document_title: Stand by Me (film)

question_text: who does wil wheaton play in stand by me

text: Stand by Me (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Author Gordie Lachance reads in the newspaper that his childhood friend Chris Chambers has been stabbed to death. Gordie narrates a flashback (later revealed to be Gordie writing) to a childhood incident when he and three buddies undertook a journey to find the body of a missing boy near the town of Castle Rock, Oregon, over Labor Day weekend in 1959.

text: Young Gordie is a quiet, bookish boy who likes to tell stories. His parents, grieving the recent death of Gordie's older brother Denny, neglect their younger son. Gordie's friends are Chris, who comes from a family of drunks and criminals; Teddy Duchamp, a joker who was burned and physically scarred by his mentally ill father; and Vern Tessio, who is overweight and timid.

text: Vern overhears his older brother Billy and his friend Charlie Hogan discussing Ray Brower, a young boy who is missing and presumed dead. Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern decide to find Ray's body, hoping to become local heroes. Chris steals his father's M1911 pistol, and the boys set out, stopping at the town's junkyard to drink from its water pump. The boys hang out in the junkyard for a while, while Gordie leaves to buy food for the journey. When Gordie returns, he sees his friends jumping the fence to escape Milo Pressman, the junkman, and his dog Chopper. Gordie escapes as well. Pressman, infuriated, threatens to call the boys' parents and calls Teddy's father a "loony"; an enraged Teddy attempts to attack Pressman, but the boys restrain him and they leave.

text: At nighttime, Gordie tells the other boys a story of Davie "Lard-Ass" Hogan, an overweight boy who is constantly teased and bullied. Hogan enters a pie-eating contest, but his goal was not to win, but to exact revenge. Prior to the contest, Hogan consumed a full bottle of castor oil and a raw egg. After eating several pies and briefly dominating the contest, Hogan vomits, inducing the vomiting of the contestants and crowd members, humiliating and embarrassing his tormentors.

text: After a series of misadventures and self-revelations, the boys locate the body. However, local hoodlum "Ace" Merrill and his gang, including Chris' older brother "Eyeball" Chambers, arrive to claim the body and the credit for finding it. When Chris refuses to allow this, Ace draws a switchblade with intent to kill him, but Gordie intervenes with the pistol Chris had stolen. Ace and his gang leave and Ace vows revenge.

text: The boys agree to report the body via an anonymous phone call to the authorities and hike back to Castle Rock and bid each other farewell until they see each other in a few days, in the local junior high school.

text: The present-day Gordie writes that while he and Chris remained friends, they drifted apart from Teddy and Vern shortly after that day. Gordie notes how everyone's life turned out: Vern married immediately after high school, has four children, and drives a forklift at a local lumberyard. Teddy tried enlisting in the Army but was turned down because of bad eyesight and an ear injury; he later served time in prison and now does odd jobs around town. Chris went to college and became a lawyer; when attempting to break up a fight in a fast-food restaurant, he was stabbed to death.

text: After finishing the story, adult Gordie, a successful, published writer, walks outside and drives away with his son and his son's friend to take them swimming.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Wil Wheaton as Gordie Lachance (aged 12)

Richard Dreyfuss as Gordie Lachance (adult; credited as "The Writer")

River Phoenix as Chris Chambers
Corey Feldman as Teddy Duchamp
Jerry O'Connell as Vern Tessio
Kiefer Sutherland as John "Ace" Merrill, gang leader
Casey Siemaszko as Billy Tessio, gang member
John Cusack as Denny Lachance
Marshall Bell as Mr. Lachance
Frances Lee McCain as Mrs. Lachance
Gary Riley as Charlie Hogan, gang member
Bradley Gregg as Richard "Eyeball" Chambers, gang member
Jason Oliver as Vince Desjardins, gang member
Bruce Kirby as Mr. Quidacioluo, store owner
William Bronder as Milo Pressman, junkyard owner
Scott Beach as Mayor Grundy
Andy Lindberg as Davie "Lard-Ass" Hogan

text: Production[edit]

text: Bruce A. Evans sent a copy of Stephen King's novella The Body to Karen Gideon, the wife of his friend and writing partner Raynold Gideon on August 29, 1983 as a gift for her birthday.[3] Both Gideon and Evans quickly became fans of the novella and shortly thereafter contacted King's agent, Kirby McCauley, seeking to negotiate film rights; McCauley replied that King's terms were $100,000 and 10% of the gross profits. Although the money was not an issue, the share of gross profits was considered excessive, especially considering that no stars could be featured to help sell the movie. In response, Evans and Gideon pursued an established director, Adrian Lyne, to help sell the project.[3]

text: After reading the novella, Lyne teamed up with Evans and Gideon, but all the studios the trio approached turned the project down except for Martin Shafer at Embassy Pictures. Embassy spent four months negotiating the rights with McCauley, settling on $50,000 and a smaller share of the profits, and Evans and Gideon spent eight weeks writing the screenplay. Evans and Gideon asked to also produce the film, but Shafer suggested they team up with Andy Scheinman, a more experienced producer.[3] Embassy was unwilling to meet Lyne's salary for directing the film until Evans and Gideon agreed to give up half of their share of profits to meet Lyne's asking price.[3]

text: Reiner later recalled that Lyne was going to direct the film, but had promised himself a vacation following the production of 9½ Weeks,[4][5] and would not be available to start production until the spring of 1986.[3] Reiner, better known at the time as the actor who had played 'Meathead' Stivic in All in the Family, was sent the script by Scheinman,[3] and his initial reaction was the script had promise but "no focus".[6] After Lyne withdrew from the project, Reiner signed on to direct in September 1984.[3] Reiner realized the story should focus on Gordie, as "his father always paid more attention to his older brother" and he identified with that, as he struggled with the shadow of fame cast by his comedian father, Carl Reiner.[6] The writers incorporated Reiner's suggestions, producing a new script by December 1984 for Embassy's review and approval.[3]

text: Days before shooting started in the summer of 1985, Embassy was sold to Columbia Pictures, who made plans to cancel the production.[3] Norman Lear, one of the co-owners of Embassy, gave $7.5 million of his own money to complete the film, citing his faith in Reiner and the script.[6] However, since Embassy also would have distributed the film, once the film was completed it had no distributor. The producers showed a print to Michael Ovitz, head of the powerful Creative Artists Agency, and Ovitz promised to help them find a distributor.[3] Paramount, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. all passed on the film; Columbia Pictures production head Guy McElwaine screened the film at his house because he was feeling ill, and the positive reaction of his daughters convinced him to distribute the film.[3][6]

text: Casting[edit]

text: In a 2011 interview with NPR, Wil Wheaton attributed the film's success to the director's casting choices:

text: Rob Reiner found four young boys who basically were the characters we played. I was awkward and nerdy and shy and uncomfortable in my own skin and really, really sensitive, and River was cool and really smart and passionate and even at that age kind of like a father figure to some of us, Jerry was one of the funniest people I had ever seen in my life, either before or since, and Corey was unbelievably angry and in an incredible amount of pain and had an absolutely terrible relationship with his parents.[7]

text: Feldman recalled how his home life translated into his onscreen character: "[Most kids aren't] thinking they're going to get hit by their parents because they're not doing well enough in school, which will prevent them from getting a work permit, which will prevent them from being an actor."[6] O'Connell agreed that he was cast based on how his personality fit the role, saying "Rob really wanted us to understand our characters. He interviewed our characters. [...] I tried to stay like Vern and say the stupid things Vern would. I think I was Vern that summer."[8] Reiner and the producers interviewed more than 70 boys for the four main roles,[3] out of more than 300 who auditioned;[8] Phoenix originally read for the part of Gordie Lachance.[8]

text: Rather than start shooting right away, Reiner put the four main actors together for two weeks to play games from Viola Spolin's Improvisation for the Theater (which Reiner called "the bible" of theater games)[8] and build camaraderie, which led to a real friendship between them and several one-shot takes, where the young actors hit their cues perfectly.[6] Wheaton would recall "When you saw the four of us being comrades, that was real life, not acting."[8]

text: Before settling on Richard Dreyfuss as the narrator (and the role of the adult Gordie), Reiner considered David Dukes, Ted Bessell, and Michael McKean.[6]

text: Locations[edit]

text: Parts of the film were shot in Brownsville, Oregon, which stood in for the fictional town of Castle Rock. The town was selected for its small town, 1950s ambience.[9][10] The town fondly remembers the making of the movie in June and July 1985, in which approximately 100 local residents were employed as extras, and since 2007 has held an annual Stand By Me Day each July which has drawn international attendees.[9]

text: The blueberry pie eating contest was also filmed in Brownsville; residents were employed as extras and a local bakery supplied the pies and extra filling, which was mixed with large-curd cottage cheese to simulate the vomit.[11] The quantity of simulated vomit varied per person, from as much as 5 US gallons (19 l) during the triggering event to little as 1⁄16 US gallon (0.24 l).[11]

text: Scenes that include the "mailbox baseball" game and the junkyard scenes were filmed in Veneta, Oregon. The junkyard is still in operation. The campout/standing guard scene was filmed in Eugene, Oregon, just a few miles from Veneta. The general store is in Franklin, Oregon, just north of Veneta. Scenes along the railroad tracks were shot near Cottage Grove, Oregon, along the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway. The line was abandoned 1994; the roadbed was repurposed as the Row River National Recreation Trail.

text: The scene where the boys outrace a steam train engine across an 80-foot tall trestle was filmed on the McCloud River Railroad, above Lake Britton Reservoir, near McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in California.[12] The scene took a full week of shooting, making use of four small adult female stunt doubles with closely cropped hair, made up to look like the film's protagonists.[12] Plywood planks were laid across the trestles to provide a safer surface on which the stunt doubles could run.[12] The locomotive used for the scene, M.C.R.R. 25, is still in daily operation for excursion service on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.[12] Telephoto compression was used to make the train appear much closer than it actually was, and the actors did not feel a sense of danger until Reiner threatened them. "You see those guys? They don’t want to push that dolly down the track any more. And the reason they’re getting tired is because of you. I told them if they weren't worried that the train was going to kill them, then they should worry that I was going to. And that's when they ran."[4]

text: Title[edit]

text: In March 1986, Columbia Pictures, concerned that the original title, The Body, was misleading, renamed the film Stand by Me. According to screenwriter Raynold Gideon, "...it sounded like either a sex film, a bodybuilding film or another Stephen King horror film. Rob came up with Stand by Me, and it ended up being the least unpopular option."[13]

text: Music[edit]

text: Jack Nitzsche composed the film's musical score. On August 8, 1986, a soundtrack album was released containing many of the 1950s and early 1960s oldies songs featured in the film:

text:
"Everyday" (Buddy Holly) – 2:07
"Let the Good Times Roll" (Shirley and Lee) – 2:22
"Come Go with Me" (The Del-Vikings) – 2:40
"Whispering Bells" (The Del-Vikings) – 2:25
"Get a Job" (The Silhouettes) – 2:44
"Lollipop" (The Chordettes) – 2:09
"Yakety Yak" (The Coasters) – 1:52
"Great Balls of Fire" (Jerry Lee Lewis) – 1:52
"Mr. Lee" (The Bobbettes) – 2:14
"Stand by Me" (Ben E. King) – 2:55

tag: ol

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film was a box office success in North America. It opened in a limited release on August 8, 1986, in 16 theaters and grossed $242,795, averaging $15,174 per theater. The film then had its wide opening in 745 theaters on August 22 and grossed $3,812,093, averaging $5,116 per theater and ranking #2. The film's widest release was 848 theaters, and it ended up earning $52,287,414 overall, well above its $8 million budget.[14]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Reviewing for The New York Times, Walter Goodman thought the direction was rather self-conscious, "looking constantly at his audience"; Goodman called it a "trite narrative" and that "Reiner's direction hammers in every obvious element in an obvious script."[15] Dave Kehr wrote "there's nothing natural in the way Reiner has overloaded his film with manufactured drama" in his review for the Chicago Tribune.[16] In contrast, Sheila Benson called it "[a treasure] absolutely not to be missed" in her review for the Los Angeles Times.[17] Paul Attanasio, reviewing for The Washington Post, called the acting ensemble "wonderful", and particularly praised the performances by Wheaton and Phoenix.[18]

text: Stephen King, whose novella this film was adapted from, was very impressed with the finished result[19] and indicated, on the special features of the 25th anniversary Blu-ray set, that he considered the film to be the first successful translation to film of any of his works. According to a later interview with Gene Siskel, Reiner recalls that after a private early screening of the film, King excused himself for fifteen minutes to compose himself, returning to remark "That's the best film ever made out of anything I've written, which isn't saying much. But you've really captured my story. It is autobiographical."[20]

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 53 reviews, with a rating average of 8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Stand by Me is a wise, nostalgic movie with a weird streak that captures both Stephen King's voice and the trials of growing up."[21] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating to reviews, the film has score of 75 based on 20 critics, indicated "generally favorably reviews."[22]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: Nominations[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans)
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film (Rob Reiner)
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Director (Rob Reiner)
Independent Spirit Award for Best Film (Andrew Scheinman, Raynold Gideon, and Bruce A. Evans)
Independent Spirit Award for Best Director (Rob Reiner)
Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay (Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans)
National Board of Review Awards 1986 Top Ten Films
WGA Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans)

text: Wins[edit]

text: 8th Youth in Film Awards The Jackie Coogan Award for Outstanding Contribution to Youth Through Motion Picture (Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell)

text: Legacy[edit]

text: Events and tourism[edit]

text: Brownsville has held an annual "Stand By Me Day" since 2007, which has attracted international participants[9] and includes a pie eating contest.[11] On July 24, 2010, a 25th Anniversary Celebration of the filming of Stand by Me was held in Brownsville, Oregon. The event included a cast and crew Q&A session, an amateur blueberry pie eating contest, and an outdoor showing of the film.[23]

text: Stand By Me Day was officially fixed to July 23 by the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce in 2013.[24] To encourage tourism, the city has embedded a penny in the street at Main and Park, where Vern found one, and an advertising mural painted for the movie production has survived.[25]

text: Production company[edit]

text: In 1987, following the success of Stand by Me, Reiner co-founded a film and television production company and named it Castle Rock Entertainment, after the fictional setting of the story.[19]

text: Movies[edit]

text:
Jonathan Bernstein states the pop culture discussions between characters in films by Quentin Tarantino originate in the similar semi-serious banter between the boys of Stand by Me.[26]
Reviewers have seen an influence from Stand by Me in the 2011 movie Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish.[27]
The movie Mud (2012) has a character (Neckbone) who has been called a "perfect fusion of River Phoenix and Jerry O'Connell in 'Stand by Me.'"[28][29] The writer and director, Jeff Nichols, said of the film "Yeah, you know, I basically remade Stand by Me" when defending the work-in-progress to studio executives.[30]
The Kings of Summer, a 2013 coming-of-age film by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, has been reviewed as being inspired by Stand by Me.[28][31][32]

text: Music[edit]

text: Dan Mangan's song "Rows of Houses" (2011) is based on this movie and takes the perspective of Gordie Lachance.[33]

text: Television[edit]

text:
Seinfeld, the first television show produced by Reiner's Castle Rock production company, featured banter between Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza that was reminiscent of the dialogue between the protagonists of Stand by Me.[26]
The plotline of "The Blunder Years", a 2001 episode from the thirteenth season of The Simpsons, revolves around a repressed childhood trauma in which Homer Simpson, along with his friends Lenny and Carl, discover a body blocking an inlet for the Springfield Quarry.[28][34]
Actors auditioning for roles on the Netflix show Stranger Things were asked to read lines from Stand by Me and one episode was titled "The Body" in homage to the source novella.[28][35]


document_title: A Streetcar Named Desire

question_text: where does a streetcar named desire take place

root

text: A Streetcar Named Desire

text: Plot[edit]

text: After the loss of her family home, Belle Reve, to creditors, Blanche DuBois travels from the small town of Laurel, Mississippi, to the New Orleans French Quarter to live with her younger, married sister, Stella, and brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Blanche is in her thirties and, with no money, she has nowhere else to go.

tag: p

text: Blanche tells Stella that she has taken a leave of absence from her English-teaching position because of her nerves (which is later revealed to be a lie). Blanche laments the shabbiness of her sister’s two-room flat. She finds Stanley loud and rough, eventually referring to him as "common". Stanley, in return, does not care for Blanche's manners and dislikes her presence.

text: Stanley later questions Blanche about her earlier marriage. Blanche had married when she was very young, but her husband died, leaving her widowed and alone. The memory of her dead husband causes Blanche some obvious distress. Stanley, worried that he has been cheated out of an inheritance, demands to know what happened to Belle Reve, once a large plantation and the DuBois family home. Blanche hands over all the documents pertaining to Belle Reve. While looking at the papers, Stanley notices a bundle of letters that Blanche emotionally proclaims are personal love letters from her dead husband. For a moment, Stanley seems caught off guard over her proclaimed feelings. Afterwards, he informs Blanche that Stella is going to have a baby.

text: The night after Blanche’s arrival, during one of Stanley’s poker parties, Blanche meets Mitch, one of Stanley’s poker player buddies. His courteous manner sets him apart from the other men. Their chat becomes flirtatious and friendly, and Blanche easily charms him; they like each other. Suddenly becoming upset over multiple interruptions, Stanley explodes in a drunken rage and strikes Stella. Blanche and Stella take refuge with the upstairs neighbor, Eunice. When Stanley recovers, he cries out from the courtyard below for Stella to come back by repeatedly calling her name until she comes down and allows herself to be carried off to bed. After Stella returns to Stanley, Blanche and Mitch sit at the bottom of the steps in the courtyard, where Mitch apologizes for Stanley's coarse behavior.

text: Blanche is bewildered that Stella would go back with him after such violence. The next morning, Blanche rushes to Stella and describes Stanley as a subhuman animal, though Stella assures Blanche that she and Stanley are fine. Stanley overhears the conversation but keeps silent. When Stanley comes in, Stella hugs and kisses him, letting Blanche know that her low opinion of Stanley does not matter.

text: As the weeks pass, Blanche and Stanley continue to not get along. Blanche has hope in Mitch, and tells Stella that she wants to go away with him and not be anyone’s problem. During a meeting between the two, Blanche confesses to Mitch that once she was married to a young man, Allan Grey, whom she later discovered in a sexual encounter with an older man. Grey later committed suicide when Blanche told him she was disgusted with him. The story touches Mitch, who tells Blanche that they need each other. It seems certain that they will get married.

text: Later on, Stanley repeats gossip to Stella that he has gathered on Blanche, telling her that Blanche was fired from her teaching job for having sex with a student and that she lived at a hotel known for prostitution (the Flamingo). Stella erupts in anger over Stanley’s cruelty after he states that he has also told Mitch about the rumors, but the fight is cut short as she goes into labor and is sent to the hospital.

text: As Blanche waits at home alone, Mitch arrives and confronts Blanche with the stories that Stanley has told him. At first she denies everything, but eventually confesses that the stories are true. She pleads for forgiveness, but an angry and humiliated Mitch refuses her the chance at an honorable relationship and attempts to sexually assault her instead. In response, Blanche screams "fire", and he runs away in fright.

text: Hours before Stella has the baby, Stanley and Blanche are left alone in the apartment. Blanche has descended into a fantasy that an old suitor of hers is coming to provide financial support and take her away from New Orleans. Stanley goes along with the act before angrily scorning Blanche's lies and behavior, and advances toward her; in response, she threatens to glass him, but is overpowered. It is strongly implied that Stanley rapes Blanche, imminently resulting in her psychotic crisis.

text: Weeks later, at another poker game at the Kowalski apartment, Stella and her neighbor, Eunice, are packing Blanche's belongings. Blanche has suffered a complete mental breakdown and is to be committed to a mental hospital. Although Blanche has told Stella about Stanley's assault, Stella cannot bring herself to believe her sister's story. When a doctor and a matron arrive to take Blanche to the hospital, she initially resists them and collapses on the floor in confusion. Mitch, present at the poker game, breaks down in tears. When the doctor helps Blanche up, she goes willingly with him, saying: "Whoever you are, I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers." The play ends with Stanley continuing to comfort Stella, but also fondling with her blouse, while the poker game continues uninterrupted, as Steve says: "This game is seven-card stud."

text: Stage productions[edit]

text: Original Broadway production[edit]

text: The original Broadway production was produced by Irene Mayer Selznick.[2] It opened at the Shubert in New Haven shortly before moving to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on December 3, 1947.[2] Selznick originally wanted to cast Margaret Sullavan and John Garfield, but settled on Jessica Tandy and Marlon Brando, who were virtual unknowns at the time. The opening night cast also included Kim Hunter as Stella and Karl Malden as Mitch.[2] Tandy was cast after Williams saw her performance in a West Coast production of his one-act play Portrait of a Madonna. Williams believed that casting Brando, who was young for the part as it was originally conceived, would evolve Kowalski from being a vicious older man to someone whose unintentional cruelty can be attributed to youthful ignorance. Despite its shocking scenes and gritty dialogue, the audience applauded for half an hour after the debut performance ended.[3] Brooks Atkinson, reviewing the opening in The New York Times, described Tandy's "superb performance" as "almost incredibly true," concluding that Williams "has spun a poignant and luminous story."[4] Later in the run, Uta Hagen replaced Tandy, Carmelita Pope replaced Hunter, and Anthony Quinn replaced Brando. Hagen and Quinn took the show on a national tour and then returned to Broadway for additional performances. Early on, when Brando broke his nose, Jack Palance took over his role. Ralph Meeker also took on the part of Stanley both in the Broadway and touring companies. Tandy received a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1948, sharing the honor with Judith Anderson's portrayal of Medea and with Katharine Cornell.

text: Uta Hagen's Blanche on the national tour was directed not by Elia Kazan, who had directed the Broadway production, but by Harold Clurman, and it has been reported, both in interviews by Hagen and observations by contemporary critics, that the Clurman-directed interpretation shifted the focus of audience sympathy back to Blanche and away from Stanley (where the Kazan version had located it). This was the original conception of the play, and has been reflected in subsequent revivals.

text: The original Broadway production closed, after 855 performances, in 1949.

text: Original cast[edit]

text:
Jessica Tandy as Blanche DuBois
Karl Malden as Harold "Mitch" Mitchell
Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski
Kim Hunter as Stella Kowalski
Rudy Bond as Steve Hubbell
Nick Dennis as Pablo Gonzales
Peg Hillias as Eunice Hubbell
Vito Christi as Young Collector
Richard Garrick as Doctor
Ann Dere as Nurse
Gee Gee James as Negro Woman
Edna Thomas as Mexican Woman

tag: ul

text: Original London production[edit]

text: The London production, directed by Laurence Olivier, opened on October 12, 1949, and starred Bonar Colleano, Vivien Leigh, and Renee Asherson.[1]

text: Belle Reprieve[edit]

text: Bette Bourne and Paul Shaw of the British gay theater company, Bloolips, and Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver of the American lesbian theater company, Split Britches, collaborated and performed a gender-bent production of Belle Reprieve, a twisted adaption of Streetcar. “This theatrical piece creates a Brechtian,” “epic drama” that relies on the reflective rather than emotional involvement of the audience—a “commentary on the sexual roles and games in Williams’s text.” Blanche was played by Bette Bourne as “man in a dress," Stanley was played by Peggy Shaw as a “butch lesbian,” Mitch was played by Paul Shaw as a “fairy disguised as a man,” and Stella was played by Lois Weaver as a “woman disguised as a woman.”[5]

text: Revivals[edit]

text: The first all-black production of Streetcar was likely performed by the Summer Theatre Company at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, in August 1953 and directed by one of Williams's former classmates at Iowa, Thomas D. Pawley, as noted in the Streetcar edition of the "Plays in Production" series published by Cambridge University Press. The black and cross-gendered productions of Streetcar since the mid-1950s are too numerous to list here.

text: Tallulah Bankhead, for whom Williams had originally written the role of Blanche, starred in a 1956 New York City Center Company production directed by Herbert Machiz.

text: The first Broadway revival of the play was in 1973. It was produced by the Lincoln Center, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, and starred Rosemary Harris as Blanche, James Farentino as Stanley and Patricia Conolly as Stella.[6]

text: The Simpsons did an episode, A Streetcar Named Marge, in which the play was featured. Ned Flanders and Marge took the leading roles as Stanley and Blanche, respectively.

text: The Spring 1988 revival at the Circle in the Square Theatre starred Aidan Quinn opposite Blythe Danner as Blanche and Frances McDormand as Stella.[7]

text: A highly publicized revival in 1992 starred Alec Baldwin as Stanley and Jessica Lange as Blanche. It was staged at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, the same theatre that the original production was staged in. This production proved so successful that it was filmed for television. It featured Timothy Carhart as Mitch and Amy Madigan as Stella, as well as future Sopranos stars James Gandolfini and Aida Turturro. Gandolfini was Carhart's understudy.[8]

text: In 1997, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre in New Orleans mounted a 50th Anniversary production, with music by the Marsalis family, starring Michael Arata and Shelly Poncy. In 2009, the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, where the original pre-Broadway tryout occurred, began a production of the play for its 200th anniversary season.

text: The 2005 Broadway revival was directed by Edward Hall and produced by The Roundabout Theater Company. It starred John C. Reilly as Stanley, Amy Ryan as Stella, and Natasha Richardson as Blanche.[9] The production would mark Natasha Richardson's final appearance on Broadway owing to her death in 2009 in a skiing accident.

text: The Sydney Theatre Company production of A Streetcar Named Desire premiered on September 5 and ran until October 17, 2009. This production, directed by Liv Ullmann, starred Cate Blanchett as Blanche, Joel Edgerton as Stanley, Robin McLeavy as Stella and Tim Richards as Mitch.[10]

text: From July 2009 until October 2009, Rachel Weisz and Ruth Wilson starred in a highly acclaimed revival of the play in London's West End at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Rob Ashford.

text: In November 2010, an Oxford University student production was staged at the Oxford Playhouse which sold out and was critically acclaimed.[11]

text: In April 2012, Blair Underwood, Nicole Ari Parker, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Wood Harris starred in a multiracial adaptation at the Broadhurst Theatre.[12] Theatre review aggregator Curtain Critic gave the production a score of 61 out of 100 based on the opinions of 17 critics.[13]

text: A production at the Young Vic, London, opened on July 23, 2014, and closed on September 19, 2014. Directed by Benedict Andrews and starring Gillian Anderson, Ben Foster, Vanessa Kirby and Corey Johnson; this production garnered critical acclaim and is the fastest selling show ever produced by the Young Vic.[14] On September 16, 2014, the performance was relayed live to over one thousand cinemas in the UK as part of the National Theatre Live project to broadcast the best of British theatre live from the London stage to cinemas across the UK and around the world.[15] Thus far, the production has been screened in over 2000 venues.[16] From April 23, 2016 till June 4, 2016, the production was reprised at the new St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York City.[17]

text: In 2016 Sarah Frankcom directed a production at the Royal Exchange in Manchester starring Maxine Peake, Ben Batt, Sharon Duncan Brewster and Youssef Kerkour. It opened on 8 September and closed on 15 October. It was critically well received with Peake's performance in particular singled out for praise.[18]

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: Film[edit]

text: In 1951, a film adaptation of the play, directed by Elia Kazan, with Malden, Brando, and Hunter reprising their Broadway roles, joined by Vivien Leigh from the London production for the part of Blanche. The movie won four Academy Awards, including three acting awards (Leigh for Best Actress, Malden for Best Supporting Actor and Hunter for Best Supporting Actress), the first time a film won three out of four acting awards (Brando was nominated for Best Actor but lost). Jessica Tandy was the only lead actor from the original Broadway production not to appear in the 1951 film. References to Allan Grey's sexual orientation are essentially removed, due to Motion Picture Production Code restrictions. Instead, the reason for his suicide is changed to a general "weakness".[19] The ending itself was also slightly altered. Stella does not remain with Stanley, as she does in the play.

text: Pedro Almodóvar's 1999 Academy Award-winning film, All About My Mother, features a Spanish-language version of the play being performed by some of the supporting characters and the play itself plays an important role in the film. However, some of the film's dialogue is taken from the 1951 film version, not the original stage version.

text: The 1973 Woody Allen film Sleeper includes a late scene in which Miles (Woody) and Luna (Diane Keaton) briefly take on the roles of Stanley (Luna) and Blanche (Miles).

text: It was noted by many critics that the 2013 Academy Award-winning Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine had much in common with Streetcar and is most likely a loose adaptation. It shares a very similar plot and characters, although it has been suitably updated for modern film audiences.[20][21]

text: In 2015, Gillian Anderson directed and starred in a short film prequel to A Streetcar Named Desire, titled The Departure. The short film was written by the novelist Andrew O'Hagan and is part of Young Vic's short film series, which was produced in collaboration with The Guardian.[22]

text: Opera[edit]

text: In 1995, an opera was adapted and composed by André Previn with a libretto by Philip Littell. It had its premiere at the San Francisco Opera during the 1998–99 season, and featured Renée Fleming as Blanche.

text: Ballet[edit]

text: A 1952 ballet production with choreography by Valerie Bettis, which Mia Slavenska and Frederic Franklin's Slavenska-Franklin Ballet debuted at Her Majesty's Theatre in Montreal, featured the music of Alex North, who had composed the music for the 1951 film.[23]

text: Another ballet production was staged by John Neumeier in Frankfurt in 1983. Music included Visions fugitives by Prokofiev and Alfred Schnittke's First Symphony.

text: In the mid 2000s, another production was staged by Winthrop Corey, then Artistic Director of Mobile Ballet mobileballet.org

text: In 2012, Scottish Ballet collaborated with theatre and film director Nancy Meckler and international choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to create a new staging of A Streetcar Named Desire.[24]

text: Television[edit]

text: In 1955, the television program Omnibus featured Jessica Tandy reviving her original Broadway performance as Blanche, with her husband, Hume Cronyn, as Mitch. It aired only portions of the play that featured the Blanche and Mitch characters.

text: The multi-Emmy Award-winning 1984 television version featured Ann-Margret as Blanche, Treat Williams as Stanley, Beverly D'Angelo as Stella and Randy Quaid as Mitch. It was directed by John Erman and the teleplay was adapted by Oscar Saul. The music score by composed by Marvin Hamlisch. Ann-Margret, D'Angelo and Quaid were all nominated for Emmy Awards, but none won. However, it did win four Emmys, including one for cinematographer Bill Butler. Ann-Margret won a Golden Globe award for her performance and Treat Williams was nominated for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie.

text: A 1995 television version was based on the highly successful Broadway revival that starred Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange. However, only Baldwin and Lange were from the stage production. The TV version added John Goodman as Mitch and Diane Lane as Stella. This production was directed by Glenn Jordan. Baldwin, Lange and Goodman all received Emmy Award nominations. Lange won a Golden Globe award (for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie), while Baldwin was nominated for Best Actor, but did not win.

text: In 1998, PBS aired a taped version of the opera adaptation that featured the original San Francisco Opera cast. The program received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Classical Music/Dance Program.[citation needed]

text: Inspirations[edit]

text: The Desire Line ran from 1920 to 1948, at the height of streetcar use in New Orleans. The route ran down Royal, through the Quarter, to Desire Street in the Bywater district, and back up to Canal. Blanche's route in the play—"They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!"—is allegorical, taking advantage of New Orleans's colorful street names: the Desire line itself crossed Elysian Fields Avenue on its way to Canal Street. There, one could transfer to the Cemeteries line, which ran along Canal, blocks away from Elysian Fields.

text: The character of Blanche is thought to be based on Williams' sister, Rose Williams, who struggled with mental health issues and became incapacitated after a lobotomy.[1]

text: Theatre critic and former actress Blanche Marvin, a friend of Williams, says the playwright used her name for the character Blanche DuBois, named the character's sister Stella after Marvin's former surname "Zohar" (which means "Star"), and took the play's line "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers" from something she said to him.[25]

text: "A Streetcar Named Success"[edit]

text: "A Streetcar Named Success" is an essay by Tennessee Williams about art and the artist's role in society. It is often included in paper editions of A Streetcar Named Desire. A version of this essay first appeared in The New York Times on November 30, 1947, four days before the opening of A Streetcar Named Desire. Another version of this essay, entitled "The Catastrophe of Success", is sometimes used as an introduction to The Glass Menagerie.

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
1948 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play
1948 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play – Jessica Tandy
1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1992 Theater World Award for Best Actress in a Play – Jessica Lange
2010 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play – Rachel Weisz
2010 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play - Ruth Wilson

text:
1988 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play – Frances McDormand
1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play – Blythe Danner
1992 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play – Alec Baldwin
2005 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – Amy Ryan
2005 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play
2005 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play
2010 Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play
2015 Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play
2015 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play – Gillian Anderson

text: Auction record[edit]

text: On October 1, 2009, Swann Galleries auctioned an unusually fine copy of A Streetcar Named Desire, New York, 1947, signed by Williams and dated 1976 for $9,000, a record price for a signed copy of the play.


document_title: The Golden Compass (film)

question_text: who does freddie highmore play in the golden compass

text: The Golden Compass (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: The story takes place in an alternate world dominated by a powerful church called the Magisterium, and where part of the spirit resides outside a person as an animal companion called a dæmon. Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is an orphan raised at Jordan College in Oxford, while her uncle, esteemed explorer and scholar Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), is busy seeking the elusive Dust, a cosmic particle of which the Magisterium has forbidden even the mention. When Asriel returns from his latest expedition, Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon (Freddie Highmore) witness a Magisterium agent poison his wine. Lyra warns her uncle, saving his life; then she watches Asriel give a presentation regarding his findings on the North Pole, where he was able to prove the Dust's existence. The college gives Asriel a grant to fund another expedition that could lead to the discovery of the infinite worlds linked by Dust, which would severely undermine the Magisterium's hold on the world.

text: At dinner, Lyra meets Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), a wealthy, powerful woman who is presented as "a friend of the college". Mrs. Coulter insists on taking Lyra on a trip north as her assistant. Before Lyra leaves, the Master of the college entrusts her with the only remaining alethiometer, a compass-like artifact that reveals the truth. The Magisterium has seized or destroyed all the others. He instructs her to keep it secret, especially from Mrs. Coulter.

text: Mrs. Coulter takes Lyra into her home, in a big city that resembles a retrofuturistic London, and starts taking her to socialite dinners and parties. In her bedroom, Lyra gazes upon the alethiometer and notices that it continuously points to a lady, a lightning bolt and a baby. She does not know what to make of her observation, however, and says nothing of it to Mrs. Coulter. Despite initially projecting the image of a free-spirited woman, she reveals herself to be extremely respectful of the Magisterium and its function. One night, Lyra casually mentions Dust; this puts Mrs. Coulter on edge as she warns Lyra never to mention it again, and also insists that she stop carrying around the bag secretly containing the aleithiometer. Mrs. Coulter's dæmon (a golden monkey) attacks Pantalaimon, causing Lyra to give in. Lyra and Pantalaimon discover that Mrs. Coulter is head of the General Oblation Board, also known as the "Gobblers", who have been kidnapping local children. Lyra also learns that her best friend Roger and her Gyptian friend Billy have been both taken by the Gobblers.

text: Lyra and Pantalaimon walk in on Mrs. Coulter's dæmon attempting to steal the alethiometer and they escape into the streets. The Gobblers pursue her, but she is saved by Billy's mother, who takes her to the ship of the King of the Gyptians, heading north to rescue all the captured children. Lyra shows the alethiometer to a wise Gyptian elder, Farder Coram (Tom Courtenay), and it is revealed that she is able to decipher the device's answers.

text: After consulting with the Magisterium agent, Mrs. Coulter sends two mechanical spy-flies after Lyra. One is batted away but the other is caught and sealed in a can by Farder Coram, who explains that the spy-fly has a sting with a sleeping poison. Meanwhile, Lord Asriel has reached Svalbard, the kingdom of the Ice Bears, but he is captured by Samoyed tribesmen hired by Mrs. Coulter.

text: One night, Lyra is visited on the ship by a witch queen, Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green). She tells Lyra that the missing children are in an experimental station called Bolvangar. At a northern port, Lyra is befriended by a Texan aeronaut named Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), who advises her to hire himself and his friend Iorek Byrnison (Ian McKellen), an armoured bear Lee has come to rescue. Once a prince of his people, but now exiled in shame, the giant polar bear has been tricked out of his armour by the local townspeople. Using the alethiometer, Lyra tells Iorek where to find his armour. After recovering his armour, Iorek joins the Gyptian trek northward, along with Lee.

text: While the group is camped for the night, Lyra rides on Iorek's back to an abandoned building the alethiometer pointed her toward. There, Lyra finds an escaped, cowering Billy separated from his dæmon named Ratter, and realises that is what the Gobblers are doing to the kidnapped children, something they call "intercision". Lyra reunites Billy with his mother just as the group is attacked by Samoyeds, who capture Lyra. Iorek and Lee follow her in Lee's airship. Taken to the bear king Ragnar Sturlusson (Ian McShane), Lyra tricks him into fighting Iorek one on one. At first, Ragnar, who had already beaten Iorek while usurping his throne, seems to have the upper hand in the fight, but Iorek eventually manages to kill his rival, becoming the new and rightful king.

text: Iorek carries Lyra to a thin ice bridge near Bolvangar, but only Lyra is able to cross over before the bridge breaks. Upon reaching the station, Lyra is welcomed in and taken to eat dinner with the children, where she is reunited with Roger. While sneaking around, Lyra hears Mrs. Coulter tell the station scientists that Asriel has escaped capture and set up a laboratory, but Magisterium soldiers are on their way to arrest and execute him for heresy. She also hears the scientists talk about their experiments to sever the bond between a child and his or her dæmon. Caught spying, Lyra and Pantalaimon are thrown in the intercision chamber, and end up unconscious. On seeing Lyra in the chamber, Mrs. Coulter rescues her and takes her to her quarters.

text: When Lyra wakes up, Mrs. Coulter explains to Lyra how, in her and the Magisterium's view, the intercision is needed to save the children from the corrupting influence of the Dust. She also reveals she is Lyra's mother, but was forced to give her away because at the time of her birth she was not married. Lyra correctly guesses that Asriel is her father. When Mrs. Coulter asks for the alethiometer, Lyra gives her the can containing the spy-fly instead. The fly stings Mrs. Coulter, knocking her and her dæmon out. Lyra runs to the room with the intercision machine and manages to destroy it, setting off a series of explosions that tear the facility apart.

text: Outside, the fleeing children are attacked by Tartar mercenaries and their wolf dæmons. The battle is joined by Iorek, Lee Scoresby, the Gyptians, and a band of flying witches led by Serafina Pekkala. The Tartars are defeated and the children are rescued. Rather than returning south, Lyra, Roger, Iorek, Lee and Serafina fly further north in search of Asriel. Confirming Serafina's prophecy of an upcoming war with Lyra at the centre, Lyra is determined to fight the Magisterium and stop their plans, which include taking over all the other worlds in the universe.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua, who embarks on a voyage to battle the forces of evil and rescue her best friend. New Line Cinema announced 12-year-old Richards' casting in June 2006.[5] It was her first acting role.[6]
Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter, an influential woman who takes an interest in Lyra (and later admits that she is Lyra's mother). Kidman was author Philip Pullman's preferred choice for the role ten years before production of the film,[7] and despite initially rejecting the offer to star as she did not want to play a villain, she signed on after receiving a personal letter from Pullman.[8]
Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, Lyra's strict and mysterious adventurer uncle (later revealed to be her father). In July 2006, it was reported that Paul Bettany was in talks to play the role.[9]
Sam Elliott as Lee Scoresby, a Texan aeronaut who comes to Lyra's aid. Pullman has singled out Elliott's performance as one the film got "just right".[10]
Eva Green as Serafina Pekkala, a witch queen.
Jim Carter as John Faa, the king of the Gyptians.
Clare Higgins as Ma Costa, member of a Gyptian family that aids Lyra.
Ben Walker as Roger Parslow, Lyra's best friend, who is kidnapped and taken north.
Charlie Rowe as Billy Costa, son of Ma Costa, and Lyra's friend.
Christopher Lee as the Magisterium's first high councilor. Lee's casting was also at New Line's behest, rather than that of Chris Weitz.[5]
Tom Courtenay as Farder Coram, Gyptian second-in-command and advisor to John Faa.
Derek Jacobi as the Magisterial emissary.
Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel, a Magisterial agent.
Jack Shepherd as master of Jordan College.
Magda Szubanski as Mrs. Lonsdale
Edward de Souza as the Magisterium's second high councilor.

text: Voice cast[edit]

text:
Ian McKellen as Iorek Byrnison, a panserbjørn (armored bear) who becomes Lyra's friend and comrade. Nonso Anozie had recorded lines for the part of Iorek Byrnison, but was replaced by McKellen at a late stage as New Line wanted a bigger name in the role.[11] New Line president of production Toby Emmerich claimed that he "never thought Anozie sounded like Iorek" and while he initially trusted director Weitz's casting decision, he "never stopped thinking that this guy didn't sound right." The recasting was against Weitz's wishes, though he later said "if you're going to have anyone recast in your movie, you're happy it's Ian McKellen."[5]
Freddie Highmore as Pantalaimon, Lyra's dæmon. Pan was originally to be voiced by an older actor, but they called in Highmore instead, as it would be more of an intimate relationship if Pan and Lyra were the same age, and also would underscore the contrast between Lyra's relationship with him versus her relationships with older male characters such as Lord Asriel, Lee Scoresby and Iorek.[citation needed]
Ian McShane as Ragnar Sturlusson, king of the panserbjørner. Ragnar's name in the book was Iofur Raknison, but the name was changed to prevent confusion between him and Iorek.[12] However, in the German-language version of the film, the dialogue retains the name "Iofur Raknison", whilst the subtitles reflect the change.
Kathy Bates as Hester, Lee Scoresby's jackrabbit dæmon.
Kristin Scott Thomas as Stelmaria, Lord Asriel's dæmon.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text:
"Peter's operation was so impressive that, well, I realised the distance between me and Peter Jackson… At that moment, I realised the sheer scope of the endeavor. And I thought, 'You know what? I can't do this'."

 — Director Chris Weitz on his initial departure from the project[5]

tag: table

text: On February 11, 2002, following the success of New Line's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the studio bought the rights to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. In July 2003 Tom Stoppard was commissioned to write the screenplay.[6] Directors Brett Ratner and Sam Mendes expressed interest in the film,[6] but a year later, Chris Weitz was hired to direct after approaching the studio with an unsolicited 40-page treatment.[13] The studio rejected the script, asking Weitz to start from scratch. Since Weitz was a fan of Stoppard, he decided not to read the adaptation in case he "subconsciously poached things from him."[14] After delivering his script, Weitz cited Barry Lyndon and Star Wars as stylistic influences on the film.[6] In 2004, Weitz was invited by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson onto the set of King Kong in order to gather information on directing a blockbuster film, and to receive advice on dealing with New Line Cinema, for whom Jackson had worked on Lord of the Rings. After a subsequent interview in which Weitz said the novel's attacks on organised religion would have to be softened, he was criticised by some fans,[5] and on December 15, 2004, Weitz announced his resignation as director of the trilogy, citing the enormous technical challenges of the epic.[6] He later indicated that he had envisioned the possibility of being denounced by both the book's fans and its detractors, as well as a studio hoping for another Lord of the Rings.[5]

text: On August 9, 2005, it was announced that British director Anand Tucker would take over from Weitz. Tucker felt the film would thematically be about Lyra "looking for a family",[6] and Pullman agreed: "He has plenty of very good ideas, and he isn't daunted by the technical challenges. But the best thing from the point of view of all who care about the story is his awareness that it isn't about computer graphics; it isn't about fantastic adventures in amazing-looking worlds; it's about Lyra."[15] Tucker resigned on May 8, 2006, citing creative disagreements with New Line, and Weitz returned to direct.[6] Weitz said "I'm both the first and third director on the film … but I did a lot of growing in the interim."[16]

text: According to producer Deborah Forte, Tucker wanted to make a smaller, less exciting film than New Line wanted. New Line production president Toby Emmerich said of Weitz's return: "I think Chris realised that if he didn't come back in and step up, maybe the movie wasn't going to get made … We really didn't have a Plan B at that point."[13] Weitz was attracted back to the project after receiving a letter from Pullman asking him to reconsider. Since his departure, blueprints, production design and visual effects strategies had been put into position, and while Weitz admitted that his fears did not vanish, the project suddenly seemed feasible for the director.[5]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Filming began at Shepperton Studios on September 4, 2006,[6] with additional sequences shot in Switzerland and Norway.[13] Filming also took place at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich,[17] Chiswick House in London, and in Radcliffe Square, Christ Church, Oxford, Exeter College, Oxford, The Queen's College, Oxford, The Historic Dockyard Chatham[18] and Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire.

text: Design[edit]

text: Production Designer Dennis Gassner says of his work on the film: "The whole project is about translation—translation from something you would understand into something that is in a different vernacular. So, it's a new signature, looking into another world that seems familiar but is still unique. There's a term I use—called 'cludging'—it's taking one element and combining it with another element to make something new. It's a hybrid or amalgamation, and that's what this movie is about from a design perspective. It's about amalgamating ideas and concepts and theoretical and physical environments."[19][20]

text: Rhythm and Hues Studios created the main dæmons, and Framestore CFC created all the bears.[21] British company Cinesite created the secondary dæmons.[22]

text: Differences from the novel[edit]

text: Numerous scenes from the novel did not feature in the film or were markedly changed. On December 7, 2007, New York magazine reviewed draft scripts from both Stoppard and Weitz; both were significantly longer than the final version, and Weitz's draft (which, unlike Stoppard's, did not feature significant additions to the source material) was pronounced the best of the three. The magazine concluded that instead of a "likely three hours of running time" that included such scenes as Mrs. Coulter's London party and Lyra's meeting with a witch representative, the studio had opted for a "failed" length of under two hours in order to maximise revenue.[23]

text: On October 9, 2007, Weitz revealed that the final three chapters from Northern Lights had been moved to the film's potential sequel, The Subtle Knife, in order to provide "the most promising conclusion to the first film and the best possible beginning to the second,"[24] though he also said less than a month later that there had been "tremendous marketing pressure" to create "an upbeat ending."[25] (The San Francisco Chronicle found this "truncated" ending abrupt.[26]) Author Pullman publicly supported these changes, saying that "every film has to make changes to the story that the original book tells—not to change the outcome, but to make it fit the dimensions and the medium of film".[27] In addition to removing the novel's unsettling ending, the film reverses the order in which Lyra travels to Bolvangar, the Gobbler's outpost, and then Svalbard, the armoured bears' kingdom.[28] (Neither deviation from the book features in Scholastic Publishing's The Golden Compass: The Story of the Movie novelisation.) In July 2009, Weitz told a Comic Con audience that the film had been "recut by [New Line], and my experience with it ended being quite a terrible one";[4] he also told Time.com that he had felt that by "being faithful to the book I was working at odds with the studio".[29] In 2011, Pullman told an audience at the British Humanist Association annual conference that he was also disappointed by this decision, and hoped that a director's cut of the film would be released some day including the footage cut by New Line.

text: In the book the Jordan College Master reluctantly poisons Lord Asriel's wine; in the film a visiting Magisterium official undertakes (more willingly) this action. The alethiometer is mentioned multiple times throughout the film as a "golden compass".

text: In the film, Billy Costa replaces Tony Makarios as the victim of intercision, and Tony is left out. Billy has the daemon Ratter, which is Tony's in the book. Billy features in the first scene of the film, whereas, in the book, he is first seen at Bolvangar, and is saved before ever having to go through intercision.

text: Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club argued that through the use of a spoken introduction and other exposition-filled dialogue, the film fails by "baldly revealing up front everything that the novel is trying to get you to wonder about and to explore slowly".[28] Youyoung Lee wrote in a December 2007 Entertainment Weekly that the film "leaves out the gore", such as the book's ritualistic heart-eating that concludes the bear fight, "to create family-friendlier fare".[30] Lee also said that the film "downplays the Magisterium's religious nature", but Robinson argued that the depiction of the Church in the film is as "a hierarchical organisation of formally robed, iconography-heavy priests who dictate and define morality for their followers, are based out of cathedrals, and decry teachings counter to theirs as 'heresy.' … doing ugly things to children under cover of secrecy". Robinson then asks, "Who are most people going to think of besides the Catholic Church?"[28] The film gives more prominence to scenes showing the Magisterium officials' perspective than the novel. The novel rarely mentions explicitly the Magisterium's intentions, relying on the gossip of others, and the comments of Mrs. Coulter.

text: Although the character of Mrs. Coulter has black hair in the novel, Pullman responded to the blonde Kidman's portrayal by saying "I was clearly wrong. You sometimes are wrong about your characters. She's blonde. She has to be."[31]

text: Controversies[edit]

text: Several key themes of the novels, such as the rejection of religion and the abuse of power in a fictionalised version of the Church, were diluted in the adaptation. Director Weitz said that "in the books the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic Church gone wildly astray from its roots", but that the organization portrayed in his film would not directly match that of Pullman's books. Instead, the Magisterium represents all dogmatic organisations.[32] Weitz said New Line Cinema had feared the story's anti-religious themes would make the film financially unviable in the U.S., and so religion and God ("the Authority" in the books) would not be referenced directly.

text: Attempting to reassure fans of the novels, Weitz said that religion would instead appear in euphemistic terms, yet the decision was criticised by some fans,[33] anti-censorship groups, and the National Secular Society (of which Pullman is an honorary associate), which said "they are taking the heart out of it, losing the point of it, castrating it…"[34] and "this is part of a long-term problem over freedom of speech." The Atlantic Monthly said also "With $180 million at stake, the studio opted to kidnap the book's body and leave behind its soul."[35] The changes from the novel have been present since Tom Stoppard's rejected version of the script,[13] and Pullman expected the film to be "faithful,"[32] although he also said, "They do know where to put the theology and that's off the film."[35] A Christianity Today review of the film noted that "'Magisterium' does refer, in the real world, to the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church, and the film [is] peppered with religiously significant words like 'oblation' and 'heresy'", adding that when one character smashes through the wall of a Magisterium building, the damaged exterior is "decorated with [Christian] Byzantine icons."[36]

text: On October 7, 2007, the Catholic League called for a boycott of the film.[37] League president William A. Donohue said he would not ordinarily object to the film, but that while the religious elements are diluted from the source material, the film will encourage children to read the novels, which he says denigrate Christianity and promote atheism for children.[38] He cited Pullman telling The Washington Post in 2001 that he is trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.[39] The League hoped that "the film [would fail] to meet box office expectations and that [Pullman's] books attract few buyers",[40] declaring the boycott campaign a success after a North American opening weekend which was lower than anticipated.[41] One week after the film's release, Roger Ebert said of the campaign, "any bad buzz on a family film can be mortal, and that seems to have been the case this time."[42]

text: R. Albert Mohler Jr., the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, agreed that the broad appeal of the film was a dangerous lure to the novels, which he criticised for carrying a clear agenda to expose what [Pullman] believes is the "tyranny of the Christian faith" and for "[providing] a liberating mythology for a new secular age."[43] The Rev. Denny Wayman of the Free Methodist Church made the assertion that The Golden Compass is a "film trying to preach an atheistic message".[44] Other evangelical groups, such as The Christian Film and Television Commission, adopted a "wait-and-see" approach to the film before deciding upon any action,[45] as did the Roman Catholic Church in England & Wales.[46] Some religious scholars have challenged the view that the story carries atheistic themes,[47][48] while in November 2007, a review of the film by the director and staff reviewer of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting appeared on the website of the Catholic News Service and in Catholic newspapers across the country. The review suggested that instead of a boycott, it may be appropriate for Catholic parents to "talk through any thorny philosophical issues" with their children.[49] However, on December 10, 2007 the review was removed from the website at the USCCB's request.[50] On December 19, 2007, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published an editorial in which it denounced the film as godless.[51]

text: Pullman said of Donohue's call for a boycott, "Why don't we trust readers? Why don't we trust filmgoers? Oh, it causes me to shake my head with sorrow that such nitwits could be loose in the world."[46] In a discussion with Donohue on CBS's Early Show, Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, said that rather than promote atheism, the film would encourage children to question authority, saying that would not be a bad thing for children to learn.[52] Director Weitz says that he believes His Dark Materials is "not an atheistic work, but a highly spiritual and reverent piece of writing,"[33] and Nicole Kidman defended her decision to star in the film, saying that "I wouldn't be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic."[16] Some commentators indicated that they believed both sides' criticism would prove ultimately impotent and that the negative publicity would prove a boon for the film's box office.[46][53][54] Nonetheless, the film trilogy has not been continued, prompting actor Sam Elliott to blame censorship and the Catholic Church.[55]

text: Release[edit]

text: The film premiered in London on November 27, 2007 and was released on December 5, 2007 in British cinemas by Entertainment Film Distributors and released on December 7, 2007 in American cinemas by New Line Cinema.

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2008 and the United States on April 29, 2008. The movie is closed-captioned by the National Captioning Institute on its first Home Video release. The extra material on the single-disc DVD consists of previews of upcoming New Line Cinema films. The two-disc edition includes a commentary from writer/director Chris Weitz, eleven "making-of" featurettes, a photo gallery, and theatrical and teaser trailers. The Blu-ray Disc features the same extras from the two-disc DVD edition.[56] Exclusive to Blu-ray Disc is visual commentary picture-in-picture feature which enables viewers to access behind-the-scene features while watching the movie.

text: Shortly before the film's release, Weitz suggested that an extended cut of the film could be released on DVD, saying "I'd really love to do a fuller cut of the film"; he further speculated that such a version "could probably end up at two and a half hours."[57] This proposed cut would presumably not include the original ending: MTV reported in December 2007 that Weitz hoped to include that material at the beginning of a possible The Subtle Knife adaptation, and that a Compass Director's Cut might feature "a moment" of it as a "teaser".[58] Cast members Craig and Green have echoed this hope for such a DVD cut; so far, however, no official announcement has been made.[58]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The North American opening weekend return was "a little disappointing" for New Line Cinema,[59] earning US$25.8 million with total domestic box office of $70 million compared to an estimated $180 million production budget.[1] Despite this, the film's fortunes rebounded as its performance outside the United States was described as "stellar" by Variety,[60] and as "astonishing" by New Line.[61] In the United Kingdom, the film grossed $53,198,635 and became the second-highest-grossing non-sequel of 2007 there (behind The Simpsons Movie). In Japan, the film was officially released in March 2008 on 700 screens, ultimately grossing $33,501,399; but previews of the film between February 23–24, 2008, earned $2.5 million. By July 6, 2008, it had earned $302,127,136 internationally, totaling $372,234,864 worldwide.[1] Overseas rights to the film were sold to fund the $180 million production budget for the film, so most of these profits did not go to New Line.[62] This has been cited as a possible "last straw" in Time Warner's decision to merge New Line Cinema into Warner Bros. Pictures.[3]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Reviews of The Golden Compass were mixed.[63] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 43% rating, based on 192 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "Without the bite or the controversy of the source material, The Golden Compass is reduced to impressive visuals overcompensating for lax storytelling."[64] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 51, based on 33 reviews.[65]

text: Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said that the film "crams so many events, characters, […] twists and turns, sumptuously appointed rooms and ethereally strange vistas […] that [it] risks losing you in the whirl" and that while The Golden Compass is "an honorable work," it is "hampered by its fealty to the book and its madly rushed pace."[66] James Berardinelli of ReelReviews gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, calling it "adequate, but not inspired" and criticising the first hour for its rushed pace and sketchily-developed characters.[67] James Christopher of The Times was disappointed, praising the "marvellous" special effects and casting, but saying that the "books weave a magic the film simply cannot match" and citing a "lack of genuine drama."[68]

text: Time rated it a "B" and called it a "good, if familiar fantasy," saying "The find is Dakota Blue Richards […] who's both grounded and magical."[69] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated it four stars out of five, praising Nicole Kidman's casting and saying it had "no other challengers as [2007's] big Christmas movie."[70] Leonard Maltin gave the film three out of four stars, and said that "Richards is persuasive" and that it "does a good job of introducing us to an unfamiliar world." Critic Roger Ebert awarded the film four out of four stars and called it "a darker, deeper fantasy epic than the "Rings" trilogy (The Lord of the Rings), The Chronicles of Narnia or the Potter films," saying that it "creates villains that are more complex and poses more intriguing questions. As a visual experience, it is superb. As an escapist fantasy, it is challenging […] I think [it] is a wonderfully good-looking movie, with exciting passages and a captivating heroine."[71]

text: Pullman himself was described by a Times interviewer as sounding "ambivalent" and "guarded" about the film, saying in March 2008: "A lot of things about it were good… Nothing's perfect. Nothing can bring out all that's in the book. There are always compromises". He hoped, however, that the rest of the trilogy would be adapted with the same cast and crew.[72] In July 2009, after this possibility had been exhausted, Weitz told Time.com that he thought the film's special effects ended up being its "most successful element."[29]

text: At the British Humanist Association conference in 2011, Pullman said that there were not, after all, going to be more films with the same cast and crew. While praising the portrayals of his characters by Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards, Pullman said that he was disappointed with the final film and New Line's re-editing of it.

text: In 2014 Pullman called the film "over-designed" and criticised the screenplay: "They needed an ending that would work for a single film, but one that would also work if it was the first of a trilogy. They wanted both a cliffhanger and a resolution. You just can't do that."[73]

text: Debbie Day of Premiere Magazine, said "The Golden Compass ultimately fails as a film in its broad strokes and inadequate scene development."[74]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The Golden Compass won the 2008 BAFTA Film Award for Special Visual Effects[75] and an Oscar for Best Visual Effects notably beating what many considered to be the front runner, Michael Bay's Transformers which had swept the VES awards prior.[76] It was also nominated for two Critics' Choice Awards in 2007 ("Best Family Film," and "Best Young Actress" for Dakota Blue Richards[77]), five Satellite Awards and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. The Golden Compass was nominated for the National Movie Award for Best Family movie but lost to Disney/Pixar's WALL-E.

text:
Award
Category
Nominee
Result

Oscar
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Won

Oscar
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Dennis Gassner (art director)
Anna Pinnock (set decorator)
Nominated

BAFTA Film Award
Best Special Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Won

Saturn Award
Best Fantasy Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Saturn Award
Best Performance by a Younger Actor
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Saturn Award
Best Costume
Ruth Myers
Nominated

Saturn Award
Best Special Effects
Michael L. Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Nominated

Excellence in Production Design Award
Fantasy Film
Dennis Gassner (production designer)
Richard L. Johnson (supervising art director)
Chris Lowe (art director)
Andy Nicholson (art director)
Tino Schaedler (art director - digital sets)
James Foster (standby art director)
Gavin Fitch (assistant art director)
Helen Xenopoulos (assistant art director)
Won

AFI International Award
Best Actress
Nicole Kidman
Nominated

Critics Choice Award
Best Young Actress
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Critics Choice Award
Best Family Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

CDG Award
Excellence in Fantasy Film
Ruth Myers
Won

Gold Derby Award
Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Ben Morris
Bill Westenhofer
Trevor Wood
Nominated

Golden Trailer
Best Animation/Family TV Spot
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Golden Trailer
Best Animation/Family Poster
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Hugo Award
Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
Chris Weitz (written by/director)
Philip Pullman (based on the novel by)
Nominated

IFMCA Award
Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction Film
Alexandre Desplat
Won

IFMCA Award
Film Score of the Year
Alexandre Desplat
Nominated

IOFCP Award
Best Visual Effects
Michael Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Nominated

ALFS Award
British Breakthrough - Acting
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Golden Reel Award
Best Sound Editing - Music in a Feature Film
Gerard McCann (supervising music editor)
Peter Clarke (music editor)
Robert Houston (additional music editor)
Andrew Dudman (additional music editor)
Sam Okell (additional music editor)
Stuart Morton (additional music editor)
Nominated

National Movie Award
Best Family Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

National Movie Award
Best Performance - Female
Nicole Kidman
Nominated

National Movie Award
Best Performance - Female
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Original Song
Kate Bush (for the song "Lyra")
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Cinematography
Henry Braham
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Sound (Mixing & Editing)
Mike Prestwood Smith
Mark Taylor
Glenn Freemantle
Nominated

SLFCA Award
Best Animated or Children's Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

SLFCA Award
Best Visual/Special Effects
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Genre Award
Best Actress in a Movie
Nicole Kidman
Nominated

VES Award
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Effects Driven Motion Picture
Michael L. Fink
Susan MacLeod
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Nominated

World Soundtrack Award
Soundtrack Composer of the Year
Alexandre Desplat
Nominated

Taurus Award
Best High Work
Paul Herbert
Nicholas Daines
Nominated

Yoga Award
Worst Foreign Actress
Nicole Kidman
Won

Yoga Award
Worst Foreign Film
Chris Weitz
Won

Young Artist Award
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Young Artist Award
Best Family Feature Film (Fantasy or Musical)
The Golden Compass
Nominated

text: Cancelled sequels[edit]

text: At the time of The Golden Compass's theatrical release, Chris Weitz pledged to "protect [the] integrity" of the prospective sequels by being "much less compromising" in the book-to-film adaptation process.[25] New Line Cinema commissioned Hossein Amini to write a screenplay based on the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, potentially for release in 2010 or 2011, with the third book of the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, to follow. However, New Line president Toby Emmerich stressed that production of the second and third films was dependent on the financial success of The Golden Compass.[78] When The Golden Compass did not meet expectations at the United States box office, the likelihood of a sequel was downplayed by New Line. According to studio co-head Michael Lynne, "The jury is still very much out on the movie, and while it's performed very strongly overseas we'll look at it early 2008 and see where we're going with a sequel."[79]

text: In February 2008, Weitz told The Daily Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper, that he still hoped for the sequels' production: "at first it looked like we were down for the count because in the U.S. [the film] underperformed, but then internationally it performed [better] than expectations. So, a lot depends on Japan, frankly… I think if it does well enough here we'll be in good shape for that."[80] Although producer Deborah Forte had, in March 2008, expressed optimism that the sequels would be made,[81] by October 2008, the two planned sequels were officially placed on hold, according to New Line Cinema, because of financial concerns during the global recession.[82][83] Sam Elliott, however, stated, "The Catholic Church … lambasted them, and I think it scared New Line off."[84]

text: In 2011, Philip Pullman remarked at the British Humanist Association annual conference that due to the first film's disappointing sales in the United States, there would not be any sequels made.[citation needed]

text: Music[edit]

text:
The Golden Compass

Soundtrack album by Alexandre Desplat

Released
January 22, 2008

Recorded
2007

Genre
Soundtrack

Length
73:49

Label
WaterTower Music

Producer
Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat soundtracks chronology

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
(2007)Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium2007
The Golden Compass
(2007)
Afterwards
(2008)Afterwards2008

Singles from The Golden Compass

"Lyra"
Released: 2007

text: French composer Alexandre Desplat composed the film's music. British singer Kate Bush wrote and performed the song "Lyra" which is played over the end credits.[85] The film's soundtrack album was released on January 22, 2008 by WaterTower Music.

text:
No.
Title
Length

1.
"The Golden Compass"
2:20

2.
"Sky Ferry"
2:42

3.
"Letters from Bolvangar"
2:32

4.
"Lyra, Roger and Billy"
1:28

5.
"Mrs. Coulter"
5:19

6.
"Lyra Escapes"
3:43

7.
"The Magisterium"
1:58

8.
"Dust"
1:09

9.
"Serafina Pekkala"
1:49

10.
"Lee Scoresby's Airship Adventure"
1:18

11.
"Iorek Byrnison"
5:27

12.
"Lord Faa, King of the Gyptians"
2:18

13.
"The Golden Monkey"
2:03

14.
"Riding Iorek"
4:39

15.
"Samoyed Attack"
1:21

16.
"Lord Asriel"
2:08

17.
"Ragnar Sturlusson"
6:19

18.
"Ice Bear Combat"
2:16

19.
"Iorek's Victory"
1:27

20.
"The Ice Bridge"
1:32

21.
"Rescuing the Children"
2:19

22.
"Intercision"
2:48

23.
"Mother"
3:34

24.
"Battle with the Tartars"
4:29

25.
"Epilogue"
3:32

26.
"Lyra" (written and performed by Kate Bush)
3:19

Total length:
73:49

text: Video game[edit]

text: The video game for this film was released in November 2007 in Europe and December 2007 in North America and Australia for the PC, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and the Xbox 360. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Sega.[86]

text: Players take control of the characters Lyra Belacqua and Iorek Byrnison in Lyra's attempt to save her friend Roger from the General Oblation Board. As this game does not fully take into account the changes made by the final version of the film, a small amount of footage from the film's deleted ending can be viewed near the end of the game, and the order in which Lyra travels to Bolvangar and Svalbard follows the book and not the film.