Dear Film & History Scholars,

 

The HBO series based on the David McCollough book and titled JOHN  ADAMS

cycles up for the first time on Sunday night.  (Check local listings  for 

MARCH 16, 2008.)

 

IMDB has basics and there is an HBO web site for the mini-series.

 

David McCollough has revived the reputation of Harry Truman and his book  

about

Adams was extremely popular.  It will be interesting to see how  director Tom 

Hooper

overlays his interpretation of a popular book.  Indeed, the director  is 

almost invisible

among all the "stars" involved in the production.

 

Paul Giamatti, who plays John Adams, is the son of Bartlett Giamatti  

(1938-1989), first a Yale

professor of comparative literature and then the commissioner of baseball,  

an interesting coda

to his life.  Paul, the son, was the troubled protagonist of  _Sideways_ and 

is a "surprise" choice

for such a role, but may have been a good one. 

 

Those of us with interests in film and history will be interested in:

 

1. Reconsidering the interpretation and "new research" reflected in the  book 

by McCollough.

    I remember when it came out that it was praised for  original research 

into the Adams letters,

    all of which had been in print since the late  1930s.  (I remember being 

assigned to read a

    goodly number of them as a junior in  college.)

 

2. Examine how the motion picture medium brings Adams to life.  Adams  was a 

Federalist, but--over

    the years--there developed a category known as the  "Adams Federalists."  

These folks were to be

    distinguished from the nasty Hamiltonians of the  Federalist crowd.  Will 

the film get into such 

    details or will it presume an ignorant audience and  waste all its 

resources telling a story not new

    and not even cinematic.

 

Or will we say "Sit Down, John!"?

 

Sunday night the seven part series begins.

 

Peter Rollins

[log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask]) 

_http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/_ (http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/) 

 







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