The History of Adaptations
Thirties
Forties
It’s time to step back a bit with the history of adaptations. To prepare for what’s coming up during the Fifties, I need to cover the early years of the film industry. I’m still using the compiled list at Filmsite.org as a base. By using what was popular, I hope that the movie titles and the actors are familiar to readers to give an idea of how beloved films came about.
I delayed looking at the early years mainly because of the age of the works. I was expecting the era to be mainly adaptations of works long forgotten. I was also expecting works that were lost to the ages, through neglect, disaster, or other means. Several of the works below have been lost, with only production and marketing stills the only remains. Others, though, have been preserved and enshrined.
The early years of the movie industry didn’t have anything like the MPAA or the Hays Code to limit or even censor content. Censoring was done at the local level, by concerned citizens. Movies could be and were as steamy as they wanted. However, local censors could remove scenes that they felt were offensive to moral standing.
The Great War, as World War I was known prior to 1939, began in 1914. The war began with the armies using tactics from open ground charges as seen even in the American Civil War to trench warfare, due to the weapons used being far more lethal than in previous conflicts. Artillery and the machine gun changed how infantry was used, and the introduction of airplanes further evolved tactics. The War resulted in over 16 million dead and 20 million wounded by the time it ended in 1918.
Prohibition took effect in the United States in January of 1920 with the certification of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919. The Amendment made illegal the production, transport, and sale of alcohol, though, if one could somehow obtain it without violating the law, private consumption and possession was not prohibited. To assist in enforcing Prohibition, the Volstead Act was also passed, with both the House of Representatives and the Senate overriding President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. The Act prohibited intoxicating beverages, defined as over 0.5% alcohol by volume; regulated the making, selling, and transporting of intoxicating liquor; and ensured there was a supply of alcohol for use in scientific research and for religious rituals. The Twenty-First Amendment, certified in December of 1933, repealed the Eighteenth while still prohibiting the transport of alcohol across state lines when that transport was in violation of state laws.* Moves became a legal form of entertainment, one where audiences didn’t have to worry about money getting into the hands of criminals.
The Nineteenth Amendment fared better. The Nineteenth gave women the right to vote in August of 1920. With the right to vote and the dawning of the Jazz Era, the flapper was born. Women could have a greater influence on their communities, and young women were eager to take the opportunity available. The Roaring Twenties saw an exuberance until it ended with the stock market crash of 1929, heralding the Great Depression of the Thirties.
Movie technology was in its infancy. Most of the films listed are silent movies, unless otherwise noted. The advent of sound was huge. Early films needed someone in the theatre to play the music. As sound recording developed, the musician was replaced by a separate recording that needed to be synchronized with the film. The Jazz Singer, as discussed below, represents a huge leap in audio. Colour was also slowly coming about. Technicolor**, invented in 1916, used a red-green additive process in the early years, but costs could be prohibitive.
The era had a mix of styles as directors experimented to see what worked and what didn’t. Epics, comedies, dramas, the early years had them all. The list below is lengthy, but covers fifteen years instead of the usual ten. Accounting procedures would have had to account for releases moving from city to city instead of a release across the country on the same day.
1915
The Birth of a Nation – adapted from the novel and play The Clansman by Thomas Dixon Jr. This was director D.W. Griffith’s movie about the birth of the Ku Klux Klan and left controversy in its wake.
1916
Intolerance – original. D.W. Griffith made this movie in response to the reaction to the The Birth of a Nation, showing the dangers of prejudice.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – adapted from the novel by Jules Verne.
1917
Cleopatra – adapted from several sources; H. Rider Haggard’s novel Cleopatra, Émile Moreau’s play Cleopatre, and William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Starred Theda Bara as eponymous ruler and Fritz Leiber, the science fiction author‘s father, as Caesar. Cleopatra has been lost to the ages after two fires destroyed the only full prints in existence, leaving only production stills and fragments of the original film. Bara’s costuming, what there was of it, was considered scandalous at the time and could still be considered risqué today.
1918
Mickey – original. Starred Mabel Normand as the titular tomboy and was produced through her film company.
1919
The Miracle Man – an adaptation of an adaptation, Frank L. Packard’s novel via the 1914 George M. Cohan play, both of the same name. Another lost movie, it starred Lon Chaney.
1920
Way Down East – adapted from the play Way Down East by Lottie Blair Parker. Another D.W. Griffith film, it starred Lillian Gish. The climax has Gish running across an icy river, a scene more famous than the rest of the movie.
Over the Hill to the Poorhouse – adapted from the 1872 poem “Over the Hill to the Poorhouse” by Will Carleton, thus showing that the film industry will adapt other media.
Something to Think About – original. Cecil B. DeMille directed the film that Jeanie Macpherson scripted. The two will combine efforts for several more movies. Gloria Swanson starred.
1921
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – adapted from Vicente Blasco Ibañez’s novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Set during the Great War, the film established Rudolf Valentino as the Latin Lover despite being a supporting role.
The Kid – original. Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the film. His co-star was Jackie Coogan, better known today as Uncle Fester from the black and white Addams Family TV series.
1922
Robin Hood – adapted from the legend of the roguish outlaw. Douglas Fairbanks starred as Robin with Alan Hale co-starring as Little John. Hale would reprise the role with Errol Flynn in 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood and with John Derek in 1950’s Rogues of Sherwood Forest. Robin Hood was the first movie to have a Hollywood premiere.
Oliver Twist – adapted from the Charles Dickens novel. The movie had Lon Chaney as Fagin and Jackie Coogan as Oliver.
1923
The Ten Commandments – adapted from the Bible. Cecil B. DeMille directed and Jeanie Macpherson wrote the script. DeMille would go on to do a partial remake of the film in 1956.
The Covered Wagon – adapted from Covered Wagon, a novel by Emerson Hough. Alan Hale played Sam Woodhull, the film’s villain. The movie was dedicated to the memory of Theodore Roosevelt.
1924
The Sea Hawk – adapted from the novel of same name by Rafael Sabatini. The 1940 Errol Flynn movie was originally going to be another adaptation of the book, but went a different direction, using Sir Francis Drake as an inspiration.
1925
The Big Parade – adapted from two sources; Joseph Farnham’s play of same name and Laurence Stallings’ autobiography Plumes. The movie was directed by King Vidor and was set in the Great War. It is considered the first realistic war drama.
Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ – adapted from the 1880 novel of same name by Lew Wallace. William Wyler, the assistant director, would remake the movie in 1950, including a shot-for-shot reproduction of the chariot race. The chariot race itself is influential, as can be seen in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace with the pod-race.
The Gold Rush – original. Charlie Chaplin starred as the Tramp, and also was the writer, director, and producer.
1926
Aloma of the South Seas – adapted from the 1925 play of same name by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemems. The movie would be remade in 1941 with the same name, starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall. Once again, the movie is considered to be lost, with no prints known to have survived.
Flesh and the Devil – adapted from Hermann Sudermann’s play The Undying Pass. Greta Garbo stars with John Gilbert.
For Heaven’s Sake – original. A Harold Lloyd action-comedy. Lloyd alternated between character pieces and action/comedy to keep audiences coming out to see his works.
What Price Glory? – adapted from the 1924 play of same name by Maxwell Anderson and Lawrence Stallings. The movie was remade in 1952 as What Price Glory with James Cagney.
1927
Wings – original. Set during the Great War, it starred Clara Bow and saw Gary Cooper in a role as a doomed cadet. Wings was the first film to win an Academy Award. With The Big Parade and What Price Glory?, both above, showing that audiences wanted to see war movies, Paramount played Follow-the-Leader. The studio hired director William A. Wellman because he had experience in airplane combat in the War.
The Jazz Singer – adapted from the the play The Jazz Singer by Samson Raphaelson, which was based on his short story “The Day of Atonement”. The Jazz Singer was the first feature length talkie, at least partially. There was still some synchronization of film and audio recording, but Al Jolson’s singing was integrated with the playback.
Love – a very loose adaptation of /Anna Karenina/ by Leo Tolstory. The movie took advantage of the film chemistry between Greta Garbo and John Gilbert as seen in Flesh and .the Devil, above.
1928
The Singing Fool – original. This was Al Jolson’s follow up to The Jazz Singer. Still only part-talkie, but that was the music, which audiences were coming out to hear.
The Road to Ruin – original. The movie was an exploitation film that warned against the dangers of alcohol and sex. Helen Foster stars as the unlucky teenaged girl who drinks during Prohibition and sees men. The movie was remade in 1934 with sound with Foster in the same role despite being 27 at the time and six years older than the actor portraying her boyfriend. Since alcohol was legal in 1934, it was replaced by drugs in the remake.
1929
The Broadway Melody – original. It was a musical that took advantage of the new sound technology. Also had a Technicolor sequence, influencing a trend of musicals using colour. The Broadway Melody was the first all-talking musical, unlike Jolson’s movies above which were only partially talkies. The film won the Academy Award for Outstanding Picture (now called Best Picture). Three sequels were made, The Broadway Melody of 1936, The Broadway Melody of 1938, and The Broadway Melody of 1940. The movies was also remade in 1940 as Two Girls on Broadway.
Sunnyside Up – original. Once sound technology became easier to use, musicals, such as Sunnyside Up flourished.
Of the 29 films listed above, 18 are adaptations with the remaining 11 being original works. Of the adaptations, two, The Miracle Man and The Jazz Singer, were second generation adaptations, having adapted material that itself was an adaptation. Two more, Cleopatra and The Big Parade, used multiple sources, with Cleopatra pulling from three different original works and, ultimately, the life of the Egyptian queen herself. Six movies, two of them original works, would get remade; Robin Hood in 1940, The Ten Commandments in 1956, Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ in 1959, What Price Glory? in 1952, the The Road to Ruin in 1934, and The Broadway Melody in 1940. The remakes of The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ will appear in the discussion for the Fifties; the movies were popular in two eras.
With the advent of sound in 1927, especially after The Jazz Singer, musicals became popular. Three of the four movies listed after 1927 are musicals, and they are all original works. Prior to 1928, nine movies, or half of the adaptations, were based on stage plays. Eleven were based on novels, including the movies with multiple sources, such as Cleopatra, and adaptations of adaptations. The Bible, a short story (itself adapted as a play before becoming a film), and a poem account for the remaining adaptations. Plays were an expected source; they’re already written and have had performances on stage. Novels, especially the older ones like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, have a good chance of being read by a portion of the audience. The unexpected source was the poem. Over the Hill to the Poorhouse may be unique in this series by being based on a poem.
Colour film processes were still being developed in this era. As mentioned above, Technicolor was pioneering an additive colour process, but it required a camera the split the light into a red and a blue-green stream, landing on separate film. Hand colouring was also done, but was time-consuming. Black and white was easier and cheaper; most theatres only had equipment that could only handle silent black and white films. As seen in the Thirties, though, once colour is introduced, black and white fades away, only returning as an artistic choice***.
Popular movies of the early years of film tended to be adaptations. The main reason is that the years were transitional. Everyone involved was still learning the differences between film, where the camera could move around, and stage, where the audience was the fourth wall. There were still people willing to play with the new medium. Charlie Chaplin’s entries above show him in the four key areas, writing, directing, producing, and starring. The ratio of adaptations to originals is similar to those found for the Thirties and Forties. This ratio, roughly 2:1, won’t change for a few decades; the direction it does change in may be surprising.
* Any resemblance between Prohibition and the War on Drugs is from people not learning from history. Prohibition was killing a wasp with a wrecking ball. The result of the War on Booze was a massive influx of cash to organized crime, since they were the ones supplying illegal alcohol, and a loss of respect for the law. Al Capone could make far more in one day than any fine under the Volstead Act, and the agents working for the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Prohibition could be easily bribed to look the other way.
** Technically, Technicolor is a trademark for the colour processes pioneered by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, now a division of owned by Technicolor SA.
*** Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is a perfect example of the use of black and white filming as an artistic expression.
The History of Adaptations
Thirties
Moving on with a look at the history of movie adaptations, this month is a look at the Forties. I’m still using the compiled list at Filmsite.org as a base. By using what was popular, I hope that the movie titles are familiar to readers to give an idea of how beloved films came about. There may still be surprises, like 1930’s Ingagi, which did well but has not been seen since because of controversy surrounding it.
The Forties can be split into two periods. The first, covering World War II, started in 1939 and ended in 1945. The beginning of the war also marked the end of the Great Depression as factories stepped up to supply materiel to the forces in Europe and, after 1942, the Pacific. Even though the US entered the war late, American companies were selling equipment to Allied countries for their war effort. The result was two-fold. First, people started to have money again and could afford to go out for a night on the town, even with rationing in effect. Second, with loved ones overseas fighting, the movies were a way to escape worries.
The second half of the decade, the post-war era, saw soldiers return home and take advantage of various programs to get a career outside the military. No longer having to build equipment for the war, factories changed gears to produce goods for the civilian market. With the economy booming, Hollywood was in a good position to provide a reason to go out. The post-war era also saw a baby boom along with the economic boom.
Movie technology continued to advance. Colour was still expensive but seeing more use, particularly in animation. Stock footage from the war was available. Stereo sound started to get used in theatres. The popular movies tended to be lighter fare, as seen below.
1940
Pinocchio – Disney’s animatated adaptation of the 1883 children’s book, The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
Fantasia – an original feature from Disney featuring animation set to classical music. Fantasia was the first movie recorded in stereo.
1941
Sergeant York – the biography of Alvin York and thus an adaptation, for the purposes of the analysis.
1942
Bambi – another Disney animated adaptation, this time based on Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten.
Mrs. Miniver – original. The movie spawned a sequel called The Miniver Story in 1950 which had same cast.
1943
For Whom the Bell Tolls – adaptation of the novel by Ernest Hemingway
This Is the Army – adapted from the stage musical. The movie was used as a morale booster overseas.
A Guy Named Joe – original. Steven Spielberg would go to remake this film as Always in 1989, changing the backdrop from World War II to aerial firefighting.
1944
Going My Way – original.
Meet Me in St. Louis – a Judy Garland musical that was based on short stories by Sally Benson originally published in The New Yorker.
1945
The Bells of St Mary’s – a sequel to 1944’s Going My Way, above.
Mom and Dad (aka The Family Story in the UK) – original. Mom and Dad was a sex hygeine exploitation film about the dangers of premarital sex and the lack of sex education. Reefer Madness for sex.
1946
Song of the South – a Disney animated adaptation based on the Uncle Remus stories. Disney has not released the film to home video.
The Best Years of Our Lives – adaptation based on novella /Glory for Me/ by MacKinlay Kantor who served as a war correspondant.
Duel in the Sun – adaptations based on the novel by Niven Busch. The movies was a Western starring Gregory Peck.
1947
Forever Amber – adaptations based on the novel by Kathleen Winsor.
Unconquered – adaptation based on the Neil Swanson novel.
Welcome Stranger – original.
Road to Rio – the fifth movie in the /Road to …/ series. The seven movies made in the series were an excuse to have Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour together on screen.
1948
The Red Shoes – adapted from the story by Hans Christian Andersen.
Easter Parade – original musical.
Red River – original. The movie was a Western starring John Wayne and was based on the first cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail.
1949
Samson and Delilah – adapted from the story in the Bible.
Of the twenty-three movies listed above, eight were originals, two were sequels, and thirteen were adapted from a previous work. In comparison with the Thirties, the percentage of adaptations to the overall count is about the same. The question of sequels is now at hand. For the purposes of analysis, do sequels count as an adaptation or a continuation of a previous film? Whatever the decision I make now will be followed with the remaining decades. In general, the amount of time between the original and the sequel will make the difference. Having the same cast also leads to being a continuation. With The Bells of St. Mary’s, it appeared a year after Going My Way, thus is a continuation. Looking at Road to Rio, it’s part of a series that existed solely to have Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour together. Audiences went to see them, not necessarily the plot. With that in mind, I’ll place Road to Rio as a continuation and not an adaptation.
Westerns start showing up in the latter half of the decade, beginning their domination of entertainment. Filming on site is easier, with cameras built that can be taken away from studios. Bing Crosby is also popular, starring in four of the movies above – Going My Way, The Bells of St. Mary’s, Road to Rio, and Welcome Stranger, along with at least one other movie per year in the decade. Musicals are still around, and, especially with Crosby, having an actor known for singing allows for songs to be added to the story.
Disney is still using children’s stories and folk tales for its animated features, with three of the four movies being adaptations. Fantasia went a different route, a number of animated shorts brought together through the use of classical music. With the other adaptations, the main source is the written word. Seven movies were based on a novels, novella, or short story. The remaining three adaptations were based on a Bible story, a stage musical, and a life story. Compared to the Thirties, the number of stage works dropped considerably. There aren’t any adaptations of adaptations as there were in the previous decade. Film is coming into its own as a medium, with its own approaches. Adaptations were made, but they were direct from a source instead of being filtered through a stage play.
Adaptations still were made, but remakes didn’t reach the levels of popularity the above movies had. Part of the reason may be the relatively few movies that were released in the Twenties and Thirties; compared to today. Even Frankenstein went back to the source instead of the earlier adaptation.
Next week, returning to reviews.
There has been much said about the number of adaptations being made today. Most of the top grossing movies this decade have been adaptations. Studios are risk adverse, wanting guaranteed hits instead of unknown quantities. There’s even talk of a superhero movie bubble, one due for a collapse. Problem is, adaptations have always been around. The 1970s and the 1980s are unusual in having the majority of popular films be original. This series, The History of Adaptations, will look at the box office hits through the history of film, using the compiled list at Filmsite.org. There are obvious issues working with a limited list; the main one being missing out on the vast majority of releases. The goal, though, is to show what was popular. Follow ups may go into detail of certain years.
Today, the 1930s. Two major events occured in the Thirties, the Great Depression and World War II. The Great Depression saw massive unemployment as stock markets crashed. As a result, Hollywood’s output was pure escapism, alloying people to forget their troubles for the length of a movie. Studios had to watch their budgets, knowing that the number of people able to afford a night at the movies had dwindled. Several studios survived solely on the success of one movie; if it had failed, the studio would have folded. The start of World War II saw the end of the Depression Era as industries switched to a war footing, supplying materiel for the armies in Europe.
1930
Tom Sawyer – adapted from the novel by Mark Twain. This was not the first film adaptation; Edison Studios made theirs in 1917.
All Quiet on the Western Front – adapted from the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, released the previous year. The film won the Best Picture Oscar for 1930.
Whoopee! – adapted loosely from the stage play by Florenz Ziegfeld, creator of the Ziegfeld Follies. Zeigfield had to shut down the run on Broadway because he lost everything in the stock market crash and convinced the studio to fund the adaptation.
Ingagi – original, sort of. The original “found footage” movie, the producers claimed that the film was a documentary. The controversy around the film, which implied gorillas kidnapping women for sex, drove people to see it. Turned out, the found footage was found in other movies, and at least one extra was recognized as an actor. The movie was pulled from distribution and hasn’t been seen since. Adding to the colourful history, Ingagi was the inspiration for Gorilla City and Gorilla Grodd at DC Comics.
Hell’s Angels – original. A Howard Hughes film, Hell’s Angels followed the exploits of pilots in the Great War*.
1931
Frankenstein – adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley. The Universal film classic, it wasn’t the first adaptation, but was the first with sound. Boris Karloff starred as the monster, becoming the basis for future film versions of Frankenstein’s monster.
City Lights – original. In an unusual move during the talkie era, Charlie Chaplin made the film as a silent movie.
1932
The Kid from Spain – original.
The Sign of the Cross – adapted from the 1895 play of the same name by Wilson Barrett. Cecil B. DeMille directed, hiring Charles Laughton in his first Hollywood role, Nero.
Grand Hotel – adapted by William A. Drake from his play, Grand Hotel, which in turn was based on the book Menschem im Hotel by Vicki Baum.
The Most Dangerous Game – adapted from the short story by Richard Connell. This is the work where men are hunted by man.
Shanghai Express – adapted from a 1931 story by Harry Hervey, which was based on the taking of the Shanghai-Beijing Express by a warlord.
1933
King Kong – original. While King Kong has been adapted several times, this was the original.
I’m No Angel – original. Mae West wrote and starred in the film.
Cavalcade – adapted from the Noel Coward play. The same play would be the inspiration for the British TV series, Upstairs, Downstairs.
She Done Him Wrong – adapted from the play Diamond Lil by Mae West. West had the starring role in the film.
1934
It Happened One Night – adapted from the story “Night Bus” by Samuel Hopkins Adams, first published in the August 1933 issue of Cosmopolitan.
The Merry Widow – adapted from the 1901 operetta by Franz Lehár, which itself was based on the 1861 play L’attaché d’ambassade (The Embassy Attaché) by Henri Meilhac.
Viva Villa! – adapted from the book by Edgecumb Pinchon and Odo B. Stade. The book was very loosely based on the life of Pancho Villa.
1935
Mutiny on the Bounty – adapted from the book by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, which was based on the historical event. Liberties were taken from the historical records.
Top Hat – original, but inspired by the plays Scandal in Budapest by Sándor Faragó and A Girl Who Dares by Aladar Laszlo.
1936
San Francisco – original. The movie is set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
1937
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – adapted from the fairy tale by Walt Disney. Disney cartoons will appear in the top grossing movies by decade from the Thirties through to the Sixties.
1938
Alexander’s Ragtime Band – original. Irving Berlin used the name of his 1911 hit for the title of his movie tracing the history of jazz.
Boys Town – a fictionalized drama based on the life of Father Edward J. Flanagan and the real Boys Town.
Test Pilot – original.
You Can’t Take it With You – adapted from the play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.
1939
Gone With the Wind – adapted from the novel by Margaret Mitchell. The movie was the top grossing film of the Thirties and still remains at the top overall after adjusting for inflation, edging out Star Wars and The Sound of Music.
The Wizard of Oz – adapted from the book by L. Frank Baum. Again, not the first adaptation, but the best known, to the point where other adaptations base themselves off this movie and not the book.
From the above, of twenty-nine films, only ten are original works, that is, films that were created as films. Of the remaining nineteen, five are adaptations of adaptations; Viva Villa!, Mutiny on the Bounty, and Shanghai Express, all based on a story based on historical events, Grand Hotel, ultimately from a book via the stage, and The Merry Widow, based on an operetta that itself was based on another play. Eleven, including the adaptations of adaptations, were based on novels or short stories. Gone With the Wind had record sales as a novel, leading it to be adapted for film, much the same way as the Harry Potter books. All Quiet on the Western Front was originally published as a serial in a German newspaper in 1928, then as a book in 1929, being translated into other languages and selling over 1.5 million copies before being adapted to film. The Wizard of Oz is better known as a movie instead of a book to the point where later adaptations, including The Wiz and Wicked, use the film as a starting point.
Stage plays are the next biggest source of adaptations. Seven stage productions, including Grand Hotel, were adapted for the silver screen. The transition from stage to screen seems natural; the script is already made and just needs to be tweaked to take advantage of how cameras replaced the audience seating. Grand Hotel is a good example; the screenwriter turned his own stage play into a screen play. The advantage of film over stage is that all costs are paid up front instead of over time. Florenz Ziegfeld took advantage of this after losing everything in the stock market crash of 1929 when making Whoopee!. The age of the play didn’t appear to matter. The Sign of the Cross was based on a play written in 1895, The Merry Widow can trace itself back to 1861; at the other end, Whoopee!‘s original play was produced in 1928, and the original Cavalcade was produced in 1931. Today, the adaptation path has reversed. Several movies, notably The Lion King, have been turned into Broadway stage plays and musicals. There are exceptions – Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera in particular – but the attention to stage plays as dropped a long way since the early years of Hollywood.
Four of the adaptations, including three adaptations of adaptations mentioned above, were based on historical events. For the purposes of the analysis, I did not include any work that was set during an historical event. San Francisco is about the people whose lives are affected by the 1906 earthquake and not about the quake itself, much like James Cameron’s Titanic was about how the sinking affected two people on the ship and not about how the ship sank. The events are the backdrop for the story and not the story in and of itself. With that out of the way, Boys Town is the easiest to examine. It was based on the work of Father Edward J. Flanagan, who set up Boys Town to help turn around the lives of boys who were in trouble. The movie is fiction, but relies heavily on the work done by the real Father Flanagan. At the other end of the scale, Viva Villa! is almost an original work of fiction, having very little accuracy to the life of Pancho Villa. The movie’s intent was to be a biographical work, even if facts weren’t of importance.
Two movies of special note. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first Disney animated film and the first to adapt a fairy tale, but would not be the last. The movie set up a pattern that works for the studio even today. Top Hat, while original, was at least inspired by two stage plays. The film may have been intended as an adaptation of either play but turned into its own work during production.
The Thirties were a decade similar to now. An economic crash that caused massive unemployment sent people looking for escapism. The difference between the sources then and now is the lack of superhero movies. The superhero, as we now know it, started in the Thirties with the introduction of Superman in Action Comics #1. Prior to that, most comic characters were masked mystery men along the lines of Zorro. That’s not to say that these characters weren’t adapted or weren’t popular. They were more likely to show up in a serial, something not covered by the list. Serials and newsreels were part of the theatre-going experience, but weren’t considered the main draw. A future series of posts may cover them.
Instead, the bulk of adaptations in the Thirties came from written works – novels and short stories – and stage plays. Novels, short stories, and stage plays have a long history in the role of entertainment; going to that well for adaptations is a natural inclination. Comics, from newspaper strips or comic books, were relatively new, much like film. The nature of comics leads them to a serial nature. However, some strips were turned into films. Blondie was adapted as a movie in 1938. It just didn’t rate high enough on box office numbers to be included in the list. The use of the top ten movies by decade cuts out many films and is an acknowledged limitation.
In summary, adaptations aren’t a new phenomenon. They’ve been around since the dawn of Hollywood. The sources may change, as this feature of Lost in Translation will explore, but adaptations have always been with us.
Next week, back to the reviews.
* The Great War, aka World War I before a numbering system was needed.
