Adapting Wuthering Heights in just four days

A few things on the afterlife of Wuthering Heights today:

The New York Times mourns the death of director Lamont Johnson at 88.

In 1955, Mr. Johnson, who had acted on stage and television for a decade, turned to directing. His first assignment: piece together a one-hour adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” for NBC’s noontime “Matinee Theater” in just four days. It was the first of 78 live productions Mr. Johnson would direct for “Matinee Theater” in a little more than two years. (Dennis Hevesi)

He also directed a Jane Eyre episode in 1957 for Matinee Theater. EDIT: The Times publishes an obituary.

And a Reuters article on composer Thomas Newman also mentions his father's work:

His late father, Alfred Newman, won nine Oscars during a career that helped define the lush Hollywood sound of classics like 1939's "Wuthering Heights" and 1951's "All About Eve." Emerging from such an imposing shadow couldn't have been easy, but today Newman is casting a shadow of his own, working at a rarefied level few composers will ever reach. (Kevin Cassidy)

Andrew Lincoln, who played Edgar Linton in Wuthering Heights 2009, is interviewed by the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex:

G.M.: Had you ridden horses before?
A.L.: My wife is a very good rider, and she would say not really. In [2009's] “Wuthering Heights,” I rode; (Gina McIntyre)

Mississauga News talks about the Toronto performances of Jane Eyre currently at the Theatre Erindale:

Theatre Erindale has set the bar incredibly high in commencing its 18th season with an exceptionally well-executed performance of Jane Eyre.
Stacey Arseneau offers a superb performance in the title role, narrating her own story and observing as her younger self played in the earlier scenes by Tiffany Feler. This is a monumental role for any performer, not only because of the dramatic range, but also because Jane is onstage virtually the entire show.
Arseneau draws the viewer into Jane’s story from the moment the play begins and doesn’t release us until a post curtain-call epilogue. It’s a perfect match of a performer with a part. She has sturdy support notably from Paolo Santalucia as the troubled Edward Rochester, Kristen Zaza as his housekeeper and Sheelagh Daly as his ward.
Peter Urbanek’s set offers an effective set of playing levels, smartly used to delineate the various locations of the far-reaching tale. Joanne Massingham’s stunning costumes perfectly capture the style and look of the period, matching Jane’s sombre mood with a stark black dress.
The intimate space of the studio theatre provides an idea setting for this piece, bringing the audience close to the action. The fine discipline of the performers along with excellent diction ensures the words come across as well as the meaning.
Charlotte Bronte’s novel has inspired a number of adaptations over the years. None has completely solved the episodic nature of the source material.
Robert Johnson’s version does manage to focus the story, and director Scott Denton has paced the production to maximize the impact of the most dramatic moments.
In other productions on stage and screen, the tale of Jane Eyre starts to fall flat after she leaves Thornfield. Not here. The audience is swept into Jane’s world right from the start, largely because this production doesn’t treat it as a revered classic. Instead it brings the story vividly to life. (Mark Andrew Lawrence)

On the topic of the classics, the New Straits Times says,

I WILL not tell you to read more of the classics. Because Melville and Tolstoy and Fitzgerald aren’t something you can force.
Because they are, along with Austen and the Brontës, something that we grow into. For there is an age for each and every one of them. There is a time for those timeless expressions of life, of truth, of beauty. But I will not discourage you from trying.

And The Telegraph and Argus has an article on the local Withins Skyline Fell Race:

Starting from Penistone Hill Country Park near Haworth, the seven-miler proved a challenge as a muddy Brontë Moor made for treacherous terrain and more than a few tumbles. (Claire Mabey)

YouTube user FloraThompsonWriter has uploaded a 2007 video showing the garden in front of the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

Categories: Haworth, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, Wuthering Heights