The alternate endings of 28 famous movies mental floss. The theme of some came running is the sad gap between capability and for his new novel, massive in scale and closely observed in its detail, the small town of parkman. Much of the book s shortcomings are the direct result of the quality of thought found among its pages. Davis grubb july 23, 1919 july 24, 1980 was an american novelist and short story writer. Movie historians will note some came running was the beginning of the famed rat pack. But the more flamboyant ginny has followed him to parkton, where he also meets gambler bama dillert. Some came running is the first of seven films in which frank sinatra and dean martin would appear together.
Some came running, by james jones commentary magazine. Some came running was immediately adapted as film starring frank sinatra, dean martin and shirley maclaine, which was critically acclaimed and nominated for several oscars. His prosperous brother introduces him to gwen french, a local teacher. As you might suspect, plenty of complications ensue. Buy some came running book online at best prices in india on. Buy some came running book online at low prices in india. Sinatra, a mob boss and an erroneous hamburger order in. Some came running marked the first joint screen appearance of members of hollywoods wellknown entertainment cadre, the rat pack, of which frank sinatra was the unofficial head and which included dean martin, sammy davis, jr. Impulsively frank asks edith to go on a drive with him and they end up on a lovers lane, where edith admits her long attraction to frank. I made my recent purchase of the book simply to replace a previous copy that was lost over the years. No one who has ever been seriously hung over or needed a drink will fail to recognize the moment.
The big space of cinemascope initially establishes a condition of withdrawal and isolation that the narrative works to overcome. The reader is battered into helpless insensibility by joness analyses, explanations. Some of our favorite films could have turned out entirely different. Foremost among them is frank sinatras dave hirsh, a minor novelist no longer sure of his talent and now floating from bender to bender after a stint in the military. Dave must come to terms with his roots and with his future. A novel modern library 100 best novels james jones. I didnt take it on as a oh heres a great film you have to see.
Shirley maclaine was included as an auxiliary member of the group several years. It was joness second published novel, following his awardwinning debut from here to. It had three alternate endings, but unlike these other movies, you could actually see all three of them when the movie was. And this ending comes in a moment that left me shattered, my mouth agape. There is a moment in the verdict when paul newman walks into a room and shuts the door and trembles with anxiety and with the inner scream that people should get off his back.
It was joness second published novel, following his awardwinning debut from here to eternity. And then i came across a campus screening of vincente minnellis some came running. Bitter from being sent to a boys home by his brother at age 12, daves return to his hometown after 16 years shakes up the small town of parkman, indiana. Some came running is a rambling tome that keeps the reader hoping he will find a message somewhere in the overweight volume, only to come away unsatisfied. Some came running men are predatory monsters in some came running a fact that the movie, to its credit, acknowledges and is at least partly about. Some came running is the story of us army veteran and twotime author, dave hirsh frank sinatra. I didnt know about some came running until i read lee sandlins.
Despite its flaws and overall despondency, some came running has a lot to. Some came running, based on author james jones followup to his masterpiece, from here to eternity, was a conscious effort by mgm to recapture the lightning of the earlier film, particularly in casting frank sinatra whod won an oscar for eternity, in the lead, and assigning their best director, vincente minnelli, to helm the project. The great success of his first book from here to eternity establi. Some came running quotes showing 11 of 1 and the sum of what he wanted to get said was that each man was a sacred universe in himself and at the same time, inextricably, a noisome garbage pail whose bottom had rotted out and was poisoning the garden air and needed to be got rid of posthaste. Some came running, screen play by john patrick and arthur sheekman, based on the novel by james jones. Whats most disturbing about some came running is that hirsh is so recognizable. Sinatra gets the bulk of the films very good oneliners. Some of the storys many characters remain shadowy at the finish but the film knowingly combines tension and robust comedy. It reproduced hundreds of works, most of them obscure or unknown, by official military artists, newspaper illustrators and amateurseverything from pencil sketches made by soldiers on south pacific bases. And the movie of the same name was a typical hollywood treatment at the time with little about it that followed the objective of the book. Bernstein in some came running, plus natalies greatest scene at end of splendor in the grass. Inhibited by its era from playing out the messy relationships of james jones novel in all their explicitness, director vincente minnelli finds a means of using this to his advantage in some came running, constructing an unsettling melodrama of suggestion and understatement. Its lack of monetary success forced james jones into writing a screenplay for the longest day in order to pay his bills. Minnelli presents a postwar american anytown that keeps its.
You either liked some came running or you didnt, and there doesnt seem to be anything in between. The center of the novel is dave hirsch, a latearriving veteran home from the. The most important book totv adaptations coming in 2020. His other works include some came running, the pistol, go to the widowmaker, the icecream headache and other stories, the merry month of may, a touch of danger, whistle, and to the end of the wara book of previously unpublished fiction. In this regard, some came running is an outlier, even a renunciation, for much of its running time. Shirley mclainess character throws herself in front of a bullet. Some came running is the book dave talks about, and it is a very bad book indeed, selfconscious, discursive, ineptly plotted, and clumsily written.
He meets and befriends various different characters and tries to figure out what to do with his life. It is a thinly disguised autobiographical novel of joness experiences in his hometown of robinson, illinois, immediately after returning from world war ii. The first real burst of color comes from a bar where he meets the hard drinking gambler. Set in 1948, it tells the story of a troubled army veteran and author who returns to his midwestern hometown after 16 years, to the chagrin of his wealthy, socialclimbing brother. His other works include some came running, the pistol, go to the widowmaker, the icecream headache and other stories, the merry month of may, a touch of danger, whistle, and to the end of the war a book of previously unpublished fiction.
The theme of some came running is the sad gap between capability and for his new novel, massive in scale and closely observed in its detail, the small town of parkman, illinois provides a civilian setting. It had three alternate endings, but unlike these other movies, you could actually see all. Some came running is a 1958 american drama film directed by vincente minnelli and starring frank sinatra, dean martin, and shirley maclaine, based on the novel of the same name by james jones. In his second novel, some came running, published in 1958, the same year that he. Other articles where some came running is discussed. Eisenhower fifties, some came running, adapted from a james jones novel, stars frank. Sinatra, a mob boss and an erroneous hamburger order in madison, ind. Some months before my first reading of some came running i had come across a piece of nasty gossip mailer published about styron reading aloud at a dinner party some of joness work in his absence and making fun of it. Writers patrick and sheekman change the ending with a cavalier.
Jones book, six years in the writing, focused on the struggles of dave hirsh, onetime novelist turned soldier, who returns to his home, a sort of. Despite its flaws and overall despondency, some came running has a lot to reward the patient reader willing to risk a bout of clinical depression at book s end. It is the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns in 1948 to his hometown of parkman, indiana, after a failed writing career. To this reader, who felt that the disputed peyton place had moments of good writing. By the some of its parts, it may just look like any another feature from the genre and period. Some came running is the 1958 romantic drama adapted from the james jones novel of the same name. Mgm filmed this in 1958 and, scenting profit but wary of a bespoke flop, signet put out an abridged edition with pictures of the movie stars on the back cover. Some came running 1958 approved 2h 17min drama, romance 25 december 1958 usa dave hirsch, a writer and an army veteran winds up in his small indiana hometown, to the dismay of his respectable older brother. He once had a career as an author, and published two books, but drinking and writers block have left his writing career moribund. Some came running is a film in which we think we know what were seeing but where we have to learn to revise our understanding and, like dave especially, learn to let more into the range of our emotional experience. Some came running is the transition movie between frank sinatras earlier film career and his later ringading rat pack persona, that set the standard for the allamerican boozing, skirt chasing swinging lifestyle.
Dave hirsch, a writer and army veteran, returns to 1948 parkman, indiana, his hometown. Some came running what happens in the end of the film. Unknown to frank, dawn and her boyfriend wally dennis are parked nearby and dawn is. It is the key to his character in the verdict, a movie about a drinking alcoholic who tries to pull himself.
Some came running by vincente minnelli frank sinatra. The conclusion is slightly different from the novel version. Some came running is a 1958 film directed by vincente minnelli, starring frank sinatra, shirley maclaine, arthur kennedy, dean martin, and martha hyer dave hirsh sinatra is an alcoholic soldier, freshly discharged from the army. The first real burst of color comes from a bar where he.
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