# Another Historical Novels/Events/People You'd Like to See a Movie Of **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712 "2013-05-07T16:15:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/21 "2013-05-08T19:33:41Z")
Definitely a movie depicting the [European discovery of porcelain](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3436729&postcount=39). ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/22 "2013-05-09T03:06:59Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Nikola Tesla was colorful enough of a character to make a good film about. He got some treatment in The Prestige, but I also would like to see more of him. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/23 "2013-05-09T03:26:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > … I watched _Red Tails_ this weekend and, regrettably, it was so Lucased that it didn’t do justice to the Tuskegee Airmen. Maybe one day HBO will give them the miniseries they deserve. … [They have already been given the HBO treatment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tuskegee_Airmen), though as a movie not as a series. Last time I looked, it wan’t available through HBO Go, and I haven’t seen it run in years. I don’t know why. It was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/24 "2013-05-09T04:37:14Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > I can’t believe nobody has picked up Nellie Bly, pen name of Elizabeth Jane Cochran, for a biopic. > [Nellie Bly - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly) > > There’s got to be a big-name actress out there looking for a role like this who could make it happen. Bonus points for the real Nellie being a very attractive woman. > > Among a lot of other things, she became an investigative journalist by age 21 in the 1880’s, did an expose on factory girls, conditions inside an insane asylum (a very chilling read and one that started leading to long-needed reforms), and beat Phileas Fogg by going round the world in 72 days. All this before she retired at 31 and married a septuagenarian millionaire. Tell me there isn’t at least a miniseries in that. Actually this one’s got a good shot at being made. There’s a new [book](http://www.amazon.com/Eighty-Days-Elizabeth-Bislands-History-Making/dp/0345527267/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368074178&sr=1-1) on Bly that’s recently been published and it’s getting popular support. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/25 "2013-05-09T04:45:16Z")
I’d like to see a Jack Johnson biography. It’s a story with a huge amount of potential. But the only movie about him was _The Great White Hope_ which is dated and is actually about a fictional version of Johnson named Jack Jefferson. That and Ken Burns’ 2005 documentary. That and I still have to write my Wright brothers script. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/26 "2013-05-09T04:50:02Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’m still hoping for a good Chang & Eng biopic one day. They’ve been the basis of a stage musical and several books and they’ve been tossed around as a film project for years (at one time Leonard Nimoy had a project about them in development), but none have never come to fruition. I suppose finding Asian twin actors who can learn to move together in a special suit, and then filming locations that replicate 19th century Thailand (both peasant and palace [they were invited to the royal palace]), London, NYC, ships, and the North Carolina hills which could get expensive, and the actors couldn’t be modest as sex scenes would be mandatory since “How?” is something that _everybody_ who reads about them goes straight to in their mind and that would take some inventive choreography (a threesome or even foursome in a 19th century rope bed). > > Nevertheless, I really think it has major potential. Trivia note I learned last year. The Bunkers settled down in Mount Airy, NC - the town where Andy Griffith would later be born and upon which he would base Mayberry. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/27 "2013-05-09T05:01:37Z")
Joseph Smith ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/28 "2013-05-09T05:09:24Z")
The truly bizarre [“Mad Jack” Churchill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill), who had the only confirmed archery kill(!) of the Second World War. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/29 "2013-05-09T05:23:08Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Nikola Tesla was colorful enough of a character to make a good film about. Heck his long rivalry with Edison over the development of electrical power would be colorful for a movie of its own. For that matter, isn’t a warts and all bio of Edison way overdue (the ones from the early 20th century were just hero worship)? Other projects: –the development of TV. The oddball Scottish inventor (John Baird) vs the Idaho farmboy (Philo Farnsworth) vs the ruthless mogul who worked his way from the dirt poor shetels of Russia (David Sarnoff), and how they intersected. –HBO miniseries on Norman Lear’s heyday of the 70s. He reinvents what TV can be and say, all while both fighting his network overlords and prima donna actors alll the way. –full blown biopics of David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Two fascinating characters whose life stories are really the stories of their countries’ histories. Problem is how would anything short of multiple movies give their stories justice. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/30 "2013-05-10T04:00:52Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > I can’t believe nobody has picked up Nellie Bly, pen name of Elizabeth Jane Cochran, for a biopic. > [Nellie Bly - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly) > > There’s got to be a big-name actress out there looking for a role like this who could make it happen. Bonus points for the real Nellie being a very attractive woman. > > Among a lot of other things, she became an investigative journalist by age 21 in the 1880’s, did an expose on factory girls, conditions inside an insane asylum (a very chilling read and one that started leading to long-needed reforms), and beat Phileas Fogg by going round the world in 72 days. All this before she retired at 31 and married a septuagenarian millionaire. Tell me there isn’t at least a miniseries in that. I really like this one. Anyone who’s looked this over should at least scan the wiki. She was a wholly remarkable woman. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/31 "2013-05-10T17:19:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The Siege of Malta. It’s my favorite because a book on it saved me from dying of boredom. When I saw the thread title The Siege of Malta was the first thing that came to me. A truly excellent book on The Siege of Malta (as well as Lepanto and some other similar stuff) is **Empires of the Sea**. > **[Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest...](https://www.amazon.com/Empires-Sea-Battle-Lepanto-Contest/dp/0812977645)** > > Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of theWorld \[Crowley, Roger\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the... I also agree with the OP that the life of Alfred the Great would lend itself well to film. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/32 "2013-05-10T17:31:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The Siege of Malta. It’s my favorite because a book on it saved me from dying of boredom. There is a movie about the siege of Malta, called _Malta Story_. I stars a very young Alec Guinness as a reconnaissance pilot. Great historical footage of some of the actual air raids is included, as well as some convoy arrivals. All on all, not a great movie though. One of those post-war British movies that had no budget, though IIRC some of it was shot on Malta. When I had Netflix Streaming, it was available there. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/33 "2013-05-10T17:36:37Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There is a movie about the siege of Malta, called _Malta Story_. I stars a very young Alec Guinness as a reconnaissance pilot. Great historical footage of some of the actual air raids is included, as well as some convoy arrivals. All on all, not a great movie though. One of those post-war British movies that had no budget, though IIRC some of it was shot on Malta. > > When I had Netflix Streaming, it was available there. I was thinking about the Ottoman siege of Malta, not the World War II siege. Although a big budget version of the World War II siege would be cool too. > **[Great Siege of Malta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(1565))** > > Ottoman EmpireOttoman Vassals: > Relief force: > Relief force: > 2,500 (6,100, including militia, servants, and galley slaves) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/34 "2013-05-10T17:40:09Z")
That sounds exciting – a bunch of foot stools attacking an island. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/35 "2013-05-10T17:42:37Z")
The Burr/Hamilton duel, as long as they give loads of backstory. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/36 "2013-05-10T17:43:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Actually this one’s got a good shot at being made. There’s a new [book](http://www.amazon.com/Eighty-Days-Elizabeth-Bislands-History-Making/dp/0345527267/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368074178&sr=1-1) on Bly that’s recently been published and it’s getting popular support. I posted in the book thread about this book in February? and I think it would make a great film. The race between Bly and Bisland is all but forgotten, but I would love to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/37 "2013-05-10T18:20:53Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > The Burr/Hamilton duel, as long as they give loads of backstory. Vidal’s novel has been optioned for film a couple of times but never come to light. I think partly it was fear he’d get p.o.d and sue (which he had a tendency to do), but now that he’s dead there’s less chance. Hamilton’s exact insult that caused Burr to challenge him is unknown. The main thing I like from the novel is Vidal’s version of what was said, and which is not inconceviable that Hamilton would have said, was that Hamilton spread a rumor that Burr was having an incestuous relationship with his daughter, Theodosia ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/38 "2013-05-10T19:25:38Z")
Ron Chernow’s bio _Alexander Hamilton_ is magnificent, and could make a good _John Adams_-style HBO multi-hour biopic. William Cushing, “Lincoln’s commando,” was a dashing, crazy-brave Navy officer who loved a good stunt. He’d be a great subject for a movie: [William B. Cushing - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Barker_Cushing) Or brash, cigar-chomping Cal Rodgers, the first to fly across America, crash by crash: [Calbraith Perry Rodgers - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_Rodgers) ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/39 "2013-05-10T20:31:37Z")
I’d love to see a movie based on George MacDonald Fraser’s _[Black Ajax](http://www.amazon.com/Black-Ajax-George-MacDonald-Fraser/dp/078670618X)_, which was the story of the superfight between former slave Tom Molineaux and British boxing champion Tom Cribb. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712/40 "2013-05-10T23:21:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > George Washington is long overdue for a big-budget biopic. His youthful heroics during the French and Indian War; exploring the Ohio country; his courting of Martha; his becoming caught up in the patriot cause; his leadership of the Continental Army through eight hard years of war; his wish to peacefully retire but then agreeing to preside over the Constitutional Convention and then become first President of the United States. > > There’s a lot of story there. John Adams got his due on HBO; Washington has an even better tale, I think. Came in to say GW. He is such a beloved and important figure, his story could make such a fascinating film and spur new interest in American History. Roosevelt would be another awesome subject. Who would you cast as George btw? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-historical-novels-events-people-youd-like-to-see-a-movie-of/657712.md?page=3)