The 1925 book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has always fascinated me. (The Teubnerian Greek and Roman Library; New edition, May 25, 1989). I read it many times. I have also watched every movie and movie adapted from the book. All except the 1926 film version Silent. There are no more traces of that film to be found.
According to the website, Internet Database (IMDB). Several actors listed have voiced the central character of Jay Gatsby. They include, Kang Kyeong-Joon 2007, Richard T. Jones 2002, Toby Stephens 2000 (TV movie), Robert Redford 1974, Alan Ladd 1949 and Warner Baxter 1926. Now it will be 2012 film adaptation stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby.
My favorite film version is the 1949 black and white production. (Universal Studios home video 1998). In 1940, Alan Ladd was portrayed as the lead movie star in Jay Gatsby. This film adaptation stays true to Jay’s character and omits details from the book. I was introduced to this version of the film in a third paper from a 1980 reprint called The Films Forties by Tony Thomas. (They were published by the press in 1975).
The film opens with a couple visiting the grave of Jay Gatsby (Alan Ladd). They put flowers and how they found Jay before his death. The series flashes back to a safe youth in the early 1920s with New York and alcohol prohibition. Jay then enters the screen underground holding a machine gun as a bootleg gangster who buys and sells illegal bows underground. What a huge amount of money he earns.
The pike returns to the West Egg of Long Island, New York. He buys a farm and owns a luxury property. He also stands on his porch looking across the water east bay to the Egg of Long Island where the wealthy society lives. He looks at a certain mansion where Daisy is with the one he has always loved. It is close to that house with a light that shines brightly every night.
Jay served in World War I and wanted to marry Daisy, but only after he made some money. He wanted to be worthy of respect when he returned. She did not expect a rich and proud husband named Tom. He neglects Daisy and his daughter in a cheap blonde named Myrtle.
Jay invites Daisy to one of his parties to show off the mansion and the money. Their love seems renewed and Tom is jealous. Jay asks Daisy to leave Tom and an argument ensues. Some truth is revealed as Daisy tells Tom the inevitable.
Jay and Daisy end up in the same car. He drives and accidentally runs into a car that Tom thinks is car. Jay convinces Daisy to tell the police that he is the driver. He hides the car at his residence. Myrtle man George is waiting for that car with a vibrating gun. Jay runs back to Daisy and finds that she has chosen Tom over her. Jay is later fatally shot by George.
The main questions about my book and this 1949 movie still remain. Did the daisy either love a man or just love money? Tom just loved his money and the power that consumed him? Did Jay love Daisy or the idea that money could get her over it? I think he loves her, but he realized that the answer to happiness is money. It was just before he met his fate.
I enjoyed this film poem because Alan Ladd created a sad portrait of Jay Gatsby, which is the most powerful in the book. There is deep loneliness in the eyes from beginning to end. she is veiled by the deception she needs from the lost money. (Photo by Penguin Classic Books 1989).
