Author:
Susan
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Date Posted: 02:04:59 01/25/06 Wed
Just to help get the discussion going in the appropriate place, I snatched some of the previous commentary from the Blackbeard topic:
Susan G. had written (in response to my question about the book the movie is based on, which she highly recommends):
"'Man About A Dog' is out of print so I had to get a used copy. Seeing the movie piqued my interest & I had to get the book (knowing that books are more detailed). But, to answer your question, yes, there is more animal (and human) abuse in the book than the movie. However, no details are described on how 'things' are done!! I've noticed the books from that generation don't go into 'gory' details but the thought is still there! And I will leave you with that thought (just a little humor)!"
She added:
"BTW..... 'A Man About a Dog' was the title published in England. The book was apparently known as 'Over The Line' here in the states and it was written by Alec Coppel. So we have two movie titles: 'Obsession' and 'The Hidden Room' and two book titles: 'A Man About a Dog' and 'Over The Line'. How is that for confusion? Just in case you want to check to library again try for 'Over the Line'."
Then I wrote:
"Alas, the only Alec Coppel items owned by our entire county library system are "The Gazebo: a play in two acts" and the movie "Vertigo," for which he wrote the screenplay. Wow, so many titles for that story--which one do you think is most appropriate? (Hmm, "Over the Line" is kind of interesting if you think about the story!)"
Sue G. responded:
"'Over the Line' certainly fit in with both the book and the film. However, 'Man About a Dog' had a catch to it also because that was how the inspector was first introduced in the story (looking for Storm's dog). I wonder why they felt the need in many instances to change the title of a film from that of the book it was based on? And why films (and books) titles were changed from one country to another (Obsession in the UK, The Hidden Room in the US...Man About a Dog in the UK and Over the Line in the US..it can get confusing).
"Some day we will have to start a discussion on this film. For instance,have you ever thought how in the world he kept a person chained up in a room (I guess it was a bomb shelter left from the war) for months and no one ever heard a thing. Clive had to have visited that place a couple of times a day to keep Bill fed. No one ever caught on to him 'slipping away' every day, including weekends, with food. Another thing, if Bill had used his head, he could have feigned illness to get Clive near him so he could overtake him.In fact, why he didn't get ill living in a damp basement for months (with no heat, from the looks of it), is a little puzzling. And you're right, Susan, why didn't Clive just kill Storm? However,that would not make for as good a move as this was. I was never sure if Clive really loved Storm or he was just bent on revenge for her numerous affairs because he felt betrayed.
"These are just some 'observations' about the film that I thought might spark up some conversation. It is still one of my favorite RN films. And I think he looks 'good' in it!"
There's no someday like the present! Thanks for starting the topic, Lois.
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