Hidden Gems

This is the Coast Radio reminds us of an interesting event taking place in Scarborough in a couple of weeks:

It's Scarborough's Big Ideas By The Sea festival over the next two weeks. (...)

The Big Ideas Festival features bell ringing, with a 'big dig' involving members of the public and a tribute to Anne Brontë ahead of the 175th anniversary of her death, on 28th May. (Andrew Snaith)

Collider vindicates the great Roger Corman's The Tomb of Ligeia 1964 Edgar Allan Poe adaptation:

This dour, low-key possession story is one not often adapted, mostly because it's so short. Still, the best one is a 1964 classic by the icon of cult cinema, Roger Corman, who just sadly passed away. The Tomb of Ligeia is the final entry into Corman's Poe Cycle, and by far the most obscure story he decided to adapt. He and writer Robert Towne ran into the issue of having to expand the story, so they took a tale of a man's descent into grief and made a hidden gem with notes from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, and enough weird psychological complexes and Byronic hero shenanigans to enthrall anyone looking for a darker take on the regency romance. (Rhianna Malas)

The Independent reviews the new season of Bridgerton:

The fact that the BBC hasn’t commissioned an Austen adaptation in years – not to mention an Eliot or a Brontë or whisper it… a Trollope – implies “a crisis, or at least transition, in the genre of literary costume drama”, as the writer and broadcaster Mark Lawson argued last year. The in-depth, slow-burn adaptation that crams in the minutiae of the novel– for a textbook example, see Andrew Davies’ 2005 version of Bleak House, starring Gillian Anderson and Anna Maxwell Martin – seems to have fallen entirely out of style. Perhaps it is simply too expensive for a British broadcaster to broach these days, without the mega-budgets boasted by streamers.

The Irish Independent interviews the writer Moya Roddy:

Your favourite literary character?

Like a bad friend I love them and leave them, but the characters of Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Eyre, Tess, Anna Karenina are among my abiding favourites.

An alert for today, May 19, in Beverly, MA:

The Paul Madore Chorale presents a concert of music and poetry celebrating the earth and the life it supports. The three parts of the program are A Year in New England, Siesta, and Hello Earth, with poets ranging from Emily Brontë through Walt Whitman to Robert Frost. Their words have been set to music by such varied composers as Randall Thompson, Englebert Humperdinck, and Ola Gjeilo. Come join us for an exciting afternoon of music both classic and new. The performance is Sunday, May 19, 2024, at 3 pm at the First Baptist Church, 221 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA 01915.  (Patch Salem)

And another one for tomorrow, May 20, in Southampton, NY:

Classic Movie: Wuthering Heights (1939)

Mon, May 20, 2024 at 5:45 PM

Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Rd, Southampton, NY, 11968

This adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel set in 19th-century England tells the classic tale of unfortunate lovers Heathcliff and Cathy, who despite their deep love for each other, are forced by circumstance and prejudice to live their lives apart. The film starred Merle Oberon, Sir Laurence Olivier, Hugh Williams, and David Niven, and received eight Academy Awards nominations, winning for Best Cinematography. (Patch Southampton)

GoldDerby publishes a top 15 of Laurence Olivier's films including Wuthering Heights 1939, of course:

7. Wuthering Heights 1939

Literary purists were appalled by this adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel, which only depicts 16 of its 34 chapters, slashing an entire crop of characters from the narrative. Yet director William Wyler perfectly captures the gloomy, tragic mood of the book, thanks in large part to Gregg Toland’s atmospheric black-and-white cinematography (which won the Oscar). Olivier and Merle Oberon perfectly embody Heathcliff and Cathy, the doomed couple at the story’s center. The film does an expert job recreating Victorian England (with Thousand Oaks, CA, standing in for those windy hills), while the operatic performances make our hearts swoon. “Wuthering Heights” earned seven additional Oscar bids, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Olivier (he lost to Robert Donat in “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”). (Zach Laws & Chris Beachum)

Nexos reviews a Spanish translation of a selection of the poetry of Lorine Niedecker quoting from a 1947 letter where she said: 'The Brontës/had their moors, I have/my marshes!

El Español (Spain) reviews Bird by Andrea Arnold as seen at the Cannes Film Festival:

Bird es posiblemente su mejor película, lo que no es moco de pavo si pensamos en obras como Fish Tank (2009) o American Honey (2016), que a este cronista nunca le han convencido del todo –sí, sin embargo, su inspirada adaptación de Cumbres borrascosas–. (Carlos Reviriego) (Translation)

Through the Eyes of the Brontës goes "Back to Lively Banagher, Ireland".