TV SHOWS TO MOVIES

I picture a meeting at MGM or Paramount (or your choice) and someone says: ”I saw the best show on TV. It would make a great movie”. Would it? Maybe.

    Lots of successful TV shows have been made into movies. One of the latest to hit the silver screen is Downton Abbey (2019). All the principals are there: Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, etc. The film centers around a visit to the Abbey by the royal family. Yikes! Well, the movie is pretty good. Good as the TV series? Afraid not- the series allows enough time to develop the characters and grow to love (or hate) them. If you’d never seen the TV series would you like the movie? Hmmm...

The Fugitive (1993) is maybe even better than the TV series. Lots of people just got tired of the chase after the suspect and didn’t like the ending. The movie stars Tommy Lee Jones who is just terrific as Marshall Sam Gerard (and won the Oscar for Best Actor). It also features Harrison Ford as the heavily pursued Dr. Kimble who searches for the real killer, the one-armed man. The movie has the best train wreck ever and is just really good. 

Mission Impossible was a hugely popular TV show in the late 60's and early 70's. With Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris and Peter Lupus as a clandestine arm of the US government. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it” is the tag line we loved as much as the theme music and the disintegrating tape. Tom Cruise reinvented the show as (so far) six movies starring him. He says he does his own stunts and they are spectacular. To me it’s apples and oranges. I like both series. 

Naked Gun is a totally silly TV series that was popular in the 80's when it was aired as Police Squad. Leslie Nielsen is the glue that holds this thing together and does it again in the movie versions. Unfortunately, the movie series seems endless but the first few are funny as can be. Could Nielsen possibly be the guy Debbie Reynolds adored in Tammy? Yep, and he’s also the star of the hilarious Airplane! (1980). His ability to utter inane comments is just right. 

Deadwood was a big western hit in the 2000's, with Timothy Oliphant the star. Deadwood is a lawless town not a part of any state (yet) and therefore open to all sorts of bad, but interesting, drama. The movie, released in 2019, is actually made for TV but pretty good.  Oliphant is back as the hero and the story revolves around South Dakota reaching statehood and spoiling lots of the bad stuff in town. 

Only Downton is ok for kids, though I doubt they would like it. The rest are for adults. Next time we flip the story: Movies to TV shows. 

                                                          James Earl Jones 

                                                                  Part 3

    Continuing with the incredible career of James Earl Jones, who lived to be 93 and compiled a movie list the envy of many. 

Matewan (1987) is the somewhat true story of the bloody miner’s strike of the Stone Mountain Coal Company in Matewan, West Virginia. Chris Cooper, in his debut appearance, portrays Joe Kenehan who is a union organizer. James Earl Jones plays one of the miners with the wonderful name of “Few Clothes” Johnson. As mediation efforts flag, the violence grows incrementally. Who wins? Nobody.

Whether you like or hate Coming To America (1988) probably depends on your opinion of Eddie Murphy, the catalyst for this film. Murphy wrote the story for the film and has the lead role as crown prince Akeem of the fictional African country Zamunda. He grows tired of his entitled lifestyle and particularly of the fiancé picked by his parents. So he decides to travel to America to find a woman he can love and who can love him for himself. James Earl Jones plays appropriately intense King Jaffe, Akeem’s father. There is a sequel that isn’t even as good as the original. 

Field of Dreams (1989) is a wonderful film about baseball and dreams coming true. Kevin Costner is Ray Kinsella, owner of a corn farm in Iowa. Inside his field he hears a disembodied voice say “If you build it, he will come”. And he has a vision of disgraced Black Sox scandal Shoeless Joe Jackson ( Ray Liotta) playing on a baseball field at the Kinsella farm. So Ray convinces his wife (Amy Madigan) he should build the field. And they come. James Earl Jones portrays Terrence Mann, whose books have been summarily banned in Iowa. Ray is a fan and gets Mann to come to the ball field. The rest is, well, magic!

Sommersby (1993) stars Richard Gere as Jack Sommersby (or not) who has been missing from home for six years after fighting in the Civil War. Laurel Sommersby (Jodie Foster) begins to suspect this guy isn’t her husband. But- she likes him a whole lot better than the original. Jack winds up charged with murder and desertion before Judge Isaacs (James Earl Jones). The judge gives him the choice of choosing the name that will hang him or the one that will just try him for desertion. This film is the American take on the look alike French classic The Return of Martin Guerre. 

Cry, The Beloved Country (1995) is a star turn for Jones, as he portrays Rev. Stephen Kumalo. He is called to Johannesburg by the church and discovers that his son is accused of murdering a white man. James Jarvis (Richard Harris) is the father of the murdered boy. The two meet and against all odds find they share certain aspects of humanity. The film is based on Alan Paton’s novel of the same name. It is also the second configuration of this story. The 1951 version with Sidney Poitier is just as good.

James Earl Jones has a hat trick as Admiral Greer in the thrilling Hunt For Red October (1990), and in Patriot Games (1982) and in Clear and Present Danger (1994). He’s good in all of them.  

All of the movies in this article are for grown-ups. 

                                                                 James Earl Jones

                                                                 Part 2

Last week’s article dealt with the incredible, unmistakable voice of James Earl Jones. But that only scratched the surface of his film resume’. Today we begin his movie roles.

    The first Jones appearance of note is as Lt. Luther Zogg in the madcap classic Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Jones was 33. This film is regarded as one of the greatest. A crazed general unleashes a B-52 nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. The mistake is discovered and the Russians are notified. They respond that they have a Doomsday Device that will effectively kill everyone on earth if Russia is bombed.  The attempts to stop the bombers works on all but one. Lt. Zogg is the bombardier and Slim Pickens (Major “King” Kong) is the pilot. They make it to the target. Best of many quotes “You can’t fight in here- this is the war room!” 

End Of The Road (1970) from the John Barth novel, is definitely not to all tastes. Stacy Keach carries the thing as Jake Horner, a returned Vietnam vet who has descended into catatonia. He winds up in the hospital of the demonstrably crazy Doctor D (JE Jones) and is “cured” and sent out to teach unsuspecting college kids. A summary really doesn’t tell you much about this strange film. While I can’t really recommend it, I will say that Jones is superb.

The Great White Hope (1970) brings Jones to the top. He plays Jack Jefferson, based on real life Jack Johnson. A black man struggling in the white world of championship boxing in the early 20th century, he defeats every white challenger put before him. White fans are looking for a “white hope”, a white boxer who can defeat Jefferson. Jones revealed he had never boxed before appearing in this film. He was nominated for Best Actor Oscar, but lost to George Scott for Patton. Jane Alexander was also nominated for her role as Jefferson’s white love affair, but also lost.

James Earl Jones is The Man (1972).This is a made-for-TV movies, but the screenplay is by Rod Serling and the cast is first-rate. As president pro tem of the Senate, he becomes president of the United States through a series of mishaps to the president and the rest of the succession. Douglas Dillman thus becomes the first black president. This is nearly forty years before Barack Obama. He encounters many problems, most of them racially motivated, but most people reluctantly agree he does a good job. He decides to run for election and strives to get his party’s nomination. 

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976) is about an all black baseball team in the 1930's, most of whom are good enough to play in he Major Leagues, which are lily white. Billy Dee Williams is Bingo Long, owner of the team, and Jones is Leon Carter, star catcher and slugger. Their adventures as they barnstorm and play all comers is delightful and entertaining. 

All of the movies in this article are available for streaming somewhere. All are for grown-ups. Next time more James Earl Jones movies. 

                                                               James Earl Jones

                                                                 Part 1

It took Hollywood a while, but once they caught on to his distinctive booming bass voice he was the go-to narrator guy. This famous voice first appeared in the first Star Wars movie, which is actually number IV in the Star Wars cycle. You never forgot the villainous Darth Vader and his rumbling, terrifying voice. Jones voiced Darth Vader in all the Star Wars films. He did so once again in number V. If you scroll through the credits in those two films, you will not see the name of James Earl Jones. It was him, ok, but he refused the credit, not wanting to over shine his friend David Prowse, the actor who played Vader. After that film, Jones was always credited. Strangely, the correct sequence of Star Wars movies in the order of their release is 4,5,6,1,2,3,7. That seems to bother absolutely no one. 

The Star Wars galaxy of films is not based on a book, but on a series of screen outlines developed by George Lucas. So the very first release is titled Star Wars IV: A New Hope. The next two films follow in sequence. Then they return to number 1, which is actually a prequel. I will never forget watching the first Star Wars film in 1977. I was completely blown away, and so was most everyone else. The complete Star Wars movie package has made more than 10 billion dollars. Yoda, Princess Leah, Wookie, Luke, Hans Solo,  R2D2 and CP3O are all legends now. 

Returning now to James Earl Jones and his unmistakable voice. Who will ever forget “Luke, I am your father” ? Jones probably made more money from his voice- overs and narrations than from his acting. And there’s another movie franchise that utilized Jones’ unique voice. The Lion King first appeared as an animated musical in 1994. Hugely popular, it went on to sire many film offspring, and a hit Broadway Musical.

That first version contained a host of famous voices: Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, Whoppi Goldberg et al. But the one everyone remembers is James Earl Jones, voicing Mufasa, the King of the title and the leader of the pride of lions. He is killed by the treacherous Scar, who replaces Mufasa and does an expectedly terrible job as leader.  Mufasa with the Jones voice is heard once again in the real life version in 2019. And there are lots of other Lion King opportunities for Jones. 

He was born with a debilitating stutter. He hardly spoke at all until he was 8 years old and spoke very little until high school. A high school voice teacher taught him how to deal with his problem. Jones had written poetry and the teacher convinced him to read it aloud in front of the class. He did so and didn’t stutter at all. The rest, as they say, is history.  His overcoming this condition all the way to narrating films is an inspiring story. He can also be heard in The Sandlot, Our Friend Martin, Merlin and several other films. He has recorded the entire New Testament.

Next time: James Earl Jones the actor.