Walking on Water

                                                   Adaptation


Lots of great comments this week on Being There. The students really seemed engaged by the film and novella, and by such questions as what the title means and what the film's final scene of Chance walking on water adds to the story. I think they were surprised to hear that the idea for the story may have been inspired by the early political career of Ronald Reagan. And I think they were amused by the outtakes that director Hal Ashby slapped onto the very end of the movie. Wish we had more time for discussion, but our film for the night, All About Eve, runs two hours and 38 minutes. At Camp Burnett, we like to stay on schedule.

Addison Added

We watched All About Eve in my Film Adaptation class this week. There's a lot to like in that movie, but my favorite thing is the character of Addison DeWitt, the heartless, witty critic played by George Sanders. He should probably offend real critics, but I've never known one (including myself) who didn't love him. I find it interesting that the character doesn't appear at all in the story that the movie is based on. A student in a previous class said she thought his first name, "Addison," was a reference to his having been "added" to the story. That never occurred to me, although I've always thought his last name refers to his wittiness.