The Movie Journals
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Movie Journals |
| Author(s): | cmiran |
| Date(s): | 13 September 2007 |
| Length: | ~ 4000 words |
| Genre: | metafic |
| Fandom: | Mary Renault |
| External Links: | archived on MRF |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
"The Movie Journals" by cmiran is a short story based on Mary Renault's 1953 novel The Charioteer. It is a metafictional collection of correspondence about filming the book, bookended by explanatory letters.
The sequence opens with a covering letter in which Sheila N., a film historian, explains that the folder, "must be, as I suppose, a work of my great uncle John Schlesinger, the reputed cinema director, who died a few years ago." There follows a long sequence of correspondence between Schlesinger, Joseph Janni (producer), Maude Spector (casting director), Denys Coop (cinematographer), Willis Hall (screeenwriter), Keith Waterhouse (screenwriter), Noel Coward, and Mary Renault (the author of The Charioteer), regarding the plans for the movie. The first letter is dated October 5, 1961; and the last is dated March 15, 1962. Topics include the script, financing, and casting. A note at the end explains that, after the deal fell through, Schlesinger went on to adapt Billy Liar, instead.
It should perhaps be noted that all the people involved in the fictional correspondence are/were real people in the business.
Background
In the notes heading the story, the author fills in "Pairing: novel/screenplay".
Comments
"The Movie Journals" was well received, with comments that include the following:
- 'This is SUCH an ingenious idea! It made me smile all the way through, and was so believable I was really disappointed at the end! :)"—comment by trueriver
- "It would have been good to see, wouldn't it? Failing that (and inevitably we are failing that!), I just wish I could peek over their collective shoulder at a copy of that long-lost screen play.—comment by greerwatson
- "As I was reading this, the correspondence felt so authentic I had to pinch myself! What a fab and unusal idea for a fan fic - if only..."—comment by praxilla1