A little bit about what you'll find reviewed here

A little bit about what you'll find reviewed on this blog: I believe the best books involve characters you wish you could read more about long after the book is finished. Recently, I've been searching for hidden gems from the past. I read mostly fiction, and I'm a bit of a prude. I don't normally enjoy books with sex or excessive language.

Who I am:
I raised two wonderful girls, and I'm super proud of them. I enjoy reading (of course), sewing, cross stitching, photography and writing. I live in the high desert portion of Washington (which I didn't know existed until my husband and I decided to move here) and have really enjoyed my time out here. I am excited to see what God has next in store for my life!

Friday, May 6, 2022

The Green Archer (1940 Serial)

So, this was an experiment to see how they could turn a novel, The Green Archer by Edgar Wallace, into a 15-part serial. I ended up watching it in four installments, a little over an hour each time.

I started watching this with a pad of paper and pencil, waiting to see what was different between the book and the serial. By the time I was halfway through the first episode, my page was full, and I'd given up. The characters were completely different (some of the names were reused but that's it), and the relationships between characters that actually were in the book were different. Beyond that, the plot changed drastically from the book to the point where I had the Green Archer (the good one - yes, now there are two!) figured out by the end of the first episode. One of my favorite things about the book was that it kept me guessing on the Green Archer's identity.

Shout out to actor James Craven. He was the villain in this one, and he was instantly familiar. He was also the villain in Captain Midnight, and he was basically the exact same character. It was kind of amusing.

Overall, once I figured out it was about as different as it could be, I put aside the "differences chart" and just enjoyed the ride. The chaotic action sequences and strange plot choices came together in a pretty entertaining way. It wasn't one of my favorite serials, but it also wasn't the worst I've seen thus far either. I understand it must've been hard to turn a novel into a serial, but with the amount of changes I saw, the writers were using the term "based on" VERY loosely.



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