Very Good Adaptation

[norman891]

I recently (I think in October) watched the 1924 version with Betty Bronson as Peter. It was actually quite advanced for its time and a fairly faithful adaptation , though there were huge portions of the story that were completely omitted, I suppose because of production costs back then. I have to say this is the only version of "Peter Pan" where I didn't absolutely despise "him". He was played more as a person with some honor, scruples, and almost a sense of chivalry. I cannot recall the actor who played Hook, though he did quite well (but no one tops Jason Isaacs' Hook). If you get the chance to watch this, take it or you can get the DVD from Amazon, which is where i got mine.
Eddie

[Kieran]

Wow, I wonder what has made you a fan of the story then, if you actually "absolutely despise" the main character it's basically all about? I mean that's quite strong emotion you're having there. Very interesting.

As for this movei...So now I know why this isn't titled as the most novel faithful...Hmm...Maybe I'll see this some day if I get the chance. Although with my poor eye vision I might not get much out of old low-quality tape silent films. But then again I did enjoy Nosferatu and The Phantom of the Opera (apart from its story-raping ending), so maybe I indeed will see this some day.

[javierocker]

I've heard of the 1924 film, but never seen it so thanks for the recommendation, hopefully one of these days I can check it out. I'm also not that shocked that this would be one of the better versions since Barrie himself did have some early involvement in the project. Well it based off a script that Barrie had written for a Peter Pan movie several years prior, I think in like 1918. An old IMDB poster actually posted Barrie's original script which included flashbacks to Peter past, one being Peter running away as a baby and the other being Peter returning home to find he had been replaced.

He also changed some things a bit such as when Peter runs away as a baby he's actually crawling in the street only to be picked up and taken to Kensington Gardens by a bird. I imagine that this bird would have been Solomon Caw from the original Kensington Gardens story.