Friday, September 14, 2007 12:32 AM CDT
'From Here to Eternity' author in camera’s eye
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr’s embrace on a Hawaiian beach in “From Here to Eternity” is one of the most iconic images in film history.
The 1953 film was based on the bestseller written by James Jones at the Handy Writers’ Colony he co-founded in Marshall. The Robinson native drew on his Army experiences in World War II, including witnessing the attack on Pearl Harbor, as a basis for the novel.
Jones and World War II history will be the focus of the fourth annual Embarras Valley Film Festival. The event highlights the work of artists in the film industry from the nine-county region surrounding Charleston.
The festival is scheduled for Tuesday through Sept. 22 with events on Eastern Illinois University’s campus and on the square in Charleston. Entry is free.
Some events also are planned in Marshall.
Highlights will include showings of films based on Jones’ novels and his life, and guest speakers. Featured speakers will include “Forrest Gump” author Winston Groom, a friend of Jones, and author Kaylie Jones, daughter of the novelist. Jones lived from 1921 to 1977.
Festival spokeswoman Joy Pratte said the appearances by Groom and Kaylie Jones were arranged with the help of Ray Elliott of Urbana, a member of the James Jones Literary Society.
“We were really lucky to partner with the James Jones Literary Society,” Pratte said.
The society also will provide guest speakers from within its ranks for the “Coming Home to the Heartland: James Jones, World War II Veterans, and the Midwest” academic conference that overlaps the festival.
Kaylie Jones will present a writers’ workshop at 3 p.m. Thursday at EIU’s Booth Library and introduce the 1998 film “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries” at 7 p.m. Thursday at EIU’s Tarble Arts Center.
“A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries,” starring Kris Kristofferson and LeeLee Sobieski, is an adaptation of Kaylie Jones’ novel. Her fictionalized story is based on growing up with her famed father.
Groom will speak about Jones and other topics at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Miller’s Banquet Facility, 307 Sixth St. Groom drew on his Army experiences in Vietnam when writing his novel “Forrest Gump,” adapted into the 1994 blockbuster film starring Tom Hanks.
Pratte said festival organizers feel it is important to hold events at EIU and off campus, particularly uptown.
“We want to have this be a community event,” Pratte said.
Groom’s talk will be preceded at 6:30 p.m. by a car show featuring 1940s vintage automobiles from area collections. The EIU Jazz Ensemble will follow his talk with swing music from the World War II era.
The Will Rogers Theatre will host showings of two films based on Jones’ novels Saturday — the 1998 all-star adaptation of “The Thin Red Line” at 2 p.m. and “From Here to Eternity” at 7 p.m. “The Thin Red Line” is an account of Guadalcanal, in which Jones fought.
Other film showings will include the new documentary “Inside the Handy Writers’ Colony” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tarble, with an introduction by filmmaker Dawn Shapiro, and “Some Came Running” at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Tarble.
“Some Came Running,” a 1958 film starring Frank Sinatra, tells the story of a World War II veteran’s troubled return to his hometown. Jones incorporated some of his experiences in Robinson and Marshall into this story.
Marshall also will host special events during the festival, including showings of Shapiro’s documentary at noon and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Marshall Public Library. Shapiro will be present for the noon screening.
In addition, the Clark County Historic Society will host tours of Jones’ former home at 1 Beech Tree Lane, off of North Second Street in Marshall, from 2-4 p.m. Sept. 22.
“I hope people can make it to both Marshall and here while they are visiting the festival,” Pratte said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
