Slide 1

Page to Stage
to Screen
Analyzing the Cultivation of
The Bad Seed

Michelle Tvete


Slide 2

Adaptations

1954

1954

1956


Slide 3

Adaptations

William March 1954


Slide 4

Adaptations

Maxwell Anderson 1954
Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1933) &
Gold Medal in Drama (1954)


Slide 5

Adaptations

John Lee Mahin 1956


Slide 6

Adaptations

Director: Mervyn LeRoy 1956


Slide 7

Adaptations

1954

1956


Slide 8

Adaptations


Slide 9

Adaptations

1954

1956


Slide 10

Play
Characters: Broadway Types
Added Father character (Bravo—the writer)
More proponents of Environment
Cut library scenes & most “real life” examples
Internal thoughts are voiced melodramatically
Denker (grandmother) glamorized & escapes
Rhoda is blonde


Slide 11

CHANGED

Film

The Ending
Added more religious elements
Film Noir conventions (black & white)

Toned down some of the acting
Added arbor setting
KEPT

Actors
Melodramatic Acting
“Stage feel” (Long takes, longer shots)


Slide 12

The Ending
Production Code

Deus ex machina
Religion


Slide 13

Production Code
Hays Office
1930-68
Created to avoid government
intervention
Ended to compete with TV


Slide 14

Production Code
No kiss longer than 3 seconds
No homosexuality
Criminals must be punished
“evil is wrong and good is right”
Must promote traditional values


Slide 15

Production Code

Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946)


Slide 16

Production Code

Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959)


Slide 17

Deus Ex Machina

"god from the machine"


Slide 18

Deus Ex Machina

"god from the machine"


Slide 19

Religion

"god from the machine"


Slide 20

Religion

"god from the machine"


Slide 21

CHANGED

Film

The Ending
Added more religious elements
Film Noir conventions (black & white)

Toned down some of the acting
Added arbor setting
KEPT

Actors
Melodramatic Acting
“Stage feel” (Long takes, longer shots)


Slide 22

Film Noir

Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949)


Slide 23

Film Noir
Genre or Style
Examples: M (1931), The Maltese Falcon (1941),

Double Indemnity (1944), The Big Sleep (1946),
Sunset Blvd. (1950), Strangers on a Train (1951)

Characteristics?


Slide 24

Film Noir

SOURCE: http://www.librarypoint.org


Slide 25

Film Noir

Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep (1946)


Slide 26

Film Noir

Bobby’s World “The Big Sweep” (1990)


Slide 27

Film Noir

SOURCE: http://www.librarypoint.org


Slide 28

Film Noir

Femme Fatale


Slide 29

Film Noir

Femme Fatale


Slide 30

Femme Fatale
“Fatal woman” (French)

Fille Fatale (younger woman)

Uses feminine wiles for secret purpose
Attractive with almost magical charm

Threat to traditional womanhood
Home is a dangerous place


Slide 31

How Adapted to Film?

Film Noir


Slide 32

How Kept Like a Play?

Stage on Film?


Slide 33

How Kept Like a Play?

Curtain Call?


Slide 34

Evil Child Subgenre of Horror


Slide 35

Evil Child Subgenre of Horror

1954


Slide 36

The Concept of Childhood

Innocent


Slide 37

The Concept of Childhood

Tabula Rasa—Blank Slate


Slide 38

The Concept of Childhood

1955


Slide 39

Evil Child Subgenre of Horror
Who Can Kill a Child ? (1976)

(1993))

The
Omen
(1976)

Let Me In
(2010)


Slide 40

THE END


Slide 41

Southern Gothic Subgenre

Robert Mulligan’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)