ROSEMARY'S BABY, the novel(s), the film, (now) the miniseries

anyone else watching this miniseries on NBC? apparently it adopts the original novel and its sequel.

i'm trying not to think about the movie because it really is perfect, any comparison is unlikely to do this series any favors.

"It's plain old Lipton's TEA."

this is feeling a lot like a detective story, rosemary (zoe saldana) is given many more clues that she pursues, even before she knows she's pregnant.

is this worth watching y/n

Hardly ever watch TV anymore, but you piqued my interest. I've finally seen the Trench Sisters. (Network TV's this graphic now?)

i was surprised to read that Agnieszka Holland directed this

Carole Bouquet as new Ruth Gordon

yeah, they are obv going for something different there

first episode aired last night; next one on may 15. and that's it. it's really just a TV movie split into two parts. part 1 ends with her being impregnated by satan.

this feels pretty routine, it has its moments but not too many of them. story has been "updated" in mostly regrettable ways. the guy in the cassavetes role is a non-entity, but it's hard not to watch zoe saldana.

is this worth watching y/n

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, May 11, 2014 9:22 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i would say n

i was mostly interested in this to see who had the cojones to make this and what they did w/ it. didn't have high expectations.

there was a sequel?

made for TV film in the '70s, and an entirely separate Levin novel in the '90s

I'm not sure I can get past Zoe Saldana's terrible wig.

don't watch this movie when you're already feeling anxious about everything in your life

Pretty interesting reading all the coulda-beens in Ed Sanders' Sharon Tate biography (probably most of this is already known but it was new to me).

Other actresses considered for Rosemary: Tuesday Weld, Jane Fonda, Julie Christie, Elizabeth Hartman, Patty Duke, Goldie Hawn, Joanna Pettet.

For Guy: Redford, Nicholson (Polanski: "his slightly sinister appearance ruled him out"), Beatty, Richard Chamberlain, James Fox, Laurence Harvey.

For the Castevets: Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.

William Castle initially wanted to direct it in 3-D with Vincent Price.

Sharon Tate supposedly shows up in the party scene. I've seen the film 20+ times and never noticed her.

Trivia: what is the elevator operator's name? It's said once.

http://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8b/ed/c5/8bedc563d39a285a71329f1a9e76c4dd.jpg

Memo to universe: I will never stop loving this film. Stop trying to change that.

Does this help, y/n

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9_MqhkRPr8

50th anniv of the premiere... a new book features set photos.

http://www.anothermag.com/design-living/10924/behind-the-scenes-of-roman-polanskis-cult-1968-thriller-rosemarys-baby

Without doubt, the crowning achievement of a 15-year online Scrabble addiction (you'll have to scan the board):

http://phildellio.tripod.com/ectopic.jpg

This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary's Baby wasn't what I really expected. The text basically stops halfway through, and most of the rest of the book consists of Bob Willoughby's on-set photos. It's a coffee-table book as much as a making-of account. Many of the photos are great, though, so if you're able to get hold of a library copy like I was--I certainly wouldn't pay the $40+ it would cost you on Amazon--it's worth the time. The making-of part is pretty straightforward, with at least one great story. The script originally had a scene where Rosemary and her friend actually go to see The Fantasticks. They wrote Joan Crawford and Van Johnson, part of the production, into the scene. (Bad idea.) But when Polanski heard, or was told, something Johnson said about him--"Who's that, Pinocchio?"--he scrapped the scene.

Discovered the TV remake on Tubi, giving it a go...The first 90 minutes is pointless but passable (reverse that if you want), until they get to the impregnation scene--terrible.

Next to zero discussion of the sequel itt, shameful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9_MqhkRPr8

I've seen it! Possibly even when it first aired.

I could be wrong, but I thought there was a subtle Rosemary's Baby allusion in The Night House (which is good most of the way, then gets a little too lofty/metaphysical near the end).

I'm reading Michael Newton's BFI book that came out a couple of years ago, which I didn't know anything about till a friend gave it to me for Christmas this year. So I'm going to throw on the Criterion DVD to bring in the new year. To 2023--the Year One!

i was once chatting to a photographer very active on the same beat as me in the 80s (jazz and african music) and he spoke knowledgeably at length about the story being ENTIRELY BASED ON FACT and was in fact made as an attempt to get an important truth out into the world (possibly about the pope? this guy was something of a hippie-era conspiracy theorist and you never knew where a conversation would take you before you successfully edged away: in another he lovingly described the number of turds the queen received every week in the mail) (not sure how he knew this unless he was also posting them…)

tbf he was a nice enough guy personally and professionally an excellent photographer

and was in fact made as an attempt to get an important truth out into the world

All of them witches--it's a fact.

The book was okay. I read the coffee-table book mentioned above a few years ago, also Ed Sanders' Sharon Tate biography, so most of the background here I knew. The analysis was all over the place. He draws an interesting connection--never thought of it before, thought it seems obvious--between the baby and Kubrick's star-child. One new thing to me was that that's Mia Farrow herself singing the lullaby.

Prequel!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartment_7A

A little surprised Julia Garner would attach herself to something so dubious-looking. But Paramount subscriptions are cheap for a month (I took one out last year to watch The Offer), and I've gotta see this.

is it dope or what?

Well, it's probably a little better than that terrible remake from a few years ago, but not great. Julia Garner tries, and Dianne Wiest is a passable Minnie. Transposing lines from the original obviously makes no sense for what's supposed to be a prequel. Also, they disregard something made clear in the original: Terry Gionoffrio was supposed to be living on the streets and (strongly implied) a prostitute when the Castevets took her in, not a wide-eyed Broadway chorus girl. Genuine camp or a self-conscious attempt at the same, I'm not sure: Garner dancing to "Be My Baby" in the final scene.

Can't believe she wasn't even nominated for this.

I think I knew that, but if you'd asked me two hours ago, I probably would have said "Yeah, she was nominated." Agree, ridiculous. I like the Streisand (winner) and Joanne Woodward performances, don't remember Patricia Neal (saw the movie ages ago), and haven't seen Katherine Hepburn or Vanessa Redgrave. But someone's gotta go.

I've got the flu and have been doomscrolling so everything feels like a fever dream anyway. "You have to believe me Dr. Hill, Elon wants to gut Social Security. RFK makes these weird drinks for me."

This is no dream, this is really happening (1968/2025).

Trump's totally called it "Chocolate Mouse"...

Neal's an easy cut.

Hepburn's win for The Lion in Winter is by far the most earned of her four Oscars, but I can think of at least three other Oscar-nominated Hepburn performances I would've chosen (Alice Adams, The Philadelphia Story, Summertime, Long Day's Journey Into Night).