Classics for Beginners discussion

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"

One of the things I like about reading classics is spotting when Hollywood serves them up as something new! I thought it would be interesting to have a place to post about Hollywood's disguised classics!

Have you ever watched a movie or tv show and realized that under a thin veil you are actually watching a classic? Such as:

August Rush: When Robin Williams character introduced "August" to an orphan named "Art", I realized I was watching Oliver Twist.

The 10 Things I Hate About You: From the first mention of "Padua High" I settled in to see a modern spin on The Taming of the Shrew.

Dark Knight Rises: Halfway through this movie they had a trumped up trial scene that made me feel like I was watching A Tale of Two Cities. I felt vindicated at the end of the movie when they quoted the novel directly (ok this is a bit of a stretch but you get the idea)!

House MD: A modern form of Sherlock Holmes (when I realized the connection I thought this was a clever play on words, House vs Homes (Holmes)).

This topic is not so much to discuss obvious dramatizations and remakes (comparing the movie Jane Eyre with the book Jane Eyre or Scrooged with A Christmas Carol)... but something a little more hidden.

I am interested in finding/viewing more like these!

OH I don't know any apart from 10 Thing I Hate About You but this is a fantastic topic.

I love reimaginings of classics, so long as they stay true to the original intent. I especially love Shakespeare retellings.

I liked Pride & Prejudice told as Bridgette Jones' Diary. Emma reimagened as Clueless was fun, too!

I haven't read Emma or Pride and Prejudice yet... now I want too :-)... that is exactly what I'm looking for!

Romeo and Juliet was disguised as Warm Bodies. I really liked it!

I didn't care for Emma, the only Austen I didn't like, but I love Clueless.

Oh I didn't even make the connection between Emma and Clueless! I've watched and read them and it never even occurred to me...

One of my favorite, not-so-camoflaged, reimaginings of a classic work is "McLintock" with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. I'm a sucker for a reimagined plot of Shakespeare's (especiall "The Taming of the Shrew"). This film has been inducing tears of laughter from me for 40+ years. I can't count how many times I've seen it.

Besides, I like a good fight scene in a movie just for the sake of having a fight scene in the movie!

The Holmes/House connection even goes to the drug use. Holmes was an habitual user of cocaine and an occasional user of morphine.

Thomas wrote: "The Holmes/House connection even goes to the drug use. Holmes was an habitual user of cocaine and an occasional user of morphine."

I've always thought Holmes' cocaine addiction so ludicrous, I have had many laughs out loud at it. I guess Watson was his 'hook-up'. Or maybe, since Holmes had a laboratory, he also had a secret meth lab in the cellar. Doyle never said exactly what Sherlock was always smoking in that pipe of his either.

I love Holmes......that's why I love House so much!!

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice, now to add Bridgette Jones' Diary to Netflix...

Chris I LOVE your idea of the House/Holmes connection - despite being a fan of both I've never made the connection, but it's a truly intriguing idea! I'll have to watch the re-runs from a new angle now! Now you've said it the connection seems so obvious I'm almost embarrassed that it has never occurred to me. Exciting stuff! I only wish my brain could rustle up another example to share - I'm sure it will with time :)

I listened to a radio drama adaption of Private Lives by Noël Cowardm and it rang a bell - I'm sure there's a (pretty bad?) modern film based along the storyline - roughly - 'a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel' (Wikipedia). I can't think what film it is, and I'm not certain I'm right about it. Does this ring a bell with anyone else?

Haven't heard that one. Is it a rom-com?

I've heard She's the Man is based off of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

So it is, they even used the names Sebastian and Viola... I am seeing a pattern with Teen movies and Shakespeare...

I did get around to watching Bridget Jones' Diary... I liked that the company Bridget worked for was called Pemberley...

Not exactly a true disguised classic, but I was watching Charlton Heston's Ben-Hur. It was the first time I watched it since reading The Count of Monte Cristo and I was struck by the similarities. I found a couple sources through Google that said the book was part of the inspiration of Ben-Hur... it definitely shows!

Several of the films of Akira Kurosawa had Shakespearean plots. Three that I particularly enjoy are:

The Bad Sleep Well: Hamlet
Throne of Blood: Macbeth
Ran: King Lear

Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone is a pretty good update of Emma.

Another thing people do that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't is updating the plot to a modern time. Opera directors do this all the time. (My dad always hated that.) But, I think sometimes it can really work.

There's going to be some significant David Copperfield and Downtown Abbey spoilers here...

Early on Downton Abbey I remember reading comparisons to the Crawley sisters and Little Women. As I watched the series I noticed a number of themes that I thought were borrowed from classics.

When Michael Gregson revealed to Edith that he was married and that his wife was insane, I thought this sounded a lot like Jane Eyre for example.

As I finished reading David Copperfield, Dora's statement on her deathbed "I said that it was better as it is!" jumped right out to me as very similar to Lavinia's deathbed statement to Matthew "Isn't this better, really?" Both characters understanding a deep connection between their respective partners and another woman (before David, or Matthew were themselves consciously aware of it).

Could it be a mere coincidence that one of Dora's aunts was named Lavinia?

Just in case anyone ever looks back to these older discussions, I found this video on Youtube last night that is pretty good on this subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL3y8...