“I believe, I hope, audiences have forgotten I ever made that film. I try not to say bad things about pictures I chose to make and took money for making them, but this one doesn't count.” (Katharine Hepburn, Chandler 216)
When THE IRON PETTICOAT was released in the middle of America's McCarthy Era of the 1950s, it failed as a political statement, as a comedy, and as a romance. It failed financially. Scholars have more or less dismissed it as an epic fail in every regard, labelling it one of Hepburn's major flops. However, the film contains an intriguing feminist angle that is not ridiculed and tamed, though the structure of the story is presumed to be headed in that general direction.
This being the last week in November, it is also our last week of "Great Adaptations" on Turner Classic Movies. Time to say goodbye to all those great literary classics that have been transformed into cinematic masterpieces. This has been one of the best month highlights I've seen on TCM, and I am glad to say I made the most of it, but I am sorry to see it end.
As usual, TCM is closing out the month in style with three days of novel-film adaptations. Monday night into Tuesday morning will feature no less than a dozen quintessential stories from British Literature, including two Laurence Olivier pictures, WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) by Emily Bronte and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940) by Jane Austen. Another Bronte sisters' work is highlighted in Charlotte Bronte's JANE EYRE (1944). If you are interested in the more surreal writings of the 20th century, LORD OF THE FLIES (1963) will be showing at 8:00 am Tuesday morning. I remember reading that book in high school. Weird. Here's the full line-up for Monday and Tuesday:
