Talk about dream adaptions....
Recently, a friend of mine wondered in an aside what a Watchmen adaption by Orson Welles would have been like. Clearly, this was an idea of pure genius. Because Welles had both the absolute fearlessness and cheek, and while managing to infuriate half the fanbase before ruthlessly jettisoning some of the main characters along with subplots and plundering other Moore works for dialogue inserts, he'd have created something breathtakingly original in its own right.
(Also the meta of it would have been fun. Because in Watchmen the book, one of the earliest excerpts from Hollis Mason's memoirs mentions listening as a fan to Orson Welles on the radio, playing The Shadow/Lamont Cranston, one of the earliest superheroes.)
This train of thought of course brought me inevitably to contemplating other adaptions of comics classics by legendary directors, or rather, which legendary director would match best to which classic comics. Here are some ideas:
Charlie Chaplin: Mad Love by Paul Dini. Come on, it would have been awesome. Given how Chaplin loved to branch out (see him playing both Hitler in The Great Dictator and a serial killer in Monsieur Verdoux), you know he'd have been utterly unable to resist casting himself as the Joker. And as Harley Quinn? Paulette Godard, of course. However, in my head this adaption is a silent one, because though I do like Chaplin's later sound movies as well, the silent film is his true and most perfect medium. It would have been the best and most unique of all Batmenverse based films.
Alfred Hitchcock: The Dark Phoenix arc, by Chris Claremont. Hitchcock, expert in neurotic heroines and heroes as well as people going mad and trying to hide it, would have excelled at the original Jean Grey tragedy. Mind you, given that as Joseph Cotten put it in his memoirs he didn't understand why actresses didn't dye their hair blonde for the privilege of working for him, he'd have been sorely tempted in switching hair colour between Jean and Emma (if the Hellfire Club would have shown up in his adaption, that is, and knowing Hitchcock, I think it would have), but in the end he might have resisted.
Billy Wilder: Alias by Brian Bendis. Noir look at the underside of the Marvelverse, first person narration that really works instead of coming across as superfluous, sharp dialogue, inner brokenness? So a Wilder thing. He'd have probably ended up having a hate/hate relationship with Bendis as he did with Raymond Chandler on their shared script for Double Indemnity, but the result would so have been worth it. Including Barbara Stanwyck as Jessica Jones.
(Also the meta of it would have been fun. Because in Watchmen the book, one of the earliest excerpts from Hollis Mason's memoirs mentions listening as a fan to Orson Welles on the radio, playing The Shadow/Lamont Cranston, one of the earliest superheroes.)
This train of thought of course brought me inevitably to contemplating other adaptions of comics classics by legendary directors, or rather, which legendary director would match best to which classic comics. Here are some ideas:
Charlie Chaplin: Mad Love by Paul Dini. Come on, it would have been awesome. Given how Chaplin loved to branch out (see him playing both Hitler in The Great Dictator and a serial killer in Monsieur Verdoux), you know he'd have been utterly unable to resist casting himself as the Joker. And as Harley Quinn? Paulette Godard, of course. However, in my head this adaption is a silent one, because though I do like Chaplin's later sound movies as well, the silent film is his true and most perfect medium. It would have been the best and most unique of all Batmenverse based films.
Alfred Hitchcock: The Dark Phoenix arc, by Chris Claremont. Hitchcock, expert in neurotic heroines and heroes as well as people going mad and trying to hide it, would have excelled at the original Jean Grey tragedy. Mind you, given that as Joseph Cotten put it in his memoirs he didn't understand why actresses didn't dye their hair blonde for the privilege of working for him, he'd have been sorely tempted in switching hair colour between Jean and Emma (if the Hellfire Club would have shown up in his adaption, that is, and knowing Hitchcock, I think it would have), but in the end he might have resisted.
Billy Wilder: Alias by Brian Bendis. Noir look at the underside of the Marvelverse, first person narration that really works instead of coming across as superfluous, sharp dialogue, inner brokenness? So a Wilder thing. He'd have probably ended up having a hate/hate relationship with Bendis as he did with Raymond Chandler on their shared script for Double Indemnity, but the result would so have been worth it. Including Barbara Stanwyck as Jessica Jones.