not many postings about this movie, why?
were you all as disappointed by it as i was?
hope to see a remake. how about shooting it
in black and white?

Actually, I loved the movie; and my general sense is that movies made after quality books are not that great. But I felt like, in watching this movie, they captured the "feel" of the novel quite well. Novels and film are two different media and there are necessary differences in the telling of stories between them; but I really enjoyed the movie version.

What I wish is that they would do a more modern movie version of "Farenheit 451". The movie version of that was just too slow-paced for me and I could not get into it.

I'd also like to see a kind of seamless version of "Martian Chronicles" but have no idea how they would do that. I'm not that creative. I think it could be done, but I'm not the one to write or direct it. (They would be wise not to even let me do the credits!)


[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 08-15-2002).]

Mixed feelings on the "Something Wicked" movie. I felt enough details were wrong that it really bothered me. Funny you should mention shooting it in black-and-white. That's just how I pictured it when I read the book, and it was funny for me seeing it in color.

I'll always have special memories of Something Wicked This Way Comes...
I had just become a Christian at the time the movie was being made, and I used to bug Ray nearly everytime I saw him, that he had to change a scene...near the end of the book, where the devil (played by Jonathan Pryce) walks into the library and confronts the father (played by Jason Robards) in the library. In the book, he takes a Bible that is on the table where Robards is sitting, takes it and throws it into the garbadge next to the desk , (or table, forget which it was). Well, anyway, after about a year of this, I asked Ray one evening, I said, "So, did you do anything with that scene?" And he replied that, yes, he has the devil now grabbing hold of a large book, a history of the town, and tearing out the pages. When I went to the opening of the movie, (it was a Wednesday or Thursday) in Westwood, California, I floated off the seat when I saw that scene. I remember people around me, especially the fellow next to me, saying, oh yes, it was an interesting movie, all the while I was thinking, ...this is an a m a z i n g movie, about evil and good...very authentic. Unfortunately, not the greatest box office draw you could want.

Yes, Nard, the scene where Mr. Dark rips the pages from the book is probably my favorite from the film. I love Jonathan Pryce's performance!

This talk about the Disney adaptation got me thinking about a portion of an interview I did with Ray in La Jolla, back in December of 1989. Here's what we said:

In 1983 your dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes was adapted into a movie. How many drafts did you put the screenplay through?

Oh God, there's about twelve different versions.

I'd read that the scene with all the spiders in Jim's room had been changed from a previous shooting of a giant hand coming through the window ...

Yeah. Well, they should've used what I had in the book, with the witch flying over in the balloon.

Yeah, that was great.

I told them: "Let's do it," you know? But they were afraid of doing it because it was too expensive, and so they went ahead and did those, but I didn't like the spiders. It was too easy, it was no fun. You can always get that reaction with spiders. But the witch was something else again.

D e a r N i g h t s h a d e:
Wow...would love to read the entire interview you had with Ray.
A friend of mine was helping in the construction of sets for "SWTWC". He would invite me out to see what's happening when he felt it was possible, but always something came up, with work, etc. to prevent me from going. One of the BIG mistakes!! I "still" regret it that I didn't take up the opportunity. But I remember him telling me one day that they built a particular part of the set that had to be all torn down because it wouldn't fit thru something or other. Also, after awhile, Ray was actually banned from setting foot on the set . Can you imagine that?
Probably know that the original music score was thrown out. The posters and the advertisements were re-done, graphics-wise. Horner was finally chosen to re-do the entire musical score. It also went thru couple directors and producers. One of Kirk Douglas's sons, Peter Douglas, wound-up producing it. Sam Pechinpah (forgot how you spell his name correctly..or is that right?)..was originally given the option to produce the movie, but he dragged his feet too long, and Ray withdrew the option. I used to have a letter, from Sam, describing this, but lost it somehow thru all my movings about. (It could have been stuffed inside a book, when I sold a bunch of them way back)....((ah, you probably know all this stuff anyway...)

Yeah, you know it. Now take one deep.

[This message has been edited by IvanDrago32 (edited 09-24-2002).]

[This message has been edited by IvanDrago32 (edited 09-24-2002).]

[This message has been edited by IvanDrago32 (edited 09-24-2002).]

I do know that Ray wasn't happy with certain aspects of the film, and was successful in changing some of them. Was that the reason he was banned from the set? Please post any details you know.

Jack Clayton replaced Hank Moonjean as Director. They had to re-score the whole movie, and they put in Jack Horner. New illustrations for movie art was created replacing, I thought, a fanciful, errie layout.

From what I remember, the 'Big Cats' didn't want to be told what Ray thought of what they were doing with his book.

Resurrecting this thread with a link to my favorite scene in Disney's film version of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, with the great Jason Robards and the great Jonathan Pryce:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DHtYc3BWg

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Richard,

And below is a link to an introduction to the film SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES that Ray gave at a screening at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. The clip appears to be from in or around 2008. Incidentally, the gentleman on the right at the beginning and end of the clip is this Board's own jkt, who was a dear friend of Ray's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z45kTKJjOAM

About the screen version of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES...I had the good fortune of briefly meeting Sir Christopher Lee at the World Fantasy Convention held in London in 1997, at which he was one of the featured guests one evening. I had read somewhere that, during the time when he was trying to get the film version of SOMETHING WICKED produced, Ray Bradbury had very much wanted Mr. Lee to play Mr. Dark if and when the film was made. (The role, of course, had been played by Jonathan Pryce, who was wonderful.) From comments Mr. Lee had made in anthologies he had edited which contained Ray's work, I knew he admired Ray's writing. I therefore brought a signed copy of Ray's newly released collection DRIVING BLIND to the Convention as a gift for Mr. Lee, for which he was very grateful, telling me how much he did indeed admire Ray Bradbury. Then, wanting to make some "small talk", I said, "I understand that Mr. Bradbury had wanted you to play Mr. Dark in the film version of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES." Not a good idea to remind an actor of a lost part! Mr. Lee looked at me like I was Van Helsing holding some garlic and simply (and firmly) said, "Well, the less said about that, the better!"

Below is a link to a short, interesting YouTube film featuring this Board's own Phil Nichols (aka "philnic"), noting that among the many wonderful items held by the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at Indiana University is a VHS tape of the first, rejected cut of the Disney film of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. The preview of that first version was not well received by the audience, and the many scenes were subsequently re-written and re-shot, and a new musical score added. I would love to see that first, rejected version! (It would make a great "special feature" on a subsequent video release. Unfortunately, I doubt that will ever happen!)

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

Another fine scene from the 1983 film version of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES: the initial encounter between Charles Halloway (Jason Robards) and Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce). Thinking back on the film, I still remember taking a half-day of vacation from work on a Friday afternoon so I could catch the very first showing of the film at the late, lamented Golf Mill Theater in Niles, Illinois:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RWb9nRCpI4&t=145s

The link below will take you to a 1982 television interview of Ray Bradbury, which occurred in connection with the release of the film SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. It is unique in that the other guest during the interview is none other than Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, one of my favorite bands of my youth. Ray expresses his pleasure with the film, and even has some kind words for director Jack Clayton. Ray subsequently expressed his unhappiness with Clayton, and the changes Clayton allowed to be made to Ray's script.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuW6zcQ6iHA