Why one of the best-selling books of the 20th century will never be filmed

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Thousands of films are released annually, and directors very often turn to famous literary works in search of plots for their film masterpieces. It seems that today the entire world literary classics have already been filmed. If modern works fall into the category of bestsellers, then the directors immediately try to get the rights to film adaptation from the author. But there is one work that will never be filmed.

This novel, if ever it was filmed, would have every chance of becoming a masterpiece, because the work itself is included in the hundred best English-language novels of the twentieth century, and the name of the protagonist has long been a symbol of teenage rebellion.

It was partially published back in 1945-1946, and the full version was published in 1951. At the same time, the book, originally written for adults, became a real hit among teenagers, although in the second half of the twentieth century it became one of the most forbidden. A non-trivial plot, raised themes of longing and alienation, innocence and much, much more made the work a real bestseller.

But he will never and under no circumstances be filmed, because the author himself, during his lifetime, imposed a ban on any attempts to film his masterpiece.

And it was all about the experience that Salinger went through at the beginning of his career. He was actually ready to do the filming of The Catcher in the Rye. Back in 1949, a film version of the author's story "Uncle Wiggley in Connecticut" was released. The filmmakers were very free to deal with the author's work. They not only renamed it My Stupid Heart, but also distorted the plot. It is this fact that is called one of the main reasons that Jerome David Salinger refused any film adaptations of his work. Despite this, the success of The Catcher in the Rye has led to repeated attempts to obtain the rights to film it.

Immediately after the publication of the work, Jerome David Salinger received repeated offers to adapt the novel for the screen, including from Samuel Goldwin, the producer of My Stupid Heart.

In a letter written in the early 1950s, Jerome David Salinger announced that the play "Catcher in the Rye" was being prepared for the production, in which he himself will play the main character Holden Caulfield, and Margaret O'Brien will appear on the stage with him. … If he is not allowed to do this, then the play will not be staged.

The writer mentioned that actor Jerry Lewis was trying to get the role of Holden, and Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio approached Salinger with proposals to create a film version of the novel.

Writer and director Billy Wilder himself spoke in interviews about several unsuccessful attempts to get the rights to the bestselling film adaptation. He sent proposals to the author, and one day a young man suddenly appeared in the office of his agent in New York Leland Hayward, approached the director and asked him to tell Mr. Leland Hayward to quit. And he said, "He's very, very insensitive!" It was Jerome David Salinger, whom Billy Wilder had never seen before.

American director Elia Kazan approached Salinger in 1961 for permission to stage a stage version of The Catcher in the Rye for Broadway, but was also refused. Neither Harvey Weinstein nor Steven Spielberg were able to even get their applications for film rights reviewed.

In 2003, the BBC released a kind of TV version of the novel on The Big Read, but the form of submission and the preliminary clause that in this case there was only a literary review did not lead to any accusations. The demonstration was actually interrupted by numerous discussions and looked like an illustration for a literary conversation.

When Salinger passed away in 2010, many in the film industry decided that now it would certainly be possible to film the bestseller. However, the writer's agent Phyllis Westberg said: nothing has changed since the author's death, because back in 1957, he clearly and firmly made his position on this issue clear.

In his letter, the author of The Catcher in the Rye stated that he considers the novel completely unsuitable for making a film or play, because the most important component of this work is the first-person narrative. And it is simply impossible to separate the author and his view of the world and the surrounding reality. Salinger did not deny: he himself sees ready-made scenes of the film in the novel, but still the screen version would devalue the work too much.

Despite this ban, there are several "hidden" film versions of the novel in the world. But it seems that no one will see a full-fledged film until the bestseller's copyright expires, which usually comes many years after the author's death …

The public reaction to The Catcher in the Rye has been very controversial, ranging from deification to being banned in several countries for obscenity, profanity, and depression. Many readers in the main character Holden Caulfield, rebelling against society, recognized themselves, and some even went to crimes …