# Absolutely the worst play to film adaptation ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589 "2005-11-24T15:57:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/1 "2005-11-24T15:57:10Z")
Ladies and gentlemen, I present – [_The Importance of Being Earnest_](http://imdb.com/title/tt0278500/). I had a vague recollection of the reviews being less than great, but it’s a wonderful, funny play (I remember fondly a production at the NJ Shakespeare Festival 25 years ago), and I figured “Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon – how bad could they fuck it up?” The answer is – whoa. Pretty damn bad. I was kind of taking it in stride – willing to ignore the addition of the slapstick byplay between Algy and Jack – but then, but then, my friends – well, I don’t know whether to spoiler this or not, so I will – They show Gwendolyn getting “Ernest” tattooed on her creamy white English butt. Wordsworth. Thackeray. Fitzgerald. [Ebert](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020524/REVIEWS/205240303/1023) gave it three stars, because of the wittiness of the dialogue – apparently he’s never seen the actual play performed, because he seemed unaffected by the travesty that was this effort to appeal to modern moviegoers. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/2 "2005-11-24T16:23:56Z")
_If you are talking about book to film:_ I would go with the film version of Ian Flemming’s **The Spy Who Loved Me**. Granted, with the exception of the first two James Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love) there has been very little similarity between the two media, but the only similarity between the two in this one were two of the characters’ names (Bond’s being one). _If you are talking about musical theater to film:_ I would go with\*\* A Chorus Line\*\*. They invented a whole nother lead character (who neither danced nor sang-I might add) with his own plot line for the film which completely changed the ending of the show. _If you are talking about stage to film:_ I would go with **Waiting for Godot** with Burt Lahr. Lahr was so busy doing his “bits,” little of the strange yet wonderful play comes through. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/3 "2005-11-24T16:53:06Z")
Book to movie: _Exit to Eden_. The movie featured Dan Ackroyd and Rosie O’Donnell as cops who track a jewel thief to an S&M-themed island. In the book, that plot _doesn’t exist_. The book is about the is;and. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/4 "2005-11-24T17:04:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I would go with the film version of Ian Flemming’s The Spy Who Loved Me. Granted, with the exception of the first two James Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love) there has been very little similarity between the two media, but the only similarity between the two in this one were two of the characters’ names (Bond’s being one). Oddly enough, this is one case where you can’t really blame the filmmakers - Fleming sold the rights to the name, but not the story. They really couldn’t, legally, use the plot of the book. They probably wouldn’t have anyway – it had been a while since the Bond films had resembled the book they were nominally based on ( **On Her Majesty’s Secret Service** being the last time previously, although, two films later **For Your Eyes Only** was remarkably faithful to Risico and For Your Eyes Only, and a better film for it.) If you’re looking for the worst book-to-film adaptation, I nominate the ever -maligned [B[Starship Troopers\*\*. Even if you are a supporter of the film, you have to admit that it’s an abysmal adaptation, diametrically opposed to Heinlein in philosophy, used awful science, and terrible characterization. **I, Robot** would be a close runner-up. Bad play adaptation? It was a good movie, but as an adaptation of a play, **Lenny** bears almost no resemblance to the play at all. And I _do_ think i was, at least nominally, a adaptation. My biggest disappointment in play-to-movie asdaptation was **Amadeus** , which definitely was adapted by the playwriter from his w work. In the play, you got inside Salieri’s fantasy and believed it. Nt so easy in the film. And the film made it harder to remember that this wasn’t supposed to be a biopic. Shaeffer’s play was never supposed to be confused with reality. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/5 "2005-11-24T18:45:04Z")
It would be hard to beat the sheer awfulness of the film version of **Man of La Mancha**. Leonard Maltin was right when he wrote, “Beatiful source material has been raped, murdered, and buried.” ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/6 "2005-11-24T23:40:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > m adaptation, I nominate the ever -maligned [B[Starship Troopers\*\*. Even if you are a supporter of the film, you have to admit that it’s an abysmal adaptation, diametrically opposed to Heinlein in philosophy, used awful science, and terrible characterization. **I, Robot** would be a close runner-up. I would put I, Robot on equal footing as far as terrible adaptions go, as the movie also undermined the entire point of the book. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/7 "2005-11-24T23:53:46Z")
You gotta love Demi Moore’s **The Scarlet Letter;** _they changed the ending._ The Sci-Fi Channel’s recent **Earthsea** adaptation was universally shat upon, mostly for \*changing the race \* of the main characters. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/8 "2005-11-25T13:44:17Z")
The movie of _Rent_ is competing for that honor. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/9 "2005-11-25T22:26:24Z")
> [@Torgo](#): > > You gotta love Demi Moore’s **The Scarlet Letter;** _they changed the ending._ Not only that,\* they changed the beginning\*. Also, they made a lot of changes to the middle as well. Come to think of it, the book and the movie were only similar in that they were both had the same title, were set in early colonial New England, featured characters who had the same names, and involved a woman who was ostracized for having an out-of-wedlock child. I’m not the first one to think this but I wonder if any high school student who was assigned to read _The Scarlet Letter_ and didn’t bother to read it ever try to use the movie as a “study aid” for an exam or book report. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/10 "2005-11-25T22:38:06Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > It would be hard to beat the sheer awfulness of the film version of **Man of La Mancha**. > Leonard Maltin was right when he wrote, “Beatiful source material has been raped, murdered, and buried.” I would tend to agree with this. But then, I haven’t seen _Earnest_ (the movie) nor have I see the movie of _A Chorus Line_. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/11 "2005-11-26T01:36:16Z")
> [@Hilarity N. Suze](#): > > I would tend to agree with this. But then, I haven’t seen _Earnest_ (the movie)… Don’t. There’s really no need. No, don’t thank me… ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/12 "2005-11-26T02:58:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Oddly enough, this is one case where you can’t really blame the filmmakers - Fleming sold the rights to the name, but not the story. They really couldn’t, legally, use the plot of the book. They also had to change some of the _film_’s plot since it was too close to a script treatment Kevin McClory wrote for a James Bond film he was planning to make. (The whole McClory story is pretty weird. He worked with Ian Fleming on the script to the _Thunderball_ movie, and later claimed that he created the cinematic James Bond, who is different from the James Bond in the books. He sued the owners of James Bond to make his own movie, and has lost twice or so. And _Never Say Never Again_ has something to do with this.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/13 "2005-11-26T03:33:01Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I’m not the first one to think this but I wonder if any high school student who was assigned to read _The Scarlet Letter_ and didn’t bother to read it ever try to use the movie as a “study aid” for an exam or book report. 😃 You have to wonder if Hollywood has some kind of handshake agreement with the Classroom Teachers’ Association. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/14 "2005-11-26T04:05:34Z")
_The Inspector General_ Nicholai Gogol’s biting social satire is transformed into zany musical comedy starring Danny Kaye. Absolutely horrible. Actually, it’s got some nice songs, its just that this is totally the wrong place to use them. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/15 "2005-11-26T04:09:20Z")
I would nominate _About Last Night_ – purportedly based on the David Mamet play _Sexual Perversity in Chicago,_ which I’ve seen performed, and the plots of the two bear hardly any resemblance. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/16 "2005-11-26T06:43:42Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Ladies and gentlemen, I present – The Importance of Being Earnest. Actually, I didn’t think it was too bad. I was so relieved that they left the dialogue alone (for the most part) that I was willing to give them a pass on everything else. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and think about Frances O’Connor (Gwendolen) for a while. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/17 "2005-11-26T13:36:24Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > _The Inspector General_ > > Nicholai Gogol’s biting social satire is transformed into zany musical comedy starring Danny Kaye. Much the same can be said about Jerry Lewis’ **Vist to a Small Planet**. As a Gore Vidal play it too was a biting sociall satire but as a Lewis comedy, it was a …no, it wasn’t zany…no, it wasn’t musical (although it had some interesting bongo music)… You could argue the television show that came later **Mork and Mindy** was much truer to the social satire. I have heard that **My Favorite Martian** was drawn from the play also but it seems more a child of the film. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/18 "2005-11-26T14:01:48Z")
I haven’t seen many plays. But I did see \*_Bullshot Crummond_, which was recorded live, on a cable channel back in the '80s. The Palmdale Repertory Theatre did **Bullshot Crummond** a couple of years later. The professional play was hilarious. The local production had a few parts that were actually funnier than the other. So I was excited when **Bullshot** (the movie) came out. I was disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/19 "2005-11-26T16:15:52Z")
Paint Your Wagon the stage musical is entirely different than Pain Your Wagon the movie. The stage show centers on a white woman married to a native man while the movie centers on a a white woman married to two white men…and Clint Eastwood sings. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589/20 "2005-11-26T17:21:13Z")
_Bye Bye Birdie,_ which cut out the entire second half of the stage show. I seem to recall reading somewhere about how _A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum_ was butchered on the way to the screen, but damned if I can remember how or why. Can anyone set me straight on that one? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-the-worst-play-to-film-adaptation-ever/332589.md?page=2)