Doing my recent review of the Cold War-era espionage thriller “The Fourth Protocol” (click here for my review) taken from the Frederick Forsyth best-seller, I reflected on several other films (both good and bad) taken from novels by authors I have enjoyed for decades. I believe the best measure for success is when the filmmaker can translate the novel without compromising two things: One, keeping the flow of the source material; two, avoiding either doing away with too much detail or drowning the audience in nuance from print that can never translate on film. Today I’m looking at three authors and their work being translated to film.
‘Eye of the Needle’
‘The Day of the Jackal’ | ‘The Odessa File’ | ‘The Dogs of War’
‘A Prayer for the Dying’ | ‘The Eagle Has Landed’
(click each movie’s link below for information about it – check for links to my reviews of the films)
TRANSLATION FROM NOVEL TO FILM ISN’T EASY
(NOTE: I updated this review with some additional opinion and the updating of links on May 1, 2019.)
Books and movies have gone hand-in-hand for as long as a story has been told through film. However, it isn’t easy and there are far more flubs of the translation of a novel to film than there are success stories (and it’s almost unmentionable the usual result of a conversion of a film to a novel). Still, the excellent examples shine and the stinkers really clean a theater out.
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Today I’m looking at three of my favorite novelists and their works brought to the big screen. I’ve reviewed several of the films of the trio and I’ll run them down author-by-author. Here we go:
FREDERICK FORSYTH
For me, Frederick Forsyth is my favorite of the three. His “The Day of the Jackal” was the first novel I truly enjoyed as a teen reader. His next two novels, “The Odessa File” and “The Dogs of War,” were also great and all three have been made into films. Let’s look at them one-by-one:
- “The Day of the Jackal” is simply one of the best translations of a novel to film you can watch. The film about a plot to assassinate French President Charles DeGaulle captures most of the nuance and layers of the novel’s plot and does it without either bogging down the tension or dumbing it down so that you hate what’s on the screen. Edward Fox does a tremendous job as the title character – click here for my review.
- “The Odessa File” had big shoes to fill and filmmakers did an OK job of it – they gave it a good go, but over-acting by headliner Jon Voight was easily overtaken by the superlative supporting work by Maximilian Schell. The story about the post-war pursuit of World War II Nazis is nice since it is set in 1963, but the work of the principal cast with the exception of Schell is unremarkable. Still, it is watchable – click here for my review.
“The Dogs of War” is simply crap and an embarrassment to filmmaking. It’s a truly bad movie with what is an outstanding cast that includes Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger and JoBeth Williams. The story twists Forsyth’s source material about mercenaries working to overthrow a dictator in Africa into a shapeless mess. It would be praise to say the acting is wooden; the plot barely makes sense from a complex novel of its era; and you shouldn’t see it (it does arrive on occasion on cable). I didn’t review this one since I didn’t want to watch it a second time – I’m still remorseful having gone to the theater in 1981 to see it.
KEN FOLLETT
Although Ken Follett would write books about the Middle Ages – “The Pillars of the Earth” was the first – I do truly enjoy his novels about modern espionage (frankly, I believe his Middle Ages stuff is long, boring and basically stinks). All of his first three should have been made into films, but only one came to the screen.
His novel “Eye of the Needle” was a film starring Donald Sutherland and is about a WWII German spy in Great Britain. It’s unfortunate, but such an excellent novel turned out so cheesy on the big screen. Bad acting sinks this one (especially the indifferent efforts from Sutherland and Kate Nelligan) and the complete lack of ability by the supporting group dooms it from the start. If you must examine it, you can click here to read my review.
It’s too bad, though, since no other of my favorite Follett novels have been put on film (his “Jackdaws,” which would be wonderful on the big screen). As far as “Eye of the Needle” goes, the disappointment is that Sutherland doesn’t manage to take over the film despite being the star. He kind of walks through the role, but I guess he couldn’t make the German spy a WWII-era hippie like he did a character in “Kelly’s Heroes” with Clint Eastwood (click here for my review of that one). Further, Nelligan is guilty of the same acting crime – not elevating her character.
Neither of Follet’s other two of the trio of my favorite of his novels have been made into films: “The Key to Rebecca” and “Triple” (the former is a WWII spy story set in Egypt and the latter is a more current spy story involving a Mossad agent).
JACK HIGGINS
The third author I’m writing about today also has a special fondness for WWII (although his most recent novels focus on modern day espionage involving British military intelligence and the Irish Republican Army). Jack Higgins is a writer who channels two or three formulas into all of his books, but is so good that you don’t mind. Here are two worth discussing:
- “The Eagle Has Landed” is one of my Top 10 favorite books (click here to read about my favorite books and their movies) and has a wonderful cast with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall that does a good job – click here for my review. It’s not difficult to mess up a WWII movie and filmmakers do not drop the ball here. The film can be heavy-handed (the Germany scenes are dark and foreboding while those in England are filmed mostly in bright sun), but you’ll enjoy it – click here for my review.
- “A Prayer for the Dying” is a readable story with a creative plot, but, sadly, it is basically a poor film from what is no more than an average novel. Both Higgins and filmmakers didn’t do their best in either medium. The film is especially disappointing with wonderful actors such as Bob Hoskins, Alan Bates and a young(er) Liam Neeson. The problem with the film is the casting of Mickey Rourke. He’s just not right for the character and it would have been much more interesting with Neeson in the lead – click here for my review.
Well, there you have it. A look at three prolific best-selling authors and some of the films adapted from their writing efforts.
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