"Gatsby? What Gatsby?"

If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw my photo of my copy of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  It is my favorite book of all time.  I feel so lucky that I get to teach it each year and dread the day I can't.  The novel is a romantic reminder of what true love can be, and what it actually ends up being.  For me, Jay Gatsby represents everything I want in a man...someone who loves me unconditionally is willing to do anything for me.  Is that reality?  Maybe...but the idea of a man being in love with you for his entire life is dreamy.  

My 11th graders probably don't understand my passion for this great work of art.  If you've never read it, please do yourself a favor and read it right away!  You will be sucked in and fall in love more so than something you might have read, like Hunger Games or Twilight.  This is the true classic.  

"He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly.  It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.  It faced--or seemed to face the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.  It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself." --Nick Carraway The Great Gatsby Chapter 3

Now do you see why I'm so in love?  Who writes like that? 

What's really exciting is Baz Luhrmann is working on a new version of the film that stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan.  Yay!!!  In the meantime, here's some fun trivia from the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.  If you haven't seen it, trust me...rent it this weekend.  Robert Redford is an angel.

--Originally, Truman Capote was the screenwriter, and his draft included making Nick a homosexual and Jordan Baker a vindictive lesbian. Capote was fired, and Francis Ford Coppola finished his draft in three weeks. 

--Mia Farrow was pregnant during filming and the director filmed around that by including close up shots of Farrow, and having her wear a lot of flowing costumes. 

--The rights for the novel were purchased by producer Robert Evans in 1971 so that his wife at the time, Ali MacGraw, could play the part of Daisy. A shooting script wasn't ready yet, and MacGraw agreed to star in The Getaway as filler. During the production of The Getaway MacGraw fell in love with co-star Steve McQueen and left Evans for him. Mia Farrow was then picked to play Daisy. 

--Many of the male extras in the party scenes were recruited from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island because military officers already wore the clean-cut hairstyles that were worn by men in the period of the film. 

--According to Robert Evans in his memoirs Warren Beatty was approached to play Gatsby but wanted to direct the film and suggested Evans play the role himself. Jack Nicholson was offered but rejected the role because he didn't believe Ali MacGraw to be appropriate casting for Daisy (she was later replaced with Mia Farrow) and Steve McQueen was also considered and rejected for the role. 

--Supposedly Natalie Wood was an early contender for the role of Daisy but she allegedly became furious when the producers insisted on a screen test since the actress hadn't been in a movie for over 5 years. She balked and negotiations ended. 

--Mia Farrow writes that the main reason she was unable to create on-screen chemistry with co-star Robert Redford was because of Redford's total absorption in the Watergate scandals that were rocking Washington, D.C. at the time of filming. Farrow says Redford spent all his free time locked in his trailer, watching the political scandal unfold on television. 

And here are some photos of the upcoming film with Leo:

All photos courtesy of Pinterest

All trivia courtesy of IMDB

Don't forget to get your Fashion Friday posts ready!  The link will be up later this evening!  xoxo

To Kill a Mockingbird

I'm beginning To Kill a Mockingbird with my Sophomores this week and thought I would do some research on the film starring Gregory Peck. If you've never read the novel by Harper Lee, you must put it on your list. It is an amazing, timeless story that teaches us about tolerance. Lee only wrote one novel, and some even questioned whether she actually wrote it or not (her best friend was Truman Capote and it was rumored he penned it for her). She didn't even want to be involved in writing the screenplay for the film version that came out 2 years after the novel, in 1962.

Here are some facts about the film. Enjoy your Wednesday friends!

--Although Gregory Peck's inspirational performance as Atticus Finch turned out to be a perfect highlight to his long career, Rock Hudson was actually the studio's first choice for the role. James Stewart was also offered the part, but told the producers he believed the script was "too liberal", and feared the film would be controversial.

--The courtroom is a recreation of the interior of the Monroe County Courthouse in Monroeville, Alabama, Harper Lee's hometown. Prior to filming, production designers traveled to Monroeville, took photographs and measurements, and created a near duplicate on soundstages at Universal Studios.

--The watch used in the film was a prop, but Harper Lee gave Gregory Peck her father's watch after the film was completed because he reminded her so much of him.

--Phillip Alford told his mother that he did not want to go to the auditions for the part of Jem Finch but when his mother told him he would miss half a day of school, he immediately decided to go to them.

--Brock Peters started to cry while shooting the testifying scene, without rehearsing it this way, and Gregory Peck said that he had to look past him, instead of looking him in the eye, without choking up himself.

--It has been reported that this film was Gregory Peck's favorite work.

--The first scene that Gregory Peck shot showed him returning home from his character's law office while his children ran to greet him. Harper Lee was a guest on the set that day, and Peck noticed her crying after the scene was filmed. "Why are you crying?" Peck asked. Peck had looked just like her late father, the model for Atticus, Lee explained; Peck even had a little round pot belly like her father's. "That's not a pot belly, Harper," Peck told her, "That's great acting."

--Mary Badham (Scout) and Gregory Peck (Atticus) became close during filming and kept in contact for the rest of his life. He always called her Scout.

--The character of Dill is purportedly based upon Truman Capote, who had been a childhood friend of Harper Lee when he was sent to live with relatives in Lee's hometown each summer. Truman Capote, in turn, based one of his characters in his literary work "Other Voices, Other Rooms" upon his recollection of Harper Lee.

--Robert Duvall stayed out of the sun for six weeks and dyed his hair blond for the role of Boo Radley who, according to the story, spent much of his life as a recluse. The character of Arthur "Boo" Radley is based in part on Harper's Lee's recollection of Alfred "Son" Bouleware," who lived with his parents in a dilapidated, mostly boarded up house just a few doors away from the Lee home. He was kept secluded in the house by his father, following a vandalism incident in which young Alfred was involved. Described in the book and in the movie as leaving the house only at night because the sun hurt his eyes, this would indicate that Boo Radley was a person of Albinism (lack of pigment in the skin, in the hair, and in the irises of the eyes.)

--Robert Duvall's first movie.

--Mary Badham became the youngest girl to receive an Oscar nomination, ironically losing the award to another child actress, Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker (1962).

--Gregory Peck's 9 minute summation speech was nailed in one take.