From Somerset Maugham to Bill Murray: more adaptations

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‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ isn’t the only big-time literary adaptation due out before the Oscars. The 1961 Richard Yates novel ‘Revolutionary Road’ has also got book people excited -- it, with ‘Catch-22,’ lost the 1962 National Book Award to Walker Percy’s ‘The Moviegoer.’ ‘Revolutionary Road’ will reunite Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who last performed together in a little film called ‘Titantic.’ This coupling inspired Robert Birnbaum to post a (long) list of favorite author/star pairings on the Morning News.

One author who appears twice on his list is Graham Greene, with actors Alec Guinness and Michael Caine. But others have portrayed his Englishmen too -- Greene’s highly adaptable work has been brought to the screen (big and TV) 56 times.

Even more adaptable is W. Somerset Maugham (pictured), whose book ‘The Razor’s Edge’ was made into the 1984 movie starring Bill Murray (there was also a 1946 version). Birnbaum calls it a ‘pretty good film,’ which I think is overly generous, but he’s right in that Murray’s performance was good, better than people said at the time. In addition to Murray, stars who’ve done Maugham include Laurence Olivier, Bette Davis, Sean Penn, Peter Cushing, Rita Hayworth, Tyrone Power, Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Fred MacMurray, Edward Norton, Veronica Lake and even Ethel Barrymore. There have been a whopping 108 filmic representations of Maugham’s work, in German and Russian as well as English. The very first Maugham adaptation was written in 1915; the most recent was the 2006’s ‘The Painted Veil.’ Chances are it won’t be the last.

The debate about what makes a good literary adaptation is probably endless, but having a star who can embody the spirit of the work sure helps. Me, I think of Colin Firth as Darcy, and Sean Connery as Ian Fleming’s Bond.

-- Carolyn Kellogg