Anne in all her glory: Other adaptation discussion

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, Miss Dee said:

I would absolutely love to see an adaptation of the Redmond days complete with Phil, Aunt Jamesina, Roy Gardner, etc. Especially how they'd handle Anne's rejection of Gilbert Most adaptations make him the dark melancholy type she believed herself attracted to, which doesn't really help the viewer understand why she resisted so hard against the idea of Gilbert as lover.

Yeah and given where they have already gone with Gilbert in those series this adaption will not be that even if they made it to Richmond.

Anne the Sequel didn't show Richmond in detail but I dint feel like that adaption made Gilbert dark and melancholy.

[Camera One]

15 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Anne the Sequel didn't show Richmond in detail but I dint feel like that adaption made Gilbert dark and melancholy.

In the 1980s sequel, Morgan Harris was the "dark and melancholy" replacement for Roy Gardner, who in the book wasn't that melancholy, just lacking a sense of humor.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Camera One

[biakbiak]

7 minutes ago, Camera One said:

In the 1980s sequel, Morgan Harris was the "dark and melancholy" replacement for Roy Gardner, who in the book wasn't that melancholy, just lacking a sense of humor.

Right but the poster specified that was how Gilbert is portrayed in most adaptations and I didn't find that in the 80s very version which is my go to. Heck, I didn't even find Morgan Harris to be that dark and melancholy an absentee father who checked out after his wife's death but he was shown easily socializing with others, smiling at most people other than Anne and he even came around to her fairly quickly.

[Miss Dee]

Different strokes, I guess. I can't see dark-haired Jonathan Crombie looking at Follows somberly and whispering "I hope he breaks your heart, whoever he is" without thinking that's exactly what would have been catnip to Anne in the books.

No live version of Anne has ever gotten Gilbert right. Gilbert is roguish, practical, fun, always up for a laugh or a prank. He's intelligent and thoughtful, sure, and we're told he's handsome, but they keep casting these dark-eyed, dark-haired, soulful fellows and the problem is that's exactly what Anne wanted and couldn't find in Gilbert! Gilbert is not supposed to secretly conform to her romantic ideals; shes supposed to realize exactly how foolish they are and grow out of them!

Don't get me wrong; this doesn't dampen my enjoyment of the adaptations. But one of these days someone's going to get a Dennis Quaid or Josh Lucas type of actor to play Gilbert and that's when I'm gonna sit up and take notice.

[marina to]

6 hours ago, Miss Dee said:

Different strokes, I guess. I can't see dark-haired Jonathan Crombie looking at Follows somberly and whispering "I hope he breaks your heart, whoever he is" without thinking that's exactly what would have been catnip to Anne in the books.

No live version of Anne has ever gotten Gilbert right. Gilbert is roguish, practical, fun, always up for a laugh or a prank. He's intelligent and thoughtful, sure, and we're told he's handsome, but they keep casting these dark-eyed, dark-haired, soulful fellows and the problem is that's exactly what Anne wanted and couldn't find in Gilbert! Gilbert is not supposed to secretly conform to her romantic ideals; shes supposed to realize exactly how foolish they are and grow out of them!

Don't get me wrong; this doesn't dampen my enjoyment of the adaptations. But one of these days someone's going to get a Dennis Quaid or Josh Lucas type of actor to play Gilbert and that's when I'm gonna sit up and take notice.

The kicker is that Jonathan was the biggest trickster I've ever known. Soulful? He'd played it very well and he could get into deep philosophical discussions under full moons but fun is the word that comes to mind whenever I think of him.

[Miss Dee]

Jonathan Crombie? I can believe it. Gilbert? A little, but not enough to overcome the sense of soulful wistfulness he brought to the part. Granted it was sexy as hell, and I can't blame (many) women (and not a few men) for swooning over him and I've no doubt he played it exactly as directed...it just wasn't book Gilbert, to me.

Again, to reiterate: I don't have a problem with either the Sullivan version of Gilbert or the current one. I'd just like to someday see an adaptation have a vision of Gilbert that is more like the one in my head.

ETA: @marina to, it sounds as though you knew Crombie personally? If so, I'm sorry that you lost a friend so young. He was a good actor.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Miss Dee
Prompted by a more careful reading of the text.

[marina to]

@Miss Dee I had the privilege of working on three theatre shows with him and was blessed to count him as a friend. Yes, he was a great actor - and a very neurotic one. :) 

I made a point of never asking him about Gilbert (I had to work to separate the two of them in my head when we started to work together) but he did tell me once that he clashed with Kevin Sullivan and only did the last movie because he was under contract. I got the sense he didn't have freedom to interpret the character the way he wanted to.

The funny thing was one of the last times I saw him a good friend of his had died and we talked about how we had to accept we were going to start losing our friends. And the last time he saw Megan (she was doing a show we both wanted to see) he invited me along but I got the message too late to get there. It's for the best that her last memory of him doesn't have me cluttering it up. (Heard they went for drinks after.) So it was hard when he died and I miss him. 

I'm actually glad there's a new Gilbert. There's something that just feels good about that.

Edited May 31, 2017 by marina to

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 5/23/2017 at 5:15 PM, Miss Dee said:

No live version of Anne has ever gotten Gilbert right. Gilbert is roguish, practical, fun, always up for a laugh or a prank. He's intelligent and thoughtful, sure, and we're told he's handsome, but they keep casting these dark-eyed, dark-haired, soulful fellows and the problem is that's exactly what Anne wanted and couldn't find in Gilbert! Gilbert is not supposed to secretly conform to her romantic ideals; shes supposed to realize exactly how foolish they are and grow out of them!

I finally finished the BBC Anne of Avonlea (which was actually based on Anne of Avonlea through Anne of the Island). Their Gilbert never seemed to be much fun. One thing I noticed was that Anne wrote the gossipy notes for the paper by herself instead of in collaboration with Gilbert. Otherwise they met mostly at AVIS meetings and conducted AVIS business. However Gilbert was a much better actor than Roy, so it was difficult to understand what Anne saw in Roy, who was not convincingly romantic enough for me.

Phil wasn't perfect -- rather too arch, when I had pictured her as always joking and aware that she was joking. And I don't recall any discussion of Alec and Alonzo before she meets Jonas, so I didn't get the full Phil experience that I have always dreamt of. But she wasn't appallingly terrible, and what little there was of Aunt Jimsie was fairly fun. 

On the whole I would have preferred less Avonlea and much more time at Redmond.

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 4/6/2017 at 8:40 PM, Camera One said:

Watch out for the third movie (called "Anne of Green Gables: Fire & Dew") when it does air.  Apparently, it will be in 2018.  They will probably re-air Movie 1 and 2 before that one.

Just saw a tweet from the production company that part 3 ("Fire and Dew") will be shown on YTV on Canada Day. Promotion seems very Gilbert-heavy.

Edited June 13, 2017 by SomeTameGazelle
edited to embed tweet

[Camera One]

6 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Just saw a tweet from the production company that part 3 ("Fire and Dew") will be shown on YTV on Canada Day. Promotion seems very Gilbert-heavy.

The second movie was focused on 

Spoiler

Anne and Gilbert dating, so I suppose this isn't a surprise.  She's supposed to be going to Teachers' College for this third movie.  They really shouldn't have filmed the second and the third movies back-to-back... they look like kids playing dress-up.

[betha]

Watching Fire and Dew. I didn’t see the other two. Can’t help but think they casted every single actor wrong. Made me appreciate the Anne with an E casting more. 

[Camera One]

9 hours ago, betha said:

Watching Fire and Dew. I didn’t see the other two. Can’t help but think they casted every single actor wrong. 

The casting stands out even more in the third movie because they filmed Movie #2 and Movie #3 back-to-back.  So to me, the children looked way too young for the storyline of Anne getting her teacher's license.  It felt like a bunch of little kids playing dress-up.  Martin Sheen was a miscast from the start, but believe it or not, he was even more loud and talkative in the first two movies.  The supporting characters all lacked any personality, making key characters like Aunt Josephine and Ms. Stacey seem like random extras.  This is a case where they used more events from the book but still failed to capture the spirit of the material.

[betha]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

This is a case where they used more events from the book but still failed to capture the spirit of the material.

Yes, totally. And I hate to say it is about looks but that was a big part of it too- I kept mixing up who was supposed to be Jane and who Diana; and the actor playing Gilbert... seemed like an entirely different character. I could have overlooked none of them looking like the characters if they had captured their spirit, as you say. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I actually enjoyed the PBS 3 movies that were shown this last year. I thought Martin Sheen did fine , as did everyone else.  I eventually saw the 1985 version and thought it was great too. 

[Aryanna]

A little ways up the thread I saw people talking about the 1987 Anne of Green Gables the sequel and they were talking about Morgan Harris. I have to ask you all, did it seem odd to you that Morgan was so much older than Anne? Did it make Morgan seem a bit like a creep to you?

Maybe I'm just looking at it through a 21st century lens and I know that's not really fair to do to a period piece but OTOH Morgan was a newly created character for that movie as he wasn't a love interest for Anne in the books.

[SomeTameGazelle]

@Miss Dee asked in one of the episode threads:

Quote

I'd LOVE to see the Redmond years! Have we ever seen that televised? I see Phil as looking like Anne Hathaway.

The only dramatization of Redmond I am aware of is the BBC Anne of Avonlea from 1975 which is available on DVD. This is Phil:

Edited June 21, 2019 by SomeTameGazelle
added photo

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 4/25/2019 at 4:08 PM, Aryanna said:

A little ways up the thread I saw people talking about the 1987 Anne of Green Gables the sequel and they were talking about Morgan Harris. I have to ask you all, did it seem odd to you that Morgan was so much older than Anne? Did it make Morgan seem a bit like a creep to you?

Maybe I'm just looking at it through a 21st century lens and I know that's not really fair to do to a period piece but OTOH Morgan was a newly created character for that movie as he wasn't a love interest for Anne in the books.

Morgan Harris didn't exist in the books. They sort of took the story of Little Elizabeth and twisted it into a different shape with Emmeline and Morgan Harris and then used Morgan Harris instead of Roy Gardiner. I can understand why they thought they would merge two characters into one in order to get the most story out of him, but Emmeline's father could have been a bit younger. It felt like they leaned into the Wealth of the character more than the Romance which was such a big feature of Roy in the books.

My memory is very dim . . . was there a scene where they were out walking in the snow and Anne kicked Morgan Harris in the shins in order to avoid his being romantic? Or have I mixed that up with something else?

[Aryanna]

I think your memory may be correct, Gazelle. But it's been several years since I've watched it and even longer since I've read the books.

[Camera One]

On 6/20/2019 at 9:03 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

Morgan Harris didn't exist in the books. They sort of took the story of Little Elizabeth and twisted it into a different shape with Emmeline and Morgan Harris and then used Morgan Harris instead of Roy Gardiner. I can understand why they thought they would merge two characters into one in order to get the most story out of him, but Emmeline's father could have been a bit younger. It felt like they leaned into the Wealth of the character more than the Romance which was such a big feature of Roy in the books.

I'm re-reading "Anne of Avonlea" right now and I think they might also have used a bit of Paul Irving's father in Morgan Harris.

This passage in particular could have made them think an older gentleman could be combined with Roy Gardiner and Little Elizabeth's father.

Quote

Stephen Irving came forward to meet Anne with a smile. He was a tall, handsome man of middle age, with iron-gray hair, deep-set, dark blue eyes, and a strong, sad face, splendidly modeled about chin and brow. Just the face for a hero of romance, Anne thought with a thrill of intense satisfaction. It was so disappointing to meet someone who ought to be a hero and find him bald or stooped, or otherwise lacking in manly beauty. Anne would have thought it dreadful if the object of Miss Lavendar’s romance had not looked the part...

...Everybody likes to be appreciated. Under Mr. Irving’s praise Anne’s face “burst flower like into rosy bloom,” and the busy, weary man of the world, looking at her, thought he had never seen a fairer, sweeter slip of girlhood than this little “down east” schoolteacher with her red hair and wonderful eyes.

Chapter XXVIII

Even though they invented the character, I do find it interesting to dissect what aspects of the book inspired them to adapt it in this way.  With the TV series, it's very difficult to do this because a lot of the new storylines are not inspired by anything within the books.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Camera One

[SomeTameGazelle]

On ‎7‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:13 PM, Camera One said:

I'm re-reading "Anne of Avonlea" right now and I think they might also have used a bit of Paul Irving's father in Morgan Harris.

This passage in particular could have made them think an older gentleman could be combined with Roy Gardiner and Little Elizabeth's father.

Even though they invented the character, I do find it interesting to dissect what aspects of the book inspired them to adapt it in this way.  With the TV series, it's very difficult to do this because a lot of the new storylines are not inspired by anything within the books.

You're right -- the character is more like Stephen Irving than Pierce Grayson based on the description. I was thinking more about just the fact of the relationship, girl with strict grandmother has father.

I had forgotten that Little Elizabeth had a whimsical fixation on "Tomorrow" and the circumstances of when her father appears in the book. It's essentially the same as a separate story "Tomorrow Comes" which was included in the collection "After Many Years" which was published a couple of years ago.

I went looking for clips of Morgan Harris and was amused to find that the character, who seemed so old to me 30 years ago, strikes me as a handsome man now.

[Stine]

Just stumbled upon a podcast that others here might enjoy. It's called Call Me Cordelia, in which a husband and wife podcasting team work their way through various Anne adaptations (and the Road to Avonlea series), starting with the classic 80s miniseries. 

I'm just finishing up their breakdown of Anne of Avonlea/AoGG: The Sequel, and about to embark on The Continuing Story, and I'm having a blast listening to it so far. They seem to disdain The Continuing Story as much as most of us here do, so the next part should be fun. 

Edited October 11, 2019 by Stine

[lizzie3]

12 hours ago, Stine said:

Just stumbled upon a podcast that others here might enjoy. It's called Call Me Cordelia, in which a husband and wife podcasting team work their way through various Anne adaptations (and the Road to Avonlea series), starting with the classic 80s miniseries.

"Call Me Cordelia" is a really fun podcast, and definitely worth a listen.  I've been listening for over a year, and they're just finishing up Season 4 of Road to Avonlea.  As you mentioned, they also cover the Sullivan series as well as "Anne with an E".  Sometimes they get way off topic, but for the most part it's entertaining.  They did an interview with Kevin Sullivan last December! 

[Stine]

3 hours ago, lizzie3 said:

"Call Me Cordelia" is a really fun podcast, and definitely worth a listen.  I've been listening for over a year, and they're just finishing up Season 4 of Road to Avonlea.  As you mentioned, they also cover the Sullivan series as well as "Anne with an E".  Sometimes they get way off topic, but for the most part it's entertaining.  They did an interview with Kevin Sullivan last December! 

Yeah, it's been a fun listen so far! I'm very interested to eventually get to the Kevin Sullivan interview, because they have been absolutely tearing The Continuing Story to shreds, so I'm really curious to hear what they'll ask him about that one and what he'll have to say. 

[Aryanna]

On 10/10/2019 at 7:30 PM, Stine said:

Just stumbled upon a podcast that others here might enjoy. It's called Call Me Cordelia, in which a husband and wife podcasting team work their way through various Anne adaptations (and the Road to Avonlea series), starting with the classic 80s miniseries. 

I'm just finishing up their breakdown of Anne of Avonlea/AoGG: The Sequel, and about to embark on The Continuing Story, and I'm having a blast listening to it so far. They seem to disdain The Continuing Story as much as most of us here do, so the next part should be fun. 

Thanks for the info. This sounds like a fun podcast. I really loved the Sullivan AoGG. AoA was good enough and was saved by Anne and Gill kissing on the bridge. And I thought Road to Avonlea was a wonderful series. 

[Aryanna]

Thanks for the heads up about the podcast, ladies. I've been listening to it and really enjoying it.

[Aryanna]

Still listening to this podcast.

They tend to look at things through a 2018 lens. I realize some of that is for humor but you really can't do that with a period piece and be fair to it. You have to look at how things really would've been in that time period. 

I'm at the part right now where they're going through season 2 of Road To Avonlea. Kristin keeps calling Davy precocious but I'm beginning to think that's just a word that she's heard because she doesn't seem to know what it means.

Kristin and Dave discussed season 1 of Anne With An E and liked it. Which I can understand. The show looks at it through a modern lens like Kristin and Dave do.

I never like when shows do that and especially when they do it with a wink as if to say "Look how stupid people were back then. We're so much smarter today." Kinda like on a show like Mad Men when it's like: Wink Wink. This lady is smoking while she's pregnant. Wink Wink. They're letting their little kids play with the plastic dry cleaner bags. I'm currently in season 1 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and I don't feel like they do that at all. So far it seems to be a fair representation of the era without being judgmental.

Kristin and Dave also liked the set design of AwaE. I felt like it was too modern. Green Gables looked like it could've been designed by Chip and Jo on Fixer Upper. It didn't have a provincial Victorian feel and look at all.