Jules Verne Forum

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Re: Jules Verne Forum - 50s sci-fi films

From: thomas mccormick <tom_amity~at~hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:03:54 +0000
To: jvf~at~Gilead.org.il

Surely, much of the power in such stories as Wells' WAR OF THE WORLDS
derives from the fact that Wells offered his meditations on the theme of
earth-among-the-worlds/man-in-the-universe at such an early date, and
ironically this angle becomes progressively more important as the distance
in time (between Wells' writing and our reading it) becomes greater. In the
same way, part of our appreciation of Captain Nemo's genius derives from the
fact that Nemo operates in the 19th century, and is thus so very advanced
for his time.

My impression is that Verne was rather dismissive of Wells, and I wonder if
he did not refuse to see some perfectly reasonable analogies between Wells'
work and his own. He said something like "I send Barbicane to the moon in a
gun, which one sees every day. But whence is this 'cavorite' of Wells'? Let
him show it to me." Of course, one could as easily say to Verne, "Show me a
gun that's capable of shooting men at greater than gravitational escape
velocity, without killing them in the process." (citing from memory)

Verne knew perfectly well his moon-voyage would have been impossible in the
exact form in which he imagined it. Both writers knew that certain things
would someday be possible, though they didn't know the precise technology
that would make them possible. Or so it would seem to me.

Tom McCormick


>From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>
>Reply-To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
>To: jvforum <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>
>Subject: Re: Jules Verne Forum - 50s sci-fi films Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005
>19:54:32 -0400 (EDT)
>
>
>On Mon, 26 Sep 2005, Simon Williams wrote:
>
> > Hi!
> >
> > I wonder if you have any ideas about something that struck me... I'm a
>=
> > fan of American sci-fi movies from the 50s & 60s, and it seems to me =
> > that the famous Verne films (Disney's '20,000 Leagues', 'Journey to the
>=
> > Centre of the Earth' with James Mason etc) would be called sci-fi, but =
> > are set in the 19th century. I don't know of Verne adaptations that =
> > were updated to the mid-20th century - but you could do it with other =
> > literary sources like Wells. =20
> >
> > Any thoughts about why this might be? Maybe for many US audiences Verne
>=
> > has this image of being the 'Father of Sci-Fi', predicting the future, =
> > inventing atomic power, and this means if you wanted to use the words =
> > 'Jules Verne' in your production you had to set it in his time?
> >
> > Thanks for your time!
> >
> > Si
>
>Si, I think, as Garmt notes, the story's basis (submarine, moon trip, etc)
>tends to require the period setting. But the "updating" is done through
>injecting contemporary concerns, suggesting JV anticipated nuclear
>weapons, and so on. And such contrasting devices as the signature
>inserted balloon flights become ways to emphasize the revelling in times
>past. By contrast, adding dinosaurs (such as in versions of Hector
>Servadac) is a timeless sf device.
>
>Wells, by contrast, as more futuristic, is more open to updating the
>setting--tho to my own sensibility, the period works better with him, too
>(ie, compare the versions of Dr. Moreau), because other issues and
>knowledge come into play with the era of the film's production. The same
>could be said, I think, for versions of ACD's Lost World, and why it is
>still best handled with the author's intended temporal period.
>
>
>Brian Taves
>Motion Picture/Broadcasting/Recorded Sound Division
>Library of Congress
>101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20540-4692
>Telephone: 202-707-9930; 202-707-2371 (fax)
>Email: btav~at~loc.gov
>
>
>Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.
>
>
>

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Received on Tue 04 Oct 2005 - 08:04:04 IDT

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