithe Spirit) and one live-to-cinemas (Driving Miss Daisy). The ovation that greeted her and Marian Seldes when the curtain went up on Deuce was unforgettable. It just went on and on. the sheer joy in the theatre that she was back. It's like what the title song in Dolly! is going for but rarely achieves. Now to the Oscar Wilde film adaptations: yes, as someone noted below, the Michael Balcon IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a classic, with what I have always thought of as the definitive Lady Bracknell in Dame Edith Evans surrounded by legends like Michael Redgrave, Joan Greenwood, Dorothy Tutin, Margaret Rutherford, Miles Malleson and lovely Michael Denison (whom I got to see towards the end of his career in Peter Hall's revival of An Ideal Husband alongside his wife Dulcie Gray: I saw it in London but it transferred to Broadway: did they come with it?) And I've never seen it, but Alfred Hitchcock's silent film of Lady Windermere's Fan has always sounded intriguing. |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: singleticket 04:15 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - portenopete 09:54 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| And I've never seen it, but Alfred Hitchcock's silent film of Lady Windermere's Fan has always sounded intriguing. It's directed by Lubitsch and a very smart adaptation considering that it doesn't rely on Wilde's dialogue to move the story forward. The art direction by Harold Grieve and the uncredited Edgar G. Ulmer brilliantly reveals the characters through their environments. |
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| How right you are! | |
| Posted by: portenopete 01:38 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - singleticket 04:15 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| I was mistaking his lensings of two other plays: Coward's EASY VIRTUE (silent) and O'Casey's JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK (talkie)! | |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: larry13 12:54 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - portenopete 09:54 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| Yes, Denison and Gray did IDEAL on B'way. A rare and wonderful final treat for us. And--this is for another poster on the subject of Wilde films--I know what you mean but Wilde is not really "costume drama" unless you're saying, which I doubt you are, that the films were just beautiful art direction and cinematography. |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: MattPhilly 01:19 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - larry13 12:54 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| That was to me, and yes, I agree, wrong term. I guess I meant film versions of classic British literature. I lumped the two specific Wilde film adaptations in with films like Dracula, Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and several Shakespeare adaptations that all came out within the same 10 year span. | |
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| ERRATUM ABOVE and what about the Roundabout production? | |
| Posted by: portenopete 10:06 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - portenopete 09:54 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| It's Anthony Asquith, not Michael Balcon who directed EARNEST. And I'd forgotten that when the Stratford Festival transferred its gorgeous 2010 (?) production starring Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell, it was filmed and shown....where? Great Performances? Broadway HD? I was disappointed that the expert duo of Ben Carlson and Mike Shara did not get to reprise their Jack and Algy on Broadway, but David Furr and Santino Fontana were excellent replacements and Dana Ivey and Paxton Whitehead were luxury casting for Prism and Chasuble. In addition to Bedford's preening Bracknell, Sara Topham was aa terrific Gwendolyn (easy to imagine her transformation into her mother) and the outrageous picturesqueness of the late Desmond Heeley's design were all both brought down from Canada and greatly appreciated on Broadway. If only William Hutt's legendary 1976-1977-1980 performances as Lady Bracknell had been filmed! That great direction Robin Phillips gave him: "She can move through a room without upsetting one speck of dust." (In the photo below you can see that direction in action just by looking at his face.) |
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| Link | Photo of William Hutt as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Stratford Festival (Ontario) in 1976. |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: MattPhilly 08:20 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| The Importance of Being Earnest was done in 2002 with Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, and Judi Dench. I enjoyed it and found Dench to be a great Bracknell. Everett also did An Ideal Husband in 1999 with Minnie Driver, Cate Blanchett, and Julianne Moore. It seems like there were lots of rising Hollywood A listers doing British costume dramas in the late 90's and early 00's! |
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| Both of them adapted and directed--delightfully--by Oliver Parker. | |
| Last Edit: Seth Christenfeld 02:23 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| Posted by: Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 02:22 pm EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - MattPhilly 08:20 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| Parker also directed an adaptation of Dorian Gray, but I haven't seen it. Seth, who should dig those up |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: young-walsingham 04:11 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| Angela does not appear in this game show? | |
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| Wrong link! | |
| Posted by: Showtunegal 09:39 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - young-walsingham 04:11 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| It's funny to get Black Jeopardy when we are looking for Angela Lansbury as Lady Bracknell, though. | |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: blue70 11:34 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
| In reply to: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - DistantDrumming 10:58 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| Yes, the Importance of Being Earnest (1952) available on DVD, Amazon Prime, and Hoopla Digital. Michael Redgrave ... Ernest Worthing Richard Wattis ... Seton Michael Denison ... Algernon Moncrieff Walter Hudd ... Lane Edith Evans ... Lady Augusta Bracknell Joan Greenwood ... Gwendolen Fairfax (Her Daughter) Dorothy Tutin ... Cecily Cardew Margaret Rutherford ... Miss Letitia Prism Miles Malleson ... Canon Chasuble Aubrey Mather ... Merriman |
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| Link | Clip from The Importance of Being Earnest |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:26 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - blue70 11:34 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| I think the 1947 film of An Ideal Husband holds up pretty well. I also rather like the old Hollywood Canterville Ghost, even though it's pretty far from Wilde. | |
| Link | An Ideal Husband |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: ARM25 08:27 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - AlanScott 12:26 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| Salome (1922) and Salome's Last Dance (1988) are two good adaptions of the Wilde play. | |
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| re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 10:02 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Are there any good Oscar Wilde film adaptations? - ARM25 08:27 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| There are some great biopics about Wilde. My favorite is one with Michael Gambon, who is deeply touching (I think it was a BBC version, but I had a videotape of it.). And there’s the large-scale one in which Stephen Fry plays Oscar (with aplomb and glamor if a lack of depth), which includes Jude Law’s indelible Bosie, Jennifer Ehle’s perfect Constance, and Vanessa Redgrave as his mother. The extraordinary THE HAPPY PRINCE, which circles around that fairy tale for its theme, was Rupert Everett’s labor of love in which he captures so much of the paradox of the martyr/genius/predator/saint. One needs a bit of acquaintance with the biography to follow it, I think, because flashback and fever-dream are its sylistic paths, but it is very worth attention, and Everett fulfills every artistic promise he ever showed. Big bravo. |
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