Last night some of my children invited me to watch "I Am Legend" with them. I hadn't seen it before. It was a little violent for me (judging by how many times I hid behind my blanket and Brian said "Mom, you have to watch this part"). I like that it ended hopeful.
As the credits were rolling I noticed that it was based on a novel by Richard Matheson. I recognized that name. He also wrote the novel "Bid Time Return" on which my favorite movie, "Somewhere In Time" was based. I googled him and found out is an 83-year-old American author and screenwriter primarily in the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres.
He also wrote "What Dreams May Come," a fantasy movie starring Robin Williams. Interestingly, the titles "What Dreams May Come" and "Bid Time Return" are Shakespearean quotes.
A little more research revealed some interesting tidbits about how the story "Bid Time Return" came about. (from Wikipedia)
While traveling with his family, Matheson was entranced by the portrait of American actress Maude Adams in Piper's Opera House in Nevada. "It was such a great photograph," Matheson reports, "that creatively I fell in love with her. What if some guy did the same thing and could go back in time?" Then Matheson researched her life and was struck by her reclusiveness. To create the novel, he resided for many weeks at the Hotel del Coronado (where the novel takes place) and dictated his impressions into a tape recorder while experiencing himself in the role of Richard Collier. Matheson based much of the biographical information about the character of Elise McKenna directly on Adams.
Maude Adams
She is hauntingly beautiful
The plot thickens when you find out that Maude Adams was a Mormon actress in the 1900's. Her grandparents joined the Church in New England and came across the plains with the pioneers to Utah where her mother was born.
She achieved her greatest success in "Peter Pan," and in fact, was the first actress to portray Peter Pan on Broadway. She was in many John Barrie (author of Peter Pan) plays; it was said that he wrote "The Little Minister" with her in mind for the lead role. She had a yearly income of more that a million dollars at her peak.
Well, after all that, we had to watch "Somewhere In Time." Of course, my children have seen it, but Trevor and Michelle had never seen it, so it was fun to share it with a new audience.
Matheson has stated, "Somewhere in Time is the story of a love which transcends time, What Dreams May Come, is the story of a love which transcends death.... I feel that they represent the best writing I have done in the novel form."
3 comments:
I asked for "Somewhere in Time" music when I had my MRI. It wasn't on their list, but the lady said it should be. Glad you had fun with your family watching movies.
I enjoyed reading about the author and that Maude had been born in Utah to Mormon parents. Can you imagine what a million dollars was in that year. Wow! I hope Trevor and Michelle enjoyed it. I still love it and always ask for the music of Somewhere in Time in the dentist office. It is true they don't have it at the MRI place.
Hi Janet, I just came across your blog. This is very interesting about Richard Matheson. I really enjoyed learning about him on your blog. We all used to be obsessed with "Somewhere in Time". After my sister, Nanette's, husband Davd died, we went to Mackinaw Island in Michigan (just north of where my parents live) and visited. It's beautiful and looks the same as in the movie. There are NO vehicles on the island so we rode bikes and dodged lots of horse manure on the roads. Very beautiful. Thanks darling, love the long hair.
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