vampyrate
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Headlong
This is a topic to discuss Emlyn Williams's only published novel, 1980's Headlong about an ordinary (so he thinks) citizen from Cornwall who suddenly finds himself King of England after a bizarre 1935 dirigible accident kills the entire royal family. The book became the basis for the John Goodman comedy King Ralph. Comparisons to the movie are also welcome.
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"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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10/17/2006, 9:00 pm
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htrm
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Re: Headlong
I just ordered this one on Ebay for a whopping 99 cents plus shipping (probably $5.98 total).
I loved the movie, John Goodman is one of my favorite actors.
I have a feeling that like with Jamaica Inn, the movie took certain impressions from the book and applied them in an original way (such as the lead being in entertainment).
I wonder how contraversial was his killing off of the entire royal family.
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9/9/2007, 6:24 pm
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vampyrate
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Re: Headlong
Quite the opposite to you, I've read the book but haven't seen the movie. From what I understand, it's very different. It's hard for me to imagine an American taking the lead role. (One of the things I love about the book is how much of Emlyn there is in the protagonist--he comes from a rural Celtic upbringing, he gets his start in theatre (lots of interesting behind-the-scenes stuff there), and there's even a scene where the character sits for a portrait with Cecil Beaton ... something Emlyn had first-hand experience of. I don't know how accurate it is, but he gives the impression he did a lot of research on the royal family for the book as well.
Yeah, I would think the killing off of the entire royal family would be a bit shocking to the real royals, but somehow it's so outrageous (and obviously never really happened) that you kind of take it as tongue-in-cheek. (There he goes being all cheeky again!) The whole "bizarre dirigible accident" sets the stage for a fantasy that's full of his dry wit.
Anyway, let us know what you think.
---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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9/10/2007, 11:37 pm
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vampyrate
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Re: Headlong
I've finally seen King Ralph, and I was naturally disappointed, although I was surprised that they retained as much of Williams's plot as they did. (FYI, there may be some mild spoilers ahead--more for the movie than for the book.)
First of all, I suspect that if you haven't read the book, how much you enjoy the movie is going to depend on how you feel about John Goodman. I thought he was fine as a blue-collar father on the Roseanne show, but I haven't seen him in anything else that I liked him in, and having read Headlong, it almost seemed blasphemous to have Williams's thoughtful, quietly witty Cornish actor-protagonist/narrator replaced by a slovenly American lounge singer. (Goodman's accent really grates on me, and it seems especially pronounced when juxtaposed with all those classy British ones. Even a ****ney accent sounds classy next to that.) The book's humor is much more subtle, and the tale is also more poignant (especially the romance angle of it and of the life he has to leave behind, while I don't remember that villain character played by John Hurt being in it either), whereas the movie is centered around one joke: big, loud American trying to fit into the staid world of English royalty. But it's obviously made for American audiences since in the end, he never really changes but rather seems to teach the uptight Brits a thing or two. (The time period is also moved up from 1935 to the "present.") Also it was a bit unbelievable that they tried to get him to change his name from "Ralph" because it sounded un-British, when Ralph is, in fact, a traditional Old English name. (But when you say it in Goodman's car-horn ayak-cent, it does sound out of place.)
On the other hand, I thought Peter O'Toole did a fine job portraying his assistant, the one character I thought was very much in keeping with the book, and it was neat to see Richard Griffiths in his pre-Uncle Vernon days. And while I somehow always find Williams's fictional endings unsatisfying (at least the ones I'm familiar with so far), the movie version by contrast got the full Hollywood smaltzy wrap-up treatment. Frankly, I preferred being left unsatisfied with this one! (After reading his reaction [between the lines] to the changes they made to the movie version of Night Must Fall and suspecting that was the real reason he didn't reprise his stage role, I have a feeling Emlyn would have been turning over in his grave--or his urn--if he could see what they did to his only published novel.)
Well, I'll be waiting to hear what you think.
Last edited by vampyrate, 9/25/2007, 2:21 am
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"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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9/25/2007, 1:31 am
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htrm
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Re: Headlong
quote:
vampyrate wrote:
Also it was a bit unbelievable that they tried to get him to change his name from "Ralph" because it sounded un-British, when Ralph is, in fact, a traditional Old English name. (But when you say it in Goodman's car-horn ayak-cent, it does sound out of place.)
I was put-off by the whole changing the name Ralph thing. It might sound like it is describing an unhappy event, but it is still a name I'd expect to hear after King.
Peter O'Toole is also one of my favorite actors, and I definately think he did a better acting job in this movie than John Goodman. It's hard to pull-off the comedy antics that the movie was supposed to be carried by, which weren't what I liked about the movie anyway. John Goodman could have done a better job if he was left to rely more on his serious acting skills, and it probably would have made the movie that much more like the book, but they wanted it for an American audience.
I wonder if Emlyn had his friend Bill in mind at all, when he was first contemplating the book.
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9/25/2007, 10:14 am
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vampyrate
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Re: Headlong
quote:
John Goodman could have done a better job if he was left to rely more on his serious acting skills, and it probably would have made the movie that much more like the book, but they wanted it for an American audience.
I think a movie version of Headlong could only really work if given a serious treatment, with that touch of wit and whimsy given it in the book. It was really more of a sweet, sad, romantic story than a comedy. But even then, it's almost too introspective to translate accurately for the screen, which is probably why Emlyn chose to write it as a novel rather than as a play. And if someone did manage to make it accurately, it would end up being one of those acclaimed art-house movies in this country rather than the kind of rake-in-the-bucks blockbuster Hollywood usually looks for.
So have you finished the book already?? If so, you're a fast reader! (Much faster than I am, anyway!)
---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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9/25/2007, 12:32 pm
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