Atlas Shrugged Movie to Begin Filming!

[Selene]

Don't forget the Brewers Yeast for the popcorn!

[Kimmler]

"Casting would be difficult. Harrison Ford as Hank Rearden with Barbara Branden as Lillian Rearden seem like good casting. I still like Jodie Foster as the main character of the novel, Dagny Taggart."

Well...presumably they were busy so they had to hire a cast of drama school rejects instead.

But don't worry if the film is rubbish as has been said elsewhere, what % of great novels end up making great films and erm...times have changed so the great film this could have been could no longer be made because...erm...times have changed and they don't make 'em like they used to!

[Mike11]

A massive chunk of the dialog will need to be erased or rewritten.

And Galt's speech is good for nothing but a Golden Turkey Award.

[Kimmler]

I doubt you'll find an actor to say the line "I swear by the love of my life..." with a straight face!

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Casting would be difficult. Harrison Ford as Hank Rearden with Barbara Branden as Lillian Rearden seem like good casting. I still like Jodie Foster as the main character of the novel, Dagny Taggart.

Peter,

What is this slur on Barbara about?

Michael

[Selene]

Casting would be difficult. Harrison Ford as Hank Rearden with Barbara Branden as Lillian Rearden seem like good casting. I still like Jodie Foster as the main character of the novel, Dagny Taggart.

Peter,

What is this slur on Barbara about?

Michael

Thank you Michael.

It jumped off the page to me also.

Adam

[Peter]

Michael wrote about my suggesting Barbara Branden as Lillian Roark:

What is this slur on Barbara about?

end quote

It was not meant in any derogatory way. For some reason, in my mind I see Barbara, because of her looks mainly, and her voice (that I listened to, for hours on tape back in the 1970’s,) playing that part.

Nothing in her personality suggests Lillian’s character. However if she were an actress, her well groomed Nordic appearance would make her an excellent choice to play Lillian.

I expected my comment to draw a thoughtful, “You know, at first I thought Peter was trying to be funny, but she would be good for that part.” No harm was meant.

Just prior to writing that comment, I was thinking of her as being the first major “personal victim” of Ayn Rand’s lack of . . . what would you call it, Michael? I hold Barbara in the deepest regard.

Peter

[9thdoctor]

What is this slur on Barbara about?

It was not meant in any derogatory way. For some reason, in my mind I see Barbara, because of her looks mainly, and her voice (that I listened to, for hours on tape back in the 1970’s,) playing that part.

I think Peter meant it as a compliment. Lillian needs to be extraordinarily good looking, enough so as to negate Rearden’s IQ. It’s one of the biggest problems with Atlas Shrugged, how/why did these two hook up?

Granted, Scarlett O’Hara (specifically described as “not beautiful”, per the opening line of the novel) and Becky Sharp brazenly manipulate men to get what they want, so it’s not uncommon to see a less attractive woman as the successful social climber in fiction. Or fact, just look at Hillary Clinton.

Now why/whether Peter thinks BB would have been a great actress is another matter. Her only screen credit I’m aware of is an out of focus cameo as Julie Delpy’s mother. Acting’s a craft, and the actress needed to pull this one off will have to have well-honed technique. I’m thinking the Meryl Streep of Kramer vs. Kramer.

[Peter]

Ninth Doctor wrote:

I think Peter meant it as a compliment. Lillian needs to be extraordinarily good looking, enough so as to negate Rearden’s IQ. It’s one of the biggest problems with Atlas Shrugged, how/why did these two hook up? , , , Acting’s a craft, and the actress needed to pull this one off will have to have well-honed technique. I’m thinking the Meryl Streep of Kramer vs. Kramer.

End quote

The Meryl Streep of “Mama Mia,” was pretty hot too!

Thank you Doctor. That was a brilliant analysis: “. . . good looking, enough so as to negate Rearden’s IQ.”

That’s also an interesting placement of a comma.

We will need to be content with the film version of "Atlas Shrugged." When the director said it had a lot of computer generated scenes I shuddered. Remember “Lord of the Rings?” Some of it, like the walking trees, did not look all that real but other portions sure did.

I just saw on Net Flix, disc 4 season finale of “The Tudors,” first season and I know they filmed much of it in Canada with some computer generated affects. I was watching for them last night and I think I could tell that a castle, courtyard, and cobble stone road leading to the castle were computer created. Not bad! It is not like a computer game.

Semper cogitans fidele,

Peter Taylor

[9thdoctor]

That’s also an interesting placement of a comma.

Mmm. It was a very quickly written, stream of consciousness post, and the comma placement does reflect how I would speak that sentence out loud. Is it confusing to read? I don’t see any ambiguity, at least.

Meryl Streep’s performance in Manhattan is another good reference for Lillian. My point though, is that she’s not a 10, a pin-up etc. Not bad looking by any means, but not…fill in the blank: Greta Garbo, Farrah Fawcett, Scarlett Johansson, and so on to taste.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Peter,

Thanks for the explanation. That's why I asked.

Knowing you, I am sure there was no derogatory intent.

But I'm not so sure what Barbara would think, though.

Somehow I don't see her imagining herself as a sexless high-society trophy-bride...

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

I'll play Lillian, in drag, to get Peter off the hook.

--Brant

the acting wil be incredible!

[Xray]

Granted, Scarlett O’Hara (specifically described as “not beautiful”, per the opening line of the novel)

I saw the film GWTW before reading the novel, and the novel's opening line about Scarlett O'Hara being described as "not beautiful" confused me, because Vivien Leigh who played Scarlett was so dazzlingly beautiful.

and Becky Sharp brazenly manipulate men to get what they want,

Aah, the brazenly manipulative Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair! What a character!!

Lillian needs to be extraordinarily good looking, enough so as to negate Rearden’s IQ. It’s one of the biggest problems with Atlas Shrugged, how/why did these two hook up?

It is not really a problem considering human nature. Rearden wanted to 'win' Lilian like a hunter wants to win a trophy, and Lilian was attracted to the "alpha male' Rearden.

So if there is a problem, it would lie in explaining how an "Objectivist hero" like Rearden would behave like that too ...

Meryl Streep’s performance in Manhattan is another good reference for Lillian.

Meryl Streep's performance in Manhattan??? Imo the character Streep plays there is is far too assertive to make a connection to Lillian's, and also, Meryl Streep is not nearly as beautiful as the Lillian portrayed in AS. I imagine Lillian about as beautiful as Scarlett Johansson, and also think of Johansson as the perfect cast for the role of Lillian.

My point though, is that she’s not a 10, a pin-up etc. Not bad looking by any means, but not…fill in the blank: Greta Garbo, Farrah Fawcett, Scarlett Johansson, and so on to taste.

See above. Imo Johansson would be perfect for the role of Lillian.

As for Garbo: imo young (and originally brunette, like Dagny), Garbo would have been perfect for playing D. Taggart. I always imagined Dagny to look like in this picture of Garbo:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/images/Stock/1929-keillers/13-greta-garbo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/trading-cards/1929-keillers-kinema-karton-trading-cards.html&usg=__h1GbvUkogqWXIAT0zxUxoI7enuk=&h=400&w=326&sz=9&hl=en&start=137&zoom=1&tbnid=qHdZ8LQ6C8BPfM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=146&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgreta%2Bgarbo%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:de:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D832%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C3135&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=623&vpy=484&dur=852&hovh=179&hovw=146&tx=100&ty=215&ei=W7i4TJfnAYORswaU1uS9DQ&oei=-7e4TLKnDMaDswb0iIG7DQ&esq=10&page=6&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:137&biw=1280&bih=832

Edited October 15, 2010 by Xray

[Selene]

Folks:

I was trying to find a description that I thought I remembered of Lillian Reardon which had to do with her profile and her full face and the difference. One being, if my memory serves me correctly, that her profile was magnificent, mentioning a cameo possibly, but her full face not being beautiful due to her eyes????

Later on, after Hank fully understands the sanction of the victim, Lillian meets Jim at his apartment and he mentions how she has let herself go to "pot" and there is that completely gross love scene between them which still sticks in my mind!

At any rate, I tan across this article by Erika Holzer on 11/11/02 which I had never seen:

"Ayn enjoyed our "game" as much as I did. In all honesty I can't recall every actor or actress we mulled over - there were too many and the process was ongoing for a long period of time. But certain names stuck in my memory - especially those movie stars who were the subject of fierce/friendly debate.

We were of one mind on who should play the central character - central, that is, to Ayn: Robert Redford as John Galt. Lacking the courage to mention that, for me, the central character (or, at the very least and to this day, my favorite character) was Francisco D'Anconia, I put forth the name of John Justin for Francisco and got an immediate and enthusiastic thumbs up. John Justin, for those of you who have never had the pleasure of viewing David Lean's greatest cinematic achievement, his post-World War II "Breaking the Sound Barrier," starring Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick - and a young, stunningly handsome, and utterly flamboyant John Justin - would, I venture to say, be hard put to disagree with our assessment once you'd seen test pilot Justin's climactic scene in that movie. John Justin was Francisco D'Anconia.

Candidates for Hank Rearden were more numerous. To my dismay, Ayn seemed stuck on Robert Stack. While I agreed that Stack was an ideal physical type for Rearden, his acting tended to be "wooden" - in much the same way, I pointed out, that Gary Cooper had, on the surface, been a perfect Howard Roark in The Fountainhead but had lacked Roark's power of certainty and keen intellect. (Ayn had to admit that, even after much coaching and explaining on her part, Cooper - whom she liked - was unable to bring off the movie's climactic speech, confessing to her that he didn't understand it.) Much later, Ayn and I settled quite happily on Clint Eastwood.

Dagny Taggart was a hard case. Ayn regaled me with anecdotes about Barbara Stanwyck, whom she'd known and who had coveted the role of Dominique in The Fountainhead. While she respected Stanwyck as an actress, she and I agreed that, although Stanwyck would have done justice to the tough-minded aspect of Dagny's character, she (like Joan Crawford) wouldn't have been able to temper tough-mindedness with femininity. "Can you picture Barbara Stanwyck - for one minute - projecting vulnerability?" Ayn asked rhetorically. I couldn't picture it. We managed to come up with a number of candidates, but the only one I remember - a leading contender - was Faye Dunaway.

That took care of major characters in the "good guys" corner."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/787006/posts

Adam

[Peter]

Xray wrote:

As for Garbo: imo young (and originally brunette, like Dagny), Garbo would have been perfect for playing D. Taggart.

end quote

That early picture of a brunette Garbo was astonishingly erotic. How does she do that? Does she project her essence? I guess that is why some people are so good on camera.

Peter

Edited October 15, 2010 by Peter Taylor

[Peter]

Erika Holzer wrote in the reference article:

Galt: Brad Pitt

Francisco: Gabriel Byrne

Rearden: Russell Crowe

Dagny: Kristen Scott Thomas

Lillian: Uma Thurman

Taggart: Kevin Spacey

Stadler: Ralph Fiennes

Mouch: Dustin Hoffman

Cuffy: Armand Assante

Eddie: John Cusack

Ellis: Brendan Fraser

Quentin: Gary Sinese

When it comes to Atlas Shrugged, people are prone to vehement disagreement about who should (or who most definitely should not) help bring this incredibly complex novel to visual life. It's contagious, playing the casting game. Irresistible. Isn't it?

end quote

I had never considered most of those. Kevin Spacey as Taggart? Wow, that is good.

Peter

[Xray]

Granted, Scarlett O’Hara (specifically described as “not beautiful”, per the opening line of the novel) and Becky Sharp brazenly manipulate men to get what they want, so it’s not uncommon to see a less attractive woman as the successful social climber in fiction.

Jane Eyre comes to mind as well. Plain Jane who, despite her socially low position, finally got Mr. Rochester. As opposed to Scarlett O'Hara and Becky Sharp, Jane was not brazenly manipulative though. Jane Eyre's character combines intelligence, courage and a noble heart.

William Thackeray, the 'creator' of Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair, had words of high praise for the novel Jane Eyre, calling it "the masterwork of a great genius".

I just bought the DVD of the film where the great Orson Welles plays the role of Mr. Rochester.

Yes, an "independent film" is one that has been produced by someone other than the American government. Independent films these days are usually ones that are produced instead by the government of Indonesia, which is where the nickname "Indie" comes from. When you hear the term "Indie film," you should think "Bollywood," which is a play on words: it combines "Bali" and "Hollywood," since Bali is the creative center of the "Indie" film world.

I always thought "Bollywood" as a contraction of Bombay and Hollywood; the Wikipedia artice I looked up says the same:

"The name "Bollywood" is derived from Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood

Erika Holzer wrote in the reference article:

Galt: Brad Pitt

.....

Brad Pitt as Galt? Imo Pitt has too much of a "nice guy" image to play the aloof Galt.

How about the younger Johnny Depp? Not only is JD beautiful as a greek statue, he also has an aura of mystery about him which imo is needed for the role of Galt.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Xray

[Jonathan]

Yes, an "independent film" is one that has been produced by someone other than the American government. Independent films these days are usually ones that are produced instead by the government of Indonesia, which is where the nickname "Indie" comes from. When you hear the term "Indie film," you should think "Bollywood," which is a play on words: it combines "Bali" and "Hollywood," since Bali is the creative center of the "Indie" film world.

I always thought "Bollywood" as a contraction of Bombay and Hollywood; the Wikipedia artice I looked up says the same:

"The name "Bollywood" is derived from Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood

Yeah, I was being a smart ass.

J

[kiaer.ts]

I don't know where you people are getting this nonsense that Lillian is strikingly beautiful. She was a dignified handsome woman with dead eyes who was past her prime and who wore dresses in the empire style. For those of you who haven't been curious enough to look it up at wikipedia, that sort of dress, cinched under the breasts, is a favorite for women with big waists. Meryl Streep is now perhaps a bit old, but she would have been a good cast. Think Oprah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_silhouette

An Empire silhouette is created by a woman wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust with a long, loose skirt, which skims the body. The outline is especially flattering to pear shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust. The shape of the dress also helps to lengthen the body's appearance. Here the word "Empire" refers to the period of the First French Empire.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Ted Keer

[Selene]

I don't know where you people are getting this nonsense that Lillian is strikingly beautiful. She was a dignified handsome woman with dead eyes who was past her prime and who wore dresses in the empire style. For those of you who haven't been curious enough to look it up at wikipedia, that sort of dress, cinched under the breasts, is a favorite for women with big waists. Meryl Streep is now perhaps a bit old, but she would have been a good cast. Think Oprah.

http://en.wikipedia....pire_silhouette

An Empire silhouette is created by a woman wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust with a long, loose skirt, which skims the body. The outline is especially flattering to pear shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust. The shape of the dress also helps to lengthen the body's appearance. Here the word "Empire" refers to the period of the First French Empire.

Ted:

Thank you. I have not had the time to find that section, but as I said in a prior post, she was not even close to beautiful. She was presentable with a decent profile, but full faced she was not and the dead eyes were the key.

Adam

[Reidy]

In a novel such as the ones people have mentioned here lately, the author can take time to make a woman fascinating to men without her being beautiful. This is not only because of the more leisurely pace but because we don't have to look at her when we read as we do when we watch. Some actresses can carry this off without being beauties; Bette Davis and Barbra Streisand come to mind; more recently, Julia Roberts and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Most of the time, though, on the screen, if a movie wants to sell a woman as fascinating to men it usually does this by making her physically beautiful.

I think the point of the Empire look was to remind us of a cameo or a painting by Ingres, elegant but inanimate, not to suggest that Lillian is heavy. She's a high-fashion type.

[kiaer.ts]

I think the point of the Empire look was to remind us of a cameo or a painting by Ingres, elegant but inanimate, not to suggest that Lillian is heavy. She's a high-fashion type.

She is notably not taut.

Sean Young is the only possible cast

[Starbuckle]

An Atlas Society announcement that tickets are now available for an evening with the "Atlas" movie people, December 7 in NYC, brings one to an eventbrite.com page at which one learns that the pleasure of that evening can be had for a mere $100 (and that's at the low end). Atlas members, $100; non-members, $250; ticket plus "VIP reception," $500.

http://atlas-shrugged-movie.eventbrite.com/?ref=ebtn

I think the pricing is not only a bad decision but a flagrantly bad decision. I mean, with $100, I can get two thirds of an Amazon Kindle. Producers and cast members also show up at comicons; there is a fee for the whole con and a smaller fee for attending only a single day. The four-day price for adult attendance at the 2011 Comic-Con is $105. I can't imagine anyone shelling out this kind of dough for just one evening at a con, even if they were really into Captain Kirk or whatever. Maybe the Atlas Society people know something I don't know, and they'll make a mint on this. For my part, although I had tentatively planned to attend, I am scratching this event from my to-do list.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Starbuckle

[Xray]

Xray wrote:

As for Garbo: imo young (and originally brunette, like Dagny), Garbo would have been perfect for playing D. Taggart.

end quote

That early picture of a brunette Garbo was astonishingly erotic. How does she do that? Does she project her essence? I guess that is why some people are so good on camera.

Peter

I hardly recognized Greta Garbo in that picture because it is so different from other Garbo pictures we are familiar with. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/images/Stock/1929-keillers/13-greta-garbo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/trading-cards/1929-keillers-kinema-karton-trading-cards.html&usg=__h1GbvUkogqWXIAT0zxUxoI7enuk=&h=400&w=326&sz=9&hl=en&start=137&zoom=1&tbnid=qHdZ8LQ6C8BPfM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=146&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgreta%2Bgarbo%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:de:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D832%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C3135&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=623&vpy=484&dur=852&hovh=179&hovw=146&tx=100&ty=215&ei=W7i4TJfnAYORswaU1uS9DQ&oei=-7e4TLKnDMaDswb0iIG7DQ&esq=10&page=6&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:137&biw=1280&bih=832

As for how does she do that to look erotic - it's fairly easy to answer. Her young face did not yet have the 'harder' features of her later years, the soft brown wavy hair is an erotic element, and then there's the deliberately seductive look she has in that photograph.

Erika Holzer wrote in the reference article:

....

Francisco: Gabriel Byrne

...

That's exactly how I imagined Francisco D'Anconia to look like.

I don't know where you people are getting this nonsense that Lillian is strikingly beautiful. She was a dignified handsome woman with dead eyes who was past her prime and who wore dresses in the empire style.

You seem to imagine Lilian as a veritable matron-type - but does AS give enough indicators of that? I'm fairly sure having read a passage where she is described as beautiful. I'll see if I can find it.

Dagny was in her early thirties; as for Lilian being "past her prime" - does AS say something about her age? And Rearden's age?

For those of you who haven't been curious enough to look it up at wikipedia, that sort of dress, cinched under the breasts, is a favorite for women with big waists. Meryl Streep is now perhaps a bit old, but she would have been a good cast. Think Oprah.

As far as I recall, there is no suggestion in AS that Lilian preferred Empire style clothes because she had too many pounds to hide. Slender women can look lovely in Empire as well. It's a style which fits fine-featured women better than the more 'sportive'-looking ones.

I also disagree about Meryl Streep being a good cast as Lilian. Streep is too strong a personality to fit the type. Imo the younger Streep would have made an excellent Dagny if she were a bit better-looking.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Xray

[9thdoctor]

I don't know where you people are getting this nonsense that Lillian is strikingly beautiful. She was a dignified handsome woman with dead eyes who was past her prime and who wore dresses in the empire style.

I think she needed to be unusually attractive to get Rearden to the altar (so I’m talking backstory here), but after that it makes sense that she would try to make herself less sexy. It’s all debatable though, ref my comments on Gone with the Wind and Vanity Fair. There's more than one way to make it work.