document_title: Keeping Up Appearances

question_text: who played the major in keeping up appearances

text: Keeping Up Appearances

text: Background[edit]

text: Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge) – who insists her surname is pronounced Bouquet (although her husband Richard has said, "It was always 'Bucket' until I met you!")[4] – is an over-bearing, social-climbing snob, originally from an underclass background, whose main mission in life is to impress others with her lifestyle, perceived affluence and refinement.

text: She's terrified that her background will be revealed, and goes to great lengths to hide it.  Hyacinth likes to spend her days visiting stately homes (convinced she will meet and strike up a friendship with the upper-class owners, especially if they are aristocratic) and hosting "executive-style" candlelight suppers (with her Royal Worcester double-glazed Avignon china and Royal Doulton china with "the hand-painted periwinkles").[5]

text: She ostentatiously brags about her possessions to others, including her "white slimline telephone with automatic redial", which she always answers with "The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking."[6] (Frequently she receives misdialed calls asking for a Chinese take-away, making her very angry.) She speaks in an exaggerated RP-like accent with Northern undertones, while her relatives speak in broad Northern accents. Her neighbours speak in milder RP accents. When flustered, Hyacinth regresses to her native Northern accent for a while.

text: Hyacinth's attempts to impress make the lives of those around her difficult; her continual efforts to improve her social position usually involve inviting her unwitting neighbours and friends to "exclusive candlelit suppers". Although Hyacinth is not deterred by the lack of response to her attempts, nearly everyone around her lives in fear of being invited, and usually makes frantic attempts to excuse themselves.

text: Unfortunately, her husband Richard (Clive Swift) bears the brunt of the suffering. He initially worked for the council but, at the beginning of series 3, reluctantly accepts early retirement. Although he loves her with a long-suffering endurance, he is notably exasperated by her plans and her habit of making extravagant and unnecessary purchases.

text: Although she lives to impress others, Hyacinth regularly competes with the upper-middle-class neighbours (whom she considers snobbish show-offs), such as Sonia Barker-Finch, Delia Wheelwright and Lydia Hawksworth (who alone of Hyacinth's rivals seems to be an actual snob, as she disdains kiwifruit as "lower middle class".) Hyacinth sometimes says things like "I haven't a snobbish bone in my body" or "I can't abide such snobbery like that" when talking about those she considers her competition.

text: Always hindering Hyacinth's best efforts to impress – and providing an unwelcome reminder of her less-than-refined roots – are her underclass sisters Daisy (Judy Cornwell) and Rose (Shirley Stelfox in series 1; Mary Millar thereafter), and Daisy's proudly "bone-idle" husband Onslow (Geoffrey Hughes). They, along with Hyacinth's senile father, frequently turn up inconveniently (usually in their clapped–out Ford Cortina Mk IV – which always makes a characteristic backfire when it arrives), with Hyacinth going to great lengths to avoid them (saying: "Richard, you know I love my family, but that's no reason why I should have to acknowledge them in broad daylight!").

text: Hyacinth's senile father frequently has flashbacks to the Second World War, and often exhibits bizarre behaviour, sometimes involving embarrassing situations with women (Onslow describes him as "barmy"). Two relatives of whom Hyacinth is not ashamed are her wealthy sister Violet (Anna Dawson) and her unseen son Sheridan. Violet frequently telephones Hyacinth for advice, allowing her to loudly announce to anyone in earshot, "It's my sister Violet – the one with a Mercedes, swimming pool/sauna and room for a pony". However, Violet's social acceptability is damaged by the eccentric behaviour of her transvestite, equestrian-loving turf accountant husband Bruce, whom she violently attacks because of his behaviour.

text: Hyacinth also tries to impress people with the intellectual prowess of her beloved son Sheridan (who actually only takes courses in needlework at a polytechnic). Hyacinth boasts about the "psychic" closeness of their relationship and how often he writes and phones her, although he never writes and usually phone calls only to ask for money (much to the despair of Richard).[7] Hyacinth is blissfully oblivious of the seemingly obvious hints that Sheridan, who lives with a man named Tarquin (who makes his own curtains, wears silk pyjamas, and has won prizes for embroidery), is homosexual.[8] It is at one point implied that Sheridan has come out to his father.

text: Hyacinth's neighbour Elizabeth Warden (Josephine Tewson) is frequently invited round to the Buckets' for coffee. Though she is ordinarily calm, Liz's nerves go to pieces in Hyacinth's house, causing her to smash Hyacinth's china and spill coffee and biscuits on Hyacinth's Burmese rug.[9] She is married with a daughter away at University, but her husband works abroad and, like Sheridan, neither character ever appears.

text: Elizabeth is occasionally able to "one-up" Hyacinth herself by reminding her neighbour that her daughter is at University, whilst Sheridan is studying at a lesser Polytechnic. Liz's brother Emmet (David Griffin) moves in with her at the beginning of series 2 after a messy divorce. Hyacinth, upon learning that Emmet is a musician, frequently and abruptly sings out-of-key at him in an attempt to get a part in one of his productions, making him terrified of leaving the house, lest she see him ("She'll sing at me!").  Emmet's problems are further complicated by Hyacinth's mistaken belief that his frightened reactions indicate that he is infatuated with her which, in fact, could not be further from the truth.

text: Hyacinth frequently confronts the postman with complaints, such as having to receive mail bearing second class stamps, harassing him to the point that he will go to extreme lengths not to face her; and she often forces workmen and other visitors to her home to remove their shoes before entering. Michael, the vicar of the local church (Jeremy Gittins) is also loath to face the overbearing Hyacinth, to whom he refers (to others) as "the Bucket woman". The vicar and his wife sometimes exact comic revenge on Hyacinth for her snobbishness; on one occasion, when she was one of a group of volunteer helpers at the church, the vicar's wife saw to it that Hyacinth's hand went up prematurely and assigned her the job of cleaning the church toilets.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Character
Actor
Series

1
2
3
4
5

Main

Hyacinth Bucket
Patricia Routledge

Richard Bucket
Clive Swift

Elizabeth 'Liz' Warden
Josephine Tewson

Daisy
Judy Cornwell

Onslow
Geoffrey Hughes

Rose
Shirley Stelfox

Mary Millar

Emmet Hawksworth
David Griffin

Michael (the vicar)
Jeremy Gittins

Recurring

Daddy / Father
George Webb

the vicar's wife
Marion Barron

Michael (the postman)
Leo Dolan

David Janson

Milkman
Robert Rawles

Violet
Anna Dawson

Major Wilton Smythe
Peter Cellier

Mrs Nugent
Charmian May

Bruce
John Evitts

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Keeping Up Appearances aired for five series, four Christmas specials, and one short Children in Need special, from 29 October 1990 to 25 December 1995. The series officially ended after the episode "The Pageant", because Patricia Routledge wanted to focus on other TV and theatre work, including Hetty Wainthropp Investigates which began airing in 1996. Clive Swift, who portrayed Richard, stated in a BBC interview that Routledge "didn't want to be remembered as simply 'Mrs. Bucket'".[10]

text:
Series overview

Series
Premiere
Finale
Episodes
Specials

1
29 October 1990
3 December 1990
6
0

2
1 September 1991
3 November 1991
10
1

3
6 September 1992
18 October 1992
7
0

4
5 September 1993
17 October 1993
7
2

5
3 September 1995
5 November 1995
10
1

text: Production[edit]

text: Locations[edit]

text: Exterior shots around Hyacinth's house were taped in Binley Woods, Warwickshire, a village east of Coventry.[11]

text: Exterior shots around Daisy and Onslow's council terrace were taped in Stoke Aldermoor in Coventry.[12] Other exterior street and town shots were taped in Leamington Spa, and in various towns throughout Warwickshire, along with many scenes from the large town of Northampton, mainly the church hall. Some scenes were also shot in Swindon, Oxford, and Bristol. One scene was shot in Oslo, Norway. One episode was filmed in Great Yarmouth, mainly in the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach Theme Park.

text: The opening sequence shows Hyacinth writing an invitation to one of her trademark candlelight suppers; this invitation lists Hyacinth's address as "Waney Edge, Blossom Avenue, Fuddleton". In the same sequence, the invitation is eventually sent to an address in Eddleton. Neither town actually exists. However, there are several references to the characters being in the West Midlands throughout the series, as when Hyacinth said that she could become the "Barbara Cartland of the West Midlands Social Circuit Scene" in the episode "The Hostess". In another episode, police officers wearing West Midlands Police jumpers escort Richard home and several West Midlands Travel buses are also seen throughout the series.

text: Vehicles[edit]

text: Richard and Hyacinth Bucket's car is a Rover 200-series (SD3) saloon. Early episodes show a light blue 1987 216S bearing the number plate D541 EXL, but later episodes feature a sky blue 1989 216SE EFi model (bearing same number plate bar one letter, now D541 EFL).[13]

text: Onslow drives a 1978 Ford Cortina (number plate VSD 389S) that is in poor condition and backfires loudly almost every time it starts or stops, embarrassing Hyacinth, and frequently crushing her hopes of creating a perfect impression with new people. Onslow is also the owner of the rusting carcass of a Hillman Avenger in his front garden, wherein lives Onslow's dog that always barks at Hyacinth as she approaches.[13]

text: Violet and Bruce own a Mercedes-Benz W126 S-class and later a Mercedes-Benz W202 C-class.

text: Neighbour Elizabeth drives a white 1989 Austin Metro City hatchback with number plate F434 RLA (which, despite being the subject of comments from Hyacinth about its age, is actually newer than Richard's car).[13]

text: After Keeping Up Appearances[edit]

text: Various shows related to the programs were released:

text: The Memoirs of Hyacinth Bucket

text: In March 1997, Geoffrey Hughes and Judy Cornwell reprised their roles as Onslow and Daisy for a special compilation episode recorded for broadcast in the United States on PBS. The show sees the pair introduce classic clips from the series.

text: Comedy Connections

text: In 2004, the documentary series featured an episode dedicated to Keeping Up Appearances. Stars Clive Swift, Josephine Tewson, Judy Cornwell and David Griffin, along with writer Roy Clarke and producer/director Harold Snoad, all discussed the series. Clips from an interview with Patricia Routledge from 2002 were also included.

text: The episode revealed that there were serious artistic differences between Clarke and Snoad. Specifically, Clarke refused to act as anything but a writer and rarely visited the set or location shoots, necessitating that Snoad make minor rewrites to accommodate the realities of taping. This infuriated Clarke, who disliked any tampering of his work, and Snoad thought Clarke was being unreasonable. The situation was mitigated in later series by the hiring of a production assistant whose sole job was to keep Clarke apprised of Snoad's changes, and to keep Snoad informed of Clarke's opinion of them.[10]

text: Life Lessons from Onslow

text: In early 2008, Geoffrey Hughes reprised his role as Onslow once again for a clipshow of the series; this was to be broadcast on American television, and sees him teaching a credit course at the Open University, and has selected "successful relationships" as his subject matter. The special was also released on Region 1 DVD.

text: Mind Your Manors

text: When Keeping Up Appearances didn't return after Patricia Routledge announced she no longer wished to play Hyacinth, this proposed spin-off series would have seen Onslow forced to take a supposedly "easy" job tending the gardens of a large manor house estate owned by a doddery and rather forgetful old Lord. When the Lord passes away suddenly, Onslow, Daisy and Rose (whom it is implied was having a fling with the Lord, causing the heart attack which led to his passing) end up 'temporarily' moving into the manor house to mind it, due to a legal dispute with the deceased Lord's estranged brother (whom Rose immediately starts lusting after) who wants the land.

text: A mislaid deeds paper left by the forgetful old Lord would supposedly clarify who has rights to the estate, buried somewhere in the gardens that Onslow is left to ineptly try and keep in shape. Most of the conflict would have come from the Lord's brother and the manor's snooty neighbours, the wealthy Hyde-Whytes, who are not happy about the "commoners" who have taken up residence next door (although it later transpires that Mr. Hyde-Whyte used to know Onslow in their youth and is indebted to him after Onslow once took the fall for him to stop him being arrested).

text: Su Pollard was approached to play the role of Miss Dorothy Henshaw, the Lord's eccentric and easily flustered cook / house-keeper who remains with the estate, and some preliminary location shooting was reportedly undertaken, though this possibly may be connected with the "missing" final episode of Series 5, "The Bishop Affair".[14] This proposed follow-up series was ultimately not commissioned, with Geoffrey Hughes continuing with his portrayal as Onslow in the above listed specials instead.

text: Mary Millar, who played Rose from series two to series five, died on 10 November 1998. George Webb, who played Daddy, died on 30 December 1998. Charmian May, who played Mrs. Councillor Nugent, died on 24 October 2002. Geoffrey Hughes, who played Onslow, died on 27 July 2012. Shirley Stelfox, who played Rose in series one, died on 7 December 2015.

text: Merchandise[edit]

text: Audio[edit]

text: In 1998, the BBC released three episodes of the show: "A Job for Richard", "Country Retreat" and "Sea Fever" on audio cassette. Clive Swift reprised his role as Richard recording a narrative to compensate for the lack of images.

text: VHS[edit]

text: BBC Video released three videos featuring episodes from the series.

text: How to Enhance Your Husband's Retirement

text: This was released in 1993 and featured the episodes: "Iron Age Remains", "What to Wear when Yachting" and "How to Go on Holiday Without Really Trying".

text: Sea Fever

text: This was released in 1994 and featured the episodes: "Sea Fever" and "A Job for Richard".

text: Rural Retreat

text: This was released in 1995 and featured the episodes: "Country Retreat", "Let There Be Light" and "Please Mind Your Head".

text: DVD[edit]

text:
My Way or the Hyacinth Way (volume 1) – released 18 March 2003 (contains the complete series 1)
Hints from Hyacinth (volume 2) – released 18 March 2003 (contains episodes 1–5 from series 2)
Home is Where the Hyacinth Is (volume 3) – released 18 March 2003 (contains episodes 6–10 from series 2)
Deck the Halls with Hyacinth (volume 4) – released 18 March 2003 (contains all 4 Christmas Specials from 1991, 1993, 1994 & 1995)
Hyacinth in Full Bloom – released 18 March 2003 (contains volumes 1–4)
Everything's Coming Up Hyacinth (volume 5) – released 3 February 2004 (contains the complete series 3)
Some Like it Hyacinth (volume 6) – released 3 February 2004 (contains the complete series 4)
Living the Hyacinth Life (volume 7) – released 3 February 2004 (contains episodes 1–6 from series 5)
Hats Off to Hyacinth (volume 8) – released 3 February 2004 (contains episodes 7–10 from series 5 & the special "The Memoirs of Hyacinth Bucket")
Hyacinth Springs Eternal – released 3 February 2004 (contains volumes 5–8)
The Full Bouquet – released 7 September 2004 (complete series – contains volumes 1–8)
The Full Bouquet: Special Edition – released 9 September 2008 (complete series re-release, everything from volumes 1–8 & special "Life Lessons from Onslow")
Life Lessons from Onslow – released 9 September 2008
Collector's Edition – 5 November 2013 (contains all 5 series and every special)

text:
Series 1 & 2 – released 7 March 2003
Series 3 & 4 – released 16 February 2004 (includes the 1991 Christmas special)
Series 5 – released 26 December 2006 (includes Christmas Specials from 1993, 1994 & 1995)
The Essential Collection – released 8 October 2007 (complete series)
The Complete Collection – released 23 September 2013 (complete series re-release, slimmer version)
Christmas Specials – released 3 November 2014 (contains all 4 Christmas specials)

text:
Series 1 & 2 – released 1 September 2003[15]
Series 3 & 4 – released 8 July 2004[16]
Series 5 – released 3 November 2005[17]
Christmas Specials – released 11 November 2005[18]
The Complete Series – released 2005
Life Lessons from Onslow – released 15 April 2010[19]

text: Streaming[edit]

text: In the United States, the complete series was available via streaming through Netflix and Amazon Video,  but is no longer available to stream on either platform.[20] However, it is available for streaming on BritBox. In Australia the complete series is available for streaming on Stan as of 2018.

text: Books[edit]

text: Three books related to the series have been released in the UK. Two were written by Jonathan Rice and published by BBC Books and the other one was written by Harold Snoad (the director of Keeping Up Appearances) and was published by Book Guild Publishing.

text: Hyacinth Bucket's book of etiquette for the socially less fortunate

text: This was first published in 1993, and is a light-hearted guide to manners, as seen through Hyacinth Bucket's eyes. It is based on the TV series' scripts and contains many black-and-white photos of scenes from the show.

text: Hyacinth Bucket's Hectic Social Calendar

text: This was published in 1995 and is presented in a diary format chronicling a year in Hyacinth Bucket's life, with typical comments about her relations and neighbours.

text: It's Bouquet – Not Bucket

text: This was published in late 2009, the book includes rare photos which were taken during the filming of Keeping Up Appearances. The book contains full plot synopses for all episodes, main cast details, filming locations for all episodes which used outside shots, and stories of some entertaining events which happened during filming.

text: Overseas books[edit]

text: Due to the popularity of Keeping Up Appearances in the United States, books about the series have also been published across the Atlantic.

text: Keeping Up Appearances: A Companion to the Series

text: This comical series guidebook was published in the late 1990s by WLIW21. It was co-authored by mother-and-daughter writers Georgene and Mary Lee Costa. It features summary descriptions of each episode, cast and crew biographies, series photographs and an interview with Harold Snoad.

text: Since it was written during the filming of the final series of episodes, Snoad included the co-authors of the guide as extras in the episode "The Fancy Dress Ball".

text: Theatre adaptation[edit]

text: In 2010, the television show was adapted into a play entitled Keeping Up Appearances that toured theatres in the UK.[21] The cast included Rachel Bell as Hyacinth, Kim Hartman as Elizabeth, Gareth Hale as Onslow, Steven Pinder as Emmet, Debbie Arnold as Rose, David Janson (who had previously appeared in the TV show as the postman) as Mr Edward Milson, a new character created for the stage show,[22] Christine Moore as Daisy and Sarah Whitlock as Mrs Debden.[23]

text: Main character Richard Bucket, Hyacinth's husband, does not appear in the production, but is frequently referred to: Hyacinth addresses to him off-stage and talks to him on the phone. The main plot of the show revolves around Emmet directing a play at the local village hall, but when Hyacinth is cast in the play's leading role disaster is in the making.

text: This adaptation, directed by playwright Johnny Culver, made its American premiere in New York City in March 2015, at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Theater Fellowship/Jones Auditorium. Culver directed an additional production of this adaptation with performances on 5 August 2017 and 6 August 2017 at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Forest Hills, Queens.

text: Prequel[edit]

text: In 2015, it was announced that a prequel to the series entitled Young Hyacinth would be made, following a 19-year-old Hyacinth Bucket during the early postwar years and set some forty years before the events of Keeping Up Appearances.[24] The cast were announced on 11 April 2016.[25] Hyacinth was played by Kerry Howard; Rose by Katie Redford; Daisy by Katherine Pearce; Violet by Tamla Kari and Daddy by Mark Addy. It was broadcast on BBC One on 2 September 2016.[26]

text: The prequel sees Hyacinth working as a maid and attempting to manage her family so they appear well above their means. In the special, Hyacinth is in a relationship with a Mr. William Hitchcock, whom Hyacinth forces to dress up and wear a hat when they walk. The special ends with her drunken Daddy falling into the canal, which Hyacinth's employers see, causing her great embarrassment. However, she blames Daddy's behaviour on "an old war injury".[27][28]

text: Approximately 4.14 million viewers watched the show within seven days of its broadcast, making it the 22nd most watched BBC One show for the week ending 4 September. A total of 4.39 million viewers watched the show within 28 days of its initial broadcast.[29]


document_title: I Am Legend (film)

question_text: what is the dog in i am legend

question_tokens: what is the dog in i am legend

root

text: I Am Legend (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 2009, a genetically re-engineered measles virus, originally created as a cure for cancer, turns into a lethal strain which kills 90% of those it infects, mutates 9% into predatory, nocturnal and vampiric mutants, who are extremely vulnerable to sunlight, with only 1% immune. Three years after the outbreak, US Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) lives an isolated life in the deserted ruins of New York City, unsure if any other uninfected humans are left in the world.

tag: p

text: Neville's daily routine includes experimentation on infected rats to find a cure to the virus and venturing through Manhattan to search for food and supplies, as well as waiting each day for any human survivors who have responded to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, which instruct any uninfected people to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport.

text: Flashbacks reveal that his wife (Salli Richardson) and daughter (Willow Smith) died in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan, prior to the military-enforced quarantine of the island in 2009, when Neville stayed behind on the island as military personnel.  Neville's only mitigation for his loneliness is his German Shepherd named Samantha, a.k.a. Sam (given to him by his daughter as a puppy to protect him before she died in the helicopter crash), interaction with mannequins he has set up as patrons at a video store, and recordings of old television broadcasts. At night, he barricades himself and Sam inside his heavily fortified Washington Square Park home to hide from the Darkseekers. One day, while waiting for survivors, Sam follows a deer into a dark building. Neville cautiously goes in after her and finds the deer's corpse along with Sam, but the building is infested by a colony of Darkseekers. Both manage to escape unharmed and the attacking Darkseekers are killed by the sunlight.

text: Neville finds a promising treatment derived from his own blood, so he sets a snare trap and captures a female Darkseeker from the colony building, while a male Darkseeker (termed "Alpha Male" in the script, and played by Dash Mihok)[6] tries to go after them, but is blocked by the sunlight and returns to the shadows. Back in his laboratory in the basement of his house, Neville treats the female without success. The next day, he is ensnared in a trap similar to the one he used to capture the female; by the time he manages to escape, the sun is setting and he is attacked by infected dogs. Neville and Sam manage to eliminate them, but Sam is bitten in the fight. Neville injects her with a strand of his serum, but when she shows signs of infection, Neville is forced to strangle her to death. Heartbroken and driven over the edge of insanity by his dog's death, he ventures out and suicidally attacks a group of Darkseekers the next night. He kills a large number of Darkseekers but the rest overwhelm him and he is nearly killed, but is rescued by a pair of immune survivors, Anna (Alice Braga) and a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who have traveled from Maryland after hearing one of his broadcasts. They take the injured Neville back to his home, where Anna explains that they survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship from São Paulo and are making their way to a survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont. Neville angrily argues that no such survivors' camp exists.

text: Neville once again attempts to administer a potential cure to the infected woman in his laboratory, but the next night, a group of Darkseekers, who had followed Anna and Neville back the night before, attacks the house. Neville, Anna, and Ethan retreat into the basement laboratory, sealing themselves in with the female Darkseeker on which Neville has been experimenting. Discovering that the last treatment was successful, Neville tries to assess the situation as the alpha male deliberately rams himself against a glass door to break in. Neville draws a vial of blood from the woman he cured and gives it to Anna, before shutting her and Ethan inside a coal chute in the back of the lab. He then takes a grenade and kills the Darkseekers at the cost of his own life, saving the cure. The next day, before dusk, Anna and Ethan discover that her theory is right as they arrive at the survivors camp in Vermont. They are greeted by military officers and other human survivors before Anna is shown handing the cure to military personnel.

text: Director's Cut ending[edit]

text: During the lab attack, the alpha male makes a butterfly-shaped smear on the glass. Neville realizes that the alpha male is identifying the female which he was experimenting on by her butterfly tattoo and that it wants her back. Neville puts his gun down and returns the female. Neville and the alpha male stare each other down as the former apologizes to the latter. The alpha male accepts it and the Darkseekers leave. Shocked, Neville looks over the pictures of his numerous test subjects and the implications of his research methods begin to dawn on him. Neville, Anna, and Ethan then drive to the survivors' camp in Vermont with the antidote.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville: A former U.S. Army medical doctor and scientist before the worldwide plague, he loses his wife and daughter in a helicopter crash shortly after Manhattan is quarantined and spends the next three years trying to find a cure while defending himself against the Darkseekers. He is immune to the virus and uses vials of his blood to try to create a cure.
Alice Braga as Anna Montez:[7][8][9] A survivor from Brazil, she spent days harbored on a Red Cross ship in Philadelphia. After the city was overrun, she stayed with Ethan and several other survivors on the ship, but eventually, only Ethan and she survived since they were immune and the others were either infected or killed. She followed Neville's broadcasts to track him.
Charlie Tahan as Ethan: A boy from Philadelphia, who spent time on the Red Cross ship with Anna and accompanied her when the ship was overrun.
Dash Mihok as the Darkseekers' alpha male
Emma Thompson as Dr. Alice Krippin: The doctor who creates the cancer cure, she inadvertently brings mankind to the brink of extinction; Neville dubs the virus "the Krippin virus". Her performance is uncredited.
Salli Richardson as Zoe Neville, Robert's wife
Willow Smith as Marley Neville, Robert's daughter
Joanna Numata as Darkseekers' alpha female
Darrell Foster as Mike
Pat Fraley as voice of the President of the United States
Mike Patton as voices of the Darkseekers

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The science-fiction horror genre reemerged in the late 1990s.[10] In 1995, Warner Bros. began developing the film project, having owned the rights to Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend since 1970[11] and having already made the 1971 adaptation The Omega Man. Mark Protosevich was hired to write the script after the studio was impressed with his spec script of The Cell. Protosevich's first draft took place in 2000 in San Francisco, and contained many similarities with the finished film, though the Darkseekers (called 'Hemocytes') were civilized to the point of the creatures in The Omega Man and Anna was a lone morphine addict, as well as the fact that a Hemocyte character named Christopher joined forces with Neville. Warner Bros. immediately put the film on the fast track, attaching Neal H. Moritz as producer.[10]

text: Actors Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas,[12] and Mel Gibson[10] had been considered to star in the film,[12] using a script by Protosevich and with Ridley Scott as director; however, by June 1997, the studio's preference was for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In July, Scott and Schwarzenegger finalized negotiations,[13] with production slated to begin the coming September,[12] using Houston as a stand-in for the film's setting of Los Angeles.[14] Scott had Protosevich replaced by a screenwriter of his own choosing, John Logan, with whom he spent months of intensive work on a number of different drafts. The Scott/Logan version of I Am Legend was a mix of sci-fi and psychological thriller, without dialogue in the first hour and with a sombre ending.[10] The creatures in Logan's version were similar to the Darkseekers of the finished film in their animalistic, barbaric nature. The studio, fearing its lack of commercial appeal and merchandising potential, began to worry about the liberties they had given Scott – then on a negative streak of box office disappointments – and urged the production team to reconsider the lack of action in the screenplay. After an "esoteric" draft by writer Neal Jimenez, Warner Bros. reassigned Protosevich to the project, reluctantly working with Scott again.[10]

text: In December 1997, the project was called into question when the projected budget escalated to $108 million due to media and shareholder scrutiny of the studio in financing a big-budget film.[15] Scott rewrote the script in an attempt to reduce the film's budget by $20 million,[16] but in March 1998, the studio canceled the project due to continued budgetary concerns,[17] and quite possibly to the box office disappointment of Scott's last three films, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, White Squall, and G.I. Jane.[10] Likewise, Schwarzenegger's recent films at the time (Eraser and Warner Bros. own Batman & Robin) also underperformed, and the studio's latest experiences with big budget sci-fi movies Sphere and The Postman were negative, as well.[10] In August 1998, director Rob Bowman was attached to the project,[18] with Protosevich hired to write a third all-new draft, far more action-oriented than his previous versions,[10] but the director (who reportedly wished for Nicolas Cage to play the lead) moved on to direct Reign of Fire[19] and the project did not get off the ground.

text: In March 2002, Schwarzenegger became the producer of I Am Legend, commencing negotiations with Michael Bay to direct and Will Smith to star in the film.[20] Bay and Smith were attracted to the project based on a redraft that would reduce its budget.[21] However, the project was shelved due to Warner Bros. president Alan F. Horn's dislike of the script.[22] In 2004, Akiva Goldsman was asked by head of production Jeff Robinov to produce the film.[23] In September 2005, director Francis Lawrence signed on to helm the project, with production slated to begin in 2006. Guillermo del Toro was originally approached to direct by Smith, but turned it down to direct Hellboy II: The Golden Army.[24] Lawrence, whose film Constantine was produced by Goldsman, was fascinated by empty urban environments. He said, "Something's always really excited me about that... to have experienced that much loss, to be without people or any kind of social interaction for that long."[23]

text: Goldsman took on the project as he admired the second I Am Legend film adaptation, The Omega Man.[25] A rewrite was done to distance the project from the other zombie films inspired by the novel,[20] as well as from the recently released 28 Days Later, although Goldsman was inspired by the scenes of a deserted London in the British horror film to create the scenes of a deserted New York City.[25] A 40-page scene-by-scene outline of the film was developed by May 2006. When delays occurred on Smith's film Hancock, which was scheduled for 2007, it was proposed to switch the actor's films. This meant filming would have to begin in 16 weeks: production was given a green light, using Goldsman's script and the outline.[23] Elements from Protosevich's script were introduced, while the crew consulted with experts on infectious diseases and solitary confinement.[25] Rewrites continued throughout filming, because of Smith's improvisational skills and Lawrence's preference to keep various scenes silent.[23] The director had watched Jane Campion's film The Piano with a low volume so as to not disturb his newborn son, and realized that silence could be very effective cinema.[26]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Will Smith signed on to play Robert Neville in April 2006.[27] He said he took on I Am Legend because he felt it could be like "Gladiator [or] Forrest Gump—these are movies with wonderful, audience-pleasing elements, but also uncompromised artistic value. [This] always felt like it had those possibilities to me."[25] The actor found Neville to be his toughest acting challenge since portraying Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001). He said that "when you're on your own, it is kind of hard to find conflict." The film's dark tone and exploration of whether Neville has gone insane during his isolation meant Smith had to restrain himself from falling into a humorous routine during takes.[28] To prepare for his role, Smith visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia. He also met with a person who had been in solitary confinement and a former prisoner of war.[29] Smith compared Neville to Job, who lost his children, livelihood, and health. Like the Book of Job, I Am Legend studies the questions, "Can he find a reason to continue? Can he find the hope or desire to excel and advance in life? Or does the death of everything around him create imminent death for himself?"[20] He also cited an influence in Tom Hanks' performance in Cast Away (2000).[25]

text: Abbey and Kona, both three-year-old German Shepherd dogs, played Neville's dog Sam.[30] The rest of the supporting cast consists of Salli Richardson as Zoe, Robert's wife,[31] and Alice Braga as a survivor named Anna.[31] Willow Smith, Will Smith's daughter, makes her film debut as Marley, Neville's daughter.[32] Emma Thompson has an uncredited role as Dr. Alice Krippin, who appears on television explaining her vaccine for cancer that mutates into the virus.[33] Singer Mike Patton provided the guttural screams of the infected "hemocytes", and Dash Mihok provided the character animation for the infected "alpha male". Several filler characters with uncredited roles were in old news broadcasts and flashbacks, such as the unnamed President's voice (Pat Fraley), and the cast of The Today Show.

text: Filming[edit]

text: Akiva Goldsman decided to move the story from Los Angeles to New York City to take advantage of locations that would more easily show emptiness.[11] Goldsman explained, "L.A. looks empty at three o'clock in the afternoon, [but] New York is never empty . . . it was a much more interesting way of showing the windswept emptiness of the world."[28] Warner Bros. initially rejected this idea because of the logistics,[23] but Francis Lawrence was determined to shoot on location, to give the film a natural feel that would benefit from not shooting on soundstages. Lawrence went to the city with a camcorder, and filmed areas filled with crowds. Then, a special effects test was conducted to remove all those people. The test had a powerful effect on studio executives.[26] Michael Tadross convinced authorities to close busy areas such as the Grand Central Terminal viaduct, several blocks of Fifth Avenue, and Washington Square Park.[23] The film was shot primarily in the anamorphic format, with flashback scenes shot in Super 35.[34]

text: Filming began on September 23, 2006.[35] The Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg was used for the interior of Neville's home,[28] while Greenwich Village was used for the exterior.[20] Other locations include the Tribeca section of lower Manhattan, the aircraft carrier Intrepid, the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.[11] Weeds were imported from Florida and were strewn across locations to make the city look like it had been overgrown with them.[23] The closure of major streets was controversial with New Yorkers. Will Smith said, "I don't think anyone's going to be able to do that in New York again anytime soon. People were not happy. That's the most middle fingers I've ever gotten in my career."[20]

text: A bridge scene was filmed for six consecutive nights in January on the Brooklyn Bridge to serve as a flashback scene in which New York's citizens evacuate the city. Shooting the scene consumed $5 million of the film's reported $150 million budget, which was likely the most expensive shoot in the city to date. The scene, which had to meet requirements from 14 government agencies, involved 250 crew members and 1,000 extras, including 160 National Guard members.[36][37] Also present were several Humvees, three Strykers, a 110-foot (34 m) cutter, a 41-foot (12 m) utility boat, and two 25-foot (7.6 m) response boat small craft, as well as other vehicles including taxis, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances.[38] Filming concluded on March 31, 2007.[35] Computer-generated imagery (CGI) was used to depict the main spans of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge collapsing as missiles from passing military jets blew them up to quarantine Manhattan island.

text: Reshoots were conducted around November 2007. Lawrence noted, "We weren't seeing fully rendered shots until about a month ago. The movie starts to take on a whole other life. It's not until later that you can judge a movie as a whole and go, 'Huh, maybe we should shoot this little piece in the middle, or tweak this a little bit.' It just so happened that our re-shoots revolved around the end of the movie."[39]

text: Effects[edit]

text: A week into filming, Francis felt the infected (referred to as "Darkseekers" or "hemocytes" in the script), who were being portrayed by actors wearing prosthetics, were not convincing. His decision to use CGI resulted in an increased budget and extended post-production, although the end results were not always well received.[40][41] The concept behind the infected was that their adrenal glands were open all of the time and Lawrence explained, "They needed to have an abandon in their performance that you just can't get out of people in the middle of the night when they're barefoot. And their metabolisms are really spiked, so they're constantly hyperventilating, which you can't really get actors to do for a long time or they pass out."[23] The actors remained on set to provide motion capture.[28][42] "The film's producers and sound people wanted the creatures in the movie to sound somewhat human, but not the standard", so Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More, was engaged to provide the screams and howls of the infected.[43]

text: In addition, CGI was used for the lions and deer in the film, and to erase pedestrians in shots of New York. Workers visible in windows, spectators, and moving cars in the distance were all removed. In his vision of an empty New York, Lawrence cited John Ford as his influence: "We didn't want to make an apocalyptic movie where the landscape felt apocalyptic. A lot of the movie takes place on a beautiful day. There's something magical about the empty city as opposed to dark and scary that was the ideal that the cast and crew wanted."[25]

text: Release[edit]

text: I Am Legend was originally slated for a November 21, 2007, release in the United States and Canada,[44] but was delayed to December 14.[45] The film opened on December 26, 2007, in the United Kingdom,[46] and Ireland, having been originally scheduled for January 4, 2008.[28]

text: In December 2007, China temporarily suspended the release of all American films in the country,[47] which is believed to have delayed the release of I Am Legend. Will Smith spoke to the chairman of China Film Group about securing a release date, later explaining, "We struggled very, very hard to try to get it to work out, but there are only a certain amount of foreign films that are allowed in."[29]

text: Premieres were held in Tokyo, New York, and London. At the London premiere in Leicester Square, British comedian and actor Neg Dupree was arrested after pushing his way onto the red carpet and running around shouting "I am Negend!".[48] The stunt was part of his "Neg's Urban Sports" section of comedy game show Balls of Steel.

text: Marketing[edit]

text: The film's teaser was attached to the screenings of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. And a tie-in comic from DC Comics and Vertigo Comics has been created, I Am Legend: Awakening.[49] The project draws upon collaboration from Bill Sienkiewicz, screenwriter Mark Protosevich, and author Orson Scott Card. The son of the original book's author, Richard Christian Matheson, also collaborated on the project. The project will advance from the comic to an online format in which animated featurettes (created by the team from Broken Saints) will be shown on the official website.[50]

text: In October 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures, in conjunction with the Electric Sheep Company, launched the online multiplayer game I Am Legend: Survival in the virtual world Second Life. The game is the largest launched in the virtual world in support of a film release, permitting people to play against each other as the infected or the uninfected across a replicated 60 acres (240,000 m2) of New York City.[51] The studio also hired the ad agency Crew Creative to develop a website that would be specifically viewable on the iPhone.[52]

text: Box office[edit]

text: I Am Legend grossed $77,211,321 on its opening weekend in 3,606 theaters, averaging $21,412 per venue, and placing it at the top of the box office. This set a record for highest-grossing opening for a film for December.[53] The film grossed $256,393,010 in North America and a total of $585,349,010 worldwide.[54] The film was the sixth-highest grossing film of 2007 in North America, and as of April 2014, it remained among the top 100 all-time highest-grossing films both domestically and worldwide (unadjusted for ticket price inflation).[54]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD on March 18, 2008, in two editions: a one-disc release, including the movie with four animated comics ("Death As a Gift", "Isolation", "Sacrificing the Few for the Many", and "Shelter"), and other DVD-ROM features, and a two-disc special edition that includes all these extras, an alternative theatrical version of the movie with an alternate ending,[55] and a digital copy of the film.[56] On the high-definition end, the movie has been released on the Blu-ray Disc format and HD DVD format along with the DVD release, with the HD-DVD version being released later on April 8, 2008.[57] Both HD releases include all the features available in the two-disc DVD edition.[57] A three-disk Ultimate Collector's Edition was also released on December 9, 2008.[58]

text: The film has sold 7.04 million DVDs and earned $126.2 million in revenue, making it the sixth-best-selling DVD of 2008.[59] However, Warner Bros. was reportedly "a little disappointed" with the film's performance on the DVD market.[60]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
I Am Legend
Film score by James Newton HowardReleased
January 15, 2008Length
44:00Label
Varèse SarabandeProducer
James Newton HowardJames Newton Howard chronology

The Water HorseString Module Error: Match not foundString Module Error: Match not found

I Am Legend

tag: table

text: The soundtrack for I Am Legend was released on January 15, 2008, under the record label Varèse Sarabande. The music was composed by James Newton Howard. This Also features Bob Marley songs Redemption Song,Three Little Birds and I Shot The Sheriff

text: I Am Legend SoundtrackNo.TitleLength1."My Name Is Robert Neville"2:502."Deer Hunting"1:163."Evacuation"4:264."Scan Her Again"1:415."Darkseeker Dogs"2:166."Sam's Gone"1:457."Talk to Me"0:558."The Pier"5:179."Can They Do That?"2:0910."I'm Listening"2:0911."The Jagged Edge"5:1512."Reunited"7:4913."I'm Sorry"2:2114."Epilogue"4:13Total length:44:00

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film had an approval rating of 69% based on 211 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "I Am Legend overcomes questionable special effects and succeeds largely on the strength of Will Smith's mesmerizing performance."[61] On Metacritic, which assigns a rating to reviews, the film has an average score of 65 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[62]

text: A. O. Scott wrote that Will Smith gave a "graceful and effortless performance" and also noted the "third-act collapse". He felt that the movie "does ponder some pretty deep questions about the collapse and persistence of human civilization".[63] Dana Stevens of Slate wrote that the movie lost its way around the hour mark, noting that "the Infected just aren't that scary."[33] NPR critic Bob Mondello noted the film's subtext concerning global terrorism and that this aspect made the film fit in perfectly with other, more direct cinematic explorations of the subject.[64] Richard Roeper gave the film a positive review on the television program At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, commending Will Smith as being in "prime form", also saying there are "some amazing sequences" and that there was "a pretty heavy screenplay for an action film."[65] The film has been criticized for diverging from Matheson's novel, especially in its portrayal of a specifically Christian theme.[66] Much of the negative criticism concerned the film's third act,[40][41][67] with some critics favoring the alternative ending in the DVD release.[55] Doug Walker said the alternate ending was "powerful, thought provoking, and challenging", and the theatrical ending was "a betrayal" and "castration" of both the film's tone and of what made the original story so impactful.[68]

text: Popular Mechanics published an article on December 14, 2007,[69] addressing some of the scientific issues raised by the film:

text:
the rate of deterioration of urban structures, infrastructure, and survival of fauna and flora
the plausibility of a retrovirus spreading out of control as depicted in the film (The measles virus depicted in the film, however, is not a retrovirus, but is in fact a part of the Paramyxovirus family.)
the mechanics of the Brooklyn Bridge's destruction

tag: ol

text: The magazine solicited reactions from Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, virologist W. Ian Lipkin, MD, and Michel Bruneau, PhD, comparing their predictions with the film's depictions. The article raised the most questions regarding the virus' mutation and the medical results, and pointed out that a suspension bridge like the Brooklyn Bridge would likely completely collapse rather than losing only its middle span. Neville's method of producing power using gasoline-powered generators seemed the most credible: "This part of the tale is possible, if not entirely likely," Popular Mechanics editor Roy Berendsohn says.

text: Philosopher Slavoj Zizek criticized the film politically as being the most regressive adaptation from the novel. He said that while the original novel had a progressive multicultural message where Neville became a "legend" to the new creatures and is subsequently killed by them (much like vampires were legends to humans), the 2007 film finds a cure for the Darkseekers and it is delivered by a survivor through apparent divine intervention. According to Zizek, this misses the original message and "openly opt[s] for religious fundamentalism."[70]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
I Am Legend earned four nominations for the Visual Effects Society awards,[71] and was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards,[72] Outstanding Film and Actor at the Image Awards,[73] and Best Sound at the Satellite Awards. In June 2008, Will Smith won a Saturn Award for Best Actor.[74]
Will Smith also won the MTV Movie Awards for Best Male Performance.[75]

text: Future[edit]

text: Director Francis Lawrence said in 2008 that there would be a prequel and that Will Smith would be reprising his role. The plot of the film would reveal what happened to Neville before the infected took over New York. D. B. Weiss was hired to write the script, while Lawrence was in negotiations to return as director on the contingent that the story was interesting enough. Smith later discussed the premise, which would have his character and a team going from New York City to Washington, D.C., as they made their last stand against those infected with the virus.[76] The film would again explore the premise of what it is like to be alone. Lawrence stated, "... the tough thing is, how do we do that again and in a different way?"[77] In May 2011, Francis Lawrence stated that the prequel was no longer in development saying, "I don't think that's ever going to happen."[78]

text: In 2012, Warner Bros. announced that negotiations had been made to produce another installment, with the intention of having Will Smith reprise his role.[79] In April 2014, the studio attained a script entitled A Garden at the End of the World, described as a post-apocalyptic variation of The Searchers. Studio executives found so many similarities to I Am Legend in the screenplay, they had the writer Gary Graham rewrite it so it could serve as the next film. Serving as a reboot of the story, the studio hopes to create a franchise of films. Will Smith, who is known for his reluctance to appear in sequels,[80] has not commented on whether he will appear or not.[80]

text: Bibliography[edit]

text: I Am Legend, Richard Matheson, Tor Books; Reissue edition (October 30, 2007), ISBN 0-7653-1874-1